View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET Aside from the updated processor, Samsung put an f1.9, 13-megapixel camera with autofocus above the keyboard in addition to the 1-megapixel front-facing camera at the top of the display. It's an OK camera -- your phone's camera is most likely better -- and maybe it's not a feature everyone needs, but for students who need to make quick videos for a project or professionals who want to snap a fast photo on a job site, the extra high-resolution camera will be appreciated. We started out in some woods to see how well it coped with areas of high detail, such as a leaf-covered floor, and striking contrasts, such as tree trunks passing across both foliage and bright skies. There was certainly plenty of detail in the fallen leaves, and even inside the shelter seen in the image below made from stacked branches. Although this appears dark in the unedited photo, increasing the exposure in post production revealed plenty of detail within the shadows.
Fall '16 update
After years of development and millions of advertising dollars spent to convince us that a tablet could plausibly replace a laptop, Microsoft finally delivered the goods with the Surface Pro 4. Equipped with robust processing power, a perfectly sized display and just-right aspect ratio, and a few critical add-on accessories, the Pro 4 solidified the Surface's position as the gold standard for Windows tablets. And with the arrival of Windows 10 in July 2015, that which blemished all previous Surface models -- an inelegant operating system -- was finally replaced by a solid OS that could fulfill the potential of its form factor.
id="cnetReview" section="rvwBody" data-component="indepthReview"> Editors' note (March 21, 2017): Apple has discontinued the iPad Mini 2. Its successor, the $399 iPad Mini 4, remains available: Apple's thinnest and lightest iPad now comes equipped with 128GB of storage capacity plus a terrific display, solid performance, and a resilient battery. The company has also discontinued the iPad Air 2, replacing it with the very similar 9.7-inch "iPad." Starting at $329 and 123bet featuring the A9 processor, the new model is slightly thicker than the iPad Air 2 and lacks its antireflective coating, but is otherwise identical.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET That's a good thing, because at least from the outside, it would appear that not much else at all has changed about the Surface Pro aside from its low-key new matte black color option. The Surface Pro 6 still has a screen bezel that's on this thick side, unlike many modern laptops, tablets and hybrids that are shaving screen borders down. It still sits awkwardly on the knee (or lap), and it still includes only minimal ports, without even the increasingly popular USB-C.
The Chromebook Plus V2 is a two-in-one, which means you can use it as a laptop or flip the screen 360 degrees and use it as a tablet. Or you can use it in tent mode, which is nice for video chats, or set it up like a kiosk for watching movies or giving presentations. Basically, it gives you the flexibility to do more with this Chromebook than the typical clamshell design.
Samsung is the leader in the premium Chromebook market, according to NPD, and looking at its updated Chromebook Plus it's easy to see why. Though some might balk at paying $500 for a Chromebook, Samsung makes it worth your while with better design, build quality and features than you'd find in cheaper options. (There's no official UK or Australian pricing yet, but that price converts to roughly £375 or AU$660.)
Or, at least, that's how it was. The growth of tablet sales has slowed considerably in recent years, with the exception of the bargain segment. Small 8-inch Android models like the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 and Samsung Galaxy Tab A can be had for as little as $170, £129 or AU$279, and Amazon has cornered the budget market with its selection of "good enough" Fire tablets that start at prices as low as $50 or £50. (Amazon doesn't typically sell hardware in Australia, but the US price converts to about AU$70.)
The pen, almost perfected
Also missing is the awkward plastic loop that used to tether the included stylus (Microsoft calls it a pen) to the keyboard cover. The new pen accessory is a little larger than the previous model, 123bet and has a flat edge along one side. This allows it to securely connect to the left or right edge of the tablet via a fairly strong magnetic connection. While it may seem dodgy if you plan on running around all day with your tablet, inserting and removing it from a backpack or shoulder bag, I found that the pen remained securely attached, even in my bag -- although I'd recommend doing frequent spot-checks to make sure it hasn't popped off.
In the image below, for example, the trees in the background have lost a considerable degree of detail. Lighter trunks are subsumed into the background at the points where the sun crosses over them, as the EasyShare Sport metered for the logs in the foreground. Admittedly this meant that we ended up with a well exposed log pile, but even when dialling in a high level of recovery in post production we were unable to recover much of the lost information.
