iPhone Secrets by Bob Knows Repairs

Here are just a few secrets we've collected and are ready to share:

Make TouchID work faster:
Save the same fingerprint multiple times as different entries and TouchID will work much faster. This is especially useful on older phones like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s.

Spotlight conversions: 
Open Spotlight (pull down) and type something like “20 euros in GBP,” and it will instantly perform the conversion.

Spotlight math: Want to do a quick math problem? No need to open the Calculator app, just pull down to open Spotlight and type it right there.

Delete numbers in the Calculator:
Speaking of the Calculator, you can delete single digits when you tap the wrong number by swiping left or right on the screen where the numbers appear.

Clear RAM to make your phone run faster:
Hold down the power button until you see “Slide to power off,” then let go and hold down the home button until the screen goes blank and your home screen reappears.

Remote shutter:
Use the volume up or down button on your headphones to snap a photo in the Camera app.

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5 Easy Ways to Free Up Storage Space on Your iPhone By Conner Carey

Running out of storage is annoying. And unless you have a phone with lots of gigabytes, you’re likely going to run into this problem sooner or later. In the past when this has happened to me, I looked for the fastest and easiest way to free up some quick storage and move along. That means the simpler the tip, the better. There are multiple places on iPhone where storage is being used that you might not even consider; so here’s five easy way to free up space.

   1. Delete Photos and Music You Don’t Need

I hesitated to include this, because it seems obvious. But it’s always a good first step when you need to clear storage. Music especially takes up a lot of space if you have a decent collection, and if you have Apple Music, there’s no need to keep everything downloaded on your phone. So do a quick check of photos and delete any you don’t want to keep. Then go to music and do the same. If you have Apple Music, consider removing downloads but keeping the song in your My Music collection. You’ll get the best of both worlds: extra storage and lots of music.

   2. Delete Message Attachments

My friends and I love to send silly, funny pictures and gifs to each other constantly. If you receive a lot of messages with attachments, those pictures or videos are probably taking up a lot of storage without you realizing it. There are two ways to solve this. You can go to Settings, open Messages, and change your Message History to 30 days, OR open your Messages app and select a friend who you often exchange photos with via messages. Tap Details, then scroll down to see all of the Attachments. Press and hold a photo. The option to Copy, Delete, and More will pop-up. To select multiple photos to delete, tap More. Then select all the photos you want to delete and select the trashcan in the bottom corner.

   3. Delete Apps That Take Up Too Much Storage

Just like you can see which apps are taking up a lot of battery, you can view which apps are taking up a lot of storage too. If you love and often use an app, it may be worth keeping even if it uses a decent chunk of space. However, if you have extraneous apps you don’t often use that are taking up space, deleting a few of them will give you a good boost. To do this, open Settings, tap General. Select Storage & iCloud Usage. Under Storage, tap Manage Storage. Here, you’ll see how much storage you have available and how much is being used, as well as how much each app is using. If apps you aren’t using are taking up space, tap on the app and select Delete App. If you do this for multiple apps, you’ll have gained a gigabyte of storage pretty easily.

   4. Clear Browser Cache

To provide faster load times, Safari collects information on websites you often visit and saves data in the cache. But if you need some extra storage, this is an easy thing to clear. Open your Settings, tap Safari. Then select Clear History and Website Data. This will remove history, cookies, and other browsing data.

   5. Turn Off HDR Photos

Did you know when your iPhone takes a photo it’s actually taking three? HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a Camera function that “blends the best parts of three separate exposures into a single photo.” It also saves the normally exposed photo and the HDR version. That means every time you take a photo, two are being created. If you don’t care whether or not you have the normal photo, you can turn this function off. Go to Settings. Tap Photos & Camera. Scroll to the bottom and toggle off Keep Normal Photo.

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How to add shortcuts to your Windows 10 Start menu By Will Argeros

If you don’t want to mess around with tiles in the Windows 10 Start menu, you can easily go back to shortcuts. By following these steps, you'll feel just like you're using earlier versions of Windows again.

