There’s plenty of exciting tech in Samsung’s range of S9 tablets (there’s also an 11-inch Tab S9 and 12.4-inch Tab S9+). But what everybody will focus on with the S9 Ultra is its size, so let’s start there.

It’s thin (5.5mm) and, all things considered, not especially heavy at 732 grams. But when you unbox it, it’s immediately apparent why Samsung boasts this is the biggest tablet in the world. Initially, you’re likely to swoon over all that screen real estate. But over time, you might start questioning whether you constantly want to be gripping a gigantic tablet with both hands.

That being said, if you want a massive tablet that can double as a laptop or a second monitor, the S9 Ultra may meet your needs. The base model offers 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, but that can be upgraded to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM.

Back in 2017, Samsung introduced “DeX” software. It allows both Samsung phones and tablets to function with, or similarly to, desktop computers. But be warned: the S9 Ultra doesn’t come with a keyboard or mouse and you’ll have to fork out another $549 for the suggested Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra Book Cover Keyboard.

Related tablet reviews

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+
• Google Pixel Tablet
• Microsoft Surface Pro 9
• Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (M2)

A durable, sometimes delightful device   

You can’t take the S9 Ultra with you on a scuba dive. But despite it having all the standard openings, its “ingress protection” means it is essentially waterproof for a short period. It has an IP68 rating, which means a device can be fully submerged in a bucket of fresh water for up to 30 minutes without sustaining damage (a claim we put to the test below).

As well as being impressively water resistant, it’s also “dust tight” – the S9 Ultra’s IP68 rating means it has top marks for both water and dust resistance. In practice, that means you won’t need to worry too much about liquid or dirt infiltrating the tablet and wreaking havoc with the wiring.

Given its other features, the S9 Ultra’s (included) stylus struggles for attention. But if you like to write on tablets, you’ll love how it feels like an elegant fountain pen gliding across finely grained paper. If you don’t like writing on tablets due to past squeaky experiences, this might be the stylus that wins you over. It’s also waterproof, so you can even jot down notes while relaxing in the bath. Or on an inflatable pool lounge.

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On this page:

• What is the Google Pixel Tablet?
• Battery life and performance
• Quirks, oversights and other little problems

What is the Google Pixel Tablet?

Google’s Pixel Tablet is basically a 2-in-1 device with crossover features and functions. Where the original Google Nest Hub straddled the line between smart speaker and tablet, the Pixel Tablet has similar aspirations, but we found it swings more towards the tablet side of things.

It switches into hub mode when mounted in the base and becomes part of a larger smart display with a better-quality speaker, with the interface automatically optimising depending on the mode.

It has a 10.95-inch, 2560 x 1600, LED-backlit LCD display which is decent quality and relatively bright at just over 450 nits. This makes it viewable in most well-lit or outdoor environments but the glossy finish can be quite reflective. You also get Full HD 8MP front and rear cameras that offer plenty of detail and brightness, and the front camera is particularly good for video calling.

It runs Android 13 and uses Google’s own Tensor G2 eight-core processor with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (256GB is also available for an extra $100). It supports single and dual-band connectivity up to Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and USB-C for charging and data transfer.

The body is just under 9mm thick and weighs less than 500 grams, which makes it quite portable and easy to hold.

The speaker hub

When you mount the tablet, it automatically switches into hub mode with a focus on hands-free interaction. It’s designed to sit on the kitchen table or bedroom sideboard and perform all the tasks expected of a smart display.

The base is mains powered and continuously charges the tablet while docked. You can also charge it via USB-C when it’s not mounted and in tablet mode.

Magnets hold the tablet in place when docked so it won’t wobble or fall out when people walk by. Though the speaker is sturdy enough to stay still when you remove the tablet, it does require a bit of leverage and could slip if you don’t use two hands.

Battery life and performance

To test the battery, we looped a Full HD video with brightness set to maximum while the tablet was connected to Wi-Fi. We found the battery lasted around seven hours under these conditions, though you can extend that by using the power-saving settings (albeit at the cost of brightness and performance).

There’s not much to say about day-to-day performance except that it runs as expected for a tablet with this kind of hardware. Web browsing is zippy enough, videos look good and the base speaker delivers reasonable sound, producing enough power to fill a room with music. Overall, it’s a perfectly fine little unit.

Users in the Google ecosystem are going to get the most out of the Pixel Tablet. After all, this is a proprietary product so it defaults to services including Google TV, Google Assistant other protocols like casting to supported audio/video devices around the home. The speaker even accepts casting from other devices, so you can connect your smartphone to the hub if you’d prefer.

It does require a Google account and there’s no practical way to effectively run other digital assistants such as Alexa or Siri. So if you’re already tied to another brand, you may want to consider whether this is the right tablet for you.

Quirks, oversights and other little problems

On the whole, there’s nothing blatantly wrong with the Pixel Tablet. But after a while you’ll start to notice little things that add a hurdle or roadblock to something that should be simple. Other times, certain features you’ve reasonably come to expect in a smart device are muddled or absent in the Pixel Tablet.

