TouchWiz interface - home screen, widgets

In today's review, we are going to tell you about the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition - a new 10-inch Android tablet that boasts an excellent 10-inch screen with a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels, an eight-core processor. Samsung Exynos 5420, a capacious 8200 mAh battery and a multifunctional S Pen.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition has an updated design that was first used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The most noticeable features of the new style are the ribbed metal-like edges and a plastic back panel, which is almost indistinguishable from genuine leather. This is how the company's designers decided to play up the name of the Note family, drawing parallels with the classic paper notebook in leather cover. The thickness of the tablet case is only 7.9 mm, and the weight is 540 or 547 grams, depending on the presence of a 3G modem.

Note that the model is available in two color versions at once - white and black, which allows you to choose an option for every taste. Interestingly, not only the rear panel is made in the main color, but also the screen bezel and even the complete stylus, and only the bezel remains silver in both white and black versions. On the top of the screen bezel, you can find the manufacturer's logo, a 2 MP front-facing webcam and a light sensor, on the bottom - a hardware button Home and two backlit touch keys Menu and Back... The width of the screen bezel is minimal along the short sides of the screen and slightly wider along the long ones, while the tablet is comfortable to hold in the hands with any grip.

The back panel of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is made of a rather pleasant to the touch warm textured plastic, the pattern of which is fully consistent with natural leather. In addition, the entire perimeter of the panel seems to be stitched with thread stitches, so that there is a complete illusion that we have leather trim. In fact, the only sign by which one can understand that it is still plastic is the hardness of the surface of this material, unnatural for the skin. On the back you can find the logo and service information, the main 8MP camera with flash and autofocus, as well as part of the opening of the S Pen slot.

Connectors, keys

All available connectors and organs Samsung control Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is placed on the silver sides of the tablet. The main micro-USB connector is located on the bottom edge, which is used to charge the battery, transfer data and connect peripherals using an OTG adapter. Nearby you can find a small hole, under which a digital microphone is located.

The power button, a volume rocker and an infrared sensor are placed on the top edge, thanks to which the tablet can be used as a control panel for household appliances. On the left side there is an audio output and one of the stereo speakers, on the right you can find another speaker, the aforementioned S Pen slot, as well as two slots with plugs for a MicroSD memory card and a SIM card in Micro-SIM format.

Display

The front panel of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is completely covered with protective glass, under which there is a high-quality 10-inch Super Сlear LCD matrix with super high resolution at 2560 by 1600 pixels and a color depth of 16 million colors. The maximum backlight brightness is about 400 cd / m2, which is enough to work even on a bright sunny day. You can adjust the brightness manually or leave it to the automation, setting your preferences within -5 / +5 steps to the sensitivity.

Note that in the settings you can choose a suitable display mode from the options "Standard", "Dynamic", "Cinema" or "Optimized". The display is equipped with a standard capacitive touch panel for finger control and an optional digitizer from Wacom that works with the dedicated S Pen.

Functionality

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition tablet is based on the highly efficient 8-core Samsung Exynos 5420 processor. Four Cortex-A15 cores with maximum frequency 1.9 GHz, while simpler tasks are solved by four economical Cortex-A9 cores with an operating frequency of 1.3 GHz. This processor configuration and a capacious 8220 mAh battery allow the tablet to hold out for about 9-10 hours in web browsing or video viewing mode.

Note that the powerful Mali-T628 MP6 solution is responsible for graphics processing, and the volume random access memory is the maximum currently used 3 GB. For storing user data, 16 or 32 GB of built-in data storage is provided, this volume can be significantly increased using a capacious data card. In terms of wireless modules, an impressive set of Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and an optional 3G module is used, which supports not only data transmission, but also voice calls. Naturally, using a 10-inch tablet as a smartphone (holding it close to your ear) will not work, but a bundle with a Bluetooth headset for voice communication looks very interesting.

Interface

The device operates under the control of an operating room. Android systems 4.3, supplemented by the proprietary TouchWiz software shell. The interface has been significantly redesigned, in addition, a number of features are tied to the use of the included S Pen, so we strongly advise you to carefully study the reference section before using it.

Of the interesting features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition interface, we can note a multi-line set of service switch icons; division of the settings menu into four separate sections; work in multi-screen mode; control the tablet using device movements, palm gestures, and head and eye positions.

Well, the S Pen allows you to perform a whole range of tasks, from handwritten notes and drawings to a rich context menu for the standard interface and any applications. We also note that each of the control keys, when pressed for a long time, performs an additional function - calling the search, the application manager and activating the multi-screen mode.

Video review of the tablet Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition

Outcomes

All in all, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is a flagship 10-inch tablet that has excelled literally on all fronts. Design - with almost leather trim; screen - with ultra-high resolution, digitizer and stylus; platform - eight cores, 3 gigabytes of RAM and 8000 mAh. For those who even this is not enough, recall the unique interface, the electronic S Pen and the 3G-module, which allows not only to transfer data, but also to make voice calls.

Liked
+ Samsung Exynos 5420 octa-core processor, Mali-T628 MP6 graphics, 3 GB RAM
+ display Super Сlear LCD with a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels
+ Wacom digitizer and S Pen
+ optional 3G module with support for voice calls
+ capacious 8220 mAh battery
+ original design and materials (plastic "under the skin")
+ interface

Did not like
- rather high cost

The product was provided for testing by Samsung, www.samsung.ua

	Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) 3G White (SM-P6010ZWA) Notify when on sale
Type of	Tablet
Screen diagonal, inches	10,1
Matrix	Super clear LCD
Screen cover type	glossy
Screen resolution	2560x1600
Touch Panel Type	capacitive
Multi touch	+
CPU	Samsung Exynos 5420
Kernel type	Cortex-A15 + Cortex-A7
Frequency, GHz	1,9
Number of Cores	8
Graphics	Mali-T628 MP6
Pre-installed OS	Android 4.3
RAM, MB	3072
Built-in memory, GB	16
External ports	microUSB 2.0 (MHL 2.0), 3.5mm audio
Card reader	microSD
Front-camera	2MP
Rear camera	8MP (BSI sensor, autofocus, flash)
Light sensor	+
Orientation sensor	+
Built-in speakers	+ (stereo)
Dock station	—
Stylus included	+
Ethernet	—
Wi-Fi	802.11 a / b / g / n / ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), DLNA
Bluetooth	v4.0
3G / 4G module (LTE)	+
GSM / 3G / 4G (LTE) standards	3G: HSPA +
Voice communication in GSM / 3G networks	+
Gps	+
NFC	—
Battery capacity, mAh	8220
Time autonomous work
Weight, g	535
Dimensions, mm	243.1x171.4x7.9
Other	Additional camera features: image stabilization, face detection, 1080p video, dual cameras: "embedding" images from the front camera, slow / fast video recording, "photo motion", photo editor. Optional: Voice recognition S-voice Translator S-translator Gesture recognition Eye recognition Intelligent standby Reading mode
Body color	black
Bezel color	black

Super Clear LCD Light sensor + RAM, GB 3 Built-in memory, GB 16 Expansion slot + (microSD) CPU Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5420 Frequency, GHz 1,9-1,3 Number of Cores 8 Graphics Mali-T628 MP6 Built-in speakers + (stereo) Battery capacity, mAh 8220 Battery life Internet browsing: up to 9 hours (3G / WI-FI), video viewing: up to 10 hours, audio playback: up to 117 hours, talk time: up to 49 hours (for configurations with a 3G modem) Front camera, MP 2 Rear camera, MP 8 Other BSI sensor, autofocus, flash Ethernet - Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 802.11ac, DLNA Bluetooth + (4.0) 3G / 4G module (LTE) - Gps + NFC - External ports micro-USB 2.0 (MHL 2.0), 3.5 mm Weight, g 535 Dimensions, mm 243.1x171.4x7.9 Body color black Bezel color black Dock station - Stylus included + Yet Additional camera features: image stabilization, face detection, 1080p video, dual cameras: "embedding" images from the front camera, slow / fast video recording, "photo motion", photo editor. Optional: Voice recognition S-voice Translator S-translator Gesture recognition Eye recognition Intelligent standby Reading mode

Every time, sitting down to describe Android tablets from Samsung, journalists are torn to pieces by their unwillingness to describe the standard ones for the hundredth time. Android functions or TouchWiz or refer to tablet reviews that were written a little earlier. The site has a good tradition of doing reviews of the standard features for each platform, and we have a similar breakdown of the standard features for both Android and TouchWiz. Unfortunately for us, in 2014 many functions from Samsung received updates, new utilities appeared that were not included in those materials. I had to focus on the unique features of the products, overlooking what is important for many. There was no system material that would show the difference between products, and also focused on the version of Android for tablets - de facto, this is exactly the same Android and the same version, but with a number of serious differences in UI and ergonomics. The purpose of this material is to describe all the standard functions, additional features, and at the same time distribute the families of Samsung tablets so that you can easily navigate in them and understand the differences. This material will be the main and complementary to the reviews of most Samsung tablets, at least until the second quarter of 2015, when we see the next major update to Android and all the features described below.

