Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 review

Samsung throws everything into the fledgling maxi-tablet category

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 review
Android at 12.2 inches

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While the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is undoubtedly aimed at the business-led end of the market, it's also one of the finest media-playing Android tablets around.

The sheer size of that 12.2-inch display makes watching films and videos feel like a full-fat experience – although it also serves to expose lower quality footage. Anything below 1080p feels noticeably grainy here.

As I've already mentioned, the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2's speakers are loud and clear, and provide excellent stereo separation.

This makes them excellent for playing brief videos out loud, but the lack of bass means that they're not brilliantly suited to films or music. As always, I'd recommend investing in a decent set of headphones.

Play Movies

In terms of the media itself, you're well served by Google's default offerings on the Google Play Store. The roster of movies and TV shows is comprehensive and competitively priced (new films are around £3.49 in SD or £4.49 in HD), but Samsung's own media store, Samsung Hub, is entirely superfluous.

It offers a similar selection of films for similar prices, but with a much less attractive interface. Plus, you won't be able to carry your media content across to anywhere near as many devices as you can when you obtain it through Google.

Music

Strangely, on the music side, Samsung hasn't included the comprehensive Google Music app as standard. All you have is Samsung's own anaemic Music app, which lets you play locally stored MP3s and not a lot else, and the aforementioned Hub store.

Once underway, the music control options are neatly handled, with a little music bar below the toggles in the notification menu and a compact lock screen widget. But I'd recommend downloading Google Music and making that your all-round music player of choice.

Lockscreen music widget

I've also hinted at gaming on the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2. It's a strong performer, with Samsung's latest Exynos processor (and accompanying GPU) one of the strongest around.

Playing Dead Trigger 2 with the graphics settings bumped up to high posed no problems for the tablet, and really showed off the console-style first person shooter to its full potential.

Dead Trigger

Meanwhile, strategy games that typically require a lot of screen panning and zooming, such as Swords and Soldiers and Royal Revolt, play better here than on any other tablet.

When it comes to storing all of this media, you're well served with the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2. As stated, you get either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, plus a microSD for up to 64GB extra.

On top of that, Samsung also includes tight integration with Dropbox, which can be established during the initial set-up process. You get 50GB of free storage for two years, and Samsung's Gallery app will pull in your Dropbox-stored images as standard.

It's a simple matter of clicking yes during set-up to automatically upload any pictures taken on the tablet to the service.