1. Open the Start menu
2. Click "settings"
3. Click "personalization"
4. Click "Start"
5. Click "Choose which folders appear on Start"
6. Toggle the folders you want to see

Now when you open your start menu, your shortcuts are right where you want them!

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How to use Apple’s iOS Night Shift mode by Daniel Howley

The latest version of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, iOS 9.3, has landed. And with it comes a whole host of improvements including updates to Health, Apple Music, Notes, and News.

But the most noteworthy improvement to iOS 9.3 is a new feature called Night Shift. No, this isn’t some mode you use only when the kids go to bed. Instead, the feature is designed to help improve your sleep by reducing the amount of blue light emitted by your device’s display.

According to Scientific American, blue light produces a specific wavelength that slows the release of melatonin — which helps regulate our sleep cycles — in our brains. That means that when you’re using your smartphone in bed at night, you’re directly affecting the quality of your night’s sleep.

To address this, Apple’s Night Shift filters out the display’s blue light, creating a warm-looking image. Want to try out Night Shift for yourself? Here’s how.

After downloading iOS 9.3, open the Settings app, select Display & Brightness, and tap Night Shift.

If you want to set the feature to turn on automatically, select Scheduled and set the times you’d like to enable and disable Night Shift.

If you’d rather manually control Night Shift, choose Manually Enable Until Tomorrow.

You can also control how much blue light is filtered out of the display by moving the color temperature slider to More Warm. Add more blue light by sliding it to Less Warm.

IOS 9.3 also adds a Night Shift shortcut to the iOS Control Center accessible by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

It’s worth noting that Apple says Night Shift “may” help you get a better night’s sleep. What’s more, Fortune reports that DisplayMate Technologies president Raymond Soneira, one of the display industry’s most respected experts, claims that Night Shift offers more of a placebo effect than anything else.

So give the feature a try — just don’t expect it to completely fix your poor night’s sleep.

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5 Google Maps tips only the pros know By Komando Staff

Google Maps is one of the most powerful tools available on your computer, smartphone or tablet. It can help you get to your destination, find places to get gas or eat, see remote locations at ground level, view satellite and terrain features and so much more.

If you don't have Google Maps, you're just missing out.

Even better, the mapping service gets regular updates with cool new features. The best part is that it's free for personal AND business use. When you're trying to bring your business overhead under control, any great free tool is welcome news. For personal use, well, let's say you don't have to fold a map anymore.

Google Maps can probably do much more for your personal life and your business than you realize. I'm going to tell you some new and hidden features that only the pros know.

Before I go into those, make sure you have the most up-to-date version of Google Maps on your phone. If you are using an older version, you may not have all the goodies I am about to share with you.

While you're at it, grab Google Earth that used to cost $400, but is now FREE. Yes, you can now get the $400 Google Professional mapping program free. You can get it now, or anytime, at this link on my site: Google Earth Pro. Ready? Let's get started!

1. Traffic Alerts

Arriving late to an important meeting is never a good thing. That's why you should leave early and take the best route. However, what you think is the best route might turn out to be a traffic nightmare.
Google has just added Traffic Alerts to the Google Maps app that give you the best real-time option. Simply put in your location and destination like normal and Google will give you several routes you can take.
In addition to the usual distance and time, Google will tell you which one is the best route based on current traffic conditions. It also takes into account anticipated traffic conditions.
If you're on the go and something along your planned route changes, Google will alert you. It tells you what obstacles or traffic jams are in your way and how long it will take to get through it. If there's a faster route available, Google will give you the option to switch to that.

2. Offline Maps

Not everywhere you're going to travel is going to have cellular or Wi-Fi, especially if you do business in remote locations. Before you head out, download the Google Maps data to your phone so you can use it even with no Wi-Fi or cell service.
Open Google Maps and search for a city or region, like "Phoenix, AZ." Once it loads, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get the area's infocard. Then tap the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner and tap "Save offline map."
Now you can pan and zoom to capture the area you want. Then tap "Save" to download it to your phone. Note that depending on the area it could take up a lot of space on your gadget. Also, you'll want to do this over Wi-Fi so you don't burn up your data plan.

3. Share your location

When you need to share a meeting location with a client or employee, exact directions are really important. Maybe they wrote down the wrong location or your directions weren't quite correct.