Families of tablets from Samsung - Galaxy Tab, Galaxy Tab Pro, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note Pro

Despite the fact that all Samsung tablets are based on the same software, their additional capabilities vary greatly and they depend, first of all, on which product line the device belongs to. Initially, all tablets were part of the family Galaxy Tab- can be considered as basic models. Then came the Note tablets, they added a stylus and an additional screen digitizer, which allows you to draw on it with very high detail. The next family is the Pro line tablets, they differ in additional programs and can be built on the basis of both the Tab line and Note - Tab Pro and, accordingly, Note Pro. For ease of understanding, I suggest this family diagram.

It turns out that with the same screen diagonal, the price step from the simplest Tab to the Tab Pro is 1.5-3 thousand rubles, while maintaining other characteristics - memory, the presence or absence of 3G. In the Note family, the price step is further increased as we have two upgrades from the main Tab.

The text will not highlight the standard features for all tablets, but where a feature or program becomes unique, it is indicated in the family aspect. For example, talking about Hancom Office, I will note that this program is preinstalled only on tablets of the Pro family. Or, speaking of S Note, I will point out that this utility works on tablets of the Note family. In my opinion, the division of tablets into families is not very difficult and you can easily figure out what exactly you need and how much these functions are worth overpaying for them.

In order not to miss anything, the review of functions and programs is made on the basis of the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 with a 3G module, that is, this is the most functional tablet in the line. All the described functions are typical for Android 4.4 and higher, if your tablet is built on Android 4.3, then some of the functions, UI settings may differ slightly. The good news is that such a tablet will receive an update to 4.4 and all the features described will appear.

Magazine UI - Pro Line

The most significant difference between the Pro line is the Magazine UI interface, which is installed on the main screen of tablets and to some extent repeats the Windows 8 tile. Tiles can be changed in sizes, places, but you are limited only by the set that Samsung provided - these are about two dozen applications as well as widgets.

Someone may like this approach, some may not - but you can create additional screens to your liking and place ordinary Android widgets and links to programs on them. It turns out a kind of mixture, from which everyone can choose what is closer to him. Magazine UI doesn't make much sense; this interface was clearly designed to compete with Windows 8 devices that Samsung has abandoned. The similarity of the interface is also given by the fact that side panel in Magazine, the UI runs in the same way as in Windows 8, only it serves to call applications in multi-window mode.

The Magazine UI value is close to zero, a marketing gimmick that anyone can opt out of. But if you like tiles, then this option is for you.

TouchWiz interface - home screen, widgets

The main screen displays shortcuts to applications, widgets, you can add new screens and switch between them by swiping.

In the main menu, you can see application icons or folders with them, create your own folders, sort applications.

There are also widgets that can be installed on the home screen. There are no special differences from the "bare" Android, the principle of operation is exactly the same.

Starting with Android 4.4, the Menu key is being abandoned, it is replaced by the button for the last launched applications, a line with them appears at the bottom of the screen. You can close the application by sliding it up with your finger.

All settings for applications or screens are made from the menu, you can access it using the on-screen key.

Pulling the screen from top to bottom, you will see a curtain with information about the latest actions, as well as quick shortcuts to change certain settings of the tablet.

Keyboard, text input, voice dialing

Let me remind you that in Android, a user can install any keyboard, a set of languages, and therefore the capabilities of the built-in keyboards do not play a big role, everything is customizable here. Nevertheless, Samsung creates quite good and convenient solutions - you can choose a full-screen keyboard, a small QWERTY keyboard that moves across the screen and takes up little space (useful on tablets with large diagonals), as well as a two-piece keyboard that is located on both sides screen.

Handwriting input is supported on all tablets, it can be done with a stylus, and you can write with your finger. Recognition is in all languages installed in the system (usually English and a second language).

It is possible to activate the continuous input mode, where you can enter words without lifting your finger from the keyboard, moving between letters. It's pretty handy. T9 hints work well in most cases, there is an autocorrection of words, its own dictionary for new words.

Copying and pasting works between all applications, everything is implemented as standard, as in pure Android.

In count standard ways text input Android is the leader in the tablet market, Samsung offers even more sophisticated systems out of the box, but many do not see them, as they are content with standard settings.

Multitasking - MultiView and Application Launch

For the first time, multitasking, other than the standard switching between applications in Android, appeared on phones of the Note family, it was the simultaneous work in two applications that were placed on both sides of the screen and divided it equally. This mode appeared in all tablets of the company in 2014, regardless of which line they belong to. Now the window can even be divided into three parts, each with its own application. For example, you can launch a video player, watch a page on the Internet and at the same time read something in a third-party application. The sizes of these windows can change at your discretion, you can move some to the side and hide them from the screen (while running applications will work, for example, when watching a YouTube video, this view will not stop, you will hear sound and will be able to work with music). I talk about this mode in detail in the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 video review.

Improved work in multiple windows and the fact that in the settings you can specify their automatic opening. For example, in the Twitter application, you click on a link, immediately the screen is divided into two parts, and in a normal browser you read this link, then you can hide this part of the window and return to Twitter.

You can copy information between simultaneously open applications - you can select text and move it to another window. Also you can copy photos to a new letter. In short, working in several windows gives you new opportunities and gains in time - you get used to these conveniences instantly.

The Note line also has quick access to applications, each of which can be hidden as a small icon. This is very convenient, as it allows you to keep functions such as a calculator, calendar, notes and others, always at hand. A kind of multitasking, but it's only available in the Note family.

None of the tablets from other Android manufacturers have anything similar to the listed functions yet, these are unique features of the Samsung line.

Office apps - Pro line and regular tablets

The main difference between the Pro line is that the office suite of the South Korean company Hancom is used here for the first time, which was known under the commercial name ThinkFree, but was very different in functionality. The package on Pro tablets actually includes a desktop application of the MS Office level, which has full compatibility with doc files, docx and others, for different versions MS Office.

The package contains three applications - Hword, Hcell, Hpresentation. From the names it is clear what each application is responsible for. For the first time for Android, there is an automatic file saving feature that works great if the application is active and on the screen. When switching between applications, this function may not always work, so it is worth setting up autosave for a minimum period of time - especially since this does not affect performance.

It makes no sense to describe each program from the package, I will focus on the key features. There is built-in support for fonts other than the system ones in Android, that is, by sending or receiving a file by mail, you are guaranteed to read it, since the main fonts are installed in the system along with office suite... You also have the ability to install additional fonts.

In addition to supporting all office formats, you can save your files to PDF, no additional conversions or actions are required, everything happens in one click. The package is focused on touch screen operation, all control is carried out with your fingers, and it is very convenient. Having checked the performance of the program on different tables, office files, I can say that it is the maximum and concedes, perhaps, only to the original MS Office. This package from Hancom is the first real alternative to Microsoft's traditional tablet software package. And the alternative is very strong, as it offers the same capabilities that will satisfy the vast majority of users. It is possible that some specific functions may not work, but these are already such niche things that you should not specifically look for them. In South Korea, a similar package from Hancom on PC is used in many institutions, and there are no serious complaints about it.

To understand the quality of the software, I suggest you look at the screenshots individual applications I think they will speak for themselves.

HPresentation:

In the line of ordinary tablets, PolarisOffice is installed by default, this is a free program for viewing MS Office files, a full-featured version for editing must be purchased separately. Considering that a separate license for Hancom Office will cost significantly more than the difference in price between the regular and Pro versions of tablets, perhaps those who work in such applications should look at the older tablets, it is more profitable.

