Everyone has jumped into the tablet market hoping to get a small piece of the market share. But when it comes down to it, there are only a few companies that people really even think of or consider when shopping for a tablet. On that short list of android tablets you have Samsung, Asus and Google. Samsung specifically has been putting up a big fight with Apple on all fronts of the mobile market recently. Today we are going to take a look at their Galaxy Note 10.1 with 4G from Verizon. Not only am I interested in checking out the tablet itself, but I am also curious what it’s like not having to jump from hotspot to hotspot with my tablet.
Product Name: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with 4G LTE
Review Sample Provided by: Verizon
Written by: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications
Camera |
5.0MP Auto Focus Rear Facing camera w/ Flash 1.9MP HD Front Facing Camera Image formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG |
Video |
Camcorder: 720P HD video capture (front & rear camera) Video Playback: Divx, H.263, H.264, MPEG4, VP8, VC-1 (Format: 3gp, 3g2, mp4, wmv(asf), avi, mkv, flv) Video Player with Pop–up Play |
Music |
Music Player Create and Manage playlists Music Formats Supported: AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, AC–3 Sound: AMR–NB/WB, FLAC, MIDI, MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA, XMF 3.5mm Headset Jack |
Bluetooth 4.0 |
Bluetooth® Profiles Supported: Headset Profile, Hands-Free Profile, Serial Port Profile, Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, Audio/Video Remote Control Profile, Object Exchange, Object Push Profile, Generic Audio/Video Distribution Profile, Audio/Video Distribution Transfer Protocol, Audio/Video Control Transport Protocol, Human Interface Device Profile, Personal Area Network Profile, Generic Attribute Profile. |
Web |
Android 4.1, Jelly Bean & TouchWiz Mobile Hotspot with support up to 5 Devices 3G/10 Devices on 4G LTE Integrated Google Mobile Services, Microsoft Outlook Exchange Contacts, Calendar and Tasks Full Suite of Google Apps incl: Gmail, Google+, Google Maps, Google+ Messenger, Navigation, Local, Play Books, Play Movies, Play Magazines, Play Music, Play Store, Google Search, Google Talk, Voice Search, YouTube, Over 700,000 apps & widgets available on Play Store Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) HTML 5 Browser– Samsung Browser & Google Chrome for Android Photo Sharing: Facebook, Picasa, Google +, and more Verizon Preloaded Apps: Backup Assistant +, My Verizon, Viewdini, VZ Navigator, Video Calling Portal Exchange, Yahoo, AOL VZW.net, Windows Live, & POP3/IMAP |
Communication |
S Pen: It’s the perfect tool for jotting meeting notes, personalizing business e-mails , creating art or simply doodling Multi-Screen: Check work e-mail & draft a memo. Watch a video & surf the web. With dual View you can open two apps & easily perform two tasks at one time. S Note: Capture handwritten notes & Pictures & share them. AllShare Play: Watch videos across multiple devices, save photos on the cloud & more Smart Remote: Get content organized by TV, Movies, Sports & then by genre Design, edit & present your work with ADOBE® PhotoShop® Music Hub: Access songs, created personalized radio stations & get suggestions based on your preferences. KNO™: Highlight & write directly on more then 150,000 e–textbooks Polaris Office 4.0: Take your PC documents & work on the go. Group Cast/Share Shot/Crayon Physics, S Suggest, S Educate Supported Languages: English/Spanish/Korean/Chinese/Vietnamese |
Specifications |
|
Dimensions |
10.3 (H) x 7.0 (W) x .35 (D) in inches Weight: 1.3 lbs. |
Network |
CDMA 800, 1900, EVDO Rev A, LTE (Band13) Global Network: GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HPSA/UMTS 850/900/1900/2100) |
Operating System |
Android 4.1, Jelly Bean & TouchWiz |
Memory / Processor |
16GB Internal Memory (actual formatted capacity is less) Supports up to 64GB microSD(TM) (card sold separately) Processor: 1.4GHz Exynos Quad–Core Processor and 2GB RAM |
Display |
10.1" TFT WXGA Display (1280x800) Full Touch Tablet with S Pen |
Keyboard |
Virtual QWERTY |
Battery |
Up to 16 hours Usage time OR up to 30 days Standby Time |
Packaging
The Note 10.1’s box features a full size picture of the tablet itself on the front while up and running. Rather than cover the box with a bunch of marketing talk, they put the tablet out to talk for itself. On the flip side of the box they keep things simple with a short list of the contents of the packaging as well as all of the required trademarks and FCC information. Inside when you open the box up, you are greeted with the Note 10.1 right up top facing out just like the cover, but with the tablet turned off of course.
Under the Note 10.1 all of the packaging is Verizon themed in all red. The tablets USB charging cable, USB adapter, as well as a Verizon user guide. The USB power adapter came in two pieces allowing for it to be converted to different power adapters internationally.
Tablet Overview and Pictures
At first glance this could be just about any 10 inch tablet on the market, the Note 10.1 doesn’t really stand out with a unique design or a feature that wows you. You have an inch wide black bezel around the screen with a satin finished metal around the outside edge. There is the Samsung logo on the bottom and directly below it you will also find its power plug. I am used to a similar plug for my Transformer Prime but just like with my own tablet I would much rather than be a micro USB plug for simplicity when dealing with chargers. In our household not only do all of our various phones use the same plug but even our wireless headphones use Micro USB to charge. The idea of being able to keep a few well-placed chargers around our house that will charge everything is very appealing; it’s a shame that the Note 10.1 can’t do that.
Up top and centered much like the Samsung logo we also have a front facing 1.9 MP camera for use with Skype and in my case for making funny pictures of myself without having to look like an even bigger fool taking pictures using the rear facing camera.
One of the features of the Note 10.1 that really stood out to me was the location of the speakers. Generally you will find speakers on phones and tablets facing the back of the device or at best on the side. Samsung went with two front facing speakers on the Note 10.1 that will push the sound directly toward you and not blast it around the room before you can even hear it. This should not only make the audio on this device sound great but it should also keep noise down for anyone who is trying to not disturb others.
Up on the top left you have your power button as well as a volume rocker. Next to the volume rocker is a microSD card reader so you can expand the storage capacity if needed on the Note 10.1. Next to that is actually an infrared port, something that we almost never see on a tablet. Imagine being able to control your television or other infrared devices all with your tablet. Also up top is the headphone port and also the sim card location.
The back of the Note 10.1 is dark grey in color and is made of the same ultra-durable plastic that we have seen on the Note 2 and the S3. You will also notice that up top there is a lighter color area. This houses the 5MP camera as well as an LED flash.
Down in the bottom left corner we also spotted an S pen stored away inside of the tablet. That explains the Note name. We saw the same S pen on the Note 2 and loved putting it to use on the go, I’m sure with a little more writing space it is even more useful.
Performance
Over the past two years tablets have become used in our household regularly. My first tablet I hardly used it at all beyond the novelty of it all. Slowly they have grown on us and now my wife and I both use ours daily for various reasons. Once we get beyond our Wi-Fi the usage drops off considerably. Frankly we use them a lot to settle disputes while watching TV, play games while sitting on the porch or in bed, and even for reading in the bathroom or tub. With the Galaxy Note 10.1 sporting high speed internet I was excited to put it to use but unlike my wife’s Nexus 7 I found it a little harder to carry around with me. Oddly enough I love the larger form factor in the house simply because it is much easier to read my magazines on it as well as gaming.
Even with the form factor being a little large for taking with me at times I could see this being a perfect device to keep your kids busy on a long trip or even a way for you or your wife to catch up on a little internet while the other drives on a trip as well. Verizon’s 4g internet was amazing for me, even out in our rural area. Multiple times at places I found the 4g to be faster than their internet even. The best part of course is that you can take that internet with you on the go.
We put the Note 10.1 through our test suite to check out its performance including a new benchmark from 3DMark called Ice Storm. A few of you might remember seeing that on the PC version of 3DMark, you can actually put your mobile device up against your PC if you want to see how they compare. In most of our tests the performance of the Note 10.1 was in line with the Nexus 7. The newer Note 2 did out perform in a few cases and the Nexus 4 just blew everything else away in our 3D testing. Battery testing wasn’t too bad at all considering the screen size. We ended up with 252.25 minutes, less than what we saw on the smaller Note 2 but still impressive none the less.
What really set the Note 10.1 apart for me was all of the Samsung specific features, just like our experience with the Note 2. Obviously we have the S Pen, with that any time you need to type and you have the pen out it will actually pop up a nice paper for you to write rather than type. This took a little getting used to for me but even with my chicken scratches it didn’t have any trouble reading my writing. The only issue I had here was with the timing of my writing, if I stopped at all it would send it into my document even if I wasn’t ready. I would almost need a button to send if I were going to use this feature day to day. I was also very happy with the multiple window ability on the Note 10.1. While watching a basketball game I was also able to jump on reddit and read around as well. Being someone who uses multiple monitors every day, this feature helped me adjust to working on a smaller area. I should also point out with this that you can do more than one or two tabs if needed as well, even in the split window mode (they hide behind other windows).
Overall and FV
Both Samsung and Verizon surprised me with the Note 10.1. I was impressed with the Note 10.1’s features, especially when paired up with fast mobile internet via 4g LTE. With the built in S Pen I can see this being a perfect device for business use but even in my case I had a blast with it. I was able to take advantage of the high speed internet because of the Note 10.1’s ability to cascade multiple tabs. This didn’t seem like it would be as important to me until I found myself streaming television while browsing Reddit at the same time all the while being away from any Wi-Fi internet. Although I would miss my Transformer Prime’s detachable keyboard, I could see myself using the Galaxy Note 10.1 day to day due to its front facing speakers, built in S Pen, and good battery life. My only complaint really had to do with the way it felt in my hands compared to my day to day tablet. The Galaxy Note 10.1 felt thicker or boxy compared to the Transformer Prime. They are actually about the same thickness, but the boxy shape made a big difference on how it feels.