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To the owners, Is Note 10.1 worth buying?

To the owners, Is Note 10.1 worth buying?
Coming from SONY TABLET S !!!
Really didnt enjoyed good android experience on any of the tablets, do would u rate Note 10.1?
Why m hesitant is:
1. Nexus 7 price point
2. Love for Sony, Xperia Tablet coming
3. M'soft Surface, if priced well hell yeahh...
sent from seXperia S

xperiax10.awesome said:
To the owners, Is Note 10.1 worth buying?
Coming from SONY TABLET S !!!
Really didnt enjoyed good android experience on any of the tablets, do would u rate Note 10.1?
sent from seXperia S
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Since we bought it I would say we thought it was worth buying. I think the real question is do you think it is worth buying? That depends on what you plan to use it for.

Hell yes its worth buying to me. I would rate it a solid 8.75-9.0

I'm on a flight from Portland to Dallas writing this. I have the Note in portrait mode in multview connected to GoGo Wi-Fi. In the lower panel I have XDA open in a browser window and am watching a movie in the upper panel. No lag, no hiccups, pretty amazing.Try doing that on any other tablet. The guy sitting next to me (who's an ass) has an iPad and I can see him looking out of the corner of his eye in amazement. The more I use the Note the more impressed I am.

I am coming from TFP and it worth every penny.

Sony to Samsung
I was in the exact same boat as the OP. I had (still have) the Sony tablet and upgraded to the Samsung. Final verdict - Mixed bag.
The samsung is immediately and obviously faster than the Sony. The screen is of course slightly larger as is the tablet in general. The one thing you will be blown away by coming from the sony is the audio on the Note. The speakers are loud and placed directly on the front of the unit. I don't know if you are one of the people effected by the low audio problems with the Sony, but if you were you will be smiling from ear to ear.
As for all other aspects, the wifi signal strength is much improved, but the screen will be a mixed bag as well. While it is brighter, it will at first appear less crisp since it is essentially the same resolution of the Sony, but the Sony had those pixels squeezed into a smaller screen, so they were higher density. Does this cause any problems? Not in the least. The screen is still bright, crisp and easily viewed from a wide angle. I have read that Samsung "tweaked" the screen somehow so that it was not the same as every other screen out there in this resolution, and if so...it shows. Text is not as sharp as on the higher definition screens or the iPad, but it is sharper than it was on the Sony.
Web browsing is LEAGUES better than it was on the sony, and the apps that support the sPen are generally pretty decent. If you are using this for a multimedia device or games...look no further. The benchmarks for this tablet in those area are awesome. If you are a graphics artist or dabble in those things, the included photoshop is good, and I imagine will only get better with the first Samsung and Adobe updates.
Now the downsides...first, for the price, the screen really should have been better...but as I said, it's nowhere near being bad. The back of the unit is shiny plastic, so it's a fingerprint magnet...but it's upside is that since it's plastic, it has stronger wifi reception and gps. The pen that is included does NOT have the eraser you may have seen in some videos, but it does tuck away into the unit nicely and comes with several spare tips and a few varieties of them.
The biggest downside...and honestly for me it's 50/50. I started using my sony as a universal remote for every device in my home. The Samsung has such a remote, and in theory it should be FAR FAR better than the one on the sony....BUT...it only worked for the fist 30 minutes I set it up and never again. I searched online and only read more horror stories about that software (not the hardware...the note itself has no issues with its IR transmitter...only the included program). I updated the software and tried a thousand ways to fix this...but no joy. The built in software is supposed to not only control devices, but provide a visual guide of all the shows on TV, information about them, and learn your preferences much like a TIVO, but once it starts developing issues, they never seem to go away. But as with everything, YMMV, so take that with a grain of salt. I use ATT Uverse as my provider, so it may just be issues with them (although that would not seem to be the case online).
To sum it all up, I am happy with the purchase. At the moment, Amazon has a deal going on the 32GB version that is only $528 I believe, as opposed to the $549. The company providing it charges no taxes and only $8 shipping, so that's a HUGE savings. Would I purchase the unit again? Without hesitation. I picked mine up on the first day it was available, and only the 16gb version was available. I am planning on returning the 16gb and picking up the 32gb. So not only would I buy it again, but...I really am buying it again! LOL.
Hope that helped a little. If you have any questions, fire away

Totally
I had the tf300 and its not even close. The s pen is so useful and the software is much better than my last one. Highly recommended. I have not tried the tf700, but if outed like the tf300 this is the tab to beat.

As you already have a Sony tablet, I wouldn't buy the Note right now. Sony has their second attempt, Xperia Tablet, expected next month.
Wait and see how that plays out.

Hmmm, even the reviews are not very impressive considering the price tag..
sent from seXperia S

*Omnipresent* said:
Hell yes its worth buying to me. I would rate it a solid 8.75-9.0
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I really like my Note. IMO, If you're buying it for some reason other than the active digitzer + stylus combo, you've probably bought it for the wrong reason. If you buy this tablet, you're buying it for productivity.
I took mine with me to class today, was able to write some very solid looking notes quickly and easily, while simultaneously recording audio. It has a few cons, like the cameras occasionally being terrible, and the back being made of what feels like a cheap plastic, but as far as I'm concerned the pros (digitizer + stylus, side-by-side app viewing, quad-core Exynos beast + 2GB RAM for multitasking) outweigh the cons by far.
Hell, the only reason I ever bought either the iPad or iPad2 was that I had this hope that I could somehow find a good, accurate stylus that would let me take notes in class and ditch my paper-and-pen notebook. With the Note 10.1, I've found that tablet. I already love it more than I ever loved my iPad(s).
Did I mention it's great for note taking?! :silly:

Many of us bought this for the pen. In this aspect it's peerless. Combined with this, it's also very good in most other ways.
People are complaining that it should have a higher resolution screen, I disagree. Reason: My eyesight isn't all that great, and to me the difference is minimal, and I would rather have the quad horsepower dedicated to the pen, and other functions rather than screen real estate.
In a year or so, the higher resolution tablets will be standard, but until then i'd rather have it this way.
Whatever. :laugh: The point is: this tablet is fairly perfect for what I wanted: A pen interface, in the iPad/Galaxy format.

xperiax10.awesome said:
Hmmm, even the reviews are not very impressive considering the price tag..
sent from seXperia S
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I think it's really interesting how the "professional" reviews don't match up at all with the real world hands-on experiences of the people on the forums. The way I see it, I don't even bother with reading reviews anymore when you can get much more thorough and unbiased reviews from the good folks here on XDA.
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NessLookAlike said:
I really like my Note. IMO, If you're buying it for some reason other than the active digitzer + stylus combo, you've probably bought it for the wrong reason. If you buy this tablet, you're buying it for productivity.
I took mine with me to class today, was able to write some very solid looking notes quickly and easily, while simultaneously recording audio. It has a few cons, like the cameras occasionally being terrible, and the back being made of what feels like a cheap plastic, but as far as I'm concerned the pros (digitizer + stylus, side-by-side app viewing, quad-core Exynos beast + 2GB RAM for multitasking) outweigh the cons by far.
Hell, the only reason I ever bought either the iPad or iPad2 was that I had this hope that I could somehow find a good, accurate stylus that would let me take notes in class and ditch my paper-and-pen notebook. With the Note 10.1, I've found that tablet. I already love it more than I ever loved my iPad(s).
Did I mention it's great for note taking?! :silly:
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I'm considering the upgrade of my tab10.1 to the note to use it taking notes in my classes as well. How the palm rejection works when you touch the screen with the hand who is writing? And, maybe it is the response at the first question as well, can i disable all the touch input excepting the active digitalizer of the s-pen? It would be perfect to me in that case :cyclops:

aNard said:
I'm considering the upgrade of my tab10.1 to the note to use it taking notes in my classes as well. How the palm rejection works when you touch the screen with the hand who is writing? And, maybe it is the response at the first question as well, can i disable all the touch input excepting the active digitalizer of the s-pen? It would be perfect to me in that case :cyclops:
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Palm rejection is perfect, at least in the S Memo app that comes stock with the Note. Until other market apps are updated to support the Note, S Memi will probably be the one or two apps you'll want to use to take notes.. but it really is perfect. The app itself has a few quirks, but I'm sure they'll be ironed out over time. This morning when I was taking notes, it felt weird to leave my hand resting on the screen, and I was concerned my palm would get lots of grease on the screen -- but nope, everything was fine! It takes maybe 5 minutes to get used to. And yes, you can disable all touch input except the digitizer. There's a button for it in the note-taking app.
It really is that good for taking notes.

Thank you, I think you've settled the final word over my tablet upgrade with that post and your reassurances
Inviato dal mio Galaxy Nexus con Tapatalk 2

I didn't buy this for the pen.. I bought it cause it has the most powerful processor you can get in a tablet.
And that should last me quite awhile.

What is striking me as wierd is the mixture of reviews for the Note 10.1.
Gizmodo absolutely ripped into it and recommended against purchasing it while others seem to love it.

i the verge and gizmodo married they would make a new website called
ibiased.com
period.

It really comes down to what you want it for. I feel pretty sure they went with a less dense screen to improve speed, especially with the pen.
Browsing on this is as fast as with my laptop on Ethernet.
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habs101 said:
i the verge and gizmodo married they would make a new website called
ibiased.com
period.
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Click to collapse
Agreed, cant they put their apple fanboy status aside.
Walt Mossberg I felt gave the note a very fair review. Given that he is an apple fanboy my opinion of him is even greater because the review was very objective.

Why I chose the Galaxy Note... one mans journey

I had been in the market for a tablet for a few weeks, having not owned one before, I felt it was time to take the plunge. The main purpose was for evening internet browsing, maybe accompanied by a pint of beer. I'd previously purchased a galaxy Note phone for this very purpose, but I found even that was too much of a compromise screen wise, 5" just wasn't doing it for me, I had to go large. And if I had a tablet I could downgrade to a smaller size phone in future.
After extensive research on the net I narrowed the choice down. A 7” tab would be too small a leap in screen real estate for my needs, so the Nexus was ruled out, which left the front runner been the Transformer TF300, I though a keyboard would be nice for my very basic needs of Word and Excel, and of course it had the Tegra 3, which I had convinced myself I needed. I was aware the 300 could have a few ‘issues’ after reading the xda forums.
I resisted the urge to purchase as the Berlin IFA was about to commence, and Samsung and others would be releasing their latest tech there. Along comes the Note 10.1. And with that comes more frantic Googling for the latest internet reviews ( I ain’t gonna let go of £400 without knowing exactly what I’m buying!).
After reading the review at Android Police the Note seemed a pile of crap. A turd in the bath. A stink in a cesspool. However, my research goes further than that and I started reading user reviews and of course the review from Lisa Gade on youtube. All these seemed to counter what android Police had stated. With my head spinning I had to put some rational thought to my purchasing decision, and my thoughts were…
Do I need a keyboard – would be nice, but given my very limited use of work related stuff, and a large onscreen keyboard on tablets anyway, it would be possible to manage without, I shouldn’t compromise other factors just to have a keyboard.
Front facing stereo speakers – basic design principles tell me this is the way it should be done.
S pen – never really used it on my phone, but I was intrigued by the ‘hover’ function when viewing the web.
Charging cord – Another bummer mentioned at Android Police, its only 3 feet long, no way I could use the Note when its charging. Solution, charge it overnight.
Build quality – now that review at AP had a lot to say about flexing, squeaking and poor fitting. I saw the videos on that site and I agree with what the reviewer was showing us there. But I can only conclude that the unit he had must have been either pre production or had been subjected to some fairly vigorous tear downs.
I have my Note here and I must say it has very high build quality, absolutely no squeaking, all panels are flush fitting, and the only flex is right in the middle of the back panel, which incidentally is where I never hold it anyway. Also I’ve never had an issue with lightweight back panels, right from my first Samsung Galaxy phone. The technology is there to make things like that these days, it just makes sense, lightweight and no signal interference.
Tegra 3 – The reason I was after a Tegra device was so that I could ‘enter the tegra gaming zone’. It seems a nice place. But then again I don’t spend much of my life playing games and I can easily get my fix from whats available on Google Play.
Now that I have a Note I’m very happy in the knowledge that I have an even better processor, preloaded with masses of codec support and developed hand in hand with the Note to give a great browsing performance.
Cameras – I have no need for cameras on a tablet, waste of time. Oh hang on though, what have Samsung got here, this thing watches my eyes and doesn’t dim the screen unless I fall asleep, clever b******s.
GPS – I’ll only want this if I use Google Sky maps, I usually know where I am if I’m in my own house.
But it’s good to know that Glonass is included on the Note, another thumbs up in the high quality components list.
Audio quality. - Note has a Wolfson DAC. Nothing more to add here.
A note about resolution. One tablet I considered was the transformer Tf700 for its high res screen. Much talked about and much coveted. I wouldn’t turn it down. But when people are buying a tablet they need to consider what device they will be replacing. For me it will be primarily replacing my laptop, which has a 17” screen with a resolution of 1600 x 900. So just by downgrading to a 10” size screen with 1280 x 800 I’m getting higher res anyway, and given that it’s a PLS screen its higher quality to boot. So I’ve already gone ‘high res’ just by getting the note.
I’ve only wrote this review because I’m so impressed with my Note. I hope many others buy it and it gets the success it deserves.

Nice review, enjoyed reading it and hopefully teaches people not to be in haste at knocking a device without seeing real world usage user reports.
I think you have made a good choice and am happy that you are enjoying your note as it is out of the box, hopefully with the Jelly Bean update around the corner it will get even better.
Also love Lisa's reviews because her reviews do not seem to be biased unlike a number of other 'professional' reviewers.

same things i considered and bought note on its day of launch in india..
btw u forgot multiscreens and an extensive battery life
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Here's my bottom line. If I could have bought a 10.1 inch tablet with a 1920 x 1200 screen and a wacom digitizer and pen along with a 1.4 ghz quad core CPU and zero lag for $500 instead of this I would have.
Doesn't exist.
So I bought this.
** The problem I have with reviewers who have slammed this tablet is that they are comparing it either to tablets that do far less or simply do not and cannot exist at this price point. The lowest price for a pen based Windows RT tablet from Samsung will start at $150 more. And that will have worse dpi than this.
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mitchellvii said:
Here's my bottom line. If I could have bought a 10.1 inch tablet with a 1920 x 1200 screen and a wacom digitizer and pen along with a 1.4 ghz quad core CPU and zero lag for $500 instead of this I would have.
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Hehe, +1.
mitchellvii said:
Doesn't exist.
So I bought this.
** The problem I have with reviewers who have slammed this tablet is that they are comparing it either to tablets that do far less or simply do not and cannot exist at this price point. The lowest price for a pen based Windows RT tablet from Samsung will start at $150 more. And that will have worse dpi than this.
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I get a sense that what the OP and I need is more like Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 with GN 10.1 specs less s pen + better screen / premium quality. I don't really care that much for the s pen. I do need everything else you mentioned out of the tab though. So, I feel that some of the low points of this tab, screen resolution and lack of premium build feel, could've been mitigated had Samsung saved the money on S Pen and associated hardware and software expenses.