Note family - unique features and programs

Just like in the Note family phones, the tablets have a stylus and also a row additional functions... Formally, the functionality of these applications on phones and tablets is the same. I talked about what Air Command can do, and in great detail, in the Note 3 review, you can watch the corresponding video.

V S Action now all notes are recognized, they can be linked to actions, so you enter an entry to call someone, the phone recognizes this and adds it to the calendar or makes it possible to call from the phone book at the right time. The function is not very popular and amazing, perhaps the most useless of all.

ScrapBook- an application that allows you to save text, pictures and so on from the screen, you circle the desired piece of the page and then select a category. Everything is saved in one place, including the video. Nice function, which may be interesting as an analogue, albeit weaker, of Evernote. The advantage is that this feature is built into the tablet. When you recognize a section of a page with text, even if it is a picture, then you also get a text file that you can copy anywhere.

S Finder- universal search by phone and its memory, it searches for data in all applications without exception (you can, however, set up places where nothing is worth looking for).

Pen Window- draw a square on the screen, and a window of the size that you drew appears, there are application icons in it. In fact, this is a pop-up window that you may need when you are working somewhere and want, for example, to calculate something in a calculator. It hangs over the main window and can be closed at any time. Comfortable.

Of the additional features associated with the S-Pen, it should be noted the ability to lock the tablet screen with a signature, you can also configure the launch of certain applications using the stroke of a pen. In my opinion, this is not very convenient, but perhaps someone will think otherwise.

Let me emphasize that S-Pen capabilities in terms of the accuracy of information input, drawing surpasses any tablet on the market only because the entire Note family uses Wacom digitizers - that is, this is a software and hardware technology.

Multimedia - music and video

Regardless of the family to which the tablet belongs, all of its multimedia characteristics are the same. Most codecs are supported out of the box, no dancing with a tambourine and installing additional software. The following codecs are supported for video: AVI, MP4, M4V, 3GP, MKV, WMV, ASF, FLV, WEBM: MP4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, VP8, WMV7 / 8, Sorenson Spark, MP43.

For audio - MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA Codecs: MP3, AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, M4A , 3GA, OGG, WMA, WAV, FLAC, AMR-WB, AMR-NB, MIDI, SP-MIDI, XMF, i-Melody.

The standard "Music" application from Samsung supports a number of additional features - for example, a musical square, allows you to divide music by mood, speed, and so on. The program's interface is quite simple, there is integration with Samsung's music services, in the additional settings you can find equalizers. You can also adjust the playback speed - from 0.5x to 2x.

The Videos app is a catalog of all videos on your device as well as in the cloud, such as Samsung's video store. Fast rewind, video geometry change, FullHD playback and hardware acceleration... In terms of capabilities, a standard application is fine for most users.

File manager

A proprietary utility that allows you not only to view folders and files on the device, but is capable of showing folders in cloud storage, as well as on ftp sites, if you connect them. Sorting, searching, and also specifying the file extension - the program's capabilities are maximized.

Smart Remote (for models with infrared)

All 2014 models are equipped with infrared for control household appliances, it is set up with a few taps, and then you can use your tablet as a remote control.

Mail client

Supports POP3 / IMAP / SMTP mailboxes, up to several accounts, a combined folder with important messages, a view in which the screen can be divided into several columns. Viewing HTML in the body of the email. Sorting and searching.

The email client has very advanced features, including creating your own filters or maintaining those configured on your work machine. In terms of quality, it wins over everyone third-party solutions, harder than Google's proprietary email client for Gmail.

S Planner

Samsung's calendar has several interesting views and views and overlaps the functionality of the standard Google calendar. A fairly convenient application that can be synchronized with any cloud calendar, including those from Google.

Contacts

An ordinary notebook from Android, with a number of additions - a line of letters in two languages, that is, you can search in both Russian and English. Synchronization of contacts both with Google and with any other services, including those from Samsung.

Posts

The ability to send and receive regular SMS, all settings are standard. De facto, Samsung tablets with a 3G / 4G module can be used as phones - all you need is a wired or wireless headset.

S Voice

Voice assistant that accepts commands and allows you to quickly record a note or write a message. The number of commands is large enough, recognition works well. An analogue of Siri, but without imagination - it copes with its tasks perfectly, especially if you do not wait for a meaningful conversation in response, but enter information according to a template. A rarely used function by most.

Settings

There is no point in describing each of the possible settings, in the screenshots you will see everything that is possible, they speak for themselves.

The bottom line - conclusion

My attempt to grasp the immensity threatened to develop into a detailed analysis of every little thing in the tablet software, which is not needed by the vast majority of people. Programs such as ChatOn, Dropbox, RemoteControl and others were left behind - they are either well known to you, or of little practical interest. There is no point in wasting your time on these insignificant details - the differences between tablets of different families are described above and the standard functions are briefly given.

In terms of software, Samsung tablets have gone very far from pure versions of Android - they have a number of unique features, in particular, multitasking in several windows, the ability to copy information between them. The Note line has a maximum of possibilities for working with a stylus - you can draw, write by hand, as well as call additional applications, which is also a kind of multitasking. The competing solutions on Android simply do not have anything like this, however, as in the iPad, there are no such features.

From the point of view of functionality, the Note family models give the maximum possible, but here you need to understand how often you will need a stylus, it has a number of nice features. For example, I like that cutting out a picture with text, I instantly get the same text, it is recognized. For copying text from flyers or graphics, this is the only tool on the market. For everyday life, you can choose the usual devices of the Tab line, there is nothing superfluous and complicated in them.

I hope that this text helped you understand the differences in software in different families of Samsung tablets, and below I will provide links to reviews of tablets from 2014, which will gradually appear on the site.

Contents of delivery:

Tablet
Charger with USB cable
Instructions
Wired stereo headset (3G version only)

Positioning

This device replaced the Galaxy Note 10.1, which appeared on the market in 2012 and has established itself as a device not for everyone - the high cost, incomprehensibility of the advantages of the pen and working with it. All together, in 2012, sales turned out to be rather modest, which, however, exceeded the forecasts of both retail chains and the company itself.

Continuing to develop the Note direction, Samsung rely primarily on phablets, in particular, Note 2/3 - they are extremely popular on the market, but most importantly, they showed why and how you can use the stylus. It is impossible to call the Note family tablets companions to such devices - but the fact that the audience, familiar with phones and satisfied with their functionality, will deliberately choose such tablets, is absolutely certain.

When we talk about Samsung technology, we must understand that its cost is obviously higher than that of the second-tier competitors - the price gap can be up to 20-30 percent, as a rule, this is a payment not only for the brand, but also for additional features. The price with the reference tablet iPad is about the same. An interesting collision arises from this - those who seek to save money often choose tablets from small companies, those who are almost unknown on the market, the rest rush between iPad and Samsung. Perhaps this choice is determined not even by the device manufacturer, but by the worldview - you choose iOS or Android, which is closer and more understandable to you. For example, for me tablets from Apple are more convenient than those on Android, although the iPad has many shortcomings, the lack of flexibility inherent in the system. In 2013, Google put a lot of effort into making Android a better tablet experience, and those efforts were not in vain. Let models on Android sometimes suffer from slowdowns, are filled with incomprehensible software from manufacturers, but in terms of the totality of characteristics, they have long overtaken the iPad, and software manufacturers release games and applications for both platforms at the same time or almost simultaneously.

The positioning of the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is twofold - on the one hand, this is the company's main tablet with a diagonal of 10 inches, that is, workhorse for everyone, having maximum performance and sufficiently long life cycle... That is why the device, which began selling back in November 2013, had a 2014 Edition prefix. Secondly, it is a purebred continuation of the Note line, which provides new opportunities for artists, students and creative people. But if in 2012 the main capabilities of the stylus were implemented around drawing, then in subsequent versions of Note they were expanded with business functions, for example, quick creation tables, graphs and illustrations. In my opinion, on this tablet it is worth stopping the attention of everyone who not only consumes information, reads from the tablet screen, but actively takes notes, corresponds with other people and shares information. This model has no competitors in terms of the variety of ways to enter information, catalog it, and store it. The difference from other Android tablets is in a unique feature - the stylus, which allows you to work with a variety of applications created for it and do it very comfortably.

Design, dimensions, controls

Samsung adheres to a simple color rule for the main models - white and black, this tablet is no exception, it is available in two colors.