Sidestep the confusion by sharing the location direction from the Google Maps app. Simply tap the location you want to meet and hold until a red pin appears. Then tap the pin and tap the Share option.
You can send the location to the person through text, social media, email, cloud services and much more. It will open for them in their Google Maps app, and they can easily get directions from wherever they are.

4. See where you've been

Knowing where you're going is important, but it also helps sometimes to see where you've been. Maybe you need to expense your miles driven, or you just want a record of the stops you've made.

By default, Google tracks your location and stores the data for 30 days. You can bring it up in the Google Location History page. Click here to find that page, and learn how to turn off tracking when you don't want it on.

5. Plan the best route with multiple addresses

Google Maps is good for finding a good route to one or two locations, but what if you need to plan the most efficient route to a dozen different locations? That's a bit more than Google Maps can easily handle.

Fortunately, you can use Google Earth Pro instead. As I said above, it used to be a $400 program, but now it's free for everyone. It lets you easily add and import addresses to create custom routes. You can also use it to see demographic and business information to help you expand your business.

If you're trying to find the most efficient route, however, you might want to take a look at a third party like RouteXL. It's powered by Google Maps, but makes it easier to import addresses and create efficient routes. You can then print, download or share the route. It's free for up to 20 addresses.

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iPad Pro 9.7 vs iPad Air 2 By James Rogerson

Apple's follow-up to the iPad Air 2 has been a long time coming. Not that we've felt that in need of one, as the iPad Air 2 is still, remarkably, one of the best tablets around.

In fact, Apple probably needed this long to create a new slate that meaningfully improved on its old one. So does the 9.7-inch iPad Pro do that?

It's certainly more powerful, and with a new moniker it's clear that Apple sees it as a new and different thing, which it's backed up with the likes of Apple Pencil support. But how much has really changed? And is it worth opting for, especially as it's more expensive than the iPad Air 2?

We've put the two slates head to head so you can decide for yourself.

• Hands on 9.7-inch iPad Pro review | 12.9-inch iPad Pro

Key features

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is basically the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in a smaller package, which means you get support for the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, plus a whole lot of power. Yet being a smaller size makes it more portable, which is why it's in many ways a successor to the iPad Air 2.

Speaking of the iPad Air 2, that was for a long time Apple's main flagship tablet, melding style, power and a large, but not too large, screen. A great quality display also helped, but it's getting on a bit now and you'll find all the same features and more in the iPad Pro (9.7-inch), albeit at a higher price.

Design

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro might be a very different beast to the iPad Air 2, but on the surface they're very similar. Both slates have a slim metal shell and both come in space grey, silver or gold, though the 9.7-inch iPad Pro also adds rose gold into the mix.

They also have exactly the same dimensions and weight, coming in at 240 x 169.5 x 6.1mm and 437g.

It's impressive that Apple's managed to pack so much power into such a small frame, but there are some changes, and they work in the iPad Pro (9.7-inch)'s favour. It has four speakers for example, providing far richer sounds, and it has a Smart Connector so you can attach Apple's Smart Keyboard to it.

Screen

At first glance the screen could seem similar too, as both tablets have a 9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 display, for a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch.

But there's a lot more going on with the iPad Pro's screen. It has a True Tone display, which can dynamically adjust the white balance, matching the light around you to make reading more comfortable.

It's also 25% brighter and 40% less reflective than the iPad Air 2's screen, which will be enormously useful when using it outside. Plus, it has 25% greater colour saturation, for more vivid colours than the iPad Air 2.

In short the size and resolution might not have changed but the overall quality of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's screen should be a massive upgrade and that's saying something, as the iPad Air 2 already has a great display.

CPU

Apple's given its new slate a big boost in power as well, with the iPad Pro (9.7-inch) packing the same Apple A9X chip as the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is a huge upgrade on the iPad Air 2's A8X chip.

In fact, according to Apple the 9.7-inch iPad Pro offers up to 1.8 times the CPU performance and up to double the graphics performance of the iPad Air 2.