SM05 said:
Hehe, +1.
I get a sense that what the OP and I need is more like Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 with GN 10.1 specs less s pen + better screen / premium quality. I don't really care that much for the s pen. I do need everything else you mentioned out of the tab though. So, I feel that some of the low points of this tab, screen resolution and lack of premium build feel, could've been mitigated had Samsung saved the money on S Pen and associated hardware and software expenses.
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Lol, yeah that crazy Samsung with their crazy s-pen.
It's simple, if you don't need or use pen input, why the hell are you buying this tablet? Buy an iPad or an Infinity that are pure consumption devices. The SGN 10.1 is for people that want to do WORK with their tablet.

mitchellvii said:
It's simple, if you don't need or use pen input, why the hell are you buying this tablet? Buy an iPad or an Infinity that are pure consumption devices. The SGN 10.1 is for people that want to do WORK with their tablet.
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Click to collapse
If it were that simple I wouldn't be replying on my GN 10.1. I posted this before but yeah, consumption device is what I mostly need. I don't plan on buying any Apple devices, don't wanna say ever but for a long time. That leaves android, which I prefer anyways (GS2 is my current phone). There aren't that many stable, fast and well built android tabs out there. Build quality + specs is why I went with GN. S pen is just an appendix as far ad I'm concerned. Lol
So, if you're listening Samsung, give us galaxy tab 10.1 with the same specs as GN, premium/better finish and improved screen dpi, if possible, and no s pen. All under 500 please. Lol

SM05 said:
If it were that simple I wouldn't be replying on my GN 10.1. I posted this before but yeah, consumption device is what I mostly need. I don't plan on buying any Apple devices, don't wanna say ever but for a long time. That leaves android, which I prefer anyways (GS2 is my current phone). There aren't that many stable, fast and well built android tabs out there. Build quality + specs is why I went with GN. S pen is just an appendix as far ad I'm concerned. Lol
So, if you're listening Samsung, give us galaxy tab 10.1 with the same specs as GN, premium/better finish and improved screen dpi, if possible, and no s pen. All under 500 please. Lol
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Yes, they need 2 models. Consumer - $400, without the pen. Creator / Producer - $500 includes pen . Display on both needs to be the same (highest resolution and quality they can manage without slowing the system down.)

mitchellvii said:
Lol, yeah that crazy Samsung with their crazy s-pen.
It's simple, if you don't need or use pen input, why the hell are you buying this tablet? Buy an iPad or an Infinity that are pure consumption devices. The SGN 10.1 is for people that want to do WORK with their tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't say the infinity is a pure consumption device. I like my note a lot more then the prime I owned but with the keyboard dock it really does move it out of a pure consumption device.

nice review. exactly what i went thru lols

I mentioned it elsewhere, but the first review I read was from Lisa. Always unbias and as someone that knows about stylus's and wiacoms, she was very to the point about the device. Most if not all the others, reviewed the device as a competitor to the iPad, Transformer etc, when in reality those devices do not do what the Note does. After reading that stupid review from AndroidPolice, and I say stupid since no journalist/writer would make such a headline or put in stupid comments of the device giving them cancer, I went to the store to test it myself. It was nothing like what the reviews mentioned and right then and there I knew this was the tablet to get. A few days later I got it.
Haven't regretted it since.
is it the perfect device, No. nothing is, no matter what any one says, including Apple. Each and every device has its pro and cons, but this device runs circles around my previous Lenovo and overall, its one awesome device.
TS

As has been noted, I did not buy the Note for its pen, this was low on my list of needs as I had never found much use for it on my Galaxy Note phone (I found it just too cramped a space for my liking). I was instead drawn more by its quality and cutting edge components. However, given that the pen was there I’ve been giving it a go anyway, and I’ve found it a much better experience on this larger screen, infact I’m now beginning to use it all the time, it just seems easier and quicker for most things.
Websites are not designed to be prodded at with fingers, but to be used by a precise pointing device, so navigating using the pen feels quicker and more natural. When playing games (Air Attack HD) its easier to slide the pen around the screen and fingers are not blocking out the action.
Oh, I forgot about another reason that swayed me towards buying the Note, and that was to do my own little bit to support Samsung against the dark forces of crApple and its abuse of the (broken) patent system. Or as someone else on the net succinctly put it – the American patent system is a pile of ****, and Apple is sitting on top of that pile.
I’ve been listening to the sound quality of this thing, I’m going to put up a new post about it so its easier for people to find.

All Bets Are Off

So...the Samsung weenies blinked. We now have the Samsung TabPro S...a....wait for it...Windows 10 tablet. I have a little throw up in the back of my mouth. 12 inch screen, lower resolution screen than the note 12.2. A little more ram. Thats it. But saddled with windows 10....more throw up.
So that pretty much tells the story. We are orphaned. Let the rooting begin.

To tell you the truth I would love to have Windows 10 on my Note Pro now. Perfect size, excellent screen, hardware isn't too shabby, and fantastic Wacom digitizer.
Anyone else feels the same?

If you want a true laptop replacement I can see W10 being more what you want. For my uses, reading comics, surfing the web, and maybe taking a note or two, Android is almost certainly a better OS. Just wish the verizon version was rootable on 5.1.1.

It was never abour "a laptop replacement" ....it was about having instant access to the net and usefull apps, with no wait and no weight. It was about having information and entertainment access available any time, any where, with enough power away from a wall plug to do useful things. It was about evolving from the keyboard/screen clamshell that needed a flat surface or fire resistant thighs to fully function. It was about freedom.

I was thinking of buying the new one once it's on sale and I see the pen. Then loading Remix OS on it.

globalsearch said:
It was never abour "a laptop replacement" ....it was about having instant access to the net and usefull apps, with no wait and no weight. It was about having information and entertainment access available any time, any where, with enough power away from a wall plug to do useful things. It was about evolving from the keyboard/screen clamshell that needed a flat surface or fire resistant thighs to fully function. It was about freedom.
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You're absolutely right. The Note Pro is all those things. My needs for the device just simply change after two years, that's all. This was the perfect device then, but not anymore. It would have been perfect for me if this exact same hardware suddenly can run Windows 10, but that's not the case.
I understand that I'm going to have to sell this and buy something else (possibly one of those 2-in-1 Windows 10 devices, which are pretty popular), but the Note Pro is such a sweet device that I love so much that I don't really want to let it go.

globalsearch said:
It was never abour "a laptop replacement" ....it was about having instant access to the net and usefull apps, with no wait and no weight. It was about having information and entertainment access available any time, any where, with enough power away from a wall plug to do useful things. It was about evolving from the keyboard/screen clamshell that needed a flat surface or fire resistant thighs to fully function. It was about freedom.
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I use mine as a full laptop/desktop/tv replacement. (Picture attached)
At home I actually haven't had access to an OS besides android for a few years now.
I agree its not for everyone and probably not even for most people.
but it works pretty well once you get used to it.
on a side note I will admit they make us use windows primarily at work, so some of my work from home is done through teamviewer as one of our customers uses a VPN that only allows connections from my work network.
but even with that issue 50% of my work can be done naively and even if I was using another OS I would still have the same limitation.
In my case its more about flexibility.
when I'm not working I can use it as a tablet and browse 9gag or watch netflix etc.
I can connect a controller to it and play games. (this is also fun to do when in the car waiting for people. it plays playstation and N64 games flawlessly)
when working I can set it up in full desktop mode and work just as well as if I was at the office.
Anyways I really agree with you in a majority scenario but I thought someone might benefit from knowing there is a fringe minority like me that use it for everything.