In terms of materials, this is a complete replica of the Note 3, which we have seen in the past too - back cover the tablet got embossed under the skin, but it's plastic. The front surface is glossy, the display is covered with shatterproof glass, on which there are almost no scratches.

Tablet size - 243.1x171.4x7.9 mm, weight - 547 grams (version with 3G, regular Wi-Fi weighs 535 grams). In terms of ergonomics, this is a typical solution of the company - thin, with one mechanical key in the middle of the wide side, which makes it inconvenient to work with one hand. In my opinion, one of the main competitive advantages of the iPad is metal case, for example, iPad Air weighs about the same, is as thin, but feels like a more expensive product. There is no such feeling when using Samsung tablets, they are workhorses. It is curious that if the use of exactly the same plastic is not perceived as a disadvantage in phones, then for a tablet it is rather a disadvantage. It is unlikely that it will wear off over time, break from falls, or something similar will happen, but metal remains metal, and it is perceived quite differently. Considering that the case in this model is non-separable, there was no reason to use plastic. Weight, dimensions - everything roughly coincides, hence the incomprehensibility of Samsung's obsession with plastic, in this parameter the company is clearly inferior to the iPad.

Compared to previous generations of the Note family, the 2014 Edition clearly wins in design and workmanship - no gloss.

On the right side there is a nest for a pen, the stylus itself has become unified and completely coincides with that in Note 3. It can be inserted into the nest without looking, either side. Of the shortcomings of the implementation of the stylus holder specifically in the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, we can note a certain looseness in some copies, it is worth checking this point before buying. The main returns with mechanical problems are related to the pen and its holder. On the other hand, the number of such refunds against the backdrop of sales is quite unnoticeable.

On the top edge you can see the infrared port, it is used to control various household appliances, such as a TV. The corresponding utility can be found in the menu. The on / off key is shifted to the left on this edge, in the same place is the volume rocker. On the left side there is a 3.5 mm headset jack. Finally, at the bottom there is a regular microUSB connector. Above the screen you can see the front camera for video calls (2 megapixels), the main camera is 8 megapixels and also has an LED flash.

In the 3G model, the SIM card slot is located on the right side, along with the memory card slot. On the two sides, you can see the speakers, covered with a metal mesh.

Display

The diagonal of the screen is 10.1 inches, the resolution is 2560x1600 pixels, which provides 299 ppi. The screen type is Super Clear LCD, with support for a digitizer from Wacom, which allows you to draw very accurately and accurately on it. The colors are bright, the backlight adjustment in automatic mode is comfortable, almost never misses, even in variable indoor lighting conditions. The screen does not fade in the sun, the information remains readable.

The aspect ratio of the screen is 16: 9, which will seem interesting to many for watching videos, but here who loves and how. I don't see any problems in watching videos on iPad (4: 3). In my opinion, the screen quality in this tablet is one of the best and gives clear advantages to Samsung. However, this is not surprising - it is the quality of the screens that the company has always won over its competitors. And if in the past the lag behind the iPad with a Retina screen was noticeable, now it is gone - these screens can be easily compared with each other.

USB, Bluetooth, communication capabilities

Bluetooth. Bluetooth version 4.0 (LE). When transferring files to other devices that support this technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 n is used, and the theoretical transfer speed is about 24 Mbps. Testing the transfer of a 1 GB file showed a maximum speed of about 12 Mbps within three meters between devices.

The model supports various profiles, in particular Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, File Transfer, Object Push, Basic Printing, SIM Access, A2DP. Working with headsets does not raise any questions, everything is ordinary.

USB connection... In Android 4, for some reason, they abandoned USB mode Mass Storage, only MTP was left (there is also a PTP mode).

The USB version is 3, the data transfer rate is about 45 Mb / s.

When connected to a PC, the simultaneous operation of USB and Bluetooth is unacceptable, the device requires turning off Bluetooth regardless of the current state (whether there is a connection and transmission or not), this is extremely inconvenient. When connected via USB, the device recharges.

The microUSB connector also supports the MHL standard, which means that using a special cable (available from electronics stores), you can connect your phone to a TV (to the HDMI output). In fact, the standard describes the ability to connect via microUSB to HDMI. This solution looks preferable to a separate miniHDMI connector on the case.

For GSM networks, EDGE class 12 is provided.

Wi-Fi... Supports 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac standard, the wizard is similar to that for Bluetooth. You can remember the selected networks, automatically connect to them. It is possible to set up a one-touch connection to the router, for this you need to press a button on the router, and also activate a similar button in the device menu (WPA SecureEasySetup). Of the additional options, it is worth noting the setup wizard, it appears when the signal is weak or disappearing. You can also configure Wi-Fi to work on a schedule.

Also, for the 802.11 n standard, the HT40 operating mode is supported, which allows you to double the Wi-Fi bandwidth (requires support from another device).

Wi-Fi Direct... A protocol that aims to replace Bluetooth or compete with its third version (it also uses Wi-Fi version n to transfer large files). On the menu Wi-Fi settings select the Wi-Fi Direct section, the phone starts looking for devices around. We select the desired device, activate the connection on it, and voila. Now, in the file manager, you can view files on another device, as well as transfer them. Another option is to simply find the devices connected to your router and transfer the necessary files to them, this can be done from the gallery or other sections of the phone. The main thing is that the device supports Wi-Fi Direct.

NFC... The handset has NFC technology, which can be used with various additional applications.

S Beam... A technology that allows you to transfer a file of several gigabytes to another phone in a few minutes. In fact, we see in the S Beam a combination of two technologies - NFC and Wi-Fi Direct. The first technology is used to bring up and authorize phones, but the second is already used to transfer the files themselves. A creatively redesigned way of using Wi-Fi Direct is much easier than using a dual-device connection, file selection, and so on.

Infrared port... Required to use the phone as a remote control for various household appliances. Automatically adjusts for almost any vehicle model.

Memory, RAM, platform and performance

The model is available in several versions - the amount of memory can be 16 or 32 GB, the amount of RAM is always 3 GB. After loading, the amount of free RAM exceeds 1.2 GB, but it quickly shrinks to 300-400 MB and stays around this mark. This has no effect on performance, it is almost impossible to see the brakes.

Memory cards are supported up to 64 GB, however, as well as their "hot" swap.

The tablet, which is sold in Russia, is built on Samsung Exynos Octa 5420 - it is an eight-core processor in which 4 Cortex A15 cores operate at up to 1.9 GHz, and four Cortex A7 cores at up to 1.3 GHz.

From the point of view of the interface, everything works quite quickly, although sometimes you can see the slowdown in standard programs that quickly disappear and appear in a chaotic manner - this is the contribution that makes branded shell from Samsung. In synthetic tests, the tablet shows good results.

Camera

A regular 8 megapixel camera, no autofocus, unlike the latest generation Tab Pro / Note Pro, which was the first to use an autofocus camera, although the resolution has not changed. Examples of several pictures. In my opinion, the camera in a tablet is something that you rarely use - an unnecessary feature.

Battery

The tablet has an 8220 mAh battery, according to the manufacturer, it can play videos up to 10 hours, music up to 117 hours, work on the Internet (3G or Wi-Fi, it does not matter) - up to 9 hours. In practice, these results can be safely considered ideal, since the operating time is about half less - for example, watching a video in FullHD (avi, hardware acceleration, 70 percent backlight) gives about 6 hours of work. Even changing the backlight to a minimum does not give a runtime of 10 hours. When navigating the network with a backlight of 50 percent, we can say that the operating time is about 4-5 hours. On average, with not very active use, the tablet will work quietly for 5-6 days. With very active use - 1 full day.

Full charging time of the battery is just over 5 hours (2A charging from the kit). You can safely leave the tablet overnight, this is more a minus than a plus - but this is the difference between all modern tablets, including the iPad, which does not greatly benefit from this parameter. On the other hand, time iPad work remains the benchmark for the tablet market - this is, in fact, an honest 10 hours of video, even if all formats are not supported out of the box. Two years ago, the gap in operating time was almost twofold, today it has decreased to 1.5 times, but it is still noticeably different. This parameter should be taken into account if you need a tablet with the longest possible battery life, and electrical network not at hand most of the time.

