Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 review

Consider it the fallout from a decade-plus of reality TV, but our made-by-the-masses approach has expanded into new territory: technology R&D. Or so Samsung's very public handling of the Galaxy Note 10.1 would have us believe. Thrust into an American Idol-like spotlight at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, the still-unfinished slate, a follow-up to the pen-enabled Galaxy Note phone, was forced to perform for hordes of skeptical insiders. Sure, there was raw talent on display and we could see the promise of this 10-inch contender (we said as much in our exhaustive preview), but it was also clear the company was testing consumer waters, fishing for a vote of confidence before continuing down the development track.
Does this make Samsung's latest flagship the Kelly Clarkson of the tablet category? It's an apt analogy, if you think about it: Kelly wants to be country, the Note 10.1 wants to be a pro-designer tool, but neither are allowed. Why? Well, simply put, products sell better when they're made more palatable for a wider range of tastes. Which is why the company used MWC to gauge popular opinion before molding its untested product into something wth a broader appeal. Ultimately, that meant a drastic makeover: since MWC, the Note 10.1 has received a slot for that S-Pen, streamlined software, a quad-core Exynos 4 chip and two storage configurations: 16GB / 32GB, priced at $499 and $549, respectively.
So it now has more horsepower under the hood, that much is assured, but is that chip enough to boost the Note 10.1's mass appeal? Will savvy shoppers be able to forgive that relatively low-res 1,280 x 800 display? Will its Wacom digitizer elevate this slate past its more generic Android and iOS rivals? Or will that feature hamper its widespread appeal, attracting mainly creative professionals? Meet us after the break to see if the Note 10.1 can succeed as the multitasking everyman's go-to tablet.

Hardware

For better or worse, Samsung's sticking to the durability of its signature plastic enclosures. Brushed aluminum backs, it would seem, are for other OEMs. So if premium builds are tops on your checklist, you can safely stop reading now. In its prototype form, the Note 10.1 felt like a luxury item, thanks to its matte enclosure (then gunmetal gray). But in a surprising reversal of course, that subdued finish has since vanished, only to be replaced with the same sort of glossy backing used on the OG 10.1. It's no small wonder that the company made this change, given its bloated lineup of near-identical tablets. This is an Android slate that calls attention to itself, though it might not be the right kind.
There's no two ways about it: the Note 10.1 looks and feels kind of cheap. Starting with our most serious complaint, it's prone to the squeaks and creaks of inferior budget devices, which is definitely not something you'd associate with a $499 product -- let alone a flagship. Despite our protestations, though, this is Samsung's M.O. But, as with the company's other halo product, the Galaxy S III, we ultimately decided it's best to make peace with this lack of design flair and instead try to appreciate the feature set that makes it a stand-out device.

Back when it was still in development, the Note 10.1 had one glaring flaw: the lack of an S-Pen slot. That oversight's since been remedied and as a result, the chassis is a tad wider at 0.35 x 7.1 x 10.3 inches (8.9 x 180.4 x 261.6mm), allowing it to accommodate that housing along the bottom right edge. On the surface, that's about that's about the extent of the tablet's alterations (take note: the HSPA+ global version adds a SIM slot for voice and data use).
The arrangement of its ports and hardware keys have remained unchanged, matching the layout on the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. There's a proprietary charging slot on the bottom edge, a dual-speaker setup flanking the screen and a power button, volume rocker, microSD slot (supporting cards up to 64GB), an IR blaster and 3.5mm headphone jack up top. Around back, the Note 10.1 is completely blank, showcasing only Samsung's logo. You will, however, find a silver strip along the upper half of the lid, which houses the 5-megapixel rear camera (up from 3 megapixels when it was first announced) and a single LED flash. As for the module's companion 1.9-megapixel front-facer, it sits above the display along with an ambient sensor.
Perhaps the most important changes here are the ones Samsung made to the Note 10.1's internals. Whereas it was announced with a dual-core CPU, the company's swapped that out for the more powerful quad-core Exynos 4 clocked at 1.4GHz -- and what a difference four cores makes. To complement this processing might, Samsung threw in a healthy 2GB RAM and a 7,000mAh battery to keep the experience afloat. We'll delve deeper into the performance later on, but rest assured this tab can take whatever you throw at it and then some.