For example, the Google Home digital assistant usually behaves like a tablet even when docked. If you ask it to search for a chicken recipe, it will load Google search results that you can’t navigate hands-free.

The Nest Hub, meanwhile, will follow up with additional prompts and do its best to find a recipe. The inconsistencies between Google products become irritating, as you’d expect things to remain fairly standard under the same brand.

You can always invoke the smart assistant in docked mode by saying “hey Google”, but in tablet mode you need to unlock the screen before this works. This is frustrating as it forces you to break habits even though the device remains fundamentally unchanged. 

Other prompts, such as asking for news headlines, won’t work until you unlock the screen (even in the dock) and it doesn’t take long for this hands-free device to become a get-up-off-the-couch-to-unlock-it device.

Also, if you pull the tablet from the dock while music is playing, it won’t automatically hit pause. Instead, music blares from the tablet’s tinny, bass-free speakers and it’s borderline soul-crushing.

These are just a few examples and none of them are what you’d call deal-breakers. But these are all things Google has refined in similar products that it hasn’t done here, and that becomes pretty exhausting after a while.

If you’re prepared to work around these shortcomings and get used to the way the Pixel Tablet does things, then you’re probably going to enjoy it. The tablet-meets-smart-hub hybrid design is a great idea and Google gets most of the way there. It just needs some software refinements, especially in the hands-free department, to keep the average user happy.

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Microsoft’s Surface Pro 9 is here – so how does it compare to the Surface Pro 8 we reviewed in 2022?

This newer tablet adds a 12th gen CPU, the latest Wi-Fi 6E, optional 5G connectivity, and a couple of extra colours. It also comes with Windows 11 Home.

Note, however, that this time around we opted for the entry-level model, which has a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-1235U and Intel Iris Xe graphics. The 8GB of memory (RAM) should be fine for general use, but the 128GB storage is on the small side, leaving only a meagre 82GB free space for the user.

An extra $150 will get you 256GB of storage, which is recommended, as the Surface Pro 9 also lacks an SD card slot. But more than just the extra storage, models with 256GB or more are built on the Intel Evo platform, which sets guidelines for hardware, performance and battery life.

Surface Pro 9 performance

We found the Surface Pro 9’s performance a bit of a mixed bag compared to the previous model we tested, though this could be due to it being an entry-level model with 128GB storage (the Surface Pro 8 we tested was an Intel Evo 256GB model).

CPU performance for the Surface Pro 9 was up, as you’d expect from a next-generation processor, but graphics performance was slightly down. Storage read speed was up, storage write speed was slightly down. We also found that the battery life test result was down from 5hr 26min for the Pro 8 to 5hr 07min for the Pro 9. 

The overall ease of use and comfort levels are the same thanks to the optional Signature Keyboard with Slim Pen 2 ($429.95), and the quality of the case and 13-inch glossy screen with 2880 x 1920 pixel resolution is still there.

Touchscreen performance is smooth (with finger and Slim Pen 2), and connectivity options include two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports. The standard Kickstand allows for considerable layback, which is useful for writing and drawing without the keyboard attached.

A good point is that this is still one of the few (perhaps only) tablets to allow for its internal storage to be upgraded, but with two USB-C ports (also rare for tablets), upgrading the internal storage may be unnecessary.

The bottom line is that the Surface Pro 9 is a very good tablet (and laptop, with the optional keyboard) but if you already have a Surface Pro 8, there’s little reason to upgrade to the Surface Pro 9 unless you want the 5G capability. Otherwise, it’s probably best to stick with the Pro 8 for the extra battery life, or go for the 256GB Evo platform model.

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We tried out the iPad 10 256GB model courtesy of Apple and found it a step up from the iPad 9, with some nice new features but also some compromises. 

Outwardly, the iPad 10 looks just like the more expensive iPad Air, with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina screen, slimmer screen borders all-round and no front-facing Home button. Power and Touch ID fingerprint reader are located on the top edge, as with the iPad Air and iPad mini.

Also like the iPad Air, the connection port has been changed to USB-C, making it compatible with a wide range of USB-C devices, including native support for external screens up to 4K (at 30Hz), or 1080p at 60Hz.

However, like the iPad 9, the iPad 10 uses the original design, first-generation Apple Pencil which has a Lightning connector. So you’ll need the new USB-C to Apple Pencil Adapter.

If you buy a new 1st-gen Apple Pencil ($159), the adapter is included in the box. If you already have a 1st-gen Apple Pencil, you just need to buy the adapter separately for $15.

Landscape focus

With this model, Apple seems to have leaned into the idea that people mostly use the iPad with a keyboard. 

The front-facing FaceTime camera has been moved from the short edge to the long edge of the iPad, making it much better for video conferencing when in landscape mode, along with dual microphones. The stereo speakers are also more useful in landscape orientation and support Apple’s Spatial Audio for surround-sound effect.

