Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 vs Apple iPad Pro 9.7

A man uses an Apple Pencil on an Apple iPad Pro at the Apple Store in Palo Alto, California November 13, 2015. Reuters/Stephen Lam

The newly released Apple iPad Pro 9.7 has already received overwhelming reviews from customers and tech analysts. Here’s an attempt to compare the specs and features of the latest iPad with the one of the best Android tablets to date, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7.

Display and design

Both the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S2 feature the same 9.7-inch screen size and display resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels. But the Super AMOLED display screen of the latter has definitely better colour reproduction than former sporting a backlit IPS LCD panel.

The iPad Pro 9.7 sports a Retina display with True Tone technology, which helps the display to automatically adapt to the light in the surrounding environment.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 comes in two variants with 8.0 and 9.7-inch displays.

Moreover, both the Wi-Fi and LTE models of the Galaxy Tab S2 are lighter than its iPad Pro counterparts. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is tagged as the “world’s slimmest tablet,” as it is on 5.6mm thick as compared to 6.1mm of the iPad Pro 9.7.

Processor, storage and RAM

As far as the processor is concerned, Apple’s most recent iPad Pro is a winner. The device is powered by the latest 64-bit Apple A9X processor clocked at 2.16 GHz paired with 2GB RAM. The tablet delivers “up to 1.8 times the CPU performance of iPad Air 2,” claims Apple.

Released back in September 2015, the tablet is powered by Samsung’s octa-core processor Exynos 5433 chip in a combination of two quad-core chips running at 1.9GHz and 1.3GHz, respectively.

Both variants of the ultra-thin Galaxy Tab S2 come packed with a bigger 3GB of RAM and reasonable storage options of 32 GB and 64 GB that can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot.

The 9.7-inch Apple iPad Pro offers three internal storage options – 32GB, 128GB or 256GB with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + Cellular connectivity. There is no option for expandable storage.

Operating system

Last month, the 9.7-inch Galaxy Tab S2 received its much awaited Android Marshmallow update. The device was launched with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop OS last year.

Running on iOS 9.3.2, the Apple iPad Pro touts Split View enabling the user to open two applications simultaneously, which is not present in Galaxy Tab S2. The Split View functionality gives an edge to the iPad pro over Tab S2.

Camera and battery

Apple has also equipped the 9.7-inch iPad Pro with 12-megapixel iSight camera with support for Live Photos. On the other hand, the Tab S2 sports an 8-megapixel rear facing camera with auto-focus that can capture 4K video at 30fps (frames per second).

Apple uses a 5MP FaceTime HD camera for iPad Pro as compared to a 2.1MP camera unit of the Tab S2. The iPad Pro has sports a four-speaker audio system which takes the audio experience to a different level.

According to Gizmodo Australia, the 9.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 boasts 12-hours of battery life from a single charge. Apple, on the hand, claims 10 hours battery life for the iPad pro 9.7.

Accessories

Apple is a clear winner in this department as well. The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro also comes with support for Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, available for purchase separately. Apple Pencil costs US$99 (AU$130), while the Smart Keyboard in Charcoal Gray is priced at US$149 (AU$196).

Price

The 32GB (Wi-Fi only) variant of the 9.7-inch Apple iPad Pro price starts at $899 . The Wi-Fi + Cellular models with 32GB in-built storage starts as high as $1099.

The Galaxy Tab S2 (Wi-Fi only) with 32GB storage capacity costs $599, whereas the LTE and Wi-Fi variant comes with a price tag of $749.

Thus, the 9.7-inch Apple iPad Pro with useful iOS 9 features and accessories can give a good competition to the much coveted Galaxy Tab S2. But Samsung’s best Android tablet gets an edge over the iPad Pro in terms of price.

Also Read: Google Pixel C Vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S2

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