So the overall construction holds fast to the tried-and-true approach of Samsung devices past, but how does it feel in hand? Well, considering its dimensions have expanded, it still feels reassuringly light and manageable. Weighing 1.31lbs (0.6kg), it's comfortable to hold in one hand while you grip the S-Pen in the other, though the edges could do with a bit of softening.

And how about that S-Pen? Has it seen an evolution? Are there any additional bells and whistles packed into it? Does its oblong shape make for a natural fit in-hand? Well, yes, no and sorta kinda. Allow us to elaborate. For all its girth, the S-Pen still feels as light as a feather -- and that's not necessarily a good thing. Like the tablet itself, the pen conveys an inferior and ultimately disposable feel. For what it's worth, there's a well placed function button located on the side of the pen that's easy to find with your finger. If that's not impressive enough, Samsung will sell two additional pens -- one with an eraser tip and the other a larger holster for a more natural grip.
Ding, ding, ding. That's how many times the bell should ring to count out the Note 10.1's 1,280 x 800 TFT LCD display. Samsung obviously made a compromise to keep costs down, but there's really no reason for the company to have settled on such a middling display. When we previewed the tablet it was a work in progress, so the forgettable display was easier to forgive -- Apple's new iPad had just seen a public launch, leaving Samsung plenty of time to rejigger its part list and potentially bump that screen to 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. Yet, the company didn't and we remain confused.

Still, it's a serviceable panel: its colors are balanced (helped by a Dynamic and Movie mode) and viewing angles are sharp, though the screen does fall prey to a little washout and glare. Mainly, we're frustrated by the tab's pixel density, and we can't imagine graphic designers and other creative types will be impressed either.

Performance and multitasking

The guts of the Note 10.1 should be a source of pride for Samsung's engineers, and nowhere is this more evident than in the tablet's slick multiscreen implementation (more on this in a moment). But while anecdotal software impressions can paint an abstract picture of what's happening under the hood, benchmarks lay out a blueprint for what's truly possible, and hint at what potential might be lying untapped. Since the tab's spec list is an uneven mix, we pitted it against a range of contemporary Android slates that share some of the same traits -- be it a similar resolution, multi-core CPU or Android 4.0 as an OS. In this instance, many of the rivals we selected -- Acer's Iconia Tab A700, ASUS' Transformer Pad TF300 and Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 -- pack Tegra 3 internals. (The dual-core Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 does not.) Yet, despite being armed with such considerable horsepower, none proved a fair match for Samsung's proprietary chipset. That's not to say the Note 10.1 notched undisputed wins across the board; we logged a marginal AnTuTu loss and a Nenamark result that put in on par with all those Tegra 3 tablets we mentioned.
So about that multiscreen option. This feature, which wasn't demoed on the original model announced at MWC, affords a convenient split-screen view. All told, you can choose from six apps -- S Note, Gallery, Video, Browser, Polaris Office and Email. But the multitasking fun doesn't end there: power users can load a pop-up video player on the upper half of the screen, call up various of mini apps from an onscreen shortcut or drag and drop clipboard content from the browser or Gallery to S Note and Polaris Office. During our testing, we launched as many as eight apps simultaneously, which appeared to have no detrimental effect on video playback and only slightly hampered the slate's overall response time. In real-world usage, you'd be hard-pressed to find a scenario where such extreme multitasking is even necessary, and we suspect that workhorse potential will satisfy even the most discerning power users.

As you might expect, the Note 10.1 delivers consistently solid performance unless burdened with an unrealistic workload (see above). All told, the tablet delivers a snappy, fluid experience, which happily doesn't include many jarring transitions.

	Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1	Acer Iconia Tab A700	ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700	ASUS Transformer Pad TF300	Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
Quadrant	5,695	3,311	4,685	3,695	2,602
Linpack single-thread	56.6	43.3	N/A	41.7	35.6
Linpack multi-thread	160.3	94	N/A	89.83	61.3
NenaMark 1 (fps)	60.0	60.8	N/A	60.3	29.5
NenaMark 2 (fps)	58.5	37.9	N/A	46.9	19.0
Vellamo	2,394	1,283	1,475	1,320	Would not run
AnTuTu	11,962	10,499	12,027	N/A	N/A
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms)	1,193	1,970	2,012	2,120	2,222
GLBenchmark Egypt Offscreen (fps)	97	59	75	N/A	N/A
CF-Bench	13,157	11,567	7,874	N/A	N/A
SunSpider: lower scores are better

Battery life

	Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1	8:00
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7	12:01
Apple iPad 2	10:26
Acer Iconia Tab A510	10:23
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime	10:17 / 16:34 (keyboard dock)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	9:55
Apple iPad (2012)	9:52 (HSPA) / 9:37 (LTE)
Apple iPad	9:33
ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700	9:25
Motorola Xoom 2	8:57
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1)	8:56
HP TouchPad	8:33
ASUS Transformer Pad TF300	8:29 / 12:04 (keyboard dock)
Acer Iconia Tab A700	8:22
Acer Iconia Tab A200	8:16
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus	8:09
Amazon Kindle Fire	7:42
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	7:38
Acer Iconia Tab A500	6:55

The Note 10.1 comes in two flavors: HSPA+ and WiFi-only (the former is already available at online retailers like Negri Electronics). For now, at least, only the WiFi version will be available in the US. So while we can't say how long the tab will last when tethered to an always-on 3G connection, we can speak to the longevity of the WiFi-only variant. As it happens, this is the same 7,000mAh battery used in the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, except here it's tasked with supporting a quad-core processor. How does it fare? With light to moderate use, it's easy to spread one full charge cycle over the span of three days -- that's with some casual browsing, streaming video consumption, social media monitoring and brief photo-taking. But for as long as the device might last you in the real world, it's also exceptionally slow to recharge, so plan accordingly and don't say we didn't warn you.
Under the duress of our more formal battery rundown test, which entails looping a video off local storage with the screen brightness fixed at 50 percent, the Note 10.1 held out for a solid eight hours. Again, bear in mind that figure represents the strain of both the Exynos 4 and the 10-inch 1,280 x 800 screen. Had Samsung chosen to boost the display quality to full HD, this real-world result would have depreciated even further, forcing the company to go with a bigger battery and a weightier tablet. Even so, this showing places the Note 10.1 far down on the tablet totem pole, smack dab between the Kindle Fire and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus -- not exactly a flattering comparison.

Software and S-Pen apps

In a perfect world, the Note 10.1 would hit retail running Jelly Bean right out of the box. That's our dream scenario for this and every other Android device, but as we've grudgingly come to accept, most manufacturers want to put their individual stamp on Google's unified operating system. And so, we're faced with a skinned version of Ice Cream Sandwich, now bumped to 4.0.4 and predictably cloaked in Samsung's TouchWiz UX. Purists shouldn't have much difficulty acclimating to this particular overlay as it's actually quite light, though it is stocked up with 21 pre-loaded apps -- Kno, Barnes & Noble Nook, Netflix, Peel Smart Remote and Dropbox, just to name a few. Samsung assures us an upgrade to Android 4.1 will arrive sometime this year, so expect more concrete news on that front in the coming months.
To speak of Ice Cream Sandwich's ins and outs is to rehash yesterday's news. With that in mind, we won't retread such familiar territory. Instead, let's focus on what Samsung's done to optimize the tablet for that S-Pen. From the moment you retrieve the stylus from its in-shell holder, a vertical mini-menu slides out from the screen's right edge displaying five optimized applications and a settings option. This shortcuts toolbar can is customizable in that you can have a certain app open when you remove the pen from its slot. Right now, only five applications are designed to take specific advantage of this functionality: S Note, S Planner, Crayon Physics, Photoshop Touch and Polaris Office. And, as with the Galaxy Note phone, the S-Pen can also be used to take screenshots (just long-press the function button while touching the pen to the screen).

