Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition : First class

Introduction

Lightweight, agile and simply affordable, seven-inchers did, at one point, seem capable of pushing ten-inch Android tablets out of business. Even Samsung, with its device-for-every-taste approach had to admit defeat. The Koreans all but threw in the towel with the Galaxy Tab line, consciously relegating it to the midrange. 

The Notes are a different breed though - one we can't see Samsung giving up on any time soon. Of course, it's always the phablet enjoying most of the spotlight and the Note 3 has already had several occasions to emphatically prove that it deserved every bit of it.
But the ten-point-one that follows closely could turn out to be the even more impressive device in terms of the scope and depth of upgrades it brings to the table.

The new Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition comes in three different flavors sharing a quite similar design to the Galaxy Note 3 phablet. There is a Wi-Fi-only version and a 3G-enabled model, both powered by Samsung's own Exynos 5 Octa chipset, as well as an LTE-capable tablet with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 800 chipset ticking inside.

The one we're reviewing is the Exynos 5 version and here goes the spec sheet.

Key features

• 10.1" 16M-color Super Clear PLS capacitive touchscreen of 2560 x 1600 px resolution
• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7, Mali-T628MP6 GPU; Exynos 5420 chipset
• 3GB of RAM
• Android OS v4.3 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UX UI
• S Pen input and great software backend
• One of a kind split-screen multitasking and pop-up mini apps
• Quad-band GPRS/EDGE/HSPA and hexa-band LTE connectivity cat.4
• Voice calls (on 3G and LTE models only)
• 16/32/64 GB of built-in memory
• 8 MP autofocus camera, 3264x2448 pixels, geotagging
• 1080p video recording @60fps (LTE model) / 1080p video recording @30fps (Wi-Fi and 3G models)
• 2MP front-facing camera; 1080p videos
• Side-mounted stereo speakers
• Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• HDMI TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
• microSD card slot
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Infrared port
• GPS with A-GPS support; GLONASS, digital compass
• 1080p XviD/MKV video support with subtitles
• Accelerometer, three-axis Gyroscope sensor
• Polaris Office 5 document editor preinstalled
• 8,220 mAh Li-Po battery

Main disadvantages

• No NFC
• No DivX and AC3 codec support
• Air view works with S-Pen only, no thumb support
• Notification area not optimized for the large screen