The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is the latest competitor to the Apple iPad. Presented below is a comparison between the different specifications of the Apple iPad and the newly launched Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.
The Display:
- The Apple iPad 3 comes with the Retina display that bequeaths a scintillating display. The display on the iPad 3 is 9.7 inches when measured diagonally. The IPS LCD display comes with a remarkable resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels, which results in a PPI or pixel per inch density of 264.
- The impressive display features of the iPad 3 are unfortunately not matched by the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. It comes with a screen resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels which is similar to the one available on the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.3 inch tablet. This means that the PPI on the Note 10.1 lags far behind as compared to the iPad 3, at only 149 PPI. Comparatively there are many tablets in the market that have better PPI ratios, such as the ASUS Transformer Prime Infinity with a PPI of 224 and the Google Nexus 7 with a PPI of 216. The display on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is thus not as vivid or crisp.
The Internal Hardware:
- The Apple iPad 3 comes with the Apple A5X chipset that runs on a high powered 1GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor as well as a quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU. As compared to this Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with the Exynos 4212 quad SoC that can be found on the Samsung Galaxy S3 as well, along with a 1.4GHz quad-core Cortex A9 processor as well as a Mali-400MP GPU. It may be noted that the processor on the Exynos 4212 performs a lot better as compared to the A5X, but the GPU on the iPad 3 is better. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with 2 GB of RAM, while only 1 GB of RAM is featured on the iPad 3.
- It may also be noted that the CPU’s performance is not necessarily affected by the screen resolution, while the frame rate of video rendering gets influenced by it. This in turn indicates that even though the GPU on the iPad 3 is better, the lowered resolution of the video output in the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 increases the capability of the device to give fairly good frame rates. Only the detailing that can be experienced with the iPad 3 will be the missing factor.
The Design and Extras:
- Even though the screen size on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is larger than the iPad 3 by 0.4 inches, the size difference between the two is negligible due to the tiny bezel present on the Note. The iPad 3 measures 241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4 mm, while the Note 10.1 measures only 262 x 180 x 8.9 mm, which indicates that it is actually less wide and thinner as compared to the iPad 3.
- One may note that this difference can be attributed to the 11,560 mAh battery that comes with the iPad 3 as compared to the 7,000 mAh battery that is shipped along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. However, as most of the extra battery power provided by the larger battery goes into the display of the iPad 3, the battery life on both the tablets is about the same. Additionally, the larger battery makes the iPad 3 652 grams heavy as compared to the 597 g weight of the
Note 10.1. - The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 also comes with a microSD card slot which is absent in the iPad 3. Both the tablets are equal when it comes to the connectivity options, with the Note currently available in Wi-Fi only and 3G forms, while the LTE-compatible version will be available later in the year, and the iPad 3 available in Wi-Fi only, and LTE versions.
The Operating system and other features:
- All of us know that the quality of apps that are available for the iPad 3 are better than those available for Android tablets. However, the Samsung Galaxy Note comes equipped with a distinctive accessory that will definitely make user to overlook the Android apps quality. It is the S-Pen which is a pressure sensitive stylus capable of recognizing 256 different pressure levels.
- It may be noted that one cannot use the S-Pen with apps which do not support it. But it works like magic with supported apps. For example, one can easily take notes on Samsung’s S Note app, which comes with the capability to identify mathematical formulas, a feature that is absent on the iPad 3. The Adobe Photoshop Touch app optimized for the S-Pen also makes for easier editing of photos. Additionally, almost all the smart functions which were launched with the S3 are available in the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Last but not the least, the ‘Multiscreen’ feature on the Note 10.1 which allows for viewing of multiple screens on the tablet, is also one the best multitasking options present on a tablet.