I would have loved the TabPro S if it didn't have the crappy AMOLED screen and had 3G/LTE with SMS and phone call support.

fvig2001 said:
I would have loved the TabPro S if it didn't have the crappy AMOLED screen and had 3G/LTE with SMS and phone call support.
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It makes you wonder what the defective thinking is in management. The Note Pro 12.2 set a high bar for screen resolution. Why for goodness sake would you come out with a new iteration, TWO years later, and put in a screen with LOWER resolution. Its like making 8 or 16gb phones today. Really?
Yesterday I was cleaning out some things in the back room. CAME ACROSS MY FIRST DIGITAL CAMERA I EVER BOUGHT. It is a Fuji MX-700. Paid like 500 for it in early 1999. Still works. It used these small flat memory cards called Smart Media. I pulled the card out. It was 16MB. They where expensive then. My first IBM PC clone in 1982 had a 10mb full sized Shugart drive. It weighed almost 12 pounds. Here is this card with 1.5x more memory the size of a 1inch piece or cardboard, some 17 years later. Today, we have 200GB micro sd cards the size of my pinky finger's tip. My point is that technology is ever increasing and miniaturizing and improving. That is why it is becoming more integrated into our lives. Why did Samsung hire marketing department pinheads to not only hold back but reverse progress on their products?
I remember all the negative reviews that the note pro received. Oh it's too heavy. It's too big. Stick with the 9 inch model. Oh and the Apple pinheads. It' crap, too big, yada yada yada. Now, today, look at the ipad pro. Since its an apple product, it must be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Of course. So much for unbiased reporting and product review.
And the switch to the privacy robbing win10, wow. I would have thrown a little development into a reliable wine like portal for the must-have windows legacy applications.
Terrible thinking.
Hey, the heck with the 60" 4k flat screen in the living. I got a 9" black and white tv here thats been the cats meow since 1975. Hello Samsung, hire me.!!!!

fvig2001 said:
I would have loved the TabPro S if it didn't have the crappy AMOLED screen and had 3G/LTE with SMS and phone call support.
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Click to collapse
globalsearch said:
It makes you wonder what the defective thinking is in management. The Note Pro 12.2 set a high bar for screen resolution. Why for goodness sake would you come out with a new iteration, TWO years later, and put in a screen with LOWER resolution. Its like making 8 or 16gb phones today. Really?
Yesterday I was cleaning out some things in the back room. CAME ACROSS MY FIRST DIGITAL CAMERA I EVER BOUGHT. It is a Fuji MX-700. Paid like 500 for it in early 1999. Still works. It used these small flat memory cards called Smart Media. I pulled the card out. It was 16MB. They where expensive then. My first IBM PC clone in 1982 had a 10mb full sized Shugart drive. It weighed almost 12 pounds. Here is this card with 1.5x more memory the size of a 1inch piece or cardboard, some 17 years later. Today, we have 200GB micro sd cards the size of my pinky finger's tip. My point is that technology is ever increasing and miniaturizing and improving. That is why it is becoming more integrated into our lives. Why did Samsung hire marketing department pinheads to not only hold back but reverse progress on their products?
I remember all the negative reviews that the note pro received. Oh it's too heavy. It's too big. Stick with the 9 inch model. Oh and the Apple pinheads. It' crap, too big, yada yada yada. Now, today, look at the ipad pro. Since its an apple product, it must be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Of course. So much for unbiased reporting and product review.
And the switch to the privacy robbing win10, wow. I would have thrown a little development into a reliable wine like portal for the must-have windows legacy applications.
Terrible thinking.
Hey, the heck with the 60" 4k flat screen in the living. I got a 9" black and white tv here thats been the cats meow since 1975. Hello Samsung, hire me.!!!!
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How is the screen crappy? It is well-reviewed. The Galaxy Note 12.2 Pro has a pentile screen which has only 20% more subpixels than an equivalent size 1080p normal RGB submatrix screen ...
As for the windows tablet, whatever; I wouldn't buy it simply because they only have 4 gb of ram which is not enough for a windows device in this day and age.
Samsung always tries to achieve scale with its technologies which is why it sometimes puts its underperforming phone SOC's into their tablets instead of giving us an upscale version like Apple does.
I'm guessing there's a good chance they use the screen in an Android tablet release later this year or another manufacturer uses the screen in a device.
I like my note pro 12.2 but the android tablet market sucks and Samsung is still the best of a very short list of android tablet makers.

Diogenes5 said:
How is the screen crappy? It is well-reviewed. The Galaxy Note 12.2 Pro has a pentile screen which has only 20% more subpixels than an equivalent size 1080p normal RGB submatrix screen ...
Yes the screen may be better in due to the AMOLED setup but it is still AMOLED. The screen quality will diminish quickly since it is using Windows due to static screen elements. Have you been to stores with AMOLED displays? The demo units that use them tend to degrade so badly. It's literally just used so that it would save battery and make sure you buy a replacement in 1-2 years.
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Click to collapse