However, it’s likely the moving of the camera to the long edge – a first for any iPad – is a contributing factor to the decision to keep the 1st-gen Apple Pencil around, rather than the 2nd-gen Apple Pencil which attaches magnetically to the side of the iPad Air, iPad mini and iPad Pro to pair and charge automatically. 

The opposite long edge of the iPad 10 has Apple’s Smart Connector for attaching the new Magic Keyboard Folio.

Both front and back cameras are now 12 megapixel (MP). The front is Ultra Wide and the rear camera is Wide and handles 4K video and 240fps slow motion video. This is a jump up from the iPad 9’s 8MP rear camera and 1080p video. 

As you’d expect, the iPad 10 gets a speed boost, moving to Apple’s A14 Bionic chip, a generation up from the iPad 9’s A13 Bionic, though still a model under the iPad Mini’s A15 Bionic chip. 

The iPad 10 also gets Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with simultaneous dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and 5G (sub-6GHz) capability for cellular models. 

Its 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display screen is larger and higher resolution than the iPad 9’s 10.2-inch Retina display, and the iPad 10 has 2360 x 1640 pixels, versus the iPad 9’s 2160 x 1620 pixels. Both are rated at 500nits brightness, and neither are a fully laminated screen (like on the pricier models), but these are not the ‘pro’ models and we didn’t find it a problem and expect that most people who buy this level of iPad won’t have a problem either.

New design keyboard

The Magic Keyboard Folio ($399) is a new keyboard option, unique to the iPad 10. This white assembly comes in two pieces – a protective magnetically-attached back with adjustable support stand, and a detachable keyboard with a built-in trackpad that’s a good size. 

This new keyboard includes the welcome addition of a 14-key function row, which you don’t get on Apple’s other keyboards. The top row includes 12 function keys, an escape key, and a screen lock key. 

The two-piece design is versatile. You can use the support-stand backing without the keyboard attached, which can be ideal for propping it up for watching video content. Overall we found the new keyboard a pleasure to use, but unfortunately it doesn’t include backlighting, which can be annoying in low-light situations.

The Magic Keyboard Folio connects magnetically via the Smart Connector, so it doesn’t require pairing or charging. Just click it on and go. If you don’t want a keyboard, a Smart Folio offers front/back protection for $129.

Crunch the numbers before buying

Check your budget and crunch some numbers to choose which iPad to buy. The iPad 10 comes in blue, pink, silver or yellow and starts at $749 for the 64GB Wi-Fi only model or $999 for 256GB storage. 

The 64GB model with Wi-Fi and cellular is $999 or $1249 for the 256GB model. All come with a USB-C charge cable and 20W USB-C power adapter.

For comparison, the ‘budget model’ iPad 9 had a price rise in 2022 and now starts at $549 for 64GB Wi-Fi only and $799 for 256GB. Wi-Fi and cellular models are $779 for 64GB and $1029 for 256GB.

The post Apple iPad 10 review appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

New features of the M2 iPad Pro

Along with the M2 chip, the sixth-generation Apple iPad Pro also offers the latest Wi-Fi 6E (you’ll need a Wi-Fi 6E router to get the most out of this feature) and Bluetooth 5.3.

New to this model is the Apple Pencil Hover, which detects the second generation Apple Pencil as it hovers just above the display, giving a preview or action option before actually making contact. This improves precision for writing and drawing and is a feature that artists in particular should appreciate.

As with the previous M1 model, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with M2 has a Liquid Retina XDR display for extreme dynamic range, but the 11-inch model, with Liquid Retina display, misses out on XDR. 

Screen resolution is 2732 x 2048 pixels and Apple claims brightness maxes out at a bright 600nits, with up to 1000nits in XDR and peak brightness of 1600nits for HDR content only. In our testing we found the brightness very good in normal use, at a measured 403nits with True Tone on and 457nits with True Tone off. Excellent colour reproduction makes this vibrant screen a joy to use when looking at photos or watching videos. 

The rear cameras are 12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide, with a depth-sensing LiDAR scanner. The front camera is 12MP Ultra Wide, with the auto pan/zoom Centre Stage feature for video chats and presentations.

Following on from the M1 iPad Pro’s H.264 and HEVC hardware-accelerated video encoding, the M2 now adds ProRes and ProRes Raw which will excite video professionals. Video recording also includes ProRes at up to 4K at 30fps, but only 1080p at 30fps for the 128GB model.

Of course, as with the previous model, the iPad Pro’s USB-C port supports Thunderbolt/USB 4 for connecting external devices including storage and displays.

M2 power

The M2 chip is seriously fast. Our benchmarking showed a noticeable bump in CPU and graphics performance, while storage speed was also faster with this 2TB model compared to the 512GB 5th-gen M1 model we tested last time. 