As fast as the iPad Air 2 is it's still just a tablet, while the iPad Pro (9.7-inch) is designed to be able to replace your PC, through a combination of serious horsepower and optional accessories, like the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard. So it's better for productivity and going forward the extra power should start to benefit it for games and apps too.

Camera

Apple's even pushed the boat out with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro's camera, giving it a 12MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing one, just like the iPhone 6S. It can shoot video in 4K, take Live Photos and sports a True Tone flash, along with a Retina flash on the front to brighten up selfies.

The iPad Air 2 meanwhile has just an 8MP rear camera, a 1.2MP front-facing snapper and can only shoot video in up to 1080p. On paper it seems like the 9.7-inch iPad Pro should have a significantly better snapper than the iPad Air 2 and one of the best cameras ever to grace a tablet, but it's still a tablet, so you still shouldn't be using it as a camera.

Battery life

Battery life is one area which doesn't appear to have changed much, as Apple's quoting the iPad Pro (9.7-inch) as lasting for up to 10 hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi, watching videos or listening to music and it makes exactly the same claims about the iPad Air 2.

We'll let you know how the new Pro holds up in practise once we've put it through a full review, but the iPad Air 2 has pretty solid battery life and will easily last a day of quite heavy use, so the same is likely to be true here.

Price

Apple's starting the 9.7-inch iPad Pro at US$599 (£499, AU$899) for a 32GB Wi-Fi only model, rising to US$749 (£619, AU$1,149) for 128GB and US$899 (£739, AU$1,399) for 256GB.

If you want it with mobile data too you're looking at US$729 (£599, AU$1,099) for 32GB, US$879 (£719, AU$1,349) for 128GB and US$1,029 (£839, AU$1,599) for 256GB.

That's a lot of money and a lot more than the iPad Air 2 currently costs. Apple's previous flagship tablet can be grabbed for US$399 (£349, AU$599) with 16GB of storage or US$499 (£429, AU$729) with 64GB.

That's Wi-Fi only, for a model with mobile data it rises to US$529 (£449, AU$759) for 16GB or US$629 (£529, AU$889) for 64GB. There's no longer a 128GB model available and there was never a 256GB iPad Air 2.

So the iPad Air 2 is substantially more affordable than the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but it's still far from cheap and has lesser specs and fewer features.

If you don't want all the productivity tools of the iPad Pro the Air 2 could be the better buy, but you'll still miss out on a better screen, improved speakers and a more powerful processor.

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Top Charging Cords That Are Virtually Indestructible By Conner Carey

When you buy your iPhone, or other iDevice, a charging cord is included. However, it doesn’t take long before that cord begins to show some wear and tear. When it stops working altogether, you want to replace it with a cord that will last forever. More and more companies are coming out with iPhone charging cords that are virtually indestructible. And while you may spend a little more now on a new cord, you’ll save yourself money, and a lot of headaches, later on. Here are the top charging cords for iPhone that are virtually indestructible.

Titan ($35)

The Titan charging cord is made of industrial-grade cable and is wrapped in two layers of flexible, high-strength steel. There’s no chance of frayed cables or teeth marks from puppies with this cord. Titan is also back by a limited lifetime warranty, and you can watch a video on the website of a chainsaw attempting to cut it half, to no avail.

MOS Spring ($19.95)

If you prefer a cable that’s flexible like a regular cable but is made of the best material, MOS Spring is another great option. This cable is covered in woven fabric and has springs around either end to protect the areas where fraying happens most. The heads are made of Aluminum and it’s available in four different lengths. The price varies on the length you want to buy, but MOS provides a lifetime warranty on every cable they sell.

Snakable ($29.99)

Snakable uses its patent-pending strain relief assembly on either side of the cord to prevent the biggest problem cords have: fraying. The cord comes in various ‘elemental’ colors, and while the company makes no claim to the cord being indestructible, it does offer a three year warranty to back up Snakable’s no-fray promise.