fvig2001 said:
Diogenes5 said:
How is the screen crappy? It is well-reviewed. The Galaxy Note 12.2 Pro has a pentile screen which has only 20% more subpixels than an equivalent size 1080p normal RGB submatrix screen ...
Yes the screen may be better in due to the AMOLED setup but it is still AMOLED. The screen quality will diminish quickly since it is using Windows due to static screen elements. Have you been to stores with AMOLED displays? The demo units that use them tend to degrade so badly. It's literally just used so that it would save battery and make sure you buy a replacement in 1-2 years.
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Click to collapse
If you look at my signature, I have a galaxy tab s 10.5 that I use very heavily as my main e-reader and movie/tv-show viewer. It has no ghosting no image retention. I bought it heavily used too. Yeah, an oled that's left on the same wallpaper for basically 24 hours a day for a year at a store kiosk will have terrible burn-in. And the oled wears down from heavy use and gets lesser luminosity.
The timeline for this happening in normal use, even heavy normal use, is probably in the timeline of 5 years or more. In the meantime, an amoled display will have infinite contrast, near-perfect color accuracy or eye-popping saturation in cinema mode and better battery life if you use night themes.
Overall amoleds have such good color quality and performance charactertistics now that their drawbacks are minor in comparison. The note pro 12.2 has a nice screen but it's impossible for me to use it at night because of the backlight being too bright even with programs like twilight to dim it. An amoled screen is amazing and far superior.
Now windows getting stuck and making you have image retention might be a problem, but Samsung dealt with the issue according to all reviews.
I am hoping that they come out with an amoled note android tablet this year. I was hoping for this to be the case last year after their first-gen tab s devices but alas, there was nothing. I'm guessing the 12.2 pro didn't sell that well. I can live without windows, there's too much bloat that limits battery life and the interface still sucks donkey balls for a tablet. I'm hoping apple opened a new market up with the 12" ipad and samsung feels confident enough to release an amoled Note 12.2 successor.
I just remote access on my note pro right now if I need windows for the most part. The only upside is having a more powerful version of one-note. Otherwise, I could care less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Diogenes5 said:
fvig2001 said:
If you look at my signature, I have a galaxy tab s 10.5 that I use very heavily as my main e-reader and movie/tv-show viewer. It has no ghosting no image retention. I bought it heavily used too. Yeah, an oled that's left on the same wallpaper for basically 24 hours a day for a year at a store kiosk will have terrible burn-in. And the oled wears down from heavy use and gets lesser luminosity.
The timeline for this happening in normal use, even heavy normal use, is probably in the timeline of 5 years or more. In the meantime, an amoled display will have infinite contrast, near-perfect color accuracy or eye-popping saturation in cinema mode and better battery life if you use night themes.
Overall amoleds have such good color quality and performance charactertistics now that their drawbacks are minor in comparison. The note pro 12.2 has a nice screen but it's impossible for me to use it at night because of the backlight being too bright even with programs like twilight to dim it. An amoled screen is amazing and far superior.
Now windows getting stuck and making you have image retention might be a problem, but Samsung dealt with the issue according to all reviews.
I am hoping that they come out with an amoled note android tablet this year. I was hoping for this to be the case last year after their first-gen tab s devices but alas, there was nothing. I'm guessing the 12.2 pro didn't sell that well. I can live without windows, there's too much bloat that limits battery life and the interface still sucks donkey balls for a tablet. I'm hoping apple opened a new market up with the 12" ipad and samsung feels confident enough to release an amoled Note 12.2 successor.
I just remote access on my note pro right now if I need windows for the most part. The only upside is having a more powerful version of one-note. Otherwise, I could care less.
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Click to collapse
I concur wholeheartedly with this.
I have a samsung vibrant that I used very heavily for 5 years and only saw minor ghosting in the notification area towards the end of the 4th year.
even then it was only noticeable if you were in landscape with a blank white screen.
A note tablet in the 12 inch range with an amoled screen would be absolutely amazing.
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Click to collapse

The Note 10.1 2014 Replacements are in: The New Chromebooks (Plus and Pro) by Samsung

In CES 2017, Samsung introduced two new Chromebooks that appear to be direct replacements of their Android Note series: The Chromebook Plus (ARM) and Pro (Intel). Both of these run not only Chrome but Android as well and incorporate a pen. In fact, they are the first Chromebooks to run Android directly
http://www.theverge.com/ces/2017/1/4/14167978/samsung-chromebook-plus-pro-google-stylus-ces-2017
The Chromebook Plus will be available in February; it is pricey at $449, but at this price it would be cheaper than the Note 10.1. It is fully convertible as well. If performance is adequate, I think that this line may herald the end of the Note tablet series.

bu they dont have button on the S pen , and not as pressure senstive as the note series , so its just a pen not a an actual S spen

anirudhks said:
bu they dont have button on the S pen , and not as pressure senstive as the note series , so its just a pen not a an actual S spen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also being more than twice as heavy makes them not very ideal for keeping notes and/or reading for extended times.
It's mostly a laptop with tablet features, like most 2in1s , not a tablet that you could easily take anywhere (like you would an A5 sized book, etc)
For better or worse Samsung gave up on tablets with pens, ours is the last one, and whatever else you may buy it would be considerably worse in key aspects of usability
IPad pro 9.7 is the closest to come in usability, but it still has minor problems, like no character recognition, no pen holder, no use of the pen as a pointer. It's also better in other things, like the much more accurate pen recognition, so it is a wash.

Although the IPad Pro 9.7 is OK, there are also detachable Windows 10 tablets that incorporate pen functionality very well (better than the iPad). The Asus Transformer series is about 10''. Not very powerful, but usable.

Stevethegreat said:
Also being more than twice as heavy makes them not very ideal for keeping notes and/or reading for extended times.
For better or worse Samsung gave up on tablets with pens, ours is the last one, and whatever else you may buy it would be considerably worse in key aspects of usability
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a product line is not too successful, then, of course, it will be discontinued. We cannot fault Samsung for showing good commercial sense. As things are, this tablet is still highly usable; I have added a new battery, and it is doing great. The problem is that it is stuck at Android 5. If Samsung updates it to Android 6 (at least), it will give be great but I do not think that this would happen.

aretzios said:
If a product line is not too successful, then, of course, it will be discontinued. We cannot fault Samsung for showing good commercial sense. As things are, this tablet is still highly usable; I have added a new battery, and it is doing great. The problem is that it is stuck at Android 5. If Samsung updates it to Android 6 (at least), it will give be great but I do not think that this would happen.
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Click to collapse
There is a point for creating niche products though. Of course you price them accordingly (i.e. incredibly expensive by comparison). There are companies actually making money merely by addressing niches. Of course (obviously) Samsung is not and couldn't be one of them.

aretzios said:
If a product line is not too successful, then, of course, it will be discontinued. We cannot fault Samsung for showing good commercial sense. As things are, this tablet is still highly usable; I have added a new battery, and it is doing great. The problem is that it is stuck at Android 5. If Samsung updates it to Android 6 (at least), it will give be great but I do not think that this would happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you think the tablet is usable with Samsung's lollipop wait until you install zakooz's lineage OS(https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-10-2014/orig-development/p600-cyanogenmod-14-0-unofficial-builds-t3457898).
There's no comparison. Very smooth, responsive and excellent efficiency.
Splitscreen works like a charm(that is if you don't enable the navbar/expansive dekstop), video stream zoom bug has a manual fix, and the base speaker volume can be manually increased.
There is however a mike volume issue, but that'll be fixed soon.

No, no note 10.1 they have awful batteries. I've owned two of those, and even replaced the battery on the second. I'm talking bad, dieing at 40 percent.
If you want older, get the note pro 12.2. The battery is fantastic. 3 days of use off Wi-Fi, 1.5 days of heavy use on Wi-Fi.
I've had the note 10.1,, note pro 12.2 and just got muy chromebook plus yesterday. It's the best out of all of them.

Maybe the Galaxy Tab S3 is the true Note 10.1 2014 replacement?
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-S3-specs-and-new-pictures-leak-out_id91374
--EDIT--
Yeah, it's not called a note, but the specs are better than the Note 2014 (battery is worse, but new processor is probably more efficient), it includes the pen with a button (this source says the pen is built in, though other sources have said it's an additional accessory... - not sure how sensitive it is though)
Screen is 3:4, though that means it's closer to A4 or letter papers' aspect ratio and it has a bigger area (more total number of pixels as well).
It is less sharp, though, with 23% less pixels on a 12% larger screen

Pnevma said:
Maybe the Galaxy Tab S3 is the true Note 10.1 2014 replacement?
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-S3-specs-and-new-pictures-leak-out_id91374
--EDIT--
Yeah, it's not called a note, but the specs are better than the Note 2014 (battery is worse, but new processor is probably more efficient), it includes the pen with a button (this source says the pen is built in, though other sources have said it's an additional accessory... - not sure how sensitive it is though)
Screen is 3:4, though that means it's closer to A4 or letter papers' aspect ratio and it has a bigger area (more total number of pixels as well).
It is less sharp, though, with 23% less pixels on a 12% larger screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically not a replacement. This is the year 2017. If a new tab doesn't have better specs than one from 2014, then it's not really a replacement. My 10.1 2014 edition is still running nice but I bought a Lenovo Tab 3 Pro recently. It actually has specs more like a tablet from the year 2017, 4 GB ram, 64 GB storage, 10000+mAh battery, etc.