There’s an 8-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores, plus 10-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine. It has an 100GB/s memory bandwidth, and the amount of internal memory you get depends on the model. Our 2TB test model came with 16GB RAM (as does the 1TB model) but the 128GB, 256GB or 512GB models get just 8GB RAM.

The increase in performance hasn’t come at the expense of battery life, as our heavy usage battery test rundown time of 5hr 32min is identical to what we achieved with the previous model. However, this model did take longer to charge using the supplied adapter connected directly to the iPad.

The four speakers provide a warmer than usual sound for a product of this type, with more bass than expected, and overall we found the audio performance very good. Vocal and instrument sound is crisp and clear, with plenty of detail, depth and even spacious stereo effects. This means you can enjoy listening to music without having to use headphones or cast to external speakers.

It’s important to remember that an iPad is not just the hardware – the operating system, iPadOS 16.3, provides an app-centric user experience that is quite different to an M2-equipped Mac, even using Stage Manager and an external display to give you multitasking with up to four apps on each screen at the same time. 

Pro-level apps

To get the most out of the iPad Pro you’ll need pro-level apps, but not all “pro” apps available for Mac are available for iPad. However, the inclusion of Apple’s M-class chips is enticing more and more developers to bring their top apps to the tablet platform, including recent updates and additions such as DaVinci Resolve for video editors and Affinity Publisher 2 for designers. 

With the right apps, the iPad Pro 12.9 can be a powerful professional tool. It can be used as a pro-level mobile studio for video capture and editing, or an artist’s mobile drawing and design dream tool. But make sure all the apps you need for your particular workflow are available before you fork out for this one.

Of course, all this power comes at a cost. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Wi-Fi only starts at $1899 with 128GB of storage. From there you double storage at each step to 256GB ($2079), 512GB ($2429), 1TB ($3129) and 2TB ($3829). Adding the cellular option gives you 5G (sub-6GHz), which costs an extra $250 up to the 512GB model, then $270 for the 1TB and 2TB options. It comes in either silver or space grey. 

Laptop alternative

Most users will want the Apple Pencil and a keyboard. The second-generation Apple Pencil adds $219 and you can choose between the cantilevered Magic Keyboard ($579), or the Smart Keyboard Folio ($329).

With a keyboard attached, the iPad Pro becomes useful as a laptop alternative or even, with the addition of an external display, a desktop substitute. The Magic Keyboard is the top-shelf option, with trackpad and backlighting, but is best used on a hard surface. 

Unlike laptops, that have the weight in the base, keyboard-tablet combos are necessarily top heavy. If you actually use it in your lap it can feel like it might topple back. 

There’s some tilt in the stand for angling the screen, but stability isn’t an issue in a regular office seating position. There’s an extra USB-C port in the base, giving you two useful ports in total, because the screen connects magnetically at the rear.

The keys feel spacious and have good travel and responsive feel, and the arrow keys have some breathing room around them. The backlighting comes on automatically when the ambient light is low.

If you’re in the market for a tablet that delivers amazing performance, you should give the 12.9-inch M2 iPad Pro some serious consideration.

The post Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch (M2) review appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

Tablets aren’t exactly suited to long reading sessions given the bright backlit screen’s tendency to cause eye strain. This is where e-readers have an advantage, but their scope is largely limited to e-books and basic web browsing.

TCL’s new tablet, the Nxtpaper 10s, aims to combine the best bits of these products into a mid-range tablet that’s easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, this jack-of-all-trades approach, combined with a few frustrating software bugs, means the 10s doesn’t quite cut is as an e-reader or tablet.

What makes the Nxtpaper 10s different?

TCL’s big hook is the ‘faux paper’ screen that looks and feels similar to an e-reader, with a fully functioning 10.1-inch LCD tablet underneath. It doesn’t use e-ink, instead the 10s replicates this experience with a matte screen and blue-light reduction technology designed to limit glare and eye strain. The screen’s protective coating claims to have a ‘paper-like’ feel that’s supposedly similar to using a pen on a notepad.

Though it’s not even close to ‘paper-like’, tapping and dragging your finger (or a stylus) feels much nicer than a typical tablet, with just the right amount of resistance. It’s suitable for jotting down notes and making lists, but doesn’t quite have the finesse that detailed drawing demands. The matte finish also covers up most fingerprints so you won’t be constantly wiping smears off with your shirt.

Screen quality

Matte screens are naturally darker than their glossy counterparts. But the 10s is dim, even by matte standards, which reduces clarity and punch across the board. While this can help reduce eye strain in low-light environments, such as reading in bed at night, you may have some difficulties under direct light or in a bright room.

That said, the matte screen does improve outdoor performance, even on a bright, sunny day. Things are still dim but much more legible than a glossy tablet in direct light, provided you’re looking at something with a white background. It’s much harder to make out anything on black (or photos or artwork), though this is to be expected outside.

If TCL increased the brightness then the Nxtpaper 10s would be a very good performer in these conditions, which would help it stand out from the pack. But in practice it’s only OK.