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How to Set Your iPhone to Erase All Data After 10 Failed Passcode Attempts

Passcode Attempts

Apple has done a great job of making our iPhones secure. If you have data or images on your iPhone that you want no one without the code to ever be able to see, you can set your iPhone to erase all data after 10 failed passcode attempts (this will not delete data in iCloud). This is not a setting you should turn on lightly because if anyone fails to open your phone after those 10 attempts, everything on the phone disappears and you’ll have to start from scratch. However, as a security measure, it’s a great way to make sure your data is secure.

To set your iPhone to erase all data after 10 failed passcode attempts, open your Settings app. Scroll down and tap Touch ID & Passcode. Enter your passcode to continue.


Scroll to the very bottom of the page and you’ll see Erase Data. Below this it states, “Erase all data on this iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts." Toggle on Erase Data to enable this function. It will ask you to confirm, tap Enable.

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SURGE PROTECTION Summer is lightning season. Keep your devices safe from storms.

AT A GLANCE: Surge protection is important because a power spike can damage or ruin your electronics at any time. It's even more important around storm season when power grids can be vulnerable to electrical storms, downed trees, and cranked-up A/C, which can quickly destroy sensitive equipment. The average household gets 350 power surges per year Overvoltage, power surges and voltage spikes occur five times a day on average Over 50% of equipment failure can be attributed to power surge/failure SHOP COLLECTION >

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS A SURGE PROTECTOR? A surge protector is your first line of defense against voltage spikes and power surges that can harm or even ruin your electronic equipment. Power strips, which provide extension and extra outlets, may look like surge protectors, but they don't offer any safeguard from voltage fluctuations. PROTECT YOUR DEVICES NOW >

WHAT IS A POWER SURGE? A power surge is a short-term spike in voltage when something boosts the electrical charge in the power lines. Power surges in the home are commonly caused by turning high-powered electrical devices like an A/C system on or off. Other causes might include faulty wiring, downed power lines or lightning strikes sometimes caused by stormy weather. Experts recommend that you replace your surge protector every 3-4 years. SEE OUR SURGE PROTECTORS >

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Sponsor Content: The difference between cloud backup and cloud storage By Komando Staff

 There's a cloud casting a shadow over the Internet, but it's not necessarily a bad cloud. In fact, most Internet companies are rushing to embrace this cloud.

The cloud we're talking about is actually the Internet cloud. It's basically a fancy name for Internet companies storing your information on their servers so you can access it from anywhere.

The cloud makes it easy to move information between your gadgets; share files, photos and videos with friends, family and co-workers; stream music and movies; back up your information; and so on. As gadgets get faster Internet, more things you used to do locally are moving to the cloud.

However, cloud services aren't created equal. Some are better for one thing than another, and that's just the case with cloud storage vs. cloud backup. There is a difference, and if you choose the wrong one, you can say goodbye to your precious information.

Cloud Storage

First let's look at cloud storage. This works like an online hard drive where you can upload documents, photos and other things you want to share between your gadgets or with other people.

Popular cloud storage services include Dropbox, Apple iCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and too many more to name. These give you anywhere from 5GB to 15GB of storage space for free, and you can pay if you want more.

Moving files to these services is easy enough, either with a browser-based control panel, or a computer program that lets you drag and drop files to a special sharing folder. It's easy, and for syncing files across gadgets or sharing them with others, it works well.

Some of these cloud storage services are integrated by default with mobile gadgets as well. Android gadgets come with Google Drive, Apple gadgets have iCloud and Windows Phone comes with OneDrive. And on mobile gadgets, these can work like backup systems.

However, one thing I see a lot of people trying to do is use cloud storage for backup on computers, and that doesn't work.

A lot of people treat cloud storage like a second hard drive. They'll move files to their account and delete the one on their computer or gadget to save space. Or they'll upload one version of a file and then not update it with a newer version.

If the cloud service goes down for any reason, that one copy of the file might be gone for good. That's what happened to a lot of people, and even some companies, when the service MegaUpload got shut down three years ago. The FBI took the servers, and most people still haven't gotten their files.

Going the other direction, if your computer dies, you still have the copy of your file in the cloud. However, it might not be the most recent version. And what about the important files you didn't move to the cloud? Those are gone forever.