Working with the stylus - features of the Note line

All devices of the Note family are maximally unified - the same stylus, the quality of text recognition, the touch of the pen on the screen, software capabilities... Only the screen size differs, and a 10.1-inch tablet is the most convenient option for drawing, charting, and the like. In the video about this tablet, I touched on multitasking a little, as well as the functions of the S-Pen, but it will not be superfluous to repeat their description of them. Review Note 3 for those unfamiliar with such products.

V S Action all notes are recognized, they can be linked to actions, for example, you enter an entry to call someone, the phone recognizes this and adds it to the calendar or makes it possible to call from the phone book at the right time. The function is not very popular and amazing, perhaps the most useless of all.

ScrapBook- an application that allows you to save text, pictures and so on from the screen, you circle the desired piece of the page and then select a category. Everything is saved in one place, including the video. A good feature that might be interesting as an analogue, albeit weaker, of Evernote. The advantage is that this feature is built into the phone.

S Finder- universal search by phone and its memory, it searches for data in all applications without exception (you can, however, set up places where nothing is worth looking for).

Application S Note updated, it has synchronization with Evernote (!), a fairly convenient interface for working with notes, you can see several pages, which is extremely convenient compared to the current version. I highly recommend watching a video about this application to share my delight - one of the most interesting programs on the phone.

V Multi Window now you can open the same application in two parts of the window, for example, speak simultaneously in the IM messenger with two different friends. But the best thing is that you can copy a message from one part of the window to another.

Multimedia capabilities

In terms of playing music and videos, this tablet compares favorably with both the iPad and most of its Android counterparts. Most codecs are supported out of the box, no dancing with a tambourine and installing additional software. The following codecs are supported for video: AVI, MP4, M4V, 3GP, MKV, WMV, ASF, FLV, WEBM: MP4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, VP8, WMV7 / 8, Sorenson Spark, MP43.

The sound quality is excellent - the model has no complaints, the music sounds very good in the headphones. When watching a video, the stereo speakers have a sufficient volume reserve, although they are not always enough.

Software Features - Android 4.3 and TouchWiz

The tablet initially comes with Android 4.3, and will soon receive an update to 4.4.2. The TouchWiz shell is somewhat different from the latest generation of devices, it will also undergo changes. There is no point in describing the standard functionality, this is good old Android, which everyone knows.

Below are screenshots of the main functions of the tablet. Separately, I will mention that along with the tablet, you get a 1-year subscription to Businessweek, several weeks of subscription to the New York Times. Also 50 GB of space on Dropbox, they will be valid for 2 years.

Impressions

The 3G version can be used as a phone with any wired and wireless headset in fact, this is an ordinary smartphone, albeit in a large size. This is another unique feature that distinguishes this device from iPad, making it more interesting in terms of usage scenarios (SMS, voice calls, whatsapp, etc.).

In my opinion, the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition has a lot of possibilities, it is a harvester from which everyone can choose what they need. It can be both a work tool and a tablet for games - it all depends on what exactly you need. In the segment of Android devices, there are no direct alternatives to this device, other manufacturers do not work with a stylus (at least of this quality and with such a set of additional programs), there is no possibility of multitasking (pop-up applications, as well as division into two or even three windows) ...

To some extent, the competitor to this tablet is the Note Pro models, which are just beginning to appear on the market, but in Russia the 10.1-inch model will not be officially presented. Another point is that the cost of such models due to a larger set of programs, in particular, Hancom Office (a full replacement for MS Office), is higher. Do I need to overpay for the same or almost the same hardware and additional software? The question remains open. For those who don't need a pen, the Galaxy Tab Pro is the same, but without the stylus.

Given the unification of software in Samsung tablets, I think that it is necessary to write a separate material in which all standard functions will be considered in detail - they are the same for all devices. Such material will appear in the near future.

It remains to look at the cost of this solution - the 3G / 32GB version costs about 29,990 rubles, the younger 3G / 16GB - 26,000 rubles. These prices are quite comparable to those of the iPad Air with 3G, which presents the buyer with a difficult choice. In my opinion, this is a choice not only of the brand, but of the platform that is closer and clearer to you, more convenient in everyday life. Both have their advantages.

As a short afterword, I would like to say that I had a certain bias towards the Note 10.1 2014 Edition, especially as an iPad user. I could not fall in love with this device for several months of use, there is no emotional component in it that would attract. But as a tool, it is a very powerful machine that has imperceptibly taken a place in my life. She would have a little charisma, and it would have turned out to be a bestseller - but for now it's just good tool... Therefore, there is an iPad and a tablet that is used on a daily basis for work. There is no ideal in life, but it's a pity.

	Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition)	iPad Air	Toshiba Excite Write	Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (2013)
Screen	PLS, 10.1 ″, 2560 × 1600 (299 ppi)	IPS, 9.7 ″, 2048 × 1536 (264 ppi)		IPS, 10.1 ″, 2560 × 1600 (299 ppi)
SoC (processor)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 @ 2.3 GHz (4 cores Krait 400) / Samsung Exynos 5 Octa (see above)	Apple A7 1.3 GHz 64 bit (2 cores, Cyclone architecture based on ARMv8)		NVIDIA Tegra 4 @ 1.8 GHz (4 cores + 1, ARM Cortex-A15)
GPU	Adreno 330 / Mali-T628 MP6	PowerVR G6430	NVIDIA GeForce	NVIDIA GeForce
Flash memory	from 16 to 64 GB	from 16 to 128 GB	32 GB	32GB + 5GB in cloud storage Asus Webstorage
Connectors	Micro-USB (with OTG support), 3.5mm headphone jack	Lightning dock connector, 3.5mm headphone jack	Micro-USB, Micro-HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack	dock connector, Micro-USB, Micro-HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack
Memory card support	microSD (up to 64 GB)	No	microSD	microSD
RAM	3 GB	1 GB	2 GB	2 GB
Cameras	rear (8 Mp; video shooting - 1080p) and front (2 Mp, video transmission 1080p)	front (1.2 Mp, 720p video over FaceTime) and rear (5 Mp, 1080p video) and	front (1.2 Mp) and rear (8 Mp, 1080p video shooting)	front (1.2 Mp, 720p video support) and rear (5 Mp, 1080p video)
Internet	Wi-Fi + 3G (optional LTE)	Wi-Fi (optional - 3G, as well as 4G LTE without support for Russian networks)	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi
Battery capacity (mAh)	8220	unknown	8920	unknown
Operating system	Google android 4.3	Apple iOS 7.0	Google Android 4.2.1	Google Android 4.2.x
Dimensions (mm) *	243 × 171 × 7.9	240 x 170 x 7.5	262 × 178 × 10.2	263 x 181 x 8.9
Weight (g)	544	478/469*	671	585

Equipment

A test sample of the tablet came to us, so we cannot judge about the packaging and configuration. In addition to the device itself (with a stylus inserted into it), it was found in the box Charger(5.3 V 2.0 A) and Micro-USB cable. Significantly, Samsung has ditched its proprietary connector, which it used last year, and switched to Micro-USB.

As for the stylus, it is quite similar to last year's version, but thinner (which reduces its resemblance to regular pens and pencils) and with more strongly rounded edges (in fact, there are no edges as such here at all, whereas the first Galaxy Note 10.1 has a stylus had the shape of a tetrahedron). The stylus body is made of plastic. As before, there is a ribbed button that blocks the action of the stylus (that is, if you hold it down and try to click somewhere with the stylus or write something, there will be no effect).

Interestingly, in the hole for the stylus in the tablet there is a sensor that reacts to the removal of the stylus or, conversely, its insertion into the tablet.

Design

So, we smoothly moved on to the design of the tablet itself. Let's start with the exterior. While retaining the recognizable elements, Samsung nevertheless very seriously reworked appearance tablet: the device has become thinner, sleeker, more pleasant to look at.

On the lower frame under the screen, a branded Samsung oblong Home button appeared, next to it - two touch buttons(Menu and Back), the Samsung label has moved to the top bezel, next to the front camera and light sensor. Stereo speakers are now located on the side faces (and not on the sides of the screen), so the overall dimensions have become smaller.

The back side has also changed. Its surface is now not smooth, but stylized as leather.

In photographs, it looks so great that it feels like there really is skin (albeit artificial). But in reality it is plastic, and even the stitching is just an imitation. Of course, the need to use leather in mobile devices is a controversial issue, and purely in practice, this option could be even better, since plastic is more resistant to wear and tear. But personally, when I picked up the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, I still got the feeling that this is a fake - as dubious as cheap jewelry. However, there is no friend here for taste and color, and speaking objectively, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 looks much better than its immediate predecessor and all other Samsung tablets. First of all, this is achieved due to the pseudo-metallic (in fact, plastic) edging and rather low thickness.