Gasaraki- said:
So basically not a replacement. This is the year 2017. If a new tab doesn't have better specs than one from 2014, then it's not really a replacement. My 10.1 2014 edition is still running nice but I bought a Lenovo Tab 3 Pro recently. It actually has specs more like a tablet from the year 2017, 4 GB ram, 64 GB storage, 10000+mAh battery, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews have been very positive, especially regarding the screen. The tablet is fast and the S-Pen improved. Overall, it is certainly a replacement for the Note 10.1 (2014) although if one has a very well working Note 10.1 2014, there is little reason to purchase this one. The thicker pen is certainly a welcome addition.

ADRz said:
Reviews have been very positive, especially regarding the screen. The tablet is fast and the S-Pen improved. Overall, it is certainly a replacement for the Note 10.1 (2014) although if one has a very well working Note 10.1 2014, there is little reason to purchase this one. The thicker pen is certainly a welcome addition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews do not directly compare and contrast it to Note 10.1 - 2014. They compare it to other 2in1s ... in which case it's a device that stands quite well to competition, but I have to repeat my previous concern that this is not a device comparable to ours.
For better or worse "work tablets" went the way of the dodo, ours is probably the last. They have been mostly replaced by 2in1s that are a different class of product mostly because of the vastly lower mobility, a bit of how a tablet is different than a phone.
Adding 500 grams to a product centered around mobility pretty much determines vastly different use cases. For example you cannot use it in place of a notebook to keep quick notes, or a book to read (a staple use of tablets) . So while I'm sure the new chromebooks are a great product for many people I don't think it makes much sense to compare it to ours.
A bit of how an ipad mini is a great product too, but not many will buy it in place of the iphone Plus. Size matters, weight matters even more...
For better or worse our tablet is the last of its kind and we have to live with it. Fortunately the community makes sure to keep it alive , all the while it's easily repairable. Both of which can ensure a 5+ years longevity. It would be a sad day for me when I'll have to leave it back, but until then I don't think there is any other game in town.

Stevethegreat said:
Reviews do not directly compare and contrast it to Note 10.1 - 2014. They compare it to other 2in1s ... in which case it's a device that stands quite well to competition, but I have to repeat my previous concern that this is not a device comparable to ours.
For better or worse "work tablets" went the way of the dodo, ours is probably the last. They have been mostly replaced by 2in1s that are a different class of product mostly because of the vastly lower mobility, a bit of how a tablet is different than a phone.
Adding 500 grams to a product centered around mobility pretty much determines vastly different use cases. For example you cannot use it in place of a notebook to keep quick notes, or a book to read (a staple use of tablets) . So while I'm sure the new chromebooks are a great product for many people I don't think it makes much sense to compare it to ours.
A bit of how an ipad mini is a great product too, but not many will buy it in place of the iphone Plus. Size matters, weight matters even more...
For better or worse our tablet is the last of its kind and we have to live with it. Fortunately the community makes sure to keep it alive , all the while it's easily repairable. Both of which can ensure a 5+ years longevity. It would be a sad day for me when I'll have to leave it back, but until then I don't think there is any other game in town.
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Click to collapse
I agree with most of your comments. The biggest impediment with the Note 10.1 2014 is the fact that it only supports Android 5 and an older version of the S-Note and S-Pen software. Otherwise, it is a very competitive product. I have replaced the battery and the tablet is working extremely well. Yes, it would probably stretch to 2019, hopefully.
On the other hand, for persons who do not have such a product currently, the Tab S3 may be an appropriate solution. Is it really a 2 in 1 product? I cannot tell. In fact, if I were to purchase it, I would not get the keyboard cover. I have the Logitech Universal Keyboad Folio which can provide the same level of "transformation" to any such product.

ADRz said:
I agree with most of your comments. The biggest impediment with the Note 10.1 2014 is the fact that it only supports Android 5 and an older version of the S-Note and S-Pen software. Otherwise, it is a very competitive product. I have replaced the battery and the tablet is working extremely well. Yes, it would probably stretch to 2019, hopefully.
On the other hand, for persons who do not have such a product currently, the Tab S3 may be an appropriate solution. Is it really a 2 in 1 product? I cannot tell. In fact, if I were to purchase it, I would not get the keyboard cover. I have the Logitech Universal Keyboad Folio which can provide the same level of "transformation" to any such product.
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Click to collapse
I don't think that Lollipop aged too well. Installing the newest AOSP based roms though can get you a brand new experience. They solve most of the issue that the original experience has (low user ram, extremely slow charging, general performance issues) without taking away any of the pen experience (if you root).
Tab S3's pen support is mostly an afterthought, and it suffers from the aspect ratio. All websites, media and apps are wide screen these days, so in practice you get a far smaller screen (at this point). Still I guess it's closest we can get to our Note 10.1 2014 ...

Stevethegreat said:
I don't think that Lollipop aged too well. Installing the newest AOSP based roms though can get you a brand new experience. They solve most of the issue that the original experience has (low user ram, extremely slow charging, general performance issues) without taking away any of the pen experience (if you root).
Tab S3's pen support is mostly an afterthought, and it suffers from the aspect ratio. All websites, media and apps are wide screen these days, so in practice you get a far smaller screen (at this point). Still I guess it's closest we can get to our Note 10.1 2014 ...
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Click to collapse
I am not much for installing Android systems not approved by the manufacturer. The likelihood of bricking the tablet is high. It works fine as it is. If I can get another year's work out of it, I would be happy. Yes, I prefer the aspect ratio of this tablet much better than the 3:2 aspect ratio, but the truth is that everything now is moving to the 3:2 aspect, even laptops. The reason that I am OK with the 16:9 aspect in this tablet is because it is optimal for being a "notebook". Otherwise, for all other functions, and for laptops, I much prefer the 3:2 aspect. I am not sure that I agree with you about the wide-screen of websites. Most of these really adjust well to screen sizes. And most of the web is really more vertical than horizontal. This is why the original 4:3 aspect ratio of laptops was so much more preferable. Documents are mostly long, not wide.
In fact, I am glad that the industry is abandoning the 16:9 aspect ratio. We are not watching movies in most of our devices. So, good riddance, really.

ADRz said:
I am not much for installing Android systems not approved by the manufacturer. The likelihood of bricking the tablet is high. It works fine as it is. If I can get another year's work out of it, I would be happy. Yes, I prefer the aspect ratio of this tablet much better than the 3:2 aspect ratio, but the truth is that everything now is moving to the 3:2 aspect, even laptops. The reason that I am OK with the 16:9 aspect in this tablet is because it is optimal for being a "notebook". Otherwise, for all other functions, and for laptops, I much prefer the 3:2 aspect. I am not sure that I agree with you about the wide-screen of websites. Most of these really adjust well to screen sizes. And most of the web is really more vertical than horizontal. This is why the original 4:3 aspect ratio of laptops was so much more preferable. Documents are mostly long, not wide.
In fact, I am glad that the industry is abandoning the 16:9 aspect ratio. We are not watching movies in most of our devices. So, good riddance, really.
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Click to collapse
I agree that 3:2 is a great compromise ratio and I welcome that the industry is increasingly moving towards it. It's the closest to our tablet's 16:10, but a bit better for portrait mode. IMO those two are the best for documents too (documents are 1.41:1, but most PDF apps auto crop them to 1.5:1 or 1.6:1).
Unfortunately Tab S3 decided to use 4:3, which is very bad for media (one of the most popular uses for tablets, probably the main one for those that prefer it over owning a phone). It renders the websites wrong and it's not that good for games either (they are built for wide-screen like 3:2, 16:10 and 16:9).
BTW installing an AOSP ROM is very easy (follow the handful of steps) and as dangerous as installing an app. It's one of the basic reasons to own an android, else an iPad is a better choice (clearly often). I understand the fear on a new device (you lose warranty), but on those old ones it's probably the only way to keep them alive. Nougat on this tablet basically breathes it a new life...

