Presented below is a comparison between the features of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a 10.1 inch tablet PC that is ideal for web browsing, watching movies and listening to music. This is the second entry into the family of Samsung Galaxy Note range, which comes with the S-Pen (‘S’ means Samsung) as an input device for note-taking and sketching. The Note 10.1 was officially released on 27 February 2012 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a tablet computer in the series of Android based tablet PCs manufactured and designed by Samsung. This model is the successive generation of Samsung Galaxy Tab series, which already has o 10.1″ models, the 8.9″ model and the 7.7″ model. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was officially related on February 13 2011 at Barcelona.
The Screen:
- The 10.1 inch display on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 boasts of a resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels, along with a 149 PPI pixel density. It may not be as great a resolution as that available on the iPad 3, which comes with a resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels and a PPI density of 264. However, testing proved that this usual TFT display panel with lower resolution provided good screen quality, even when viewed from different angles. Despite the minor pixel defects, the display is vivid and clear. However, it may not be sufficient for individuals who game on the move.
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 also comes with similar screen quality comprising of a 1,280 x 800 TFT LCD display along with a pixel density of 149 PPI. This is lower than that offered by other tablets in the market such as the Google Nexus 7 that has a PPI density of 216 and the ASUS Transformer Prime Infinity that comes with a PPI density of 224.
The Build and Design:
- The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is similar in looks as compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, wherein the glossy white plastic casing present on both gives them a fairly cheap look. However, the affordable price of the Tab 2 will make Users overlook this fact as a minor aesthetic defect. It weighs only 588 grams and is only 9.7mm thin. This facilitates the portability of the device and one can easily carry it around in a bag without feeling its weight. As compared to the older Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Tab 2 has a more visible silver trim, in addition to an expanded bezel that comprises of a pair of quite large speakers.
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has a similar design as mentioned earlier with the dimensions measuring just 262 x 180 x 8.9 mm. It weighs just 597 grams which also facilitates the portability. An additional slot for a microSD card is also present in the Note 10.1
The Software and other features:
- It is quite surprising to see the very affordable Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 comes equipped with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system from Google. It may also be possible to upgrade the software on the Tab 2 in the near future, when new versions are made available.
- As compared to the older Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS that came with the previous Galaxy Tab 10.1 model, the newer ICS software comes loaded with a number of novel features and also brings a clean and sleek look to the display. Additionally, there is not much customization of the software by Samsung, which makes the tablet quite user friendly. Some of the features of ICS include a perked up onscreen keyboard that facilitates easier typing of long emails; a new menu for notifications; a dedicated portal for music, books and videos; and easier sharing of video clips.
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 also comes with all the above features and the ICS operating system. However, it has a unique accessory called the S-Pen which is a stylus with increased sensitivity to pressure and capable of recognizing numerous levels of pressure. When used with the supported apps, the S-Pen is a source of great pleasure for the user. It facilitates the easier jotting of notes via Samsung’s S Note app that comes with the ability to recognize mathematical formulas, and simpler editing of photos via the Photoshop Touch app that is optimized for the S-Pen. The ‘Multiscreen’ feature is another new add-on that promotes multi-tasking by allowing users to view and work on different screens on the Note 10.1 at the same time.
The camera:
- The camera specifications on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is just about average with a 3 megapixel HD 720p camera placed at the rear and a not so impressive VGA camera at the front. Pictures taken in low light are grainy and lacked detail, while photos taken under good light were of a marginally better quality.
- The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with a 5 megapixel camera at the rear equipped with a single LED flash, and a 1.9 megapixel front facing camera equipped with an ambient sensor.
The Internal Hardware:
- The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 comes with a 1GHz dual-core processor which does not yield great performance when swiping through home screens. The loading of heavy apps as well as browsing the internet is also quite slow. The RAM is 1 GB
- On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 features the impressive Exynos 4212 quad SoC along with a Mali-400MP GPU and a 1.4GHz quad-core Cortex A9 processor. It has 2 GB of RAM
- Both the tablets have a 7,000 mAh battery which yields fairly good battery life on both. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has a battery life of about 8 hours while the battery life on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is about 10 hours. The difference is primarily due to the power consumed by the more powerful processor on the Note 10.1