The locations of the connectors and buttons are as follows. On the left side there is a 3.5 mm minijack for a headset and one of the two speakers, on the right side there is a hole into which the S Pen stylus is inserted, the second speaker and a slot for a microSD memory card, covered with a lid.

Below we see the built-in microphone hole and the Micro-USB connector (with OTG support) through which the tablet is charged and connected to the computer. It's important to highlight two things here: First, Samsung has ditched its proprietary dock connector that was in the first Galaxy Note 10.1. And secondly, Micro-USB supports OTG here.

On the top there is a Power button, a volume rocker and an infrared port, thanks to which the device can be used as Universal remote DU.

Screen

Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections, carried out a detailed examination of the screen using measuring devices. Here is his conclusion.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, there is a very effective antiglare filter, which in reducing the brightness of reflection is approximately equal to the filter of the Google Nexus 7 screen.
For clarity, we present photographs in which a white surface is reflected in the off screens of both tablets:
Visually, the reflection has approximately the same brightness, and only statistics from graphic editor shows that the screen of the Google Nexus 7 is slightly darker (average brightness value 86) than that of the SM-P601 (average brightness value 84). We also note that visually the screen of the SM-P601 in the off state looks a little dimmer than the screen of the Google Nexus 7, since the former has a less flat matrix surface under the glass and reflects a little more side light.
The doubling of reflected objects in the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition screen is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (very effective - maybe only slightly worse than on the Google Nexus 7), so fingerprints are much easier to remove, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of regular glass.
With manual brightness control, its maximum value was about 400 cd / m², and the minimum was 5 cd / m². The maximum value is not very high (however, see the text below), but given the good anti-glare properties, the image on the screen should be quite clearly visible in bright daylight. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. Automatic brightness control works according to the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front camera peephole). You can make adjustments to how this function works by moving the setting slider from -5 to +5 units. Further, for three conditions, we give the screen brightness values at three values of this setting - −5, 0, and +5. In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness decreases to 5, 8 and 15 cd / m2, respectively, in an office illuminated with artificial light, the brightness is set to 90, 150 and 250 cd / m2, in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight) rises to 460, 635 and 644 cd / m². The result of this function is as expected, while the maximum brightness is noticeably higher than with manual backlight control, so in a bright environment it makes sense to turn on auto mode- readability will improve markedly. At any brightness level, there is virtually no backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering either.
This tablet uses an IPS type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:
Atypical is the addition of a white subpixel to the triad of red, green and blue subpixels. This solution allows you to increase the brightness of the white field without increasing the cost of backlighting. Of course, magic does not work, and there are side effects - the brightness of the color image is disproportionately lower than the brightness of the white areas. This seems to be partly offset by dynamic brightness control. Note that the matrix with the same set of subpixels is installed in the Toshiba Excite Write tablet.
It turns out that the resolution specified by the manufacturer is achieved only when displaying a black and white image, while the resolution of a color image is lower. However, the fact that the color definition is lower does not actually affect the image quality, since the color definition of human vision is also lower than the brightness definition. However, this does not mean that the image on such a screen looks exactly the same as on a screen with the same resolution, but with all the pixels made up of the RGB triad. For comparison, here are fragments of photos of the world on the Google Nexus 7 screen:
and on the screen of the SM-P601:
In the second case, one-pixel lines appear slightly jagged.
The screen has good viewing angles without inverting tints and without significant color shift, even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen. For comparison, here is a photo in which the same images are displayed on the screens of Google Nexus 7 and SM-P601, with the brightness of both screens set to about 200 cd / m², and the photo was taken at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen. First, just a white box:
It can be seen that the brightness at an angle for both tablets has decreased approximately the same (about five times, based on the difference in exposure), but the color tone has changed slightly. Now the color test picture:
It can be seen that the colors did not "float" in both tablets, but in Samsung the black is much more exposed. Indeed, the black field, when deviated along the diagonal, is strongly lightened and acquires a red-violet tint or remains almost neutral-gray. A photo from Google Nexus 7 for comparison shows this (the brightness is the same for both tablets!):
When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is average, since there are areas with increased black brightness in the corners and along the border of the screen. Proof and comparison (bright points are defective pixels on the camera matrix):
The black uniformity of the Google Nexus 7 is also imperfect, but still better, and its contrast is clearly higher. Indeed, the contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) of the SM-P601 is not the highest - about 670: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 17 ms (10 ms on + 7 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes 25 ms in total.
The gamma curve plotted at 32 points did not reveal any blockage in highlights or shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power-law function turned out to be 2.13, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve strongly deviates from the power-law dependence:
However, this curve was obtained for the profile Dynamic, in the other two profiles, the gamma curve can have the form of a power dependence.
The color gamut is almost equal to sRGB:
Apparently, the matrix filters mix the components to each other to a moderate extent. The spectra confirm this:
As a result, the colors of images - drawings, photographs and films - oriented to the sRGB space (and there are the overwhelming majority of them) have natural saturation. The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is slightly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (delta E) is less than 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, the variation in color temperature and delta E is small, which also has a positive effect on the visual perception of color balance. (The dark areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since there the color balance does not really matter, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

When selected in the profile screen settings Standard, apparently, only the gamma curve changes, and when choosing a profile Cinema the color temperature decreases slightly - it becomes closer to 6500 K.
The brightness adjustment range of this screen is very wide, and the anti-glare filter is very effective, which allows you to comfortably use the tablet both on a clear day outside and in complete darkness. At the same time, the user is relieved of the need to manually adjust the brightness, since the corresponding function does an excellent job with this task, in addition to helping to conserve battery power. The screen also benefits from an effective oleophobic coating, sRGB coverage, good color balance and a choice of three color grading profiles. Disappointing is the low stability of black to deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the screen surface and the poor uniformity of the black field. In general, the screen is clearly not optimal for watching movies (especially with dark scenes), but these disadvantages are unlikely to have any effect when working with text, in games, etc.

Platform and performance

Like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, new tablet Galaxy Note 10.1 is available in the market in two versions: with an eight-core SoC Exynos 5 Octa and with a quad-core SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 800. The first option is for tablets without LTE, the second - for tablets with LTE. There is an important nuance here: in Russia, versions with Exynos 5 Octa are officially sold, they do not support LTE, but there is 3G. That is, in all versions of the tablet there is Mobile Internet, but only the 3G model is officially supplied to Russia. It was this version that we had for testing.

Exynos 5 Octa is available in two variants: 5410 and 5420. The first one is used in Galaxy smartphone S4, the second - in the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition. The differences lie in GPUs from different manufacturers (Exynos 5410 has PowerVR SGX544 MP3, Exynos 5420 - Mali-628 MP6), as well as CPU frequencies and RAM bandwidth (these parameters are better in 5420).

But - let's move from theory to practice. Let's see what results Exynos 5 Octa (5420) shows in benchmarks. It is especially interesting to compare these results with the Toshiba Excite Write tablet based on NVIDIA Tegra 4, since it has the same screen resolution and diagonal.

Let's start with browser benchmarks: SunSpider 1.0, Octane Benchmark, and Kraken Benchmark. In all cases, we used a browser Google chrome except iPad, which used Safari.

Interestingly, the Samsung tablet lost here to the Toshiba Excite Write, albeit by a slight margin. But all other competitors were far behind.

The next in our program will be a new test - MobileXPRT 2013. Its peculiarity is that it simulates real user actions (applying filters to photos, scrolling Internet pages, creating slideshows), so its results directly indicate how smoothly the tablet works in daily operations.

Since this test is new to our methodology, there are not many results for comparison. But some conclusions can also be drawn from them. So, it is curious that the Galaxy Note 10.1 has seriously overtaken the LG G2 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC. But the loss of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity on the previous generation of NVIDIA Tegra was quite predictable.

Let's move on to complex Android benchmarks: Quadrant Advanced Edition and AnTuTu Benchmark.

Here Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 again pulls ahead and leads already with a serious advantage.