E-reading and text

As far as e-reading goes, the 10s does a reasonable job but can’t quite shake its tablet DNA. Text is clear and legible but lacks the clarity of an e-reader and the backlit punch of a tablet even though it’s trying to do both.

There’s an ‘e-reader mode’ that tries to improve these aspects by switching the screen to monochrome, but the hue isn’t quite right as things look a little sepia. It also introduces some purple fringing around text.

Photos, drawings and graphic novels

The paper-like screen does provide some benefits for colour photos, drawings, paintings and similar art such as graphic novels. It adds some depth, which helps generate deeper blacks, a little extra contrast, reasonably rich colours and warm skin tones.

Yet images still feel pretty subdued and soft, and the dim screen combined with increased contrast does cause some black crush. These elements will really stand out if you’re used to the vibrancy of a glossy tablet or computer screen.

General performance

Being a mid-range tablet, the Nxtpaper 10s’ performance is, unsurprisingly, middle of the road. It can handle day-to-day tasks like web browsing, checking emails and word processing, but the screen tends to judder while scrolling.

YouTube videos run just fine in 1080p, even though the picture quality is dark and a little soft, and high-performance games are generally smooth as well. However, graphics quality does typically drop to a low setting so the processor isn’t overloaded, and even then you can expect a few frames to drop here and there.

Input lag is very minor but pretty consistent, to the point where you’ll probably notice things are running just slightly behind. This isn’t a big deal when tapping away on the virtual keyboard, but writing and drawing with the stylus can become frustrating if you’re used to quickly scrawling across a piece of paper.

PC Mode

Some kits come bundled with a keyboard case, which does a decent enough job. When you attach it, the Nxtpaper 10s activates “PC Mode”, which changes the touch-screen-friendly interface into one reminiscent of a Windows laptop. It’s a cool idea that integrates the keyboard much more seamlessly than other tablets that force you to use the default operating system.

That is, until you remove the keyboard. While the Nxtpaper automatically activates PC Mode without any problems, it doesn’t revert back to tablet mode automatically once the keyboard is detached.

Resetting or shutting down doesn’t fix the problem either. Instead, you need to go into the Android settings and manually change it back to the default interface every single time. It’s an inexplicable oversight that will make people think their tablet is broken.

To illustrate the point, these are the steps you need to take. Remove keyboard, go to Settings then select Apps > Default apps > Home app and select the tablet’s default interface. This is major pain for anyone with a bit of Android knowhow, let alone the average user who is unlikely to have this kind of troubleshooting knowledge.

Size, weight and feel

Like the performance, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the design. Materials don’t feel particularly fancy or cheap, it’s not too heavy and also has basic but suitable aesthetics. The bezel may be a tad thick for some at close to one centimetre and the rear camera placement does make the tablet wobble if you’re using it on a flat surface. But those are the only real issues with the design.

Specifications

• Dimensions: 24cm x 16cm x 8.5cm
• Weight: 490g
• Screen size and resolution: 10.1 inches, 1920 x 1200.
• Battery: 8000mAh, all day charge (claimed).
• Camera resolution (rear and front): 8MP and 5MP.
• Storage: 64GB, expandable up to 256GB with microSD.
• RAM: 4GB

The post TCL Nxtpaper 10s review appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

How does the Surface Pro 8 perform?

We chose the entry-level model with a 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5-1135G7 main processor, 8GB RAM and Intel Iris Xe graphics (using shared memory) and 256GB solid-state storage.

The i5 and i7 models with 256GB or more storage are built on Intel’s EVO platform, which includes 11th Generation Intel Core processors and Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Wi-Fi 6 wireless networking, high-speed Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB Type-C) and more.

As you’d expect from newer model CPU and graphics chips, all our performance tests showed decent improvements over the previous generation, with the graphics in particular getting a noticeable boost. 

This means even the entry-level Surface Pro 8 is a good device for general gaming, but not so much for the more demanding elite titles. With a 256GB SSD (like the one in our test) you can’t install many large games easily anyway. If you want more storage, you can opt for the 512GB Intel Core i5 model for $2099.

Or if you’re really serious about building up your dream mobile PC, you can head up the price scale to a more powerful starting point such as the Intel Core i7 version with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD for $2698, or go even further with the Core i7 with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage for $3299. But don’t forget to allow for the added cost of the keyboard (see below) and any other external add-ons.

To cope with heavy processing demands, our Surface Pro 8 included a fan, which is vented through small holes around the top half of the rear of the tablet. This seems to work well, as there was no noticeable fan noise when we ran full processor loads in 3D rendering tests.

And the cooling system works so well there were no problems with overheating. We found only slight warmth on the rear of the tablet during heavy processing.

Bigger and better screen

The screen has grown from the 12.3 inches of its predecessor to 13 inches and it’s impressive, with a higher resolution (2880 x 1920 pixels) that makes it better for apps that need a lot of screen real estate. Microsoft’s “Adaptive Colour” feature makes the screen’s colour temperature change automatically to match ambient lighting, similar to Apple’s True Tone feature, which should make it easier on the eyes in different environments.

