Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2

Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2 2014

What is the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2

The original Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a bit of a TrustedReviews’ office favourite. A well-proportioned, if ugly, Android tablet with decent performance and a very special feature in the S Pen – Samsung’s version of a digitiser stylus. It offered a point of difference to the wave of generic Android tablets on the market.

It’s a bit long in the tooth now, which is why we were glad for Samsung’s announcement of its refresh during the IFA 2013 press conference.

Essentially a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 that’s had a major growth spurt it’s a tablet that seeks to find the perfect balance between work and play.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2 - Design

Samsung has really taken the “note” part of the Galaxy Note name to heart. It’s clad the back of the tablet in a faux-leather material, just like you might find on a premium paper notebook. Fake leather on a tablet could feel wrong but the Galaxy Note 10.1 2 actually feels better than its predecessor, and the soft, lightly stitched back cover is preferable to the shiny plastic of the Galaxy Tabs or Galaxy S4.



It’ll take a little getting used to but if Samsung insists on using thin plastic back covers it’s making the best of a bad situation. Still we actually liked the look of the Note 10.1 2 much more than Samsung’s previous efforts. 

Around the sides the Note 10.1 shares the same metallic-looking ridged plastic band of the S4. Samsung is going for the look of a closed paper notebook, but it doesn’t quite work. It still feels less premium than the likes of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z, the iPad 4 or even the new Nexus 7 2, but not by much.



At 243.1 x 171.4 x 7.9mm it’s one of the most compact 10.1 inch tablets out there, much more so than the iPad 4 or Nexus 10. At 535g, it’s also lighter than the the Apple and Nexus tablets. Only the Sony Xperia Tablet Z beats it on slimness and weight. We expect the iPad 5  – to be revealed soon – to challenge the Note 10.1 2 in the size and weight department.

Regardless of its weight the Galaxy Note 10.1 2 is a solid tablet and the grippy back means it feels very comfortable to hold one-handed while using the stylus. You just might not want to do it for very long.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2 – Screen

One of the best screens we’ve ever seen on a tablet came courtesy of the Samsung-build Google Nexus 10. Thankfully Samsung has replicated the 2560 x 1600 (299 PPI) resolution on the Galaxy Note 10.1 2 and it looks fantastic.



Viewing angles are superb and video pings of the screen. Skin tones look natural and dark scenes have depth and nuance. Coupled with the S Pen, that neatly slots into the tablet when not in use, this tablet will be a budding artist’s delight.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2 – Performance, storage and connectivity

Powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC (system on chip) processor running at 2.3GHz and 3GB of RAM the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2 is, on paper, the most powerful tablet we’ve ever come across. It’s the same CPU as the Note 3 and theXperia Z Ultra smartphone.

It’s fast, and it needs to be to power that amazing screen. The grunt means you can happily multitask without any hint of slowdown.

One slight concern we have is that opening menus using the S Pen took a little longer than we’d like. It’s unlikely this delay is due to the processor maxing out, it’s probably down to Samsung’s software being a little sluggish. It’s a problem we notice on Samsung phones too but we hope future updates resolve it.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 2 comes with 16GB, 32GB or 64GB internal storage, with the option of adding a further 64GB via microSD.

In terms of connectivity you get Wi-Fi (including 802.11 ac), ALLShareCast and Bluetooth 4.0 but oddly no NFC.

Together with the Note 3, the Galaxy 10.1 2014 will be one of the first devices that will work with the Samsung Galaxy Gear  smartwatch.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2 – Camera

Are you one of those people who love to block everyone’s view by holding a big tablet up to take a picture? We won’t judge (well maybe a little), but if you are you’ll be glad to find out that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition has an 8MP rear snapper, with, unusually for a tablet, LED flash. A front 2MP camera for video calling is also included.

The pictures we took looked good enough for a tablet camera, which means fine for Facebook but not for much else.