pircenus

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a tablet like no other but instead of making a big splash its busy making up for lost time. With its launch pushed back shortly after the unveiling, Samsungs top-of-the-line tablet returns to a market that isnt what it used to be.

Voice call support, memory expansion and the brilliant S Pen seemed like the right cards to play against the new iPad but it was soon clear that Acer and Asus were a threat that Samsung mayve underplayed. And as if the Iconias and Transformers werent enough of a headache already, the Nexus 7 popped up right when Samsung was getting ready to give their finest tablet the reboot it deserves.

Fierce competition to meet ever-increasing user demands has produced a fine selection of premium tablets and, to stay in the game, Samsung had to throw everything its got at the Galaxy Note 10.1. Yes, it was sent back to the shop but we can think of a lot worse reasons than an engine upgrade.

So, a quad-core Exynos 4412 chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM is no joke but theres more to the Note than just raw power.

Key features

10.1" 16M-color PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels)
1.4 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU, Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos 4 Quad chipset, 2GB of RAM
Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz UX UI
S Pen input with well-designed gestures
One of a kind split-screen multitasking and pop-up mini apps
Quad-band GPRS/EDGE and quad-band 3G with HSPA connectivity (HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps)
Voice calls
16/32/64 GB of built-in memory
5 MP autofocus camera, 2048x1536 pixels, geotagging
1.9 MP front-facing camera; native video calls
720p HD video recording @ 30 fps with stereo audio
Front-mounted stereo speakers
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
HDMI TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
microSD card slot
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Infrared port
Adobe Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas come pre-installed
GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
1080p DivX/XviD/MKV video support with subtitles
Accelerometer and proximity sensor; three-axis Gyroscope sensor
Polaris office document editor preinstalled
7,000 mAh Li-Po battery
Main disadvantages

Below-par screen resolution for the class
Proprietary 30-pin connector for charging and connectivity
No Full-HD and poor 720p video recording
Poor outdoors visibility
Theres horsepower to spare but, frankly, Samsung is not going to focus on Android power users only. The quad-core processor will mostly see to it that the tablet is future-proof and covered against the main competition.

On the other hand, that very same competition has moved on to Full-HD screens and Samsung is seriously disadvantaged here. The display may do a fine job but just hasnt got the numbers to back it up. And even though the sub-par screen resolution does the device no justice, the Note is a good looking slate, especially in white.

Its running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an official commitment to a Jelly Bean update. The Galaxy Note 10.1 comes chock-full of useful features and a fantastic selection of home-brewed and third-party apps to get the best out of the S Pen stylus.

So, in the end, there could be a lot of appeal to users who insist on the latest in gear, but also artists and other professionals who know what to do with a proper graphics tablet. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Were about to have another go on the design and build quality, before moving on to the software and equipment of the Galaxy Note 10.1.