The PixelSense Flow touch display also has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which is a boost over the previous model. In practical terms, this means that when you scroll long documents or encounter scrolling text across the screen, you’re unlikely to encounter any noticeable blur. 

Brightness has been increased (measured at a very respectable 424nits), and we rated the screen as very good overall. Images were vivid, though we found the colours just a little on the warm side in testing compared to our reference screen, but most people will likely find this appealing. Viewing angles were excellent, as was the contrast, which showed clear details in dark and bright areas of our test image.

Body and keyboard

The Surface Pro 8 remains easy to handle due to its light weight and thin profile, despite being a little bigger and heavier than its predecessor, partly due to the addition of an active cooling system. 

Our Surface Pro 8 weighed in at 1188 grams with keyboard and pen (896g for the tablet only), compared to 1078 grams for the Surface Pro 7 (774g for the tablet only).

We added the optional (but highly recommended) Surface Pro Signature Keyboard with Slim Pen 2 ($429.95) so we could use the Surface Pro 8 as a laptop as well as a tablet. 

The build quality, as usual, is top notch and the built-in rear Kickstand adjusts nearly 180 degrees to allow the screen to lie back almost flat for writing and drawing.

The magnet that holds the keyboard in place is impressively strong and inspires confidence in handling it, particularly when you’re on the move. Meanwhile the screen and keyboard cover attach with a satisfying click, as has always been the case with Surface devices – remember the original , which had a bunch of people dancing around and snapping their keyboards and Surface devices together?

This is in stark contrast to the competing Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ which also attaches magnetically, but with a noticeably weaker connection meaning the screen and keyboard can part company far too easily. 

Microsoft’s Slim Pen 2 is easy to handle and provides smooth writing and drawing performance. It also won’t roll away when left on a table and is easy to store in the spine area of the keyboard (there’s no stowing point for it on the tablet itself).

Making the right connections

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6, which provided very good wireless transfer speeds in our testing, plus two very welcome high-speed (40Gbps) Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB Type-C) on the right-hand side. These provide scope to also run two external monitors for added full-window multi-tasking. There’s also Microsoft’s proprietary power connector, though USB-C can be used for power as well (unlike the previous model).

The addition of the two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports gives the Surface Pro 8 an edge over most other tablets, because they add versatility as well as external connectivity speed. This tablet truly can be used as a main home or office computer when the right dock is plugged in, whether Microsoft’s Surface Dock 2 ($420) or a third-party dock. 

In addition to adding external monitors for more screen space, you can tap into fast external storage and add USB Type-A ports to plug in older devices.

Storage surprises

Surprisingly, Microsoft has done away with the microSD card slot that used to reside on the underside of the kickstand in previous models. This would have been nice to keep to add a more semi-permanent storage space to the unit that you can easily install in just seconds. 

It’s not all bad news on the storage front though. The main storage chip is designed to be replaceable, so you can upgrade your storage down the track. 

However, you can’t do this yourself so you’ll have to get it done by an authorised technician. Still, this is better than being stuck with an internal chip that you can’t later upgrade for something bigger and better. 

Kudos to Microsoft for this move to improve sustainability. It would be nice to see this sort of feature turn up on more tablets.

Audio improved

Another surprise is how much the audio has been improved. It’s rich and strong, providing clear and detailed sound, with noticeable bass response which is impressive for a tablet. We rate the audio performance of the Surface Pro 8 as very good, and you could comfortably use it for personal listening.

Battery life

In our ‘worst case’ heavy usage testing, the Surface Pro 8 gave us nearly 5.5 hours of battery life, which is half an hour longer than we measured for the Surface Pro 7. Microsoft claims up to 16 hours based on typical Surface device usage, but that’s with settings minimised for maximum battery life. In normal usage it should easily give you a full day without any anxiety, so you can leave the charger at home when you’re out and about.

All things considered, and when you buy it with the optional keyboard cover, the Surface Pro 8 is one of the most versatile tablet computers on the market.

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How does the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ perform?

The S8+ has an impressive glossy 12.4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen that supplies vibrant colour and very deep blacks. It rated very good overall in our tests and in particular it did very well in our movie playback test.

The screen is very high resolution (2800 x 1752 pixels), with a high pixel density of 266ppi (pixels per inch), which makes individual dots undetectable to the naked eye. 

The screen refresh rate is up to 120Hz for buttery-smooth visuals and scrolling, and we measured the screen brightness at 321nits, which is respectable but significantly below its competition from Microsoft and Apple. 

The tablet is powered by an ‘Octa-core’ Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 system on a chip, which has Kyro CPU cores and Adreno 730 graphics and overall, it felt swift during our testing. Benchmarked processor performance was good and the graphics speed was OK. 