Samsung's already made the S-Pen's SDK available to developers, so there's a chance the Note 10.1 could find much richer support in the future. Realistically, though, users will have to make do with Samsung's curated software suite or use S Suggest (the company's recommendation engine) to find other optimized apps. So what's really changed since we last saw Note 10.1 in March? For starters, the S-Pen's sensitivity level has been increased to an impressive 1,024 degrees of pressure. You won't have much need for such nuanced touch support with general use, but fire up PS Touch or S Note and you'll begin to appreciate the precision. The same goes for the tablet's palm rejection -- the ability for the slate to detect stylus input while your hand rests on the screen. This, too, has been refined since we took that earlier build for a spoin.
Optimized app support would seem to be the logical means to effect successful S-Pen implementation throughout the slate, but Samsung's taken it one step further, tossing in the mouse-like ability to hover (aided by an optional icon setting) and trigger dropdown menus when browsing web sites. It's a small flourish, but one that catapults the Note 10.1 past other devices, transforming it into a bona fide productivity tool.

Much has been said about the Note 10.1's inclusion of PS Touch, an app that normally costs $10 in Google's Play store. Though it's a pared-down version of the full desktop program used by pros, it does offer a robust suite of tools that should please pros and amateurs alike. Samsung's worked closely with Adobe to hone the app so that first-timers adjusting to stylus-guided navigation will find the experience intuitive. To that end, there's even a collection of handy tutorials ready to hand-hold newbs through the post-production process.
Notably absent, however, is Adobe's other Photoshop-like companion app, Ideas. Even odder, it was installed on the pre-production model we first saw at MWC and then tested in our preview. Fortunately, its absence won't negatively affect users, as that app is basically a distilled version of PS Touch, just with fewer practical applications. We're not sad to see it go, and we also won't miss S Memo, another pre-release app that's been kicked to the curb. Like Ideas, Memo was more or less a redundancy, a sandboxed version of S Note that had no reason for existing on its own. Unlike Ideas, however, Samsung chose to fold S Memo into S Note as a template option -- exactly where it always belonged.

Otherwise, the majority of S Note's functions have stayed the same. Users can still choose from an assortment of pen options, brush sizes and colors for handwriting-based input or opt for text-based input using the onscreen keyboard which, thanks to the company's tweaking, is now offered in three layouts: traditional QWERTY; Floating, which permits users to adjust its onscreen placement; and Split, Samsung's take on a thumb keyboard. Menu options are present to export your creations in .pdf, .jpg, .snb or text format and send via email, Dropbox, Bluetooth or WiFi Direct.
Handwriting recognition on the Note 10.1 is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was the last time we tested this thing. Much to our delight, the tablet's software was able to correctly make sense of our illegible cursive, translating our chickenscratch into proper text. Take the time to write neatly in print and you'll find no fault with the slate's powers of comprehension. Even the shape function has been enhanced so that it now more consistently rearranges sloppy geometric figures into appropriate configurations.

But the most noticeable and welcome improvement is actually the mathematical function, of all things. Users that input equations into the slate will be presented with a search option on the upper half of the screen, thanks to a partnership with Wolfram Alpha. Select that, and the Note 10.1 immediately segues into multiscreen mode, pulling up the browser and displaying a list of responses tailored to that specific query. Again, it's a minute touch, but on the whole, it helps to elevate this Samsung slate above its run-of-the-mill Android competition.

