Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Pro Reviews

An excellent tablet in all departments – pricey for an Android tablet, but the best in the market right now

Touchwiz and fake stitching aside the Note 10.1 is a very good tablet with the added S-Pen feature for those who want it.

Once again we find ourselves loving a Note device. The 10.1 2014 Edition tablet is a steady leap forward from the previous generation model. Aesthetically, we much prefer this new design to the old model, and while the faux leather back is a bit tacky, we can live with it for the smaller dimensions and general improvements in style. The S Pen input remains the strong advantage here over most competitor tablets. If you work with a tablet, we think this beats everything else on the market. You can get capacitive pens for a wide range of touchscreens, but Samsung's stylus and screen combination are something much better. Factor in the brilliant software, and this becomes a real advantage over any other 10.1-inch device out there. But price remains an issue. Nearly £500 for the 16GB model is hefty. Our Android tablet of choice remains the Nexus 7 (2013) because it's a nice size for use at home, costs £200 and works beautifully. We do love the Note, but the high price will put some people off. Perhaps think of this as a laptop replacement - and it is good enough - and you might feel that it's worth the cost. Ultimately, you will decide if it's right for you, but we promise you'll love it as a tablet.

We can expect Samsung to bring out an update for their model every year like clockwork. As such, were not surprised to see an update of the 10 inch tablet from the Galaxy Note series. We were happy to see the impressive resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels and the Snapdragon 800 from Qualcomm which are two of the most essential features a top line tablet must have. Unfortunately, Germany will not be retailing a configuration of this tablet running on the Octa-core, named Exynos 5420. The 2014 version of the Galaxy Note 10.1 shows no gaping weak spots and is equipped with a multitude of features. The "smaller brother", the Galaxy Note 3, offers a USB 3.0 port and a better camera module. If Samsung had added these features, then we could have called the tablet nigh perfect. Battery life is amazing at 18 hours. We are hard put to find flaws in the device (from the hardware or software sides) and can only put forth nuances. For example, the tablet should have had a lower black value. Still, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition takes 1st place in our Top 10 ranking for the tablet segment. The retail price of 670 Euros for the LTE version is not cheap, but perhaps worth it to the buyer looking for everything a top-end tablet has to offer. Still, we recommend taking a look around at the competition: the iPad Air (16 GB + UMTS) is available for 599 Euros.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 2014 Edition is an excellent upgrade to the first generation even if it shares some of the same problems at release as it’s predecessor. This is a premium tablet at a premium price that’s worth it if you’re looking for a great pen-enabled tablet. If you don’t intend to use the S Pen, the Note isn’t significantly more exciting than the Sony Xperia Tablet Z (currently $420 on Amazon). If you do, this is the best stylus-bearing Android tablet on the market aside from it’s little brother, the Galaxy Note 8.0. I’m confident that Samsung will address all of the performance issues in time just as they did before. The company is good at tweaking until they get it right even if they don’t always deliver big Android updates in a timely manner. Other than that, I have no major complaints about this tablet. It’s light, comfortable to hold, sports a terrific display, and makes a good replacement for pen and paper for taking notes, drawing, etc. The $550 model comes with 16GB of internal memory. If you’re a gamer, I’d suggest paying an extra $50 for the 32GB model. If media is more your thing you can probably just get away with sticking a card up to 64GB in the microSD slot and storing your videos, music, and photos there.

I’m still waiting on the device that could digitize my entire life. The Note 10.1 seems to have all the right ideas, but there’s still just too much friction. I enjoyed using S Note and Air Command, but each has its own idiosyncrasies and complications that just don’t exist with a piece of paper. I wanted a tablet that revolved around my handwriting, but what I got was some weird composite of subpar notepad and subpar tablet. And with no S Pen ecosystem, and the too-small Android tablet app catalog in general, there aren’t a lot of compelling reasons to buy the Note 10.1. Just a lot of good ideas not quite made reality. Of course, Samsung has a history here: even the laggard Note 10.1 last year got better after a few software updates. But for right now, the $549.99 Note 10.1 feels old and clunky; it’s certainly not worth the price when the iPad costs $499 and the Nexus 10 $399. S Pen is a great idea, and maybe Samsung will yet create the paperless world I want, but this year I’m stuck buying another round of sharpened #2 pencils and a crisp new spiral notebook.

The Samsung Galsxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) is, simply put, one hell of a piece of hardware. And it comes with a pretty hefty price tag too -- but one which is easily comparable to any other high-end tablet such as the iPad, and for which you get a lot more features. The base model Note is $50 more than the base iPad Air model, but for that you get the S-Pen, all of Samsung's apps including multitasking, a superior screen, and -- most importantly -- expandable memory. The 16GB Note can take a 64GB microSD card and give you more than 70 gigs of memory -- for $100 less than Apple would charge you for the 57 gigs free on the iPad 64GB. And that's without getting into the added value, like a 50GB Dropbox account. While the Note 10.1 2014 has some small foibles, on the whole it's an extremely well-designed, well-engineered, and well-built device. It's intended by Samsung as an iPad competitor, and that's exactly what it is: an very high-specced device, with a lot of extra features which are, on the whole, very useful to the end user. Whether it beats the iPad comes down a lot to personal taste, but the second-generation Note 10.1 has the gravitas to compete. If you're looking for a high-end tablet with all the trimmings, this one more than makes the grade.