The storage read speed was quick at 1203MBps, but it was surprisingly let down by much slower storage writing speed (277MBps) which is less than a quarter of the read speed. The Wi-Fi 6 networking speed was very good though at 43MBps.

Battery life was 8hr 22min in our heavy usage test, which will see you through a full working day and last quite a bit longer with normal use, but we found it was slow to charge. Also, there’s no charger included, just a USB-C cable, so you’ll have to provide your own.

Our test model weighed in at just 574g for the tablet on its own, and 1085g with the keyboard cover and pen in place.

Keyboard cover option

We bought and tested the 128GB Wi-Fi 6 model at $1499, with the included S Pen, which is comfortable to write and draw with, as it has a bit of resistance to it which makes it more like drawing on paper than just a slick and slippery screen. 

The optional Book Cover Keyboard ($359) includes a kickstand for support, similar to Microsoft’s Surface range. A built-in Micro SD card slot is handy for adding extra storage, which is something you no longer get with Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8, and you never got with the Apple iPad.

A strong magnet at the back of the tablet holds the S Pen in place, and when you use the keyboard attachment, there’s a flip-down portion of the cover for accessing the pen.

The keyboard cover provides a good typing experience, but it opens out flat in use, not angled up slightly like a normal keyboard or the keyboard on a Microsoft Surface tablet. The touchpad is relatively small compared to a notebook computer, but it’s usable and presented no problems.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the keyboard cover’s magnetic attachment. We found that it had an annoying tendency to come apart from the tablet far too easily, which is enough to make you nervous, and this takes some of the shine off its notebook-mode performance. 

The connection is weak enough that the keyboard comes off the tablet with a small push of the thumb (which is very difficult to do with a Surface tablet).

Don’t pick this Samsung tablet up by the keyboard ‘base’ if you want the two parts to stay together, and take care using it by sitting it on your knees when out and around and not at a desk.

When using it as a notebook, you can make use of the  app, which makes the Android interface look more like a traditional desktop. You can plug into an external monitor using the USB-C port (which is non-Thunderbolt), and if you’re using a hub, an external keyboard and mouse can also be plugged in.

The 12MP ultra wide front camera is great for online video conferencing, and of note is that it’s positioned on the long side of the tablet so it can be used in landscape orientation, which is particularly useful when the tablet is connected to the keyboard in notebook mode. 

At rear there’s a 13MP camera plus 6MP ultra wide and flash. The speakers produce good sound and are fine for ambient listening, but there’s no headphone port, so make sure you have some wireless headphones or ear buds for private listening.

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What makes the iPad Air special?

We tried out the fifth-generation iPad Air courtesy of Apple and found it a big jump up from the standard iPad. It’s now much closer in power and features to the current model 11-inch iPad Pro (3rd-generation), though the iPad Air’s “Liquid Retina” display screen remains at 10.9-inches (2360 x 1640 pixels), just shy of the 11-inch (2388 x 1668 pixels) iPad Pro screen.

How much extra speed does the M1 bring to the table? Apple says that compared to the previous (4th-gen) iPad Air, the M1 chip’s 8-core CPU is up to 60% faster and the 8-core graphics up to twice as fast. There’s also the M1’s next-generation 16-core Neural Engine that drives the machine learning which underpins much of the iPad’s advanced 3D and AR (augmented reality) capabilities. 

All of this gives a pretty decent speed increase to this iPad over the previous version, and over the standard iPad. This brings the iPad Pro-level power to non-professionals for creativity and fun. 

The extra processing power works behind the scenes to make everything happen quickly (which makes the iPad Air feel very responsive) and to provide such benefits as handwriting and graphics that are silky-smooth. 

The impact will also be felt particularly in apps that are optimised for the M1 chip, though much still needs to be done in this area by third-party developers to optimise their apps, both for productivity and high-level games.

Faster connectivity

The iPad Air’s upgraded connectivity now includes 5G cellular networking, and a USB-C port that’s double the speed of the previous model – it’s now USB 3.2 Gen2, rated at up to 10Gbps (gigabits per second). 

The Smart Connector for keyboards is in the bottom edge when held vertically and the Touch ID fingerprint reader is on the top.

The iPad Air works with the optional second-generation Apple Pencil ($199), which pairs and charges while attached magnetically to the tablet’s edge, and uses the same cantilevered Magic Keyboard ($499) designed for the 11-inch iPad Pro. Or you can opt for the Smart Folio Keyboard ($269) or Smart Folio cover ($109).

Better camera

The front camera gets a big upgrade from the 7MP (megapixels) of the previous Air to a 12MP (megapixel) Ultra Wide camera with the Centre Stage feature, which automatically pans to keep you in view while video chatting or presenting (with the arrival of the Air, all iPads in the line-up now have this feature). 

The 12MP Wide camera on the back of iPad Air shoots 4K video, as previously, but now with extended dynamic range for video up to 30 fps (frames per second).

