Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 review

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10.1 (2014) ANDROID

The Note 10.1 originally launched with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but recently Samsung began rolling out an update to the latest 4.4 KitKat build of Google’s operating system. We’re still waiting for it to arrive here in the UK, but when it does we can expect the usual collection of performance and interface updates, including white status bar icons, support for wireless printing, a new camera shortcut on the lock screen and general stability improvements. Unfortunately it doesn’t look set to bring the revised Settings menu and other Touchwiz elements introduced with the Galaxy S5 smartphone.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10.1 (2014) TOUCHWIZ AND STYLUS

The 10.1 runs Samsung’s Touchwiz interface, which has become a staple of Samsung smartphones and tablets, with both ardent fans and those that prefer the standard Android interface. The colourful, cartoon-like icons, “nature-inspired” sound scheme and assorted additional features hardly leave any trace of the base Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system running underneath.

This is mainly because the S-Pen stylus is so heavily integrated into the operating system. This is roughly half the size of an HB pencil and slots back into the tablet when you aren’t using it. You can still bring up a circular menu with access to S-Pen functions by tapping the stylus’ only button, but Samsung has added a new Pen Window feature to let you create a window by drawing a box anywhere onscreen. This lets you put a calculator, web browser or other S-Pen app on top of any full-screen one, so you don’t have to switch between apps to look up an address or write a reminder.

The scrapbook tool is much more organised than it was on previous Note devices, putting your cut-outs, clippings and links in a sensible order that’s easy to browse through. You can add tags, which then become searchable from anywhere in the operating system. There are several pre-installed apps designed to make the most of the S-Pen, including S-Note for making lists and reminders, and Sketchbook for any aspiring digital artists. Sketchbook has over one hundred different pens, pencils and brushes, with full support for pressure sensitivity.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10.1 (2014) CHIPSET

The Wi-Fi Note 10.1 2014 edition we’ve reviewed is the first device we’ve seen that uses Samsung’s eight core Exynos 5 system-on-chip (SOC). It’s technically two quad-core ARM chips bolted together – one faster Cortex-A15 running at 1.9GHz and a second, less power-hungry Cortex-A7 running at 1.3GHz. The tablet also has a huge 3GB of RAM, so even the combined heft of Samsung’s custom UI and pre-installed apps can’t slow the operating system down during everyday use. It’s perfectly smooth when swiping through home screens or browsing web pages, scoring a rapid 614ms in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, but some more demanding apps still take a few seconds to load.

The Exynos chip falls slightly behind Qualcomm’s SnapDragon 800 and Nvidia’s Tegra 4 when it comes to flat out graphics performance, scoring 9,038 in 3DMark in the Extreme test, but it’s largely academic – all three chips are able to play the best-looking games currently available on the Google Play Store smoothly.

The SOC’s low-power cores take over for less processor intensive tasks, so we were expecting good results in our video rundown test. Lasting ten hours 58 minutes, the tablet kept going for longer than most of the other 10in tablets we’ve tested, although that’s still almost an hour and a half less than the iPad Air managed.

Tablet cameras are rarely much to write home about, but Samsung has made an effort with the Galaxy Note 10.1’s model. The rear camera has an 8-megapixel, backside illuminated (BSI) sensor paired with an LED flash, so it should be capable of taking fairly detailed shots regardless of lighting conditions. Indeed, our outdoor shots looked detailed with accurate colours, although like many handheld device cameras still struggled to avoid overexposing the sky.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 10.1 (2014) CONCLUSION

It’s powerful, with a great screen and a huge collection of apps, but the only reason to buy the Galaxy Note 10.1 over its rivals is for the stylus. Unless you specifically want a pressure-sensitive pen for handwriting and graphic design, the Kobo Arc 10HD has slightly faster internals and the same screen resolution for £150 less. Considering the Galaxy Note 10.1 costs more than an iPad Air, the price would have to drop significantly before we would generally recommend picking up a Note 10.1 over the competition.