Camera

The Note 10.1 should not be your go-to for photography or at least, not the device you rely on for fleeting moments of inspiration. No, this slate's rear 5-megapixel module doesn't handle impromptu image capture with any sense of skill. It's actually downright frustrating with its focusing difficulties and the considerable lag between the moment you trigger the onscreen shutter button and the final result. During our photographic walkabout in downtown New York City, we found ourselves snapping several takes of the exact same image and never quite landing on a still that met our expectations. Also, the tab's lack of a full HD screen is extremely apparent here, as it led us to believe on more than one occasion that the images we'd shot were of inferior quality. That wasn't totally the case, as our final batch of 2,560 x 1,920 shots did turn up some above-average pictures with an acceptable level of detail and depth of field. On the whole, though, photos tended to have a blurry quality -- softly lit and filtered, despite the abundant outdoor lighting.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 sample shots

The included camera UI is no different than that of other Samsung-branded tablets and smartphones, though it does offer up Share shot and Buddy photo share -- two smart functions that debuted on the Galaxy S III and which send photos to other devices via WiFi Direct. Aside from those new settings, the rest is your usual assortment of scene and shooting modes, toggles for ISO, white balance and exposure, as well as a panorama option.

The 720p video capture mode yields similarly half-baked results. Playback suffers from similar hazy image quality and also appears quite shaky due to a lack of image stabilization. Our audio, for the most part, was distinct, if a tad muffled, but then again we happened to catch a reprieve from the crush of surrounding traffic.

The competition

Starting at $499, Samsung's base Note 10.1 model seems a reasonable enough buy when you factor in the addition of the S-Pen, PS Touch, Exynos 4 processor and 16GB of storage. That is, until you cast a glance at other Android tablets of equal cost, like ASUS' Transformer Infinity Pad TF700, which boasts a crisper 1,920 x 1,200 display, double the storage (32GB) and a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU. That across-the-board spec bump alone should give you pause considering these dueling slates both run skinned ICS and are separated by a stylus alone. But shift your gaze to yet another similar Google-fied offering, Acer's Iconia Tab A700, and the path to purchase becomes fuzzier, as that tablet manages to offer the same top shelf- specs at $50 less -- an excellent proposition that, again, lacks only a built-in digitizer.
What about the iPad? Indeed, Apple's tidy iOS ecosystem is where most consumers will instinctively want to invest their dollars based on the tab's nigh-ubiquitous market death grip. And we'd be hard pressed to direct their attention otherwise since Cupertino's newest tablet iteration lays claim to the best panel available today -- a 2,048 x 1,536 Retina display -- and bears the same $499 pricing for a 16GB configuration.
Laid out plainly as this, the Note 10.1's case as a compelling tablet alternative is unavoidably weak. For consumers who, arguably, already own a primary PC, plunking that chunk of cash for Samsung's latest requires a hefty commitment to the S-Pen. Really, it's the tablet's only differentiating factor and one we're not convinced ordinary households will find lust-worthy. Had the company slapped on a different build and gone just one step up in the resolution department, we could see this being a fair fight. As it is, the Note 10.1 succeeds as an early adopter platform -- an attractive option for diehard fans of the original Note.

Wrap-up

It's been a long time -- six months, to be exact -- since Samsung first gave birth to the Galaxy Note 10.1. Our initial reaction was one of intrigue; a risky bet we were eager to see play out in final form, especially given stiff competition from various quad-core competitors. So, does the Note 10.1 manage to overcome its well-matched rivals and carve out its own spot in the crowded tablet space? Ultimately, no matter how deftly executed and streamlined the S-Pen experience may be, this tab still feels like a niche device, especially since the suite of compatible applications is still pretty small. This is the sort of purchase early adopters and creative professionals are likely to make based on their familiarity with Android and the additional flexibility afforded by that stylus.
Yes, it's neat to have access to apps like PS Touch and S Note or even tinker with that newly baked multi-screen functionality, but we suspect that won't be enough to sway average consumers. People creating content (read: the very segment Samsung's going after) are already well-served by traditional PCs, mice, keyboards and Wacom pads and again, the Note 10.1 doesn't have that many optimized apps in its own right. At $499, meanwhile, there are a host of other tablets with sharper displays, equal or greater built-in storage and quad-core CPUs. To seal the deal and move units off shelves, Samsung should've priced the Note 10.1 at about $100 less. Instead, it stands on even retail ground with higher-end rivals, forcing you, the consumer, to choose between the finger and the pen.

