Samsung Galaxy NotePRO: The Tablet ‘Goes Pro’

Remember the slightly disappointing Note 10.1? Determined not to let the concept of a big tablet with a pen die, Samsung has “gone pro” so to speak with the new 12.2-inch Galaxy NotePRO. If you’re a resolution junkie, you’ll want to see this.

The NotePRO is a 12.2-inch tablet which promises the best of both worlds: the goodness of a consumption tablet with the capabilities of a real laptop or desktop computer.

The screen is an eye-popping 2500×1600 WXGA display, and a form factor that aims to replicate the size and feel of an A4 notebook (once you include the bezel). It’s got 3GB of RAM, 32GB and 64GB storage variants, an expandable microSD slot (up to 64GB) and a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera.

Samsung is also aiming to fill this thing to the brim with free content out of the box, promising around $700 of freebies from various providers including Dropbox, Hancom, Bloomberg Businessweek and more. Samsung Australia claims that roughly two-thirds of the content provided to Americans will be available to Australians, so that’s something. We’ll have to wait and see on local exclusives when it comes to content, however.

On the productivity side, Samsung is including its Knox suite for security and VPN abilities, as well as Cisco WebEx support, a bespoke LinkedIn app, Remote PC capabilities and a decent Android document, slideshow and table editing suite for you enterprise users.

Samsung also wants people to type better on the new tablet, enabling Windows-style keyboard shortcuts on the touch keyboard. Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo and Select All are available via the new Keyboard shortcuts.

Speaking of Windows, the NotePRO is packing Android under the hood, but you wouldn’t know it: Samsung has filled it to the brim with a new type of TouchWiz interface for tablets which it is calling Magazine UX. It’s clean, it’s bright and it’s colourful. Basically it’s what Windows 8’s Metro interface would look like if it were built on top of Android 4.4.

Multi-Window has also received a welcome boost, with the ability to swipe in from the right (much like Windows 8’s Charms menu) to access the window of available apps, before allowing you to align four windows around each other, even if they’re all the same app.

The NotePRO is definitely coming to Australia, although Samsung hasn’t yet confirmed a price or release date.

Luke Hopewell travelled to CES 2014 as a guest of Samsung Australia.


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