The iPad Pro has been the main talking point among large tablets, but now the Galaxy View has come along to challenge this assumption. Samsung unveiled its latest tablet offering on Wednesday, with the monster Galaxy View tablet providing what the corporation described as an “unprecedented mobile entertainment experience”.
It is clear considering the size of this device that the Galaxy View will naturally be pitted against the iPad Pro. So considering what we already know about the Galaxy View, how does it compare to Apple’s hotly anticipated tablet?
Samsung Galaxy View
If tablet consumers thought that the iPad Pro was a significantly large device, the Galaxy View is certainly an extension of this concept. It is interesting that companies are producing ever larger tablet computers considering that miniaturization and slickness is so important in the smartphone marketplace.
But viewing media through tablet computers is considered to be an increasingly viable way of selling them to the public, so the 18.4-inch display in the Galaxy View is clearly aimed towards this particular activity. The size of the Galaxy View is indeed so large that the tablet features a handle built into the screen cover, enabling the tablet to be carried like a briefcase. This computer is so large that it probably will not fit into the actual average briefcase, giving some indication of the size and scope of this machine.
1080p display
Unquestionably, the Galaxy View has been aimed at media consumption. This should not be viewed as a business machine. It is perhaps slightly surprising, though, that the screen included in the Galaxy View tablet is only capable of full HD 1080p resolution. Samsung has particularly associated itself with outstanding screen technology in recent tablet releases, and it is almost an odd decision that this extremely vast tablet features such a relatively meager screen resolution.
But this does explain the size of the tablet, with the possibility of users being able to sit back and digest contact from a distance without pixels becoming too obvious.
Another interesting aspect of the Galaxy View is the sheer size of the tablet. Weighing in at 6 pounds, it would be reasonable to say that this isn’t exactly the most mobile tablet on the market. However, Samsung has considered this by including a handle, and the Galaxy View is not too difficult to carry around.
Samsung has still released relatively few details regarding the specifications of this device, and indeed there is no pricing or availability information yet in the public domain. The CES show is just around the corner, though, so we can reasonably expect to hear more from the Korean corporation at that time.
What we can describe the Galaxy View as at this point in time is a huge tablet TV. Clearly Samsung has a very specific target audience in mind for this product, and it may fare particularly well in the East Asian marketplace where Samsung has made his name and reputation. It does seem somewhat weird that it only features a full HD resolution considering that this ensures that the ppi rating of the tablet is significantly smaller than virtually any other Samsung release.
But if you wish to watch television via tablet, there is certainly no larger display with which to do so than the one provided by the Galaxy VIew.
iPad Pro
The contrast between the Galaxy View and the iPad Pro could hardly be starker. The Apple tablet is significantly smaller than the Galaxy View, yet at the time that Apple first announced it the iPad Pro seemed to be a huge device. Certainly Apple had never considered releasing a tablet with a 12.9-inch screen before, and the consumer electronics giant had an entirely new marketplace in mind when it conceived this tablet competitor.
Certainly the iPad Pro is much more of a productivity device than the Galaxy View will ever be. Apple intended the iPad Pro to be something of a halfway house between the company’s existing tablet range and the MacBook Pro laptop series. Apple has already achieved significant market penetration in the corporate sector with the iPad, but it was intended that the iPod Pro would increase its market share and revenue in this area.
This is reflected in the fact that the screen resolution of the device is vastly superior to that of the Galaxy View. The 2,048 x 2,732 pixel resolution included in the iPad Pro ensures that the pixel density blows away the Galaxy View. This would be an excellent device for viewing media, offering a quad HD resolution, even if the screen is significantly smaller than that of the Galaxy View.
The fact that Apple is hoping for the iPad Pro to be utilized in an office environment is also indicated by the relative sleekness of the design. The dimensions of the iPad Pro are precisely 305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9 mm (12.04 x 8.69 x 0.27 in) ensuring that it is significantly smaller than its Samsung rival, and most interestingly of all, it is approximately one-quarter the weight of the Galaxy View.
Apple has yet to announce when the iPad Pro will go on sale, but murmurings this week have suggested that November 11 could be a possible date for its release. This would ensure that the device is available for the Christmas marketplace, and underlines the fact that Apple is hoping to sell significant numbers of iPad Pro units as a consumer device, as well as penetrating the business marketplace.
Conclusion
The iPad Pro is definitely a device that will appeal to consumers as well as business people, as it is the most powerful tablet that Apple has ever produced, with split-screen functionality included. This is a fantastic productivity device, and also a potentially fun piece of equipment, and it is easy to see where the iPad Pro fits into the traditional tablet market.
While the Galaxy View is effectively a massive tablet TV, the iPad Pro is a more rounded performer. Samsung will be hoping that people buy into the ethos of the Galaxy View and are impressed by the sheer size of this new tablet offering.