In the case of AnTuTu, we note one more detail. V Google play Store, two versions of the application appeared: AnTuTu Benchmark and AnTuTu Benchmark X. Judging by the description, version X is distinguished by protection against cheating, and the developers in the description of the application accuse Ainol and Ramos of foul play. We remember that similar accusations were made against Samsung, so we decided to compare the results Galaxy tablet Note 10.1 in the regular and X version of the benchmark. The result is almost the same. And very good. However, do not forget that the leadership of the Samsung tablet may be due to the larger amount of RAM than all competitors.

The third group of benchmarks is designed to show the performance of CPU and RAM: these are SuperPi and Geekbench.

Note that we used Geekbench in two versions: the second and the third, since there is no continuity between them. Geekbench 3 results were placed in a separate table.

Obviously, the picture is similar to the previous tests: the Samsung tablet is in the lead in all layouts.

The last group of benchmarks is dedicated to GPU performance testing. Unfortunately, we only have one multiplatform (that is, available on both Android and iOS) application here: GFXBench (formerly GLBenchmark 2.7). The other two applications are currently only presented on Android (more precisely, Epic Citadel is on iOS, but without a test component). On the other hand, it is in the case of Epic Citadel that the possibility of comparison is not so fundamental: here it is more important absolute value... If the result is more than 30 fps, it means that you can play projects on the Unreal engine, since Epic Citadel demonstrates a real game scene on this engine (and many popular games are made on it - Dark Meadow, Horn, Infinity Blade II, etc.).

So, in Ultra High Quality mode, that is, with maximum quality settings, the tablet showed a performance of 26.0 fps. This is slightly less than the "playability threshold" and even slightly less than the result of NVIDIA Tegra 4. However, the difference is insignificant. In the less severe High Performance and High Quality modes, the results were 55.1 fps and 56.4 fps, respectively. And these are already excellent indicators!

The table below shows the results of other tablets for comparison. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the influence of the resolution: the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition and the Toshiba Excite Write have a higher resolution than the competitors.

	(Samsung Exynos 5 Octa)	Toshiba Excite Write (NVIDIA Tegra 4)	Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 (Intel Atom Z2560)	Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (NVIDIA Tegra 3 T33)
Epic Citadel (High Performance Mode)	56.4 fps	54.6 fps	59.2 fps	42.9 fps
Epic Citadel (High Quality Mode)	55.1 fps	55.2 fps	58.3 fps	39.5 fps
Epic Citadel (Ultra High Quality Mode)	26.0 fps	27.6 fps	30.7 fps	on this device mode not available

Now let's look at the results in GFXBench. And here Exynos 5 Octa confidently outperforms NVIDIA Tegra 4, although in the T-Rex scene the playability threshold is still not reached.

	Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition (Samsung Exynos 5 Octa)	Toshiba Excite Write (NVIDIA Tegra 4)	Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 (Intel Atom Z2560)	Sony Xperia Z Ultra (Qualcomm Snapdragon 800)	Apple iPad fourth generation (Apple A6X)
GFXBench 2.7.2 T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	23 fps	16 fps	7.2 fps	23 fps	16 fps
GFXBench 2.7.2 T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen)	14 fps	10 fps	6.9 fps	24 fps	12 fps
GFXBench 2.7.2 T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen Fixed Timestep)	21 fps	15 fps	6.9 fps	21 fps	16 fps
GFXBench 2.7.2 T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen Fixed Timestep)	13 fps	10 fps	6.7 fps	22 fps	12 fps
GFXBench 2.5 Egypt HD (C24Z16)	41 fps	28 fps	26 fps	52 fps	38 fps
GFXBench 2.5 Egypt HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	60 fps	43 fps	26 fps	60 fps	50 fps

The final GPU benchmark is 3DMark. Here are the results for two modes: Ice Storm Extreme and Ice Storm Unlimited.

Here Samsung also has a victory over NVIDIA Tegra 4, although not very confident. Unfortunately, we did not test the Toshiba Excite Write tablet in Unlimited mode.

We also checked the compatibility of this SoC with a number of popular games.

The result is good, problems were noted with only one game out of seven. All the others worked flawlessly and delighted with excellent graphics and performance. So we can safely recommend this tablet for fans of 3D games on a tablet.

MHL interface test

Additionally, the MHL interface was tested. To test it, we used an LG IPS237L monitor that supports direct MHL connection using a passive Micro-USB to HDMI adapter cable. Recall that Samsung has implemented its own version of this interface at the physical level. As a result, to connect an external device via MHL, you need to use special adapters or connect standard MHL adapters through simple passive adapters.

In this case, we carried out the test using a proprietary Samsung adapter, while the MHL output was carried out at a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with a frequency of 60 fps. In the landscape orientation of the tablet, the display of the image on the monitor screen is carried out in landscape orientation, while the image on the monitor is inscribed in the boundaries of the screen in height and narrow black fields are displayed on the sides. In the portrait orientation of the tablet, the display of the image on the monitor screen is also carried out in portrait orientation, while the image on the monitor is inscribed in the height of the screen, and wide black fields are displayed on the right and left.

The MHL sound is output (in this case, the sounds were heard through the headphones connected to the monitor, since there are no speakers in the monitor itself) and is of good quality. At the same time, sounds are not output through the loudspeaker of the tablet itself, and the volume is controlled by buttons on the tablet case. Basically, in the tablet settings, you can select the audio output mode - stereo or surround. However, in our case, the monitor only received stereo sound, so there was no choice. The video output by means of a standard player deserves a special description. To begin with, using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see Methods for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1), we checked how the video is displayed on the screen of the tablet itself. Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with different parameters: the resolution varied (1280 by 720 (720p) and 1920 by 1080 (1080p) pixels) and the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). with). The results of this (block titled as " Screen") And the following test are summarized in the table:

File	Uniformity	Skips
Screen
watch-1920x1080-60p.mp4	OK	many
watch-1920x1080-50p.mp4	OK	many
watch-1920x1080-30p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1920x1080-25p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1920x1080-24p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-60p.mp4	poorly	many
watch-1280x720-50p.mp4	OK	many
watch-1280x720-30p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-25p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-24p.mp4	OK	No
MHL
watch-1920x1080-60p.mp4	Great	No
watch-1920x1080-50p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1920x1080-30p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1920x1080-25p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1920x1080-24p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-60p.mp4	Great	No
watch-1280x720-50p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-30p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-25p.mp4	OK	No
watch-1280x720-24p.mp4	OK	No

Note: if both the "Uniformity" and "Gaps" columns have "green" ratings, this means that when watching movies, most likely, either artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. "Red" marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the respective files.

According to the criterion for outputting frames, the quality of video files playback on the screen of the tablet itself is on average good, but in the case of 50 and 60 fps, many frames are dropped. The brightness range displayed on the monitor is equal to the standard range of 16-235, that is, in the shadows and in the highlights, all gradations of shades are displayed. When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels), the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly in the width of the screen, but the real resolution is slightly reduced due to interpolation to the screen resolution.

With a monitor connected via MHL, during video playback with a standard player, the video file is displayed only in landscape orientation, while only the video file is displayed on the monitor, and only information elements and virtual controls are displayed on the tablet screen. The results of the tests on the monitor are shown in the table above in the "MHL" block. The output quality is very good, noticeably better than on your own screen. When playing video files with a resolution of Full HD (1920 by 1080 pixels) on the monitor screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen while maintaining the true proportions and the resolution corresponds to the Full HD resolution, but only horizontally, since the image is for some reason stretched vertically a couple of pixels, resulting in interpolation and a slight loss of definition. The brightness range displayed on the monitor is equal to the standard range of 16-235, that is, in the shadows and in the highlights, all gradations of shades are displayed.

The takeaway is typical: an MHL connection can be used for gaming, watching movies, displaying web pages, and other activities that benefit from the exponential increase in screen size. However, you will have to purchase an adapter specifically for Samsung or find an appropriate adapter. Note that this is the second time we saw MHL output at 1920 x 1080 pixels at 60 fps. The first time - in the case of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but we will write about it a little later.

Operating system and applications

The tablet runs Google Android 4.3 (at the time of the release of the tablet - newest version OS), however, compared to the original version and even compared to last year's shell installed on the first Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, operating system looks completely different on the new Galaxy Note 10.1. For clarity, we present three screenshots: above - Android 4.2 on Toshiba Excite Write, minimally different from "pure" Android, below - Android with the TouchWiz shell on first Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, and the third screenshot was taken with the help of our today's hero.