Your only 10.1 choice if you want a tablet with a capacitive stylus, but you pay through the nose for it

At the end of this tough and heavy fight, the iPad Air has managed to reinforce its position as the leading mobile tablet available on the market. With its wonderful design and blazing-fast performance, it really has no weak spots in comparison with the rest of the offerings on the market, and that includes the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition. Samsung's tablet is a fine gadget with a lot of capabilities, and it'll prove to be quite useful if you're really into TouchWiz Android and the S Pen stylus, but if that's not the case, then we see no solid reason why you should pick this one instead of the iPad Air, which can offer you so much more entertainment and productivity, courtesy of its richer application ecosystem.

Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition brings everything that’s worked in previously released Samsung devices and bundled it together with extremely powerful hardware. If you want the latest and greatest 10.1-inch Android tablet, then allow us to introduce you to the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition.

This year's version of the Galaxy Note 10.1 is a tad more expensive than its predecessor, but is it worth the $550 for the baseline model? In terms of hardware, there's no doubt that Samsung has massaged all of the sore spots from the first Note 10.1: it's thinner and lighter; it offers a gorgeous display and top-notch sound; it packs better specs; and it sports a cleaner design. What's more, the S Pen features are actually useful. In many respects, Samsung's new tablet is competitively priced with other high-end devices in the same category. Sadly, its inclusion of an eight-core Exynos chip oddly resulted in sometimes-sluggish performance -- something you don't expect to see on a premium device like this. Casual users may not notice or care that it's not up to par (although we believe that they'd be just as satisfied, if not more so, with the lower-priced Nexus 10). You can bet, though, that its overall performance will be a dealbreaker for power users and early adopters. If you crave the advanced stylus functionality, this is still the best option available for its size -- but that's not saying much, given the limited competition. We suppose it's going to have to do, though, until the 2015 edition rolls around.

To say that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition is a good tablet would be an understatement. It is clearly among the best Android slates out there and it sets the bar pretty high for all contenders. At the same time, we're amazed to see that the iPad 4 is still holding strong despite being almost one year old. Yet ultimately, which one of the two is the better pick? Well, that's hard to say and the final decision would mostly depend on each and every buyer's preferences. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition is a great tablet overall, despite being a bit plasticky. Starting at $550 for a Wi-Fi-only 16GB model, it is definitely expensive, but it offers quite a lot of value for its money. Samsung's offering excels when it comes to multitasking, not only because it packs a powerful processor backed by tons of RAM, but also thanks to its Multi Window functionality. Then there's the S Pen – a feature rarely seen on tablets out of the box, and a potentially very useful tool for productive and creative individuals. The iPad 4, on the other hand, is noticeably heavier and thicker, but has a much more premium feel. It is a well-built, good-looking machine, and it runs great with iOS 7 on board. Having access to Apple's rock-solid ecosystem of music, movies, and, of course, beautifully made apps and games, is also among its advantages. Oh, and did we mention that the iPad is cheaper? Yup, a base model iPad 4, with 16GB storage and only Wi-Fi can be had for $500. Just keep in mind that a new iPad model is expected to launch before 2014 is out, so if you feel like that's the right tablet for you, better hold on to your cash and wait for its successor to launch.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) is a premium tablet with a steep price. It performs at a high level across the board, and the S Pen's highly improved creation and navigation tools do indeed enhance the experience, particularly if you're looking for a two-in-one device that lets you really get hands-on with drawings, charts, and notes. However, if you're not absolutely sold on the stylus and the unique capabilities it brings, I suggest you keep looking: the 2012 Google Nexus 10, forthcoming Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, and Apple's next iPad are cheaper options that compete well on core features.

Now this is somewhat interesting, seeing that there’s a peculiar difference between Samsung’s set of Android tablets. On one hand, the Tab series is now regarded as Sammy’s entry-level tablet offering, and on the other, the Note series is now occupying the upper end of the spectrum. Needless to say, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is getting the recognition it so happily deserves, which wasn’t something we can say with its predecessor. Easily separating itself from the other stuff in Sammy’s tablet stable, this new Note 10.1 is deserving of all the upgrades it’s packing along – making it a strong competitor in the landscape! Higher resolution screen, check. Speedy performance thanks to its updated processor, check. New S Pen features, check-check! With a starting price point of $550 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, the pricing is undoubtedly a tad bit higher than some of its competitors, but we have to remind ourselves that it’s armed with the unique features of its S Pen – something that we don’t see too often with Android tablets. If the money isn’t a concern, the 2014 Edition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a great fit, but if you’re still looking out for savings, we’d recommend checking out the cheaper Google Nexus 10.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.2 2014 Edition takes the concept of the Galaxy Note series and gives it just as fine a quality as the newest Galaxy Note handset in a full-sized tablet edition. It’s as simple as that. With a display that’s bright enough, color accurate enough, and sharp enough to keep up with and out-do the competition here in 2013, this machine does more than just make us excited about what’s waiting in 2014′s crop of slates. Samsung sets the benchmark for fine quality and unique abilities with the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, and with the Exynos 5 Octa processor under the hood, it’ll be ready to roll with the most powerful apps for many moons, as well.

This year's Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet picks up exactly where last year's model left off, making key upgrades to the display and internals while improving its core stylus and multitasking features, but it's still not perfect.