Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: digital canvas

When I saw the prototype Galaxy Note 10.1 in spring, I thought: 0_o! The stylus time is gone guys! The guys from Cupertino knowingly gave up feathers ... But time goes on, everything changes, and perception - including. Six months later, I changed my mind by almost 180 degrees.

While everyone is trying to catch up with the iPad, Samsung decided to step a little to the side and developed the idea of ​​the Galaxy Note, making it a ten-inch one. Apple abandoned the stylus once and for all, but perhaps they still make sense. Especially if the screen itself remains capacitive, and the stylus is developed by Wacom! Six months ago, at the company's booth at the MWC exhibition, the idea of ​​a big Note really seemed rather strange: a tablet separately, a pen separately ... But since then the gadget has changed quite a lot. And I do not exclude that this time, perhaps even through the efforts of Apple. Samsung did everything possible to prevent the Cupertians from suing again for the allegedly copied design.

Design

Starting with the Galaxy Tab 2, Samsung tablets have their own recognizable appearance, the main distinguishing feature of which is a pair of speakers along the edges of the silver front panel. Firstly, it turned out beautifully, and secondly, functionally, since the sound is now not muffled by the user's palms. I would say even more: the sound was the coolest! The volume margin is very impressive, and besides, it finally makes sense in two channels.



Otherwise, everything is almost as before. Below is a 30-pin charging port, and above everything else. There is a power button, volume control, slot for micro-SD memory cards, a jack for headphones and a slot for a SIM card, which in this tablet has remained full-sized. In addition, here, as a phoenix from a flame, an infrared port for controlling household appliances appeared, which we saw in the prototype Galaxy Tab 7.7, and which never went into series.



In front of the screen there is a 1.9 megapixel camera. With her help, you can make video calls, and she also knows how to monitor the owner. If he looks at the screen, the brightness rises to the desired level, and if not, the backlight goes out.



There is also a camera on the back. Its resolution is 5 megapixels. She takes good pictures, but only with sufficient lighting. And in the dark, only the LED flash saves, which hits, however, only a couple of meters, no more.

Sample photos and videos

A snapshot in its original resolution


A snapshot in its original resolution


A snapshot in its original resolution


A snapshot in its original resolution

If someone was hoping for Full-HD video, you’ll have to get a little upset, the camera can only shoot in 720p format. Although the matrix seems to allow. Maybe in future firmware this will be fixed ...

Display

The diagonal of the Galaxy Note 10.1, as you might guess, is 10 inches, and the resolution of the PLS matrix is ​​1280 x 800 pixels. This technology was developed by Samsung as a cheaper alternative to IPS.



Its advantages include excellent color reproduction, wide viewing angles and low power consumption. In reality, everything is almost the same, but personally I do not have enough brightness. Although, maybe I'm just used to the fact that Samsung embeds AMOLED in their devices.

Iron

Recently, Samsung has released monstrously powerful devices. And this Note was no exception. It is built on the basis of the Exynos chipset, which includes a quad-core processor with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz, a graphics chip Mali-400 MP, as well as (attention!) Two gigs of RAM! All this once again allows the Samsung device to take on all rivals in the synthetic tests of Quadrant Standart and AnTuTu.





The main memory can be 16, 32 or 64 gigabytes, depending on the selected configuration. But if anything, it can be expanded with micro-SD memory cards up to 32 gigs.

Software

The gadget is running Android 4.0.3. As always, the branded Samsung shell, TouchWiz, is pulled over the OSes, in which there are a lot of branded widgets with resizable sizes, as well as S Note, S Planner and S Suggest applications, as well as Photoshop Touch. Here, perhaps, again it is worth recalling the prototype, on which, among others, Adobe Ideas was installed - an excellent environment for drawing sketches. Unfortunately, there is no software in the final version of this software, so you will have to download it for a fee from the Google Play Store. Or, as a cheaper alternative, I can recommend Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.



Everyone is accustomed to the fact that the proprietary panel of the Smasung tablets leaves the bottom. And here, in general, too, but there is another one that emerges from the side when the user takes out a pen from the pencil case.

Stylus

The stylus was developed by Wacom, which ate the dog on classic tablets. And this fact, as it were, hints at the fact that making sketches on the tablet is a pleasure. It is stated that the screen with respect to the five-inch Note has become twice as sensitive, and the number of sensors has also doubled. Subjectively, the resolution of the sensor for the pen does not reach its own Wacom devices, but this is a big step forward. The next generation Note, if it appears, will be no worse than the initial tablets like Bamboo Pen.



In addition to just drawing, the tablet within the framework of the S Note application can do several more useful things: recognize handwritten (including Russian) text, draw geometric shapes and even solve equations. True, the latter requires an Internet connection, since it is not the tablet itself that solves the problems, but the Wolfram Alpha online service.

Battery

Well, now about the most important! Hours ... The battery here is set to 7000 mAh, which allows the tablet to work under hard load from morning to evening without any problems. Toward night, of course, he will already ask for charging, but this is normal, given the gluttonous Android and advanced stuffing.

Summary

The price of the Galaxy Note 10.1 has not yet been officially announced, but reliable sources say that it will not rise higher than the corresponding memory models of the iPad 3. I would very much like to believe this, since Samsung managed to make a good such device. I would even say original. It will be a pity if an inadequate price tag is put on it, and the gadget turns out to be a niche product.

Specifications

OS: Android 4
Processor: Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad, 1.4 GHz
Video: Mali-400MP
RAM: 2 GB
Main memory: 16-64 GB
Screen: 10.1 ", PLS, 1280 x 800
Communications: 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0
Connectors: USB 2.0 (USB Host), 3.5 mm audio jack
Cameras: 5 megapixels, flash, autofocus + 1.9 megapixels for video calls
Navigation: GPS, aGPS , GLONASS
Battery: 7000 mAh
Dimensions: 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.9 mm
Weight: 583 grams
Price: not known