APPLE IPAD 3

iPad review (2012)

What's in a name? Or, more importantly, what's in a digit? Would that which we call an iPad by any number less than 2 be less sweet? That's the question Apple posed for us indirectly when it unveiled the new iPad and relegated its future slates (and, presumably, phones) to a numeral-free future. And that new slate? It's much the same as the old one, with a slightly more chipper processor at its (quad) core and support for both Verizon and AT&T's fancy new LTE networks.

But there's one bigger change here, one that will ripple across the industry as each manufacturer struggles to keep up in this ever-accelerating market. That feature is the iPad's new 2048 x 1536 Retina display. It's the best display ever featured on a tablet, probably the best display ever on a mobile device, but is that enough to keep this tablet ahead of the pack? Believe it or not, the answer is yes.

iPad (2012) review

Hardware

Ever held an iPad 2? If so, suffice to say this new iPad is a wee bit thicker and a teensy bit heavier. You now have our full blessing to skip down to the display section below, which is what you're probably truly interested in reading about.

If you didn't know any better you'd think it were completely solid.

For those looking for the full-on review effect, the new iPad is still a slinky thing. Sure, its 9.4mm thickness won't win it any awards (especially since that's .6mm thicker than the iPad 2), nor will its 652g (1.4-pound) heft (51g / .11 pounds more than before), but it feels neither big nor heavy. It instead feels substantial. Dense. It's carved from a hunk of aluminum and there's a cavity in there where the (now bigger) battery and other internals reside, but if you didn't know any better you'd think it were completely solid.

There's none of the flex or the give found in cheaper slates. That solidity certainly helps explain the premium feel, but buyers will have to decide whether that feel is worth the extra space in their messenger bags, or the extra strain placed on shoulder straps.

The chassis is hewn from the same matte aluminum as most of Apple's other devices, with a gentle curve on the edges tapering down to a flat back punctuated by a glossy black Apple logo. The shape of that taper is slightly different than before, a bit more rounded on account of that extra girth, but you'll be hard-pressed to notice without a side-by-side comparison.

Looking at the back you'll still find the speaker in its same lower-left position, still a rather unfortunate placement. Most of the sound is therefore directed away from where you want it, namely in your ears, and we can't say as we noticed any improvement in the overall aural quality compared to this tablet's predecessor. Next to that is the dock port, still the full-sized 40-pin variety and not the slinky, next-gen connector that we've been hearing is in the works, so your accessories live on for at least one more generation of tablets.

Move up to the side and you'll find the same volume rocker and mute / rotation lock as before, situated in the same place, too. Kitty-corner to that is the wide and flat power button, separated from the 3.5mm headphone jack over on the other side by the same expanse of black plastic seen on the iPad 2, making room in the metal chassis for the antennas to do their thing. WiFi-only models get by without this polycarbonate indiscretion.

Swing around to the other top corner and you'll find the door behind which rests the SIM. LTE does need a SIM, even on Verizon, and there are new iPad versions supporting LTE on both AT&T and Verizon. (Rogers, Bell and Telus in Canada, too, though Telstra LTE in Australia is sadly not compatible.) There are different devices here, one for AT&T and another for Verizon, but either offer comprehensive non-LTE wireless connectivity options, including MTS / HSPA / HSPA+ / DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) and GSM / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz). That means even if you aren't in LTE-land you can expect up to 42Mbps download speeds, which is much faster than the iPad 2.

The WiFi-only models naturally lose all that, but all varieties offer 802.11a/b/g/n connectivity along with Bluetooth 4.0. Even the WiFi-only model can make use of the new voice dictation feature here, which adds a microphone button down next to the keyboard. In our testing it's impressively accurate, capturing even odd words like "Schenectady" without pause. It only works when you have an active network connection and, sadly, its no Siri, which is still not available. The new iPad will not find you directions to body hiding spots nor tell you the weather.

