Samsung focuses on competing against the iPad Pro at MWC 2017

Although yesterday we already had the first news anticipated by the hand of such important technology firms as LG or Huawei among others, it was today when the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona officially started, which, as every year, turns the city into the «world capital» of the Mobile technology. In its 2017 edition, the MWC has notable absences such as the BQ or Wolder brands, who do not seem to be compensated for the gigantic expense of launching new products within the framework of this fair. But others, although they have not done it with their usual products, have not wanted to miss the opportunity for their names to appear with the visibility that this event confers. This is the case of Samsung.

The South Korean company Samsung has decided to delay the launch of the Galaxy S8 to the months of April-March; It does not want more security problems that damage its image, but above all it wants an exclusive launch, with nothing or no one to detract from it, and that, at MWC 2017, is not possible. However, it has come to Barcelona ready to stand up to the iPad Pro Apple, and has done so with a double presentation: the Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book. Let's take a look at them and see if they have anything to fear in Cupertino.

In the absence of smartphones, good are tablets

It has been more than two years since Apple launched the last of its iPad “for everyone”, the iPad Air 2. The updates had already arrived at an unsustainable rate and the company put the brakes on to focus on a new sector, the professional, and This is how he brought out a new line of tablets, the iPad Pro, first 12,9 inches, then 9,7 inches, but both equipped with very "smart" (and expensive) accessories such as the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil.

The success has been resounding. The tablet market continues to decline globally, but Apple remains in the lead. Curiously, it does not sell more iPads, but since the iPad Pro is more expensive and leaves a greater profit margin, it has increased its income. And at Samsung, who do not have a hair of fools, they have decided that the MWC 2017 was a good place to stand up to the iPad Pro, especially when almost all the rumors suggest that, in just a month, Apple could be celebrating a new event in which you meet new iPad Pro. Thus, the South Koreans could have advanced but, do they bring something new and, above all, better?

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

Let's start with the product that is the "face or face" of the iPad Pro, the Galaxy Tab S3, a tablet with 9,7 screen inches Super AMOLED  and with a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 megapixels.

Manufactured in a metal and glass body, the Galaxy Tab S3 offers a 13-megapixel main camera on its back, while on the front we find a 5-megapixel camera. It also includes a start button on the front, which also hides the fingerprint sensor.

Inside it houses a processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB storage (expandable up to 256 GB with a microSD) Android Nougat and a 6.000 mAh battery with fast charge. Includes Bluetooth 4.2, LTE connectivity option for 90 euros more than its basic price, USB-C port and stylus.

The new tablet will be available "in the coming weeks" and its starting price is € 679. Competition to the iPad Pro? Well, personally, after seeing its characteristics and its price, I doubt it.

Galaxy Book

The Galaxy Book has been Samsung's other big announcement at MWC2017. Again we meet a "hybrid" that would rather be the competitor of the Surface Pro as it comes with Windows 10 standard so, for that alone, I highly doubt it can compete with Apple's iPad Pro.

It comes in two versions:

• 10,6 ″ screen, 1,920 x 1,280 resolution, 3 GHz dual-core Intel Core m2,6 processor, 4 GB of RAM, up to 128 GB of storage and 5 megapixel front camera.
• 10,6 inch screen and 2,160 x 1,440 resolution, with a dual-core 5GHz Intel Core i3,1 processor, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage, 13-megapixel camera on the back and 5-megapixel on the front.

As for its price and launch, we still do not know.