Cloud Backup

Cloud backup, on the other hand, creates copies of your files in the cloud. That means if either your computer or the service goes down, you still have a recent copy somewhere. And because the cloud backup service stores your files in a remote location, it's immune to local disasters and thefts.

Not only that, unlike cloud storage, cloud backup is automatic. It uploads all your recent versions of important files for you. A good cloud backup service even detects when files change and backs up the new versions automatically. You don't have to do a thing to keep your files safe.

Plus, like cloud storage, you can access your backed up files at any time from any gadget. The only thing cloud backup isn't as good at is sharing files with other people and letting them make changes.

So, what company do we recommend for cloud backup? It's called Carbonite, and while it is a sponsor on the Kim Komando Show and Komando.com, it's also a service Kim has used for years.

Like a good cloud backup service, it automatically backs up your important files, and uses double encryption to do it, which keeps hackers out of your business. Your files are stored on servers in secure data centers, and even Carbonite employees can't open your files.

However, you can view or restore your backed up files to any computer or gadget. For your smartphone or tablet, be sure to grab the Carbonite Mobile app.

The bottom line, is that there really is no better way to backup your files. Start your 15-day risk-free trial now and you'll quickly see why we love it so much. Be sure to enter promo code KIM to get two free months when you decide to buy.

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Review: Samsung’s TabPro S is the Windows 10 slate you didn’t know you wanted by Daniel Howley

I’m a fan of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4, ditto Apple’s iPad Pro. But both have one glaring flaw: They don’t come with keyboards. To get one for the Surface you’ll have to shell out an extra $130; the iPad’s will cost you an additional $170.

Samsung’s new 12-inch Galaxy TabPro S is different. A productivity tablet in the vein of the Surface and iPad Pro, the $800 TabPro S combines the capability of a Windows 10 laptop with the portability and touchscreen of a tablet. But unlike those other pro tablets, it comes with a keyboard.

But is that enough reason to buy this portable powerhouse?

Slim and svelte

There’s thin and light, and then there’s the TabPro S. Measuring 11.4 x 7.8 x 0.25 inches and weighing just 1.5 pounds, the TabPro S is an absolute lightweight.

By comparison, the Surface Pro 4 (which has a slightly larger 12.3-inch screen) is both bigger (11.5 x 7.9 x 0.33) and heavier (1.7 pounds). And Apple’s iPad Pro (with its ginormous 12.9-inch screen) measures 12.0 x 8.7 x 0.27 inches and weighs 1.6 pounds. But, to be realistic, those weight differences are negligible; you probably won’t notice 0.2 pounds.

Of the three slates, the TabPro S is easily the most comfortable to use as an actual tablet. The Surface Pro 4 is a bit too bulky, while the iPad Pro is just too big. I wouldn’t say the TabPro S is ideal for use as a tablet: It’s still too large and heavy to hold for long periods of time. And you’ll certainly want to avoid dropping it on your face during your bedtime Web-browsing sessions. But it’s the still most usable of the three.

Understated styling

There’s nothing particularly lust-worthy about the TabPro S’ looks. If I had to sum up its design, I’d say it’s understated and inoffensive. The slate largely follows the same styling as Samsung’s other Galaxy tablets, complete with an aluminum chassis and plastic back panel.

The TabPro S looks like it was built for business users. Its buttoned up design would look perfectly at home in your office next to your stack of TPS reports. 

That’s not exactly a bad thing, either. Slates don’t have to be as fashionable as smartphones; you don’t carry one around as often as you do your phone.

In fact, with its keyboard cover attached, the TabPro S looks more like an attorney’s notepad than a tablet. So while the TabPro S might not be a stunner, it’s certainly attractive.

Gorgeous screen

The big selling point for the TabPro S, beyond the fact that it’s an incredibly thin Windows 10 2-in-1, is its gorgeous 12-inch display. The TabPro’s screen is the first 12-inch panel that uses Super AMOLED (active matrix of organic light-emitting diodes). It’s also the first Windows 10 machine with such a display.

That’s a big deal because Super AMOLED displays are known for producing incredibly vibrant colors and endlessly deep blacks. To date, they’ve generally been used on smartphones and smaller slates. But seeing such a screen on a large tablet running Windows makes for a completely different experience.

