Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition (16GB, Black)

Update 8/16/2016: I have now had the Note 10.1 2014 for 2 years and 8 months, and am still buying accessories, because it's in regular use. I've never considered owning a different device and try to take extra special care of my Note 10.1, because I would hate to not be able to replace it. Encryption - Top Performer I have been encrypting the device since mid 2014, and it has never taken a performance hit. The same cannot be said for all of the cell phones I have gone through in the last two years - many of which I dumped due to encryption caused performance issues. The Note 10.1 2014 has stood the test of time when it comes to handling encryption like a pro. Minor Downsides The are only two downsides I've encountered: S Pen Design One is the S Pen, in that it's size and the location of the button eventually grew rather obnoxious. I still use the S Pen and it functions flawlessly, but I never fail to hit the button when I don't want to, which can cause some serious issues when I'm in the middle of a fast-paced meeting and trying to take notes. I've recently ordered a larger S Pen stylus from Samsung that I have rather high hopes for. I would really like to go back to using this device in my work day. SECURE Note Taking Apps The other downside is app related. I've had some set backs in finding a note taking app that I felt comfortable using for my work tasks. I had been using EverNote for a while in my previous work, but when I found they were collecting a great deal of information (location, etc.), I grew weary, as privacy and confidentiality is important for my current work - hence the encryption. Since I had that experience with EverNote, I have been hesitant to use a cloud note service, which has greatly limited my ability to use the Note 10.1 2014 like I had been. Instead, I took to taking notes in emails, which was a work-around, but never was a solution. I'm still looking for a secure note app or option that I can have confidence in. I fear I'm too far ahead of the game on this issue and will have to wait a few decades to see this concept come to fruition. I still use the Note for Netflix and other video watching or for other entertainment purposes. Since my experience with the Note, and it's handling of encryption, I've switch to Samsung for my cell (Note 4), and my husband has also switched for his cell (s7). Samsung has really won us over. Update 5/6/2014: I have now had the Note for 5 months. I have been using it almost daily, especially in my work life. Samsung has finally pushed out the KitKat firmware update and all my lag-type issues are now gone! I am THRILLED. I knew it being a new product when I purchased it that there would be some issues to work out. Samsung has come through like I hoped they would. I have left the rest of my review as it was originally. However, please note, I would not want to give it 4.5 stars any longer. Samsung's amazing product and it's follow-through with firmware updating has definitely earned it a full 5 star rating! Original review: I have had my Note 10.1 2014 for two weeks now and it is everything that I wanted it to be, and more. I had been waiting to buy a tablet, because I wanted one that would help me go paperless. I didn't want one just to surf the web, watch video, or to do all the things on it that I can already do on my smart phone. I wanted more from a tablet, and specifically that was paperless ability. If that is what you want in a tablet, this is the one for you, too. Other key requirements for me were multitasking ability and stylus usability. The multitasking works pretty well. I'm a huge picture-in-picture fan, and now I can do it on my tablet. Phenomenal! There is no better stylus than one that is fully integrated into your tablet like the SPen is with the Note(s). You can use the stylus instead of typing on the (horrible like all others) tablet keyboard, to write instead of type and have your writing converted to text. This is by far my favorite thing about the Note. I *hate* using tablet keyboards, and now I don't have to! Note taking: I take all my notes for meetings, calendar entries, phone call messages, everything that I would have previously used a pen and paper for, now on my Note 10.1. It has required a lot of trial and error to figure out what app I wanted to use the most, which worked best for my needs. Learning curve for the device: I have been spending a lot more time on Android forums, specific to the Note 10.1 2014, finding out features I was not figuring out on my own. I watched a lot of youtube tutorial videos when deciding on whether to get the note, and knew there were features used in those videos that I could not figure out. There is a learning curve with this device. You have to be willing to put in some effort to really get everything out of it. Not pure Android: I also used forums to discuss changes that have occurred since updating the tablet upon arrival (Android 4.3, Kernel 3.4.39-2040736). Some features are lost or glitched after updating the device, and while that sounds bad, it hasn't been a huge issue. The awesome Ripple Effect that was present on the default lock screen when I first got the Note is now gone and no longer an available feature. This is a disappointment, because it was a neat feature that, simply put, made the display look amazing when unlocking the screen. Obviously, this is just cosmetic. Another issue I'm having is with unsetting a default that I accidentally set. When you navigate web pages or apps sometimes you're prompted to use another app, say for viewing a photo outside your browser for example. The Note will ask you if you want to "always" use the app you choose or if you want to use the app "just once". I found out the hard way that "just once" is the better option, because if you choose "always" for an app, that can cause some issues that no "Default app cleaner" app can fix. This is also not a huge issue, because in my situation it's causing another cosmetic detail issue (I can't change which app I use to crop wallpaper or lockscreen wallpaper photos now), but it is still a minor annoyance and could cause other more irritating issues had I not learned the lesson quickly and on a minor thing. All of these things are software update bugs that should or will probably be worked out over time. Other things related to this not being pure Android is the relative slow loading speeds. I wouldn't call the device 'laggy', but there is a noticeable delay whenever you try to load anything. And I do mean anything. It's the norm, and a lack of delay is the rare exception. These days, this is not something people tolerate well. I have been using computers for almost 20 years, and have experience with days when systems were *extremely* slow. I think I have more patience for a slower system that others do, which is part of the reason why I went ahead with this device. I knew and expected it to be a little slower. You should too, or you might find yourself a little irritated. It isn't an extreme thing, but it is noticeable. These issues are always a risk you run when you get away from pure Android. If you have any concerns about software bugs like this causing you too much frustration, you should consider a Nexus or an iPad, as they are 'pure OS' experiences. This is Android with the Samsung software slapped on top of it. There's going to be a few bugs along the way. Not to mention it just came out two months ago. As an IT professional, I should have known not to update so quickly after getting the device, but also I am more tolerant, because my expectations are rational. Overall: If I could give the Note 10.1 2014 a half a star less, making it 4.5 stars, I would purely for the slower functioning and glitchy updates, but I went into the purchase expecting those things, and for that reason I gave it a full 5 stars, because it is meeting all my expectations and exceeding them in other areas. Anything more than what I've got right now would be perfection, and we all know that's not realistic!

