Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
iPad Mini 2
Apple's iPad mini 2 is the best-designed - in fact, just plain best - 8-inch tablet on the market. While
it's 7.9-inch display is both smaller and less sharp than the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4's, it's just as stunning to look at, and has an app ecosystem that's fully optimised for it.
The iPad mini 2 also feels like a premium device, with a sleek metal-and-glass design. It's a pleasure to hold in a way that the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 simply isn't.
But most decisive of all in this comparison is the price. The iPad mini 2 is £30 cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 - and I knocked Apple's effort for being a little expensive when it launched.
LG G Pad 8.3
LG often provides the most direct rivals to Samsung in terms of specs and design philosophy, and that's true here in a couple of ways.
The LG G Pad 8.3 is pretty much the same form factor as the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. It's a few months old now, which manifests itself in an inferior Snapdragon 600 CPU that proves to be less powerful and less power efficient than the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4's newer model.
Its 1920 x 1280 resolution display is also significantly less sharp than the Samsung equivalent. However, the LG feels better in the hand and is significantly cheaper. You can pick one up for £200 (around $325 or AUS$360) at the time of writing.
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9
Amazon's range-topping HDX 8.9 is more of a 9-incher than an 8-incher, but it's as close to the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 in size as the iPad mini 2 is.
The HDX 8.9 offers a similarly stunning 2560 x 1600, the same punchy Snapdragon 800 CPU, and a comparable (on paper at least) 8MP camera. It's also about £20 cheaper.
However, Amazon's walled-off OS means that you don't get the full, flexible Android experience the Google's services and apps, which instantly puts it at a disadvantage to all but the most dedicated Amazon users.
