Stylus boasting tablet is the company‘s new
flagship slate.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 ($600 inc.
VAT) comes packing a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and, of course, a
digital S-Pen stylus. While rivals go down the Nvidia Tegra 3 route for their
quad-core engine rooms, Samsung is able to keep things in-house. The huge RAM
option is a nice first for an Android tablet as well.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 10.1
Its price puts the Note 10.1 directly up
against Apple’s latest iPad. The Android / iOS argument is not one were going
to venture into here but it’s also pretty difficult to ignore the fact that you
can have the world’s most popular tablet - complete with its incredible Retina
display - for the same outlay. But, if you dare to be different, read on.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 display striking similarities, although the
dimensions are a little bit different and the new kid is a tiny bit heavier at
597g. Despite the slightly different tale of the tape, there’s no escaping the
fact that we’re dealing with a white plastic tab, complete with silver trim and
front facing twin speaker grills.
And while the ‘Pearl White’ finish is
somewhat aesthetically pleasing there’s no disguising the slightly
disappointing design. We’re not saying the build quality is anywhere below par
but we’d have much preferred an aluminium chassis, or at least a textured
plastic or rubber. The white finish looks nice from afar but up close it’s a
tad too flexible for our liking and it you’ll find it’s quickly covered with
fingerprints and smudges.
Port and button action is found across the
top edge, but there’s a lack of a HDMI port - you’ll need a USB adaptor for
wired HDTV action. On the bottom are the little slot where the S-Pen slots into
and the Micro-USB port that is used for both disk-mounting and charging.
Pay and display
The display is a TFT LCD one, with a 1,280
x 800 display that boasts great viewing angles and more than does the job of
making HD footage stand out. Sadly though, it lacks that wow factor that we’ve
come to expect from Samsung.
Samsung
states that it offers 1,024 degrees of pressure sensitivity and it’s not just
for note taking or drawing; combining a long press with a tap of its side
button, for example, and you’ll take a screenshot
Onboard storage is 16GB and this is
expandable (up to 64GB more) using the microSD slot. We had no issue
transferring stuff from our microSD card to the internal storage, or running
digital media directly from it. Our review model was the Wi-Fi-only version,
although for $150 more, 3G connectivity is available.
There’s no Jelly Bean action, we’re afraid
- just a heavily modded version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The modding
comes courtesy of Samsung’s TouchWiz UI; personally, we like Samsung’s Android
overlay and we were mightily impressed with the raft of new tablet features
afforded to the Galaxy Note 10.1.
The first of which is the split screen
setup which lets you run two apps side by side when the Note 10.1 is in
landscape mode, or one on top of the other in portrait mode. You can drag and
drop media from one app to the other in a fancy, Mac-like ‘copy and paste’
action. You can also switch the app positions around at any time. Currently,
only certain apps are afforded an invite to the split-screen party, but we’re
hoping the likes of Twitter and Gmail are added to the list soon.
Another multitasking treat is the video
player that allows you to watch video in a pop-out, windowless player while
getting on with other stuff. You can also resize and move the viewing window,
so it’s easy to get it positioned appropriately for whatever other app that
you’re using.
In terms of the S-Pen, it works just like
your finger - albeit a skinnier, slightly more accurate one. Samsung states
that it offers 1,024 degrees of pressure sensitivity and it’s not just for note
taking or drawing; combining a long press with a tap of its side button, for
example, and you’ll take a screenshot. Just removing the S-Pen from its slot
brings up a sidebar of S-Pen friendly apps.
Lock and Load
Thanks to the quad-core CPU, app loading is
quick and response times are great - we noticed hardly any lag when switching
between programs. Menus appear quickly and there’s no issue with unrecognized
touches or swipes.
The keyboard is a customized Samsung one
and the spacing of the keys is great and there’s a nice “pinch
to change” option that lets you switch between a standard QWERTY layout, a
floating keypad or a split keyboard.
Nobody in their right mind would base their
tablet buying decision on the quality of the camera on board but, saying that,
the quality of the 5-megapixel camera on the Note 10.1 is surprisingly good.
It’s a marked improvement on tab rivals.
Battery life on the Galaxy Note 10.1 is good
- we managed around seven hours of intensive punishment (streaming and looping
a HD video on full brightness). This equates to around eight to ten hours of
regular use.
Ultimately, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is
a step up for Samsung and is the best tablet to land from the Korean giant
since the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 landed in 2011. It’s super-speedy thanks to
the quad-core CPU and multi-tasking is a breeze thanks to the generous memory
on board.
The price is perhaps a bit more than we
would have liked, and it’s perhaps not the game-changer that we were secretly
hoping Samsung had up its sleeve, but it’s still a great 10-inch tab with a
stylish-twist (or should that be stylus-twist?).
What’s it best for
·
Web, mail & social
·
HD, movies & games
·
Apps
|
Details
|
|
Price
|
$600
|
|
Key features
|
|
OS
|
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
|
|
Processor
|
Samsung Exynos 1.4GHz
|
|
Memory
|
2GB
|
|
Storage
|
16GB
|
|
Expansion
|
microSD
|
|
Connectivity
|
Micro-USB
|
|
Rear camera
|
5MP
|
|
Front camera
|
1.9MP
|
|
Weight
|
597g
|
|
Screen size
|
10.1-inch
|
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Screen type
|
TFT
|
|
Screen resolution
|
1,280 x 800
|
|
Test results
|
|
Battery life (Mins)
|
414
|
|
Performance
|
12,757
|
|
Gaming
|
1,293
|
|
Verdict
|
|
Value
|
4/5
|
|
Features
|
4/5
|
|
Performance
|
5/5
|
|
Total
|
4/5
|
|
|
|