The one final detail on the back is the slightly enlarged portal behind which the new five megapixel camera assembly peers through. It's rimmed by a bit of polished metal as on the iPad 2, so things don't look noticeably different from the outside, but as ever it's what's on the inside that counts -- and indeed you'll have to look a little deeper in this review to see how that new sensor.

The biggest change of all, however, is right there on the front, though tragically for those who like to make appearances the black (or white) glass facade looks exactly the same as it did before. Turn it on, though, and everything changes.

Display

If you're disappointed Apple didn't do more with the new iPad, that's probably because you haven't seen the new Retina display yet.

If you're disappointed Apple didn't do more with the new iPad, that's probably because you haven't seen the new Retina display for yourself yet. Take more than a passing glance and you'll be a believer. Of course, a cynic would say that it's really Samsung who's been doing all the hard work here, as this is (for now, at least) a panel sourced from that company, which should be a strong indicator that Apple's strongest competition on the Android side won't be far behind in launching its own high-res wunderslate.

The biggest talking point is, of course, the truly bonkers resolution. 2048 x 1536 means four times the pixels of the previous iPads and, indeed, a full million more than your average 1080p TV. On the 9.7-inch display this works out to a pixel density of 264ppi. That's considerably lower than the 326ppi the iPhone 4S manages and, indeed, below the magic 300ppi barrier Apple had earlier specified for the "Retina" moniker. But, as you're expected to hold the new iPad further from your face than your phone, the perceived pixel density is said to be comparable.

Really, though, the numbers will be quickly forgotten once you get a look at this thing. If you've previously made the leap from a lower-resolution iPhone to one packing a Retina display you have some idea of what to expect here, but the increased scale really makes the difference shine.

The new iPad's LCD under the microscope

For example, viewing photos on an iPhone was never particularly pleasant to begin with. It always felt too cramped -- okay for a quick "hey, check this out" kind of experience, but not something you'd want to do for long stretches. Looking at photos on the iPad, however, has always been a very satisfying thing, and with the new iPad it's even more so. Not only are things rendered to a higher definition, they're also presented with greater accuracy.

No, the reds and greens won't beat you over the head like they do on one of Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus displays, but everything here just looks right.

The new iPad screen offers a considerably increased contrast and gamut, meaning colors are not only brighter and more striking but more accurate. No, the reds and greens won't beat you over the head like they do on one of Samsung's Super AMOLED Plus displays, but everything here just looks right. That said, stack it next to an iPad 2 and you'll notice the new display is far more cool, and you're unfortunately given no control over that. A few pictures, like of a bright red Ferrari, actually look slightly more accurate on the old display, but by and large the new panel blows the old one away.

This is truly a spectacular display, and in typical IPS fashion it doesn't disappoint at odd angles. It maintains its splendor at broad enough perspectives to ensure your friend on the other side of the couch can also enjoy your latest YouTube fave.

iPad (2012) vs. iPad 2

Yes, there are a lot of hyperbolic adjectives up there in the preceding paragraphs, but that's simply because this is a genuinely nice display. It raises the bar, and that's a good thing. We can't wait to see how the competition responds.

Of course, to make the best use of this new display you'll need new apps that have been up-sampled to take full advantage, and thankfully there are plenty. All of the stock iOS apps have been retooled already, while many big third-party players like Amazon's Kindle app and Evernote have already been upped as well, and the difference is noticeable.

1080p content looks considerably better than on the iPad 2, as you would expect, but even 720p content shows a noticeable improvement. That shouldn't necessarily be a surprise, though, since the old tablet couldn't even manage that resolution.

Performance and battery life

Adding four times the pixels means a lot more work for the CPU and GPU, and the trusty 'ol A5 processor just wasn't up to the task. So, Apple did a little... augmentation, creating the A5X. This processor keeps the same dual-core CPU as the iPad 2 but pairs it with a new quad-core