Gadgetory

so which manufacturer makes the better small tablet on Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and this is the Samsung Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 versus the iPad Mini with Retina display Samsung has been gunning for Apple in the tablet space since the launch of the very first iPad the miniature tablet space however is one area Samsung actually has more experience than Apple and Samsung is finally beginning to close the gap the question is has it finally done so let's take a few minutes to find out the hardware situation is par for the course when comparing any mobile devices from Samsung and Apple the iPad Mini with Retina display as we learned back in November is a fantastically built miniature tablet it's crafted of solid aluminum with machine drilled holes for the speakers at the bottom and a polished beveled trim around the front edge it's a lesson in precision simple elegant design and build quality that's obvious from the very first time you pick it up the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 is a market improvement over prior Galaxy Tabs as with many of its recent products samsung is finally and thankfully moved away from the hyper glazed finish and the entire tab pro lineup features the same faux leather backing found on the Galaxy Note 3 and Note 10.1 2014 edition it also has a faux brushed metal trim along the edges and it still utilizes the unique capacitive navigation buttons which flanked a physical home button size and shape are quite different as well the iPad Mini measures 200 millimeters tall 134 point 7 millimeters wide and 7.5 millimeters thick the Tab pro 8.4 is 19 millimeters taller yet six point two millimeters narrower and 0.3 millimeters thinner both Wi-Fi models are exactly the same weight 331 grams for one-handed use we found the Tab pro 8.4 easier to hold and it feels more natural to use in either landscape or portrait than its 10 inch Android counterparts despite the physical navigation buttons and specs are per usual nothing alike the iPad Mini has only one gigabyte of RAM 16 to 128 gigabytes of thick storage a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 1.2 gigahertz dual-core cyclone CPU which makes up part of the Apple a7 SOC the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 has twice the RAM 16 or 32 gigabytes of fixed storage with a micro SD card slot an 8 megapixel rear camera in a 2.3 gigahertz quad-core Krait 400 CPU with adreno 330 GPU to make up the Snapdragon 800 SOC the iPad Mini ships with a fixed twenty three point eight watt hour battery compared to the approximate nineteen point two watt hour battery inside the Tab pro 8.4 we'll get to what all that amounts to in the test notes later for now let's focus on the best part of both of these tablets the displays the iPad minis Retina display is a 7.9 inch IPS LCD panel with a pixel resolution of 2048 by 1536 that's a pixel density of 324 pixels per inch it's incredibly sharp and gorgeous however we noted in our review that the color seems slightly muted compared to the iPad Air's display but it's still quite beautiful and balanced the display on the Tab pro 8.4 is also quite the spectacle the Super Clear LCD panel measures 8.4 diagonal inches and bears a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels a total density of 359 PPI both panels are gorgeous with relatively deep blacks great contrast color reproduction and sharpness the iPads display seems noticeably warmer but Samsung appears to be boosting the saturation of colors to make the display appear more vibrant both displays are absolutely gorgeous in their own right holding both tablets side-by-side reveals a great disparity in the quality of materials but both are built exceptionally well the iPad simply feels and looks more premium more worth the $400 base price tag but we're well aware price isn't based solely on look and feel or even what's on the inside let's dig deeper take a look at the software the iPad Mini software is something we're all familiar with by now outside appearance it hasn't changed all that much it's running the latest version of iOS version 7.1 as of today and features exactly what you would expect a wall of icons on the home screen the new and very useful control center a questionable Notification Center and an app switcher accessed by double tapping the home button Samsung's Galaxy Tab pro lineup brings a newer look to touch wiz with KitKat and it's something we're not entirely sold on yet for what it's worth Samsung has seemingly gone to great lengths to improve the look of itself through something many users have been begging for but it feels as if it's not entirely as if people with opposing ideas designed it the new magazine UX found on the home screen is very nice and we like it a lot the tile-based interface packs a ton of useful information on your home screens but as soon as you jump into the Settings app it's the same old tabbed interface mixed with a pane view makes finding even the most simple settings much more difficult than it should be it's not all bad when it comes to Samsung's software though it is seemingly trimmed down it's smart offerings to smart stay smart rotation and smart pause and this one comes with multi-user support if nothing else Samsung's devices are renowned for great simulcasting thanks to the multi window feature in this version of TouchWiz it's been even further improved no longer do you long press the back button to access the panel simply drag from the right edge of the display we found this made it easier to activate but in use it's almost exactly the same as before and that's a good thing multitasking on the iPad isn't horrible though there's no way to make use of the larger display both side by side apps but you can use the very helpful gestures to speed up the task switching a four-finger swipe up reveals the app switcher it's why being left or right with four fingers will chronologically switch between the most recent apps and a five finger pinch will take you back home the iPad still has a broader application and game offering specifically for tablets and that more than makes up for the lack of true multitasking but the software ultimately comes down to preference we find Android to be more utility productivity based while iOS is better for social communication and entertainment but at the very core they're both capable of doing the exact same things saying one of these tablets performs better than the other is about like performing surgery with a pocketknife there is no blanket answer one is not markedly better than the other in any one area and benchmarks the to perform similarly despite the two additional cores a much faster clock speed in the tab pro and both handle gaming like champs web browsing opening apps and even task switching was comparable between the two tablets they both perform exceptionally well though we have noticed the occasional slow down on the tab pro I'm flipping through home screens or over encumbering with a multi window feature something we hoped we wouldn't see with the Snapdragon 800 we haven't had the Tab pro 8.4 quite long enough to fully test its battery capabilities but it's nineteen point two what our battery seems to hold up well so far the iPad Mini through months of use has typically only needed to be charged every two or more days depending on use for a more in-depth look at the tab pros battery stay tuned for the full review the speaker quality on either tablet won't blow you away they're both pretty loud and also pretty tinny though the if' head seems to provide a fuller sound both have two speaker grilles on the bottom edge which is particularly poor placement if you like to hold your tablet in landscape while playing games or viewing media your palm is quite easily muffle the speaker's forcing you to either plug in headphones hold the tablet in an uncomfortable way or deal with muffled audio if you're one for taking pictures with a tablet you'll likely be satisfied with either option that both have pretty decent Imogen Singh chops though the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 S image sensor is a higher resolution which typically results in sharper images it seems Samsung is also boosting saturation here and once again the iPad tends to err on the warmer side honestly we give the Tab pro 8.4 a slight edge thank to slightly better pictures but as little as most will use a tablet to seriously take pictures it's negligible in all both are extremely solid tablets and we couldn't think of a closer comparison the iPad Mini tends to perform more consistently while the Tab pro 8.4 hangs and stutters occasionally on the home screen the tablet app offering is still stronger on iOS then on Android though the situation is constantly improving on both platforms and most of the same apps are available on both OS s on design alone the iPad Mini takes the cake but looks are often deceiving and such as the case here the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 is starting at 399 offers more bang for your buck we actually prefer the size and shape of the Tab pro 8.4 and the ability to run two applications side-by-side is a feature sorely missing from iOS frankly though you can't go wrong with either tablet thanks for watching everyone if you enjoyed this video be sure to click the thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel to see more videos in the future as well as more Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 coverage in the coming weeks be sure to follow us on all the usual places twitter facebook and google+ at pocket now I'm Taylor Martin you can find me on twitter at casper tech and i will see you next time