While using the TabPro S, I regularly found myself admiring little things, like the way the Spotify logo on my desktop looked far more brilliant than it did on the Surface Pro 4 or the iPad Pro. 

Websites looked better. Even Google’s iconic logo looked like it was painted on the slate’s screen, compared to the way it looked on the iPad and Surface. Movies and photos will look fantastic on the Samsung’s display.

Beyond offering beautiful colors, the TabPro S’ display also helps with power management. That’s because, when the the TabPro S shows blacks, it actually turns off individual pixels. This, in turn, saves battery power.

Keyboard included

It might sound like a silly thing to harp on, but the fact that the Galaxy TabPro S actually comes with a keyboard case is ridiculously helpful. Like I said, neither Apple nor Microsoft provide keyboard cases with their slates; as noted above, adding those keyboards will add $130 to $170 to the price of the tablet.

Even though the TabPro S keyboard is free, that doesn’t mean it’s subpar. I’ve yet to find a keyboard case that’s as comfortable to type on as my MacBook Air. I’m beginning to think I never will. One problem: I like a lot of key travel, and keyboard covers must be so thin, they don’t provide room for much movement.

Like Microsoft’s Surface Pro Keyboard, Samsung’s keyboard features large keys with a hair’s width of space between them. Going from my MacBook’s keyboard to the TabPro S’ took a lot of getting used to: I still make a lot of typing errors on it, in part because even a slightly misplaced finger can cause you to hit the wrong key. It’s just not as forgiving as a normal keyboard.

That said, I’ve got to credit Samsung for including such a responsive touchpad. The thing even produces a satisfying mechanical click when you press down on it. It’s also exceptionally smooth, your fingers simply glide across its surface.

As with Apple’s Smart Keyboard, Samsung’s cover doubles as a stand for your slate. But whereas Apple’s offering can only be used in a single position while typing, Samsung’s has two: a 65-degree angle position for when you’re at your desk, and a 25-degree angle for if you want a more relaxed position.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro has a stand conveniently built into its back panel; that’s convenient some of the time, but it also makes it incredibly hard to type on your lap. The TabPro S is actually quite easy use on our lap — not as easy as an actual laptop, but if you’re commuting to work on the bus or the train in the morning, you can still tap out some notes without fear.

I do have one concern about Samsung’s keyboard (which connects to the slate via a magnetic connector): It’s incredibly flimsy. If you’re holding it on your lap and lean on it a bit, you’ll feel as though you’re going to break it in half. Still for a free keyboard, it’s not half bad.

Performance and battery life

Here’s where the Galaxy TabPro S kind of hits a wall. Samsung equipped the TabPro S with an Intel Core M3 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage space. For most people. that’s more than enough power for things like browsing the web, streaming Netflix, and writing text documents.

If you’re looking for something more powerful, though, perhaps for hardcore photo or video editing, the TabPro S isn’t going to cut it.

If you do need more computing horsepower, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is the way to go — but it’ll cost you. The base $899 Surface Pro 4 offers the same computing power as the TabPro S for the same money. Right now, however, Microsoft is also selling the Surface Pro 4 with a Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of storage for $899 as well. So Microsoft has Samsung beat for both price and performance.

The TabPro S does beat the Surface Pro and iPad Pro on battery life. The TabPro S is rated at 10.5 hours of battery life, while the iPad Pro is rated at 10 hours, the Surface Pro 4 for 9. And the TabPro S has fast-charging capabilities. According to Samsung, it’ll give you 2.5 hours of use when you charge it for just 30 minutes; a 60-minute charge will get you 4.5 hours.

The bottom line

Samsung’s Galaxy TabPro S offers an absolutely stunning display, decent design, and adequate power in a slim, lightweight package. Naturally, I also like that it comes with a free keyboard, even if that keyboard is not the greatest one on the planet.

If you’re looking for a Windows 10 slate that can double as a laptop, and need maximum firepower, you should get the Surface Pro 4. But if you can compromise on the power and want a relatively inexpensive 2-in-1 slate, you can’t beat the TabPro S.

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