[Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) General] BarryH_GEG:
Pros:

Form factor – it’s great to hold and use and the smaller size and thinner bezels make using it in portrait mode actually doable.

Physical design – the N10.1-12’s design was stupid. S Pen on the bottom made taking it out a chore if you had the device standing in its case. Same thing for the headphone jack being on the top which required a bizarre cut-out in the Book Cover. The speakers on the side also make a lot more sense to keep the size down than being mounted on the front. When the OG Tab 10.1 launched it had its speakers placed like the N10.1-14. They got moved to the front because of the Apple litigation. I used my N10.1-14 to play holiday music at a party recently for people in the kitchen and it was plenty loud with sufficient detail.

Aesthetics – the design of all Samsung’s previous tablets were embarrassing compared to the N10.1-14. Cheap brushed plastic surrounds and “see yourself” glossy back panels, darker colors with a faux brushed metal look, made them look cheap; especially the high-end N10.1-12 which looked exactly like every other Samsung tablet. While the faux leather, embossed stitching, and detailing on the chrome bezel aren’t going to win any design awards it’s a huge step forward.

Display – Amazing. Impressive. A joy to use. When I had a N2 using the N10.1-12 with its pitiful 147 PPI was bearable but after getting a N3 it became painful to use. Most of my friends have retina iPads and all are impressed with the N10.1-14’s display; especially whites and brightness.

Software – I like the newer versions of multiview and S Note and like Action Memo a lot better than the former Pop Up Note. I love Pen Window for keeping the Dialer always open in a minimized mode and like Scrapbook too. All the new versions of s/w on the N10.1-14 that replaced older versions seem so much better designed and integrated with each other. Some people ***** they like the old versions better but, especially S Note, they were downright crude in their presentation and usability and all behaved different from each other. At least there’s some cohesion now. Also, the N10.1-12 was an island unto itself s/w wise. It had a unique implementation of the same apps and functions that existed differently on the N2. It was a pain in the ass moving from one device to the other. Now, the N3 and N10.1-14 behave exactly the same way.

Book Cover – The active Book Cover is fantastic and adds less bulk than last year’s while providing better protection. Daynote is brilliant also. It’s great to just flip open the Book Cover and have a place to immediately take notes without having to take any additional action. Same thing for seeing the days agenda. It also stays closed where last year’s flopped around and the “auto on/off” function is pretty cool.

MicroUSB – So many more options for cables and when traveling or in someone else’s home or office there’s always a good chance a MicroUSB cable will be available. Not so much with the 30-pin proprietary connector.

Cons:

Phone UI – Using it on a tablet is at best klugey. I get why it’s being done and the N10 is doing it also. But it wastes a ton of real estate (tiny notification bar) and consumes a ton it shouldn’t (notification panel icons the size of a house). Since TW already modifies a ton of the UI I’d have expected Samsung to make the phone UI more balanced than it is.

Battery life – Oh well, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. A high-performing power hungry CPU/GPU along with a pixel-dense display is bound to take its toll. Add to that Samsung’s always stalking motion and visual features and the battery life on the N10.1-14 has taken a hit from the N10.1-12. But I noticed the same thing going from a N2 to a N3 and the N10.1-14’s certainly no worse. I still get through a day and haven't been let down while traveling so I'm OK with it.

Charging time – This only applied to the SM-P600/601. 7 hours? Really? I guess it’s due to the move to MircoUSB because the N10 has similarly sucky charging time. The P605 has no such issue because of Qualcomm’s QuickCharge feature which, based on my N3 experience, is pretty amazing.

Performance – Some might call it “lag,” I call it the by-product of a 10.1” display pushing 299 PPI. Everyone keeps comparing the N10.1-14 to the N3 which is kind of dumb. Based on the square inches contained in a 5.7” inch display at 386 PPI vs. the N10.1-14’s 299 PPI at 10.1” the N10.1-14 is working its butt off to serve a heap load of pixels up. Out of the box the N10.1-14 was fine performance wise. I sort of half set it up and I was pretty disappointed with its performance compared to the N10.1-12. I finally took the time to finish setting it up and am quite pleased with its performance now. I do some routine maintenance to keep RAM free and open apps I’m not using closed and it’s fine. Is it as fast as the N10.1-12 it replaced? No. Would the N10.-12 have been a complete dog with a 299 PPI display? Absolutely. There are reports of lag on the N10 and TF701 which both use 2560x1600 displays also. Given a choice between last year’s 1920x1200 with better performance and the N10.1-14’s fantastic display with some occasional transition stutter I’ll choose the latter any day.

Refinement – I can’t help thinking the N10.1-14 was rushed to market. The N3’s s/w is as tight as a drum with all the new features exceptionally well integrated with an overall polished feel. 80% of the N10.1-14 feels that way too but 20% feels slammed together or incomplete. Reviewers have talked about it but things like the giant full screen notification panel drop down and disorganized tabbed Settings App that uses menus too. I’m hoping that with subsequent releases we’ll see performance improve and the overall s/w experience tighten up.

Hardware buttons – I’ve got mixed feelings. I like the additional real estate they free up as well as them being available when an app’s running full screen (EG: Netflix). Using the N10.1-14 when it’s dark is a challenge because the capacitive lights turn off and you kind of have to guess where they are. I like the home button as an additional way of turning the tablet on without have to feel blindly for the top power button which, if you’ve used a N10.1-12, is where its volume down button is located. The h/w button are bizarre in portrait mode.

If the N10.1-12 had a 299 PPI display (double its 147 PPI pixel count) it would have been an embarrassing slug. The N10, N10.1-14, and TF701 which share the same screen resolution all have reports in their forums of transition lag and stuttering. In 2013 a 147 PPI display is barely acceptable on economy devices and after getting a N3 and going back and forth between them I couldn't stand looking at it any longer.

Take the N10.1-12 off its pedestal. It lagged at times too. Especially with resource intensive apps like S Note and moving big slabs of content between apps using the Samsung clipboard. It lagged less than the N10.1-14 but it had a display that put no strain on the CPU/GPU.

There are three tablets with the N10.1-14's display resolution. The N10 didn't sell very well so hopefully the N10.1-14 will and app developers will optimize for 2560x1600. Don't blame Samsung, blame Android and lazy (or inept) app developers.

Some people complained about this before updates were pushed. Mine doesn't have wake-up lag but it had the latest updates installed out of the box. I also have five lock screen widgets running which couldn't be done on the N10.1-12.

The fact that Samsung couldn't get multiuser done in time for the initial launch of the N10.1-14 sort of confirms the current s/w probably isn't as polished and finished as it should be. To me, it's perfectly livable the way it is based on the way I have it configured (which is with all Samsung's "features" active) and the only performance issue being some occasional (~5-10%) transition stuttering. I think once the mad rush to get 4.3 out to the SGS3, N2, and SGS4 implemented before the holidays to sell more Gears is over we'll see more updates for the N10.1-14. It is after all Samsung's flagship tablet and priced that way too.

Coming from a N10.1-12 I have absolutely no regrets. In fact, the N10.1-14 makes it feel even more dated than it is. The display on the N10.1-14 is absolutely gorgeous. There’s some transition stuttering but I’ve never had any type of lag or performance issue when I’m doing something within a specific app. No device is perfect but, at least to me, the N10.1-14’s “pros” vastly outweigh its “cons” and I’d buy it again tomorrow; even at Samsung’s rather lofty pricing.