Sony also doesn't know how to copy the Surface Pro...
Well! This was interesting.
Like the iPad Pro, this is a wonderfully misguided product. In Sony's case its even worse though. The iPad Pro is costly, but not overtly so and even though I expect it to fail utterly as an enterprise device I expect it to see sufficient success in some niche business markets and in the mainstream. And, I still contend that despite the "Pro" moniker and claims to the contrary that this is really what Apple intended all along. This Sony device is so far off base it stands virtually no chance of success anywhere.
Let's start with the fact that it is competing with the Surface Pro in enterprises and with the iPad Pro everywhere else. Right away, the product needs to obviously be something superior to take away a slice of the industry from either of those two. Surface and iPad are both established products and 1st party offerings.
People don't even properly compare the iPad Pro accessories to the Surface Pro ones despite it having a 3 year head start. So, clearly accessories aren't going to do it, even if they're done better or differently.
In terms of specs, it is basically a productivity laptop in a tablet form factor. So, again, not doing anything that hasn't been done before.
Which leaves price. And boy oh boy, Samsung has done its usual and priced the damn thing out of the park. The base price is well over 2x as much as its competition. True, in terms of specs, once you try and get an SP3 as close in terms of specs the price gap starts to get a lot smaller. But, most people start by looking at base price, and so it is important to have a competitive entry point. This product simply doesn't have it.
But, even if this were competitively priced I still think it would be a flop. People (correctly, in my opinion,) criticize Apple for providing a clip or space to store the Pencil inside of the tablet. And it is also no surprise that both Apple and Microsoft landed on keyboard designs that allows the accessory to travel connected to the device. Accessories which can't be made to travel explicitly with a device often get lost, broken, neglected, or in many cases, simply not purchased in the first place. It looks like the KB here doesn't physically attach to the device, and the while the pen does, it is big and bulky and it doesn't look like the holder can be moved (as it can on the SP3).
So, it beats the iPad Pro by the thinnest margin on the accessory that few people will care about (Pen) and loses to both Apple and MS on the most important accessory, the keyboard.
Samsung tries to market the keyboard design as beneficial. But, it makes it completely useless as a laptop and benefits of a detached keyboard are limited and largely questionable. I've no doubts that there are a few small cases where their claims pan out... but even my desktop keyboard runs pretty much parallel to my screen and I've never (that I can think of) felt that having my keyboard attached to my monitor on my laptop was a negative.
Basically, as far as I can tell, the only time this would matter is if you primarily use the tablet flat on a surface and for drawing purposes with very rare KB input. So, where I felt the iPad was limited to things like marketing and graphic design, this is limited to being more useful in just a subset of those same businesses. And, at those prices has no chances for an accidental consumer success story.
Next is the kickstand. I still feel the single greatest thing about the Surface Pro 3, and the thing from a hardware perspective that enables it beat out all other convertibles is its kickstand. But it isn't simply that it has one. It is both the unlimited angles AND the specific way it opens out and leave a gap between the kickstand edge and the edge of the tablet. This last bit is the piece that both Apple and Samsung missed.
A flat surface makes the device much more rigid (and in need of a more or less flat surface to use upon) and easily moved, even when you don't want it to. I would actually argue that the SP3 KB and kickstand combo is BETTER than a traditional laptop in all scenarios except on a flat desk, where it only loses by virtue of size and keyboard quality (which means it doesn't even always lose in this scenario).
Side note: best example of Surface Pro 3 kick stand usage I've seen yet; the other night my wife was in bed with her tablet, she was sitting against the headrest with her legs bent in front of her forming an A-shaped arch. The kickstand was out a little less then 90 degrees and just resting on top of her knees. Keyboard still attached and usable. No other design can do that. Not a laptop, not a keyboard cover. Nothing.
Anyway, with that side rant over, the point is, Samsung's device doesn't offer any big improvements over either the SP3 or iPad Pro, it is more expensive and even generally fails with the accessories it supplies while not offering a low end, mid end or even sane high end entry level option.