Despite the visual richness, the interface of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is perhaps the most minimalist. For those who used the previous Galaxy Note 10.1, the question immediately arises: where are the gadgets? You could get access to them by clicking on the arrow on the bottom panel. Now it was decided to do it differently: gadgets can be opened from the auxiliary menu that appears when the user pulls out the stylus. There you need to select the "Open in window" item and draw a rectangle on the screen with the stylus. The Select Application menu appears.

The set of gadgets is small (calculator, browser, alarm clock, phone, contacts, ChatON and Google Hangouts), but having them can still be useful. For example, it is often useful to be able to open a calculator over a spreadsheet or doc file.

There is only one problem: Will the user figure out how to find them for gadgets? In this regard, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition OS is far from the intuitiveness that iOS is famous for. True, its capabilities are much wider. Among these unique features is the dual-window mode, in which you can open two applications at the same time, dividing the screen space between them.

It was also in the past Galaxy Note 10.1, but in the new tablet, the implementation is again very different. In the screenshot above this paragraph, you can see the Gallery (on the right) and S Note (on the left) open in this mode. True, this is done now a little differently: you need to make a long press on the Back button, and an arrow will appear on the left side of the screen, clicking on which, we will see a panel with applications that support two-window mode. This is a fairly large set (at the time of testing - 18 applications, that is, more than half of the pre-installed applications).

Among other features of the OS on a tablet, it is worth noting the division of the Settings heading into several tabs. These are Connections, Device, Control and General. To be honest, in my opinion, this does not at all facilitate navigation through the settings, but only confuses, but for a user who sees Android for the first time and has not yet had time to get used to a certain type of Settings, this may seem quite logical. Although, for example, it is difficult to understand why the menu item Battery refers to General and not Device.

But main feature The Galaxy Note 10.1 is, of course, a pen experience. As we remember, the first Galaxy Note 10.1 did not implement it flawlessly. We liked Toshiba's Excite Write implementation much more. And it was all the more interesting to see what Samsung has to offer in return. Let's say right away that the new Galaxy Note 10.1 left a good impression on us. And although you still have to go and go to perfection, but "you are going the right way, comrades!"

The main application for working with the pen, as before, is S Note. Its interface, again, has undergone major changes, but it is quite easy to understand it. The main features - recognition of text, formulas and shapes - remain. Moreover, the recognition of formulas was especially pleasing. Let's say you are taking notes for a lecture at a technical college. You have finished your notes, then you can simply circle the handwritten formulas, recognize them and drag this formula exactly to the place of the text where it is necessary.

As disadvantages, we note that errors in the recognition of formulas still occur (for example, from a complex formula, the system may incorrectly recognize one or two characters), but there is no way to fix it. Just cancel recognition and try to draw the incorrectly recognized symbol so that the re-recognition would be more successful.

The tablet also works great with third-party professional apps for artists and designers, such as Sketchbook Pro. They also support gradations of pressure, that is, if you press the stylus harder, the line turns out denser and thicker, and if less hard, then vice versa.

In comparison with the Toshiba Excite Write, the Samsung tablet looks quite decent in terms of working with the pen, although, in our opinion, working with the pen on the Toshiba was still a little more comfortable, and the lag when drawing a line was less. But we, alas, did not have the opportunity to compare them face to face, so it remains to rely on subjective impressions.

Autonomous work and ergonomics

Battery life has traditionally been the weak point of powerful high-resolution tablets. However, Toshiba Excite Write, as we remember, demonstrated average performance. We expected no less from Samsung, if not more.

And, I must say, he did not disappoint us.

In reading mode (screen brightness - 100 cd / m²), the tablet lasted fifteen hours! This is a lot.

When playing YouTube videos (the screen brightness is the same), the tablet worked for almost 10 hours, which is no longer a record, but pretty decent. And again, more than the Toshiba Excite Write.

We checked the possible duration of playing modern 3D games using the Epic Citadel benchmark, Guided Tour mode (screen brightness - 100 cd / m², default settings). In this mode, the tablet worked for about four and a half hours, and this result is already disappointing. Apparently, under high load SoC Exynos 5 Octa is no longer so energy efficient.

The Epic Citadel experienced noticeable heat during operation, but did not go beyond acceptable limits.

Overall, the battery life test results of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition can be considered very decent, although not striking.

Camera

As expected, the tablet is equipped with two cameras: front and rear. The front camera is designed for video communication and has a resolution of 2 megapixels. Rear Samsung camera Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition has a resolution of 8 megapixels, while the previous model had only 5 megapixels. But let's see what the camera can boast of besides the resolution. The pictures are commented on by our specialist in the section “ Digital photo»Anton Solovyov.

	Generally, sharpness is quite good, but falls to the distant shots. Sharping marks are barely visible on the wires. Of course, at a shutter speed of 1/50 s, even the numbers of the nearest moving cars are indistinguishable.
	The tile pattern goes too abruptly into blur - the camera is not good at details. Spray from car headlights suggests a poor aperture or even almost no aperture.
	Even if we make allowances for camera shake, the image is very much blurred by noise reduction.
	The flash, of course, improves the situation - by reducing the shutter speed and light sensitivity, but this gain is not always significant.
	The text works well enough.
	The flash works fine and improves the situation significantly.

It looks like they saved money on the camera. It would seem that Samsung can install a good module in the tablet, but everything suggests otherwise. In terms of its physical parameters, the camera is far from the best here. Even a few pictures show the strange operation of the program. Aggressive noise reduction, long shutter speeds (1/50 s, 1/33 s) and minimum light sensitivity values (ISO 40, 50, 64) also indicate a weak module. In the third photo taken at night, there is no EXIF, so the values of sensitivity and shutter speed remained unknown, but even without this, it is clear that the camera is completely unable to cope in such situations.

In terms of its level, the camera resembles 8-megapixel modules of cheap smartphones. Perhaps it will come in handy when you need to shoot a document or capture a general plan without much detail. But in general on this camera don't have high hopes.

The camera can shoot video in Full format HD. An example can be seen below.

The camera performs video recording quite well, but with fast postings, a delay in some areas is noticeable. Overall, the quality is typical of most mid-range smartphones.

conclusions

Until the announcement of the Apple iPad Air, we could safely call the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition the best tablet on the market. He, of course, also has several weak points (the absence of LTE in the official Russian version, an interface that is not easy to learn, where many interesting features are hidden very deeply, a mediocre rear camera), but in terms of the totality of parameters, he looked like the undisputed leader. However, the announcement of the iPad Air has confused all the cards. In terms of performance, the Apple product is likely to be roughly on par with the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, but in terms of weight and thickness, the iPad Air is significantly better. And the case is metal, which is also a plus compared to the plastic imitation leather.

However, there are two key trump cards on Samsung's side: the openness of the Android system, including that manifested in OTG support (and among Android tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is perhaps the best so far), and, of course, work with the pen. Here he has no alternatives at all, except for the Toshiba Excite Write, which is not officially supplied to Russia.

A whole collection of tablets was presented today by Samsung in Las Vegas at CES 2014. Galaxy series TabPRO with 12.2 ", 10.1" and 8.4 "screens is already in our news feed, and this news is dedicated to the new product from the Note line.

Tablet Samsung Galaxy NotePRO 12.2 received a 12.2-inch Super Clear LCD display with a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels. The LTE version is powered by a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz and Adreno 330GPU graphics. The variant with 3G and Wi-Fi support received an Exynos 5420 processor from two quad-core chips: 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 and 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7, Mali-T628 MP6 GPU graphics.

Both tablet variants are equipped with 3 GB of RAM, 8-megapixel main and 2-megapixel front cameras, 32 or 63 GB internal memory and a slot for a microSD memory card. Also Galaxy NotePRO equipped with a Bluetooth 4.0 module, a microUSB 3.0 interface, a GPS satellite navigation system receiver with A-GPS support, as well as a 3.5 mm audio jack, an NFC chip and an Ethernet connection via an adapter.

Responsible for powering the tablet accumulator battery with a capacity of 9500 mAh. Additional features include support for S-Pen, S Note, Scrapbook, Action Memo, a set of Air Commands applications for working with the S Pen, free subscription to various services, including Dropbox, Evernote, Bitcasa, NY Times, LinkedIn, Remote PC, Cisco WebEx Meetings and others.