ADRz said:
I am not much for installing Android systems not approved by the manufacturer. The likelihood of bricking the tablet is high.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't be more wrong. Funny how people still believe this.

Why I am returning my S20 Ultra within 24 hours of receiving!

Let me preface this by saying I am picky about my phones and this is one of the worst I have seen in years! If you have an old phone I can understand some of the upgrade but here are my thoughts coming well staying with a Note 10+. Never bought and returned a phone this quick. Returning before it is even released on Friday!!
Let's start with the good, well somewhat......
Screen: Once again Samsung delivers a world class screen. Best in brightness, color accuracy, etc etc everything like normal that they always produce in their flagships. Now for the downsize, the infamous 120hz screen refresh rate. Not worth it here. Smoother scrolling, sure but barely. I honestly don't even mind the 1080p and 120 hz just the need for the 120hz on a phone is overkill. Was gaming smoother sure, do I game much on my phone, no not really. The 240 touch response I can tell more of a difference and a worthy difference then the 120 hz refresh
Processing power: Phone is fast, minus animations. Photo processing, night mode shots are a big difference. Much faster in that aspect. Wish we saw little more ram and more storage though at this price
Battery: 5000 mah in this device makes it a little thicker but in my short one day of use it stood up pretty well to transferring apps and everything over and hard use for a few hours last night. Couldn't kill it
and now the bad
Camera: throw all the numbers at it and it will be great.... well not so fast. Main shooter in 12 or 108 mp mode cannot focus on anything. Piece of paper on desk in front of you, good luck. Zoom a few feet away from you, also good luck. 5x/10x/30x zoom is better then Note 10+ of course but how often are you going to use this? Everyday? Once a week? Once a month? Still not great quality (usable) at 10x or 30x really so no point in my book. 5x is crisp but falls off too much after that for me to use. Wide angle is same as note so no real improvement here. Camera also seems to make everything more saturated then I like as well almost to the point of unrealistic. The one and only thing the iPhone can do well and the note seems to be closer to that realistic representation then the Ultra.
Design: not that the design is bad but feels a tad on the chunkier side. Rounder edges do help but does not feel as sleek as nice to hold as note or even s10. Thicker as well to house that battery and camera module. Also worried about how scratched the module bump will become after months of abuse.
UI: Let me first say I hate Android 10/Samsung UI 2.0, I am still using 9 and the Ultra reminded me why. App animations are slow (yes can fix in dev options but still), quick replying to text or message in status bar is not instant like prior android generations. Don't know if this is an android 10 or Samsung UI 2.0 problem but seems like it should be an upgrade not a downgrade
Price: $1400 is a lot even for 2020. That is also only for 128 gb and 12 gb ram model. So no upgrade to ram compared to Note and a loss of half the storage compared to entry level note. Plan was to trade in note 10+ and pay $800 and it isn't worth that tp be honest. Not even close. Only foreseeable upgrades are little brighter screen and zoom lens. The rest is a downgrade to me or the same.
I will continue to use note 10+ until Note 20 maybe? Needs to have something better for the money it is going to cost though
View attachment 4964859

That's a fair assessment. From testing out an S20 Ultra, I wasn't impressed enough to upgrade from the Note 10+. While many of the upgrades are nice to have, there are no earth shattering changes. To be fair, phone technology has plateaued and it's going to take more than camera, screen and battery upgrades to get people spending $1000+, let alone $1400-1500. The Note 20 is going to need an under display front camera, an even bigger battery, more futuristic design or something to get people to upgrade.
Now I have friends who upgraded from S8/ Note 8 models and they're blown away by the improvement. It's become more practical to upgrade every 2+ years versus luxury upgrades every cycle.

I am returning mine because mainly because I cannot justify the difference between the 128 GB of the Ultra vs the S20+. The main difference between the two are the battery and camera. For me, the Ultra is simply TOO BIG, it's taller, wider and substantially heavier than what I am used to - coming from the S10+. S20+ is the ideal fit, especially since I really do not care for the camera specs honestly.

I got mine yesterday and have been testing the camera against my Pixel 3XL. I was hoping for a similar experience as the Pixel, but so far the results have been wildly inconsistent. Some of the photos are marginally better than the Pixel, but many are much worse, especially when it comes to white balance in low light and extremely over done color saturation in others.
Similar to OP, I love the screen, processor and battery. It's a shame the camera is dragging it down for me. I'll probably take a look at it again in a few months and see if any updates have made significant improvements to the camera.
Oh, I also tried out one of the GCam ports and saw little to no improvement over the stock camera.

My only gripe which I can agree with you on is the camera's autofocus. There is a firmware update inbound which is supposed to fix this. This should not be a launch issue.
As for the UI, I disagree. I think it's perfectly responsive. It may be the update to 2.1 for you. I've only ever had 2.x on my Samsung devices so I can't comment from that respect.
Those are of course your impressions and opinion and as such I'm not saying your wrong just that it's not that way in my point of view.

In the past I've returned things less than a day of ownership because of burning issues. I've learned, however, to use the 15 days they provide. It's not like a pro rated fee or rental where there's a fiscal benefit to a quick return. Slow down, use it for those two weeks.

Guyinlaca said:
That's a fair assessment. From testing out an S20 Ultra, I wasn't impressed enough to upgrade from the Note 10+. While many of the upgrades are nice to have, there are no earth shattering changes. To be fair, phone technology has plateaued and it's going to take more than camera, screen and battery upgrades to get people spending $1000+, let alone $1400-1500. The Note 20 is going to need an under display front camera, an even bigger battery, more futuristic design or something to get people to upgrade.
Now I have friends who upgraded from S8/ Note 8 models and they're blown away by the improvement. It's become more practical to upgrade every 2+ years versus luxury upgrades every cycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, I buy/try every one when it is brand new and this one just disappointed me overall. Note 20 better have under display camera and a better fingerprint sensor in display. Or just go back to old style
BETA. said:
I am returning mine because mainly because I cannot justify the difference between the 128 GB of the Ultra vs the S20+. The main difference between the two are the battery and camera. For me, the Ultra is simply TOO BIG, it's taller, wider and substantially heavier than what I am used to - coming from the S10+. S20+ is the ideal fit, especially since I really do not care for the camera specs honestly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup not worth it! Ultra is actually narrower then note 10 plus believe it or not. I don't mind the bulk just nothing to gain from it
Zargon335 said:
I got mine yesterday and have been testing the camera against my Pixel 3XL. I was hoping for a similar experience as the Pixel, but so far the results have been wildly inconsistent. Some of the photos are marginally better than the Pixel, but many are much worse, especially when it comes to white balance in low light and extremely over done color saturation in others.
Similar to OP, I love the screen, processor and battery. It's a shame the camera is dragging it down for me. I'll probably take a look at it again in a few months and see if any updates have made significant improvements to the camera.
Oh, I also tried out one of the GCam ports and saw little to no improvement over the stock camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the pixel is always a beast in the camera dept. The night mode on the ultra seemed too bright like I still want my night shots to look dark just with detail if that makes sense
SyCoREAPER said:
My only gripe which I can agree with you on is the camera's autofocus. There is a firmware update inbound which is supposed to fix this. This should not be a launch issue.
As for the UI, I disagree. I think it's perfectly responsive. It may be the update to 2.1 for you. I've only ever had 2.x on my Samsung devices so I can't comment from that respect.
Those are of course your impressions and opinion and as such I'm not saying your wrong just that it's not that way in my point of view.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the UI like messages and you hit reply and then send and it kinda sticks there. On old one ui it was instant. You would have to have both side by side honestly to be able to tell like I did. I replied to a few facebook messages on ultra and was like that felt odd. Then did on note and was like wow it is faster
cpufrost said:
In the past I've returned things less than a day of ownership because of burning issues. I've learned, however, to use the 15 days they provide. It's not like a pro rated fee or rental where there's a fiscal benefit to a quick return. Slow down, use it for those two weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope already gone. Boxed up by 8 am and ready to roll. I will spend my money elsewhere