Like the iPad Pro, this is a wonderfully misguided product. In Sony's case its even worse though. The iPad Pro is costly, but not overtly so and even though I expect it to fail utterly as an enterprise device I expect it to see sufficient success in some niche business markets and in the mainstream. And, I still contend that despite the "Pro" moniker and claims to the contrary that this is really what Apple intended all along. This Sony device is so far off base it stands virtually no chance of success anywhere.
Let's start with the fact that it is competing with the Surface Pro in enterprises and with the iPad Pro everywhere else. Right away, the product needs to obviously be something superior to take away a slice of the industry from either of those two. Surface and iPad are both established products and 1st party offerings.
People don't even properly compare the iPad Pro accessories to the Surface Pro ones despite it having a 3 year head start. So, clearly accessories aren't going to do it, even if they're done better or differently.
In terms of specs, it is basically a productivity laptop in a tablet form factor. So, again, not doing anything that hasn't been done before.
Which leaves price. And boy oh boy, Samsung has done its usual and priced the damn thing out of the park. The base price is well over 2x as much as its competition. True, in terms of specs, once you try and get an SP3 as close in terms of specs the price gap starts to get a lot smaller. But, most people start by looking at base price, and so it is important to have a competitive entry point. This product simply doesn't have it.
But, even if this were competitively priced I still think it would be a flop. People (correctly, in my opinion,) criticize Apple for providing a clip or space to store the Pencil inside of the tablet. And it is also no surprise that both Apple and Microsoft landed on keyboard designs that allows the accessory to travel connected to the device. Accessories which can't be made to travel explicitly with a device often get lost, broken, neglected, or in many cases, simply not purchased in the first place. It looks like the KB here doesn't physically attach to the device, and the while the pen does, it is big and bulky and it doesn't look like the holder can be moved (as it can on the SP3).
So, it beats the iPad Pro by the thinnest margin on the accessory that few people will care about (Pen) and loses to both Apple and MS on the most important accessory, the keyboard.
Samsung tries to market the keyboard design as beneficial. But, it makes it completely useless as a laptop and benefits of a detached keyboard are limited and largely questionable. I've no doubts that there are a few small cases where their claims pan out... but even my desktop keyboard runs pretty much parallel to my screen and I've never (that I can think of) felt that having my keyboard attached to my monitor on my laptop was a negative.
Basically, as far as I can tell, the only time this would matter is if you primarily use the tablet flat on a surface and for drawing purposes with very rare KB input. So, where I felt the iPad was limited to things like marketing and graphic design, this is limited to being more useful in just a subset of those same businesses. And, at those prices has no chances for an accidental consumer success story.
Next is the kickstand. I still feel the single greatest thing about the Surface Pro 3, and the thing from a hardware perspective that enables it beat out all other convertibles is its kickstand. But it isn't simply that it has one. It is both the unlimited angles AND the specific way it opens out and leave a gap between the kickstand edge and the edge of the tablet. This last bit is the piece that both Apple and Samsung missed.
A flat surface makes the device much more rigid (and in need of a more or less flat surface to use upon) and easily moved, even when you don't want it to. I would actually argue that the SP3 KB and kickstand combo is BETTER than a traditional laptop in all scenarios except on a flat desk, where it only loses by virtue of size and keyboard quality (which means it doesn't even always lose in this scenario).
Side note: best example of Surface Pro 3 kick stand usage I've seen yet; the other night my wife was in bed with her tablet, she was sitting against the headrest with her legs bent in front of her forming an A-shaped arch. The kickstand was out a little less then 90 degrees and just resting on top of her knees. Keyboard still attached and usable. No other design can do that. Not a laptop, not a keyboard cover. Nothing.
Anyway, with that side rant over, the point is, Samsung's device doesn't offer any big improvements over either the SP3 or iPad Pro, it is more expensive and even generally fails with the accessories it supplies while not offering a low end, mid end or even sane high end entry level option.
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