I've had this Tablet for over a week now and have to say that I am blown out of the water by its performance and what you can do with it! To be fair, there were a few laggy areas when I first got it (day after launch) but those have since been cleaned up by 2 samsung updates. This thing is smokin fast now. I don't really use the "My Magazine" app that people are complaining about so I don't have an opinion on that one. But everything else that I use it for is amazing. I really enjoy the web browser that came with it too. I never use chrome or dolphin now. So far what has really blown me away is the split screen where you can have two apps open at the same time side by side. I really love this and do it often. Normally when I split, I have the tablet in portrait mode and have youtube in the top windowpane and the internet browser in the bottom windowpane. But on top of that in each windowpane can have multiple apps that you can switch with independently. I also love the fact you can have a windowed app (select few) that you can move around on the screen while you do others things. For example, I have my bank app up and want to figure out my finances for the next 2 weeks so I use the Spen to open a windowed version of the calculator and just start crankin away. It's awesome! Honestly I don't use the Spen that much for drawing and didn't really buy it for that. I bought it for the beefy specs, build quality, and high resolution screen and have not been disappointed one bit. It is nice to take a screen capture and be able to write notes directly on it though. One thing I think a lot of people are not taking advantage of is an app that comes pre-installed called "WatchON". It is a samsung app that uses the IR blaster as a universal remote control for all your devices that use a remote. In the tutorial you set up your tv model the cable you use, the make of the cable box, and voila you have a powerhouse remote experience. Let me tell you I use this every day now. So I open the app to the "guide" section and it shows everything that is on tv like your cable box guide. You then select what you want and it changes it on your tv! It's just nice to have a channel on and just peruse though the guide and select what you want without dealing with the cable box guide. You can star your favorite channels and switch between them with ease. Volume up,down, source, and many other options at your fingertips. I also have my AV receiver that I use for sound set up and it knows to use that for the volume, the channel for the cable box, and the power for the tv. Brilliant! On top of all of that, if you have a newer tv with WIFI direct you can click a button to connect the tablet with the tv and choose to watch whatever is on the tv on the tablet! I was blown away when I stumbled upon that feature! Alert: this app is awesome on football days when you want to switch through the many games that are on at the same time! I'm rambling on here but also you can mirror your tablet to your tv (with wifi direct) and it shows what you see on your tablet on your tv. I played the new Madden game on it and it was flawless. All in all this is a great tablet and I am very happy with my decision even though it was about $100 more than I wanted to spend. It is worth it though. The software you get with this compared to a clean android experience makes it worth it. I really think if i went to a nexus device from this I would miss all the features and Spen abilities. That is how I know the extras are worth it. I will update this review as things change for the better or worse but right now I am thrilled :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update 1: Well, I have had this tablet for just over 3 weeks now and it has successfully integrated itself in my daily life :) I thought it would be odd for a while considering I came from the HP Touchpad with android installed. The HP touch pad has a more square aspect ratio (like the ipads) whereas the Note 2014 is more "Wide Screen". I am happy to say that I am totally comfortable with the Note 2014 after just 3 weeks. :) I even use it in portrait mode mostly and it feels natural and great. Over all I still love this tablet and it is performing very well. I've been through 3 over-the-air updates from Samsung and it gets faster and faster with each one. The only problem I had with the tablet was that it took a second or two to wake from sleep via the power button. The 3rd update seems to have fixed this mostly but there still are times where it will take a second...one Mississippi...there we go :) But honestly its not that bad. I use the MoKo case for