It seems like every manufacturer has a Surface-like two-in-one these days, and now Samsung has joined the party.
Samsung will begin selling its Galaxy TabPro S on Friday at Best Buy for $900, a few days before the 12-inch tablet goes on sale at Microsoft’s own brick-and-mortar stores on April 4. Unlike Microsoft’s own Surface Pro tablets, the detachable keyboard is included with the price.
According to Microsoft’s blog post about the product, the TabPro S features a redesigned dual microphone, so the tablet’s ability to understand words spoken to Cortana has 90 percent accuracy.
Unlike the actual Surface Pro lineup, which boasts mainly Core i-series chips, the TabPro S is powered by a Core m3, a low-power chip that Microsoft said will allow battery life of about 10 hours. Microsoft said that the tablet is the thinnest available, and weighs just 1.53 pounds. It doesn’t ship with a stylus, yet, but one will be coming soon, the companies said.
“We’ve worked closely with Samsung to integrate Windows 10 into the core of these devices, enabling richer interactions and more ways for people to experience the best of Windows 10 and do things you can’t on a Mac,” said Chris Cocks, the vice president of OEM technical sales at Microsoft, in a statement.
Naturally, one of the selling points of the tablet is its bright OLED display, a staple of Samsung hardware. Samsung has been one of the leading vendors in the Android space, but decided to market a Windows tablet because of “security, productivity, and manageability that only Windows can deliver,” Cocks said.
Why this matters: Microsoft’s Surface line has been an undeniable hit for Microsoft, though the high prices have undoubtedly given consumers pause. Competition—and from Samsung, whose tablet credentials are excellent—can only benefit consumers.