Comparing Air vs Pro

So, with the M1 chip in the Air narrowing the performance gap, you might wonder what the 11-inch Pro model has that the Air doesn’t – and do you need it?

The 11-inch Pro gets a much faster USB-C port (40Gbps Thunderbolt/USB 4); ProMotion screen technology (adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz; 10MP Ultra Wide rear camera; 2x optical zoom out; 100nits more brightness (up to 600nits); a few more pixels; stereo recording; four-speaker audio; Portrait Mode, Face ID and LiDAR scanner; plus more internal storage options (up to 2TB). 

For some people that will be enough to outlay the extra $300 price difference for the Pro. That’s the current Pro model, though. Expect the next generation of Pro models, when released, to widen the gap again – and likely the price. 

Meanwhile, the 5th-gen iPad Air gives most people everything they need to go well beyond the standard iPad and rub shoulders with the Pros, but at a lower cost.

Pricing for the Air starts at $929 for the Wi-Fi version with 64GB (gigabytes), or $1159 for 256GB capacity. Adding 5G cellular to either model is an extra $230. It comes in five colours: space grey, starlight, pink, purple and blue.

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Apple has upgraded the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in all the right areas – processor, storage, connectivity, and screen. We took a 512GB model with Wi-Fi and cellular for a spin courtesy of Apple, along with the cantilevered and backlit Magic Keyboard and second-generation Apple Pencil (both of which you’ll probably want if you’re seriously considering this top-shelf tablet). 

M1 CPU and mini-LED screen

For the first time, this iPad Pro comes with Apple’s own M1 chip that is used in its MacBooks, rather than an A-series chip of the two previous generations (A12z and A12x). This lifts this particular iPad to another level of possibilities for the pro-level users at which this device is aimed.

The M1 chip has a built-in 8-core CPU and 8-core graphics plus Apple’s 16-core Neural Engine and either 8GB RAM or 16GB RAM in the 1TB and 2TB models. This spec is on par with the MacBooks that have been breaking benchmark records since their debut.

So, impressive performance is a given, but the high-resolution (2732-by-2048 pixel) mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display screen quality needs to be seen first-hand to really be appreciated. XDR refers to extreme dynamic range, a step up from the high dynamic range (HDR) that is commonplace on high quality screens. The iPad Pro’s screen technology is similar to that of Apple’s high-end 32-inch 6K desktop screen, the Pro Display XDR, that sells for $8500.

The iPad Pro’s screen uses the latest mini-LED technology (120 times smaller LEDs than the previous generation) and has a million-to-one contrast ratio. And this screen is very bright – up to 1000nits for the full screen (when screens with even 500nits are considered quite bright) and up to 1600nits peak brightness with HDR.

Thunderbolt, Wi-Fi 6 and 5G

Processing data faster than ever means you need faster connectivity to get that data in and out, and the iPad Pro has some vital changes.

Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth 5.0, as previously, but now there’s also Wi-Fi 6, and 5G cellular. Wired connectivity is still via one USB Type‑C connector, but this time round it gets a massive speed boost with Thunderbolt/USB 4 (up to 40Gbps).

This is a big improvement in connectivity speed and options, particularly for professional workflows. For example, you can plug in an external Thunderbolt SSD (solid-state drive) and work directly from it for video editing in LumaFusion 3 (apps need to support this sort of workflow) or connect a Thunderbolt hub to attach multiple drives and devices.

That external connectivity is important, because as with all iPads (and many laptops) you need to decide upfront on how much built-in storage capacity you need, because you can’t change it later. 

For ultimate storage and performance, you can pack the iPad Pro with 2TB of internal storage. However, as we noted above, the inclusion of Thunderbolt means you could spend less on the relatively expensive internal storage options and attach a fast high-capacity external drive, if your apps and workflow support that. 

The rear-facing cameras are still 12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide and the iPad retains the LiDAR camera for accurate depth and object sensing, which makes this a great device for augmented reality apps. 

The front camera is now a 12MP Ultra Wide, with a 122‑degree field of view, which makes great use of the Center Stage feature of iPadOS 15. This automatically pans to track you in video calls when you move around in the frame. It automatically adjusts back when other people enter the picture and is great for presentations. There’s also the TrueDepth camera that unlocks the iPad with face recognition. 

How much does it cost?

Our middle-range test model with 512GB of storage plus Wi-Fi and 5G cellular will set you back $2349. At the low end, the base model with 128GB of storage and Wi-Fi only, starts at $1649, while the highest-spec model with 2TB of storage and Wi-Fi plus 5G cellular, takes you up to a whopping $3549. 

If you don’t want to max-out the internal storage at 2TB, options include 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The $1649 starting price for the 128GB iPad Pro 12.9 Wi-Fi model hasn’t changed from the last model, and adding 5G cellular costs an extra $250. The Apple Pencil (second-generation) pricing hasn’t changed either at $199, but the Magic Keyboard at $549 in either white or black is $40 less than previously.

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