it that I got on Amazon. It has the smart cover that wakes it upon opening so I don't notice a delay that much if there is one. Other than that I am still very happy with this tablet. I'm glad i did my research and waited for this one. Something I didn't really touch on in the original review are the speakers. They are very nice and I love that there are two of them for stereo. They sound very good as well. The HP Touchpad had some pretty good speakers (shockingly) and I feel this tablet is on par which is good and above average in my opinion. In conclusion, I am still very happy with my purchase even taking in account its price. I knew I needed at least 32GB internal storage so it was $600 or nothing :) Keep the questions coming and I will try to answer them as quickly as possible. Later! ---------------------------------------------------- UPDATE 2: Holy Cow 1 Year Edition!!! I am not sure who will be reading this at this pint in the product's life cycle but I will update my original review regardless. So it has been a year. Many things have happened but one thing is for sure. I still love my Note 2014. I felt the need to come back and add this because it is kind of rare for a product to continue to meet and exceed expectations. Also I have noticed it is still the top review which blows me away because that has never happened to me on amazon or any other consumer site for that matter. I just wanted to let everyone know that I sill love this tablet and it is still going strong. There is not much more to add to my original review really. I know how fast paced the mobile tech world can get and I am pleased to say that this tablet is still excelling within my usage. No defects. No glitches. No problems at all. I would love it if samsung would update it to Android Lollipop in the near future but I know that would be months off. Its ok though because it is performing well. I think I would be in the category of tablet power user so I have many many hours on this thing. Read "news junky". So I am still happy with my purchase even though it is much cheaper now. For new tablet users I will just say; use bookmarks. Bookmark your favorite 10-15 websites in your preferred browser and have your favorite apps on the front home screen and you will be good to go! I absolutely love to use this tablet during college football for info and comments during the many games. Love "Thuuz Sports" app, "CFB" sub-reddit, and the many forums that comment about your favorite team for play by play fan commentary. Makes Saturdays that much more enjoyable! For those who are reading this in consideration of buying this 3rd market I just want to say: Buy from a reputable seller and the tablet will take care of the rest! It's really nice. One year in and I'm still loving it. I like to update my tech in any given usage but I feel this product will satisfy my tablet needs for another 2 years. So in my opinion it is a great after market choice. That's it! Just thought I would update my "blast from the past" review! :D

Best looking, performing tablet I've had

Ordered this tablet to replace my netbook. Great screen and good performance. Usual poor Samsung bloatware pre-loaded (they should stick to hardware). Not managed to get connected to my PC as a flash drive to transfer files. Easier to type on the keyboard than I expected. Waiting for Samsung to bring out a new keyboard which hopefully will provide additional battery life. Charging takes a while. Supplied with an American plug and UK adapter., bulky prefer an adaptor with interchangeable plugs.

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The best thing about this has to be the screen. The colours are vibrant and the images are just so sharp. But everything else is great too; the S pen is very useful, the processor is very quick and it is actually very thin and light. My only slight points of frustration are the physical buttons and the speakers. The bottons just get in the way of using the tablet and they really should be on-screen like they are on most tablets. The speakers are okay, but the sound quality isn't great, feels a Samsung after thought. Apart from that i cant think of any reason why you shouldn't buy this tablet.

Fantastic tablet, such a nice feel and well made (only issue is IR Blaster moving, previously read before purchase, hardly an issue) been using the tablet for a couple of months now after shopping around and inspecting in detail the entire market without a doubt one of the best samsung products prior to pro series. Chose Android over Apple due to customization and now this little beauty works like a notebook!