I upgraded from the S9+ and the camera from the S10+ blew me away, hence why I got the S20 Ultra, also 2 year cycle

Jomari29 said:
I upgraded from the S9+ and the camera from the S10+ blew me away, hence why I got the S20 Ultra, also 2 year cycle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But did the ultra camera blow you away like going from S9 to S10?

oneandroidnut said:
But did the ultra camera blow you away like going from S9 to S10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbh no, I get what you mean, I didn't have the same feel like how it was upgrading from s7 to s9,

cpufrost said:
In the past I've returned things less than a day of ownership because of burning issues. I've learned, however, to use the 15 days they provide. It's not like a pro rated fee or rental where there's a fiscal benefit to a quick return. Slow down, use it for those two weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But how long are you going to wait for a patch that "maybe" fixes things? 14 days = maybe if we're lucky one software update.

Jomari29 said:
Tbh no, I get what you mean, I didn't have the same feel like how it was upgrading from s7 to s9,
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Click to collapse
Yeah exactly. Honestly I don't tell a big difference anymore when you upgrade to every flagship but from s10+ to note 10+ it felt like an improvement and gained some things. Now it feels like I am losing more things then I am gaining from note 10+ to Ultra

catnapped said:
But how long are you going to wait for a patch that "maybe" fixes things? 14 days = maybe if we're lucky one software update.
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Click to collapse
Exactly, mine is gone already. Not playing that waiting game. My note 10+ on android pie is butter to me right now and will be sticking around for at least a few more months until Ultra is fixed or new note is out

People are whining about the price when the iphone 11 pro is $1449 and nobody bats an eye.

deathshead said:
People are whining about the price when the iphone 11 pro is $1449 and nobody bats an eye.
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Click to collapse
11 Pro Max 512GB is $1449.
512GB Ultra is $1599.
Both are very expensive!
IMHO, for the price of $1599 there should be a slim case in the box, 45W charger, 1TB storage and ceramic back! I get it, 5G is adding to the cost and for a lot of us is like paying for tits on a bull!
Wait until the iPhone 12 with 5G comes out. Figure on adding $200-300 EXTRA.

deathshead said:
People are whining about the price when the iphone 11 pro is $1449 and nobody bats an eye.
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Click to collapse
That is not 5G though, wait until this year. Bet it is $1400+ for the base
cpufrost said:
11 Pro Max 512GB is $1449.
512GB Ultra is $1599.
Both are very expensive!
IMHO, for the price of $1599 there should be a slim case in the box, 45W charger, 1TB storage and ceramic back! I get it, 5G is adding to the cost and for a lot of us is like paying for tits on a bull!
Wait until the iPhone 12 with 5G comes out. Figure on adding $200-300 EXTRA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Ceramic is needed at this price point and a 1tb option for sure!!!

I got my ultra two days ago and have to say i am very disappointed in the camera system. With how much physical size it takes up you'd think it was going to be something of quality, but largely it is not. The autofocus issues are not being overstated - sitting at my computer desk it refuses to focus on the keyboard three feet in front of me. My s10+ on the other hand has no issues getting focus rapidly.
The screen is amazing but I am underwhelmed by the 120hz. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was the best thing since sliced bread. While it is noticable during very slow scrolling, normal scrolling looks basically the same as on my s10. The one noticeable difference is with the responsiveness to touch which i gather is from the 240 sampling rate.
The fingerprint scanner is identical in performance to s10.
The increased weight and size of the phone actually helps it to feel more premium and it's not difficult to handle. The screen is considerably more narrow than note 10+ which I do like - the wide-ness of the n10+ was cumbersome.
I love how the screen edges are nearly flat, gives it more usable space.
I have already contacted samsung and made it clear that if an update isn't imminent that fixes the camera performance, I will have no choice but to return..it just doesn't make sense to trade in my still-perfect s10+ and spend nearly $900 on an unfinished product...which is how the ultra feels at this point.

Swimguy14 said:
I got my ultra two days ago and have to say i am very disappointed in the camera system. With how much physical size it takes up you'd think it was going to be something of quality, but largely it is not. The autofocus issues are not being overstated - sitting at my computer desk it refuses to focus on the keyboard three feet in front of me. My s10+ on the other hand has no issues getting focus rapidly.
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Click to collapse
Mmmhmm, goes in and out of focus. Even if you tap to focus you have to practically do a shot right then or it's back to in and out again.
And I just did a 108MP photo of my cat in so-so light. Not really impressed. The only thing decent I'll say is the 5x & 10x zoom. Doesn't make up for the other issues though.

Swimguy14 said:
I got my ultra two days ago and have to say i am very disappointed in the camera system. With how much physical size it takes up you'd think it was going to be something of quality, but largely it is not. The autofocus issues are not being overstated - sitting at my computer desk it refuses to focus on the keyboard three feet in front of me. My s10+ on the other hand has no issues getting focus rapidly.
The screen is amazing but I am underwhelmed by the 120hz. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was the best thing since sliced bread. While it is noticable during very slow scrolling, normal scrolling looks basically the same as on my s10. The one noticeable difference is with the responsiveness to touch which i gather is from the 240 sampling rate.
The fingerprint scanner is identical in performance to s10.
The increased weight and size of the phone actually helps it to feel more premium and it's not difficult to handle. The screen is considerably more narrow than note 10+ which I do like - the wide-ness of the n10+ was cumbersome.
I love how the screen edges are nearly flat, gives it more usable space.
I have already contacted samsung and made it clear that if an update isn't imminent that fixes the camera performance, I will have no choice but to return..it just doesn't make sense to trade in my still-perfect s10+ and spend nearly $900 on an unfinished product...which is how the ultra feels at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed on all points except I prefer the wider note 10+ screen but yes everything else is spot on

catnapped said:
Mmmhmm, goes in and out of focus. Even if you tap to focus you have to practically do a shot right then or it's back to in and out again.
And I just did a 108MP photo of my cat in so-so light. Not really impressed. The only thing decent I'll say is the 5x & 10x zoom. Doesn't make up for the other issues though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly is that worth $800-1400 over your current device?