Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Android 4.0 Quad-Core Tablet Review

Tablets are getting more and more popular. They are functional computing device that adds a huge amount of portability. Samsung has made quite the name for themselves with their high quality, high performance, yet attractive styling tablets, starting with the Galaxy Tab. But they upped the ante even more with their Galaxy Note 10.1.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 has the computing power to be considered as a netbook/laptop replacement for some. It does not have a built-in optical drive, but neither do netbooks, or ultrabooks. And it doesn’t have a built-in keyboard, but there is a pop-up one onscreen. And while it does not have a large built-in hard drive either, it does have a built-in memory card slot. So you can have unlimited memory capacity in the form of memory cards.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 does have a lot going for it in its many features. The 10.1" display has sufficient resolution for 720p video. There are stereo speakers built-in to the front, as well as front and rear sensors for video capture. So not only can you record home movies on the Galaxy Note 10.1, you can even Skype with your friends. The built-in wi-fi allows you to convert to a wireless network for web surfing. The Galaxy Note comes preloaded with Android 4.0 OS, and there are a plethora of apps and games for it. Whatever you like to do, be it web surfing, games, or productivity, it's quad-core processer with built-in GPU has you covered.

Features and specs:
 

• Color:  Deep Grey
• OS:  Android™ 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
• Front Camera:  1.9 Megapixel
• Rear Camera: 5.0 Mexgapixel with LED Light
• Dimensions:  7.1" x 10.3" x 0.35"
• Weight:  1.31 lb.
• Battery:  7,000 mAh
• Internal Memory:  16GB
• Externl Memory: up to 32GM microSD card
• Connectivity: wi-fi, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0 (with adapter)
• CPU:  1.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
• Display: 10.1" 1280x800 pixels TFT
• Audio:  Music: MP3, AAC/AAC+/EAAC+, WMA, OGG (vorbis), FLAC, AC-3 Sound: AMR-NB/WB, WAV, MID, XMF, iMelody, SP-MIDI, RTTTL/RTX, OTA
• Video:  Video: 1080p Playback Full HD in 1280 x 800 screen @ 30 fps Video Codec: Mpeg4, H.264, H.263, VC-1, Divx, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark Format: 3gp(mp4), wmv(asf), avi(divx), mkv, flv, webm
• Image:  GIF, AGIF, JPEG, PNG, WBMP, WEBP
• Fun and Entertainment:  Google Play™ Store, Books, Movies, and Music Preloaded: Contacts, Alarm/Clock, S Planner, Camera, Gallery, Google Talk™, Dropbox, Netflix, Gmail™, YouTube™, Web Browser, My Files, Email, Google Search, Latitude, Video Player, Media Hub, Game Hub, Calculator, Music Player, Smart Remote, Settings, ChatON, Samsung Apps, Polaris Office, S Suggest, Google Maps, Google +, Google + Messenger, Music Hub, Navigation, Places, Video Maker, World Clock, Nook, AllShare Play S Pen Optimized Apps: Crayon Physics, S Note™, Adobe® Photoshop® Touch, Kno™
• Supported Doc Types:  Word File: .doc .docx .txt .hwp .rtf Excel File: .xls .xlsx .csv PowerPoint: .ppt .pptx .pps PDF: .pdf
• Messaging Options:  Email (POP3/IMAP/SMTP/SSL/TLS); Exhange ActiveSync Email

The Galaxy Note 10.1 came in Samsung standard white box packaging for tablets, with color printed images and product specs on the box. Opening the box revealed the tablet along with its charger. The owner’s manual is available online. Build quality of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is very good. While it is quite thin, similar to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 it still feels rather solid in hand. I do like the styling of the silver finish around the edges. While it is all plastic, it still feels good and fit and finish is excellent.

I really like the design of the charger. It is actually two pieces. There is the wall adaptor that plugs into the wall, and then there is the cord. The cord has a micro USB connector on one end to plug into the device. At the other end of the cord is a USB connection, which plugs into the wall adapter. Going this route means you can use the same cord for charging the Galaxy Note with your laptop.

The Galaxy Not 10.1 has some awesome advanced features as well. It's split screen feature is REALLY cool. You can have S Note open on one side, and a video or internet open on the other side. You can even copy and paste from one screen to the other. Group Share lets you share a presentation with multiple devices. Smart Energy also helps with your battery life. If you aren't engaged after so long, the display will dim. And using facial recognition and the built-in webcam, it can go into sleep mode if it sees you are not engaged.

Polaris Office is a great app that will work with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. I also LOVE the S Note program! It is more than just taking notes. In converts handwriting to text, and can recognize math formulas. The S Note will even let you load diagrams, photos and videos to your note. Just imagine getting a hand cramp taking notes in class. No problem. Just take a picture of the chalk/white board, and load it into your note. If only this was available when I was in college!

Performance of the Galaxy Note was nothing short of stellar! The screen was pleasantly responsive, sound was quite good for such a small device and gave a wide soundstage. The screen had great resolution, and good saturation. It even had good shadow detail with videos, and playback was silky smooth. I had no problems with any program or game that I ran on it.  Everything ran smoothly. It's wireless response was also fast and responsive. It has the performance I have come to expect from Samsung.

Now it is time for a few benchmarks from Linpack single and multithread, NenaMark1, NenaMark2, and Quadrant, which should also speak for themselves.  The Samsung Quad-Core is a seriously performer!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a spectacular tablet. It is loaded with features that make the device a joy to use. With an MSRP of $499 for the 16 GB wi-fi model, it's performance was on par with the price point. You definitely get what you pay for. Based on it's design, features, quality, and performance, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has earned our Editor’s Choice Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at
www.samsung.com.