Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition Tablet Review

Introduction and Specifications

Just over a year ago, Samsung broadened its Note portfolio to not only include phones, but tablets as well. The company saw a need to introduce a slate that catered to working professionals, power users, and those who need more content creation capabilities -- hence, the  Galaxy Note 10.1 with the S Pen was born. In the ever-challenging world of product naming and differentiation, Samsung decided on quite the mouthful for the Note 10.1's successor. The Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is perhaps awkwardly named, but it's shipping in a market where work-capable tablets are certainly generating a lot of buzz.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition

Microsoft's own Surface 2 line just shipped, and the company is hoping to right the wrongs of the original. Samsung wants to slot into that category, competitively offering up a powerful, versatile slate that's relatively affordable given its capabilities. The new Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition also has a few unique features: compatibility with Samsung's Galaxy Gear smart watch, a super high resolution 2560X1600 display, and a leather-like rear cover that adds style in a product category that's growing increasingly ho-hum. Let's take a look at what makes this tablet tick.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition (WiFi)
Specifications & Features
Processor
  • 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 Processor
Display 
  • 10.1" (2560x1600) Super Clear LCD
OS 
  • Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) + Samsung TouchWiz
Camera
  • Main(Rear): 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash
  • Sub(Front): 2 Megapixel Camera
Video 
  • Codec: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, VP8
  • Format: 3GP(MP4), WMV(ASF), AVI, FLV, MKV, WebM
  • Playback/ Recording: 1080p Full HD@30fps, 720p HD@30fps
Audio 
  • Codec: MP3, Vorbis, WMA, AAC, ACC+, eAAC+, AMR(NB,WB),
  • MIDI, WAV, AC-3, Flac
  • Music Player with SoundAlive
  • 3.5mm Ear Jack
Enterprise Solutions 
  • Exchange ActiveSync
  • On-Device Encryption
  • Cisco VPN(Virtual Private Network)
  • uniper Junos Pulse VPN
Sensors 
  • Accelerometer, Digital compass, Light, Gyroscope
Connectivity 
  • Bluetooth technology v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support)
  • AllShare Play / AllShare Cast
  • Kies / Samsung Kies air
  • USB 2.0 Host, Samsung
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct
  • Wi-Fi Bonding
Memory 
  • 16/32/64GB User memory + 2GB (RAM)
  • microSD (up to 64GB)
Battery 
  • Standard battery, Li-ion 8,220mAh
Value-added Features 
  • S Pen Experience (6.5mm S Pen, S Note, S Planner etc.)
  • Multi Screen
  • Adobe Photoshop Touch
  • Pop up play
  • Smart Stay
  • Samsung TouchWiz
  • Video Wall
  • Samsung Apps
  • Samsung Hub
  • Readers Hub*/ Music Hub/ Game Hub/ Video Hub*Samsung S Suggest (App recommendation service)
  • Samsung ChatON mobile communication service
  • Google Mobile Services
  • Google Play, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps,
  • Syncing with Google Calendar, Google Search, Google +Polaris office
  • A-GPS(3G version)
  • S-GPS(WiFi version)
  • Glonass
Form Factor 
  • Dimension : 9.57 x 6.75 x 0.31 inches
  • Weight : 547 grams

Pricing

     


     

    On paper, there's no reason to doubt the Note 10.1 2014 Edition's power with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 SoC at the heart of the device. Android 4.3 is on-board and Samsung has tossed a heavy coat of its own TouchWiz interface on there in order to best take advantage of the included stylus; pardon us, S Pen. To date, no tablet maker has completely nailed the concept of a work-capable slate. Is the Note 10.1 2014 Edition the one to do it? We'll discuss precisely that in the pages ahead.


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