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Camera, Display, And Speakers
While we don't like to use tablets to take pictures or record video, there are folks out there who don't seem to mind the awkwardness of holding a big device up in front of them. Thankfully, those who do can rest assured knowing that the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014's camera is decent. While it isn't going to rival a DSLR, point-and-shoot or, probably even the camera on your current smartphone, it produces stills and video that most people would find satisfactory.
With 8 MP still-image and 1080p video capabilities, the camera on the Note 10.1 2014 doesn't bring any new technology to the table. Colors on stills is fairly accurate, noise is tolerable, and sharpness is OK. For 1080p video, motion blur is surprisingly low, and sound is recorded at a quality slightly below that of flagship smartphones.
Overall, if you absolutely insist on using the camera on the Note 10.1 2014, it does a fine job. However, as mentioned, you're going to get better results using a smartphone or purpose-built camera.
While Samsung does have a love affair with AMOLED displays, the company certainly makes it clear that it isn't averse to using other display technologies. This is the case with the Note 10.1 2014, which comes equipped with a TFT LCD panel. The million-dollar question for many people is whether it has a PenTile screen. The short answer is yes; but it isn't the PenTile you might be used to.
The Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 is equipped with a RGBW display. In the past, older AMOLED displays had the RGBG arrangement, meaning that there were two subpixels for every pixel, rather than the three in RGB. With the Note 10.1 2014's LCD, the RGBW display also sports only two subpixels for every pixel. But this time, it introduces a white subpixel every other pixel instead of having two greens per pixel. The goal is to increase luminosity.
This isn't the first time we've seen a PenTile RGBW display, which was on the Motorola Atrix 4G. While we weren't fans of the PenTile arrangement then—and, in some ways, still not this time around—the brute force of almost 300 PPI makes the odd aliasing on past AMOLED screens (especially around greens) almost unnoticeable.
I would have preferred a regular RGB LCD IPS display, but the Note 10.1 2014's screen provides a respectable experience for watching movies, looking at pictures, and browsing the Web. It features rich colors, wide viewing angles, good brightness, and surprisingly dark blacks for a TFT LCD display. Just load up a 1440p video on the 2560x1600 screen and it becomes easy to overlook the screen's faults.
We're extremely happy to see the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 equipped with dual stereo speakers, which is something we haven't seen on Samsung smartphones yet. However, while competitors are now touting this as a big-ticket feature, Samsung pioneered front-facing stereo speakers on tablets. But unlike previous Galaxy tablets, the Note 10.1 2014's speakers are side-firing, rather than the more optimal front-firing kind. With that said, we're still pleased with the output quality. The speakers are smartly placed to avoid getting covered as you hold on to the tablet.
