Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition, White) Tablet Review. - SM-P605

Heya, recently, I acquired the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Tablet as a gift so I just want to give a rundown of this tablet. It was meant to be as a present for both Christmas and my birthday. When I got it, I knew I was in for a treat.

Overview

Samsung has been on the ball with their extremely successful Galaxy line of Tablets and smartphones, perfecting their designs every single time and made them able to compete with the likes of Apple and Sony. And after 2 years with the 2012 10.1 Tablet, it's no surprise that Samsung decided to release their new flagship, ready for the year 2014 which is a lot better and a lot smarter. It's meant to compete with the Google Nexus 10 which oddly enough, is also being sold alongside the Note at Samsung Retailers in Singapore. Well some parts including the SoC processing unit are made OEM by Samsung which would probably explain why they're also on sale there.

Now let's go over the specs pretty quick. The Hardware powering this new flagship is very similar to its baby brother flagship smart phone, the Galaxy Note 3 Smartphone.

Technical Specifications
Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 / MSM8974: 2.3 GHz, 2MB Cache
Qualcomm Adreno 330 Graphics Processing Unit: 450 MHz
10.1" WQXGA LCD TFT Display: Resolution 2560 x 1600
3072 MB DDR RAM
8MP 3264 x 1836 Rear Facing Camera, 2MP Front Facing Camera, both 1080p Video Recording Capable.
32GB Flash Capacity, with room to house a micro SD for more space.
LTE and 4G Support
Micro SIM

UNBOXING

Everything from the Box
Taken from my footage of the unboxing in my YouTube Channel

Here's what you'll find upon opening the box:

- Tablet, which includes a S-Pen AKA the stylus already stowed in its slot.
- Quick Start Guides
- Promo and Feature Brochures
- Warranty Cards; how it'll be printed depends on the country you live in.
- White Micro USB to USB cable.
- White USB Charging Outlet.
- White Headset (Headphone and Microphone)
- Some plastic wads and doodads that I've no idea what they do.


GENERAL FEEL OF GALAXY NOTE 10.1 2014 TABLET

If anyone of you have used the 2014's Predecessor, the 2012's 10.1 Note, most of the ergonomics are the same, you'll instantly feel at home with it. It's a tiny bit lighter and slimmer and therefore more portable. Some of you will notice straightaway is shifting the aspect ratio of 4:3 1280 x 800 to 16:10 2560 x 1600.

With such screen resolutions, something has gotta give to provide the performance needed. The Snapdragon 800 Processor is presently the most powerful SoCs for Tablet barring the upcoming nVidia Tegra K-1 announced at CES 2014. Powering up tablet in the graphics department is the Adreno 330, which allow rendering of most apps just right for the job.

Here's some of the IO given:
Top: Volume Rocker, Power switch, Infrared Sensor
Bottom: Micro USB 2.0 for charging / Data Transfer
Left: Left Stereo Speaker, Microphone / Headphone Combo Jack
Right: S-Pen Stylus (Included and stowed), Micro SD, Micro SIM, Right Stereo Speaker
Back: 8MP Camera with Flash
Front: Screen, Home, File and Return Buttons, Front Facing 2MP Camera

If you have concerns for storage, don't worry. The capacity of the base model starts from 16GB and has 32GB variants like mine. And if that's not enough, feel free to stick in a micro SD card to increase your Capacity by up to 64GB for room up to theoretically almost a 100GB.

Another noticeable difference is that this tablet is among the only few that includes a micro SIM card slot used in most of today's Smart Phones. And yes, this device doubles as a phone with a SIM card inserted so you have an all in one solution. It'll be recommended to use a headset because using the speaker will make everyone listen in your conversation. To me I'd rather use a separate phone as it is unwieldy for a tablet.

SCREEN QUALITY

The tablet carries a WQXGA resolution of a very high 2560 x 1600, much higher than HD, showing nearly 4.1 Megapixels and with a density of nearly 300 pixels per inch.

Viewing angles are great. I didn't notice much of a brightness level drop regardless of how angled I tilt the Note 10.1. Only in extreme angles will the colors and the brightness levels of the screen will change which is good enough.

TAKING PICTURES / VIDEO WITH THE NOTE

Now the camera built in has the same Megapixel Resolution as the Samsung Galaxy S3 but that doesn't mean it's bad. It has a built in but albeit low ranged tiny flash. I would recommend some places with good lighting and it's a lot better taking pictures outdoors. The weight makes it abit unwieldy to take images by pressing the Capture button on the Camera's UI as that can potentially shake your tablet ever so slightly. That's when voice command option commands in if you want. It doesn't pick Singapore Accents well but it does take my 'Cheese' Command clearly which is absolutely fine by me. You can steady yourself and then give the commands once you're good.

What I've done here is to compare the image quality between the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition and an iPad Retina. Now the noticeable difference is the aspect ratio. The iPad Retina takes images in a 4:3 aspect, while the Galaxy Note takes images in a Widescreen 16:9.

Picture of my 2 Monitors taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
Picture Resolution: 3264 x 1836 at 16:9

The Same Image taken with an iPad Retina at 2592 x 1936 at 4:3

Facing outdoors from my Bedroom Window
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)

Facing outdoors from my Bedroom Window
IPad Retina

Now frankly speaking, even the older Apple iPad Retina is still capable of taking images pretty well. The only thing to take note while taking pictures with this is that the camera lens is situated at the extreme corner, makes taking landscape photographs a bit more time to find a suitable angle to position it and you'll find your fingers blocking the lens now and again if you hold it wrongly. The Note is less of a problem because the lens is situated dead center at the top of the tablet (or dead middle on its side if in Portrait) so it's easier to point and aim where  you want it.

HEAT AND ENERGY EMISSIONS

Heat is no issue when you exert some load in. The leather-like backing somehow mitigates it further, so holding the tablet during use is still tolerable.

A 8220 mAH battery, even more than my Aftershock X11 lol. A lot more than the older tablet, and rightly so. Unsurprisingly leaves nothing of complaint. Only minor issue is that the battery can't be removed, expected for a tablet. But battery life is where the Tablet also excels well.

As long as the tablet has a minimal amount of background running programs and with the display set to timeout after a couple minutes inactivity, a full charge can take days or weeks when using at the right time. Once drained, before you turn in for the night, hook your tablet to your USB and charging unit and plug your charging unit to the wall socket and turn it on. Leave it be while you sleep and it'll be done by the time you wake up the next morning.

REPAIR SERVICES

Now a bit of backstory because the screen went dead about a week of using it, I didn't drop the tablet whatsoever. At most is I nearly dropped it and managed to catch the tablet in time, it's only after that the screen when black. Took it back to Samsung, told me it would take 3 days, but I got the call to say it's ready in less than 24 hours I took it to service. Promptly collected it the day after, and the problem was that simple. Samsung, how the heck did you miss securing the cable linking the screen to the Board? But anyway, it's still covered by warranty and the replacing of cable and collection was completed well ahead. Recorded and uploaded a Piano Cover the next day to give it a whirl, no problem. So I think repair services are top notch, just watch the quality control. Even the cable shouldn't be overlooked.


THE BREAKDOWN

So far I'm having real good fun with it. Apart from the little sag with the cable linking the screen and the motherboard, we're all back to normal! It's a bit pricey, almost a thousand bucks, my mum got it for 888 after a discount. However, if you look after it, it'll serve you well. So for now my porta-rigs are complete and it'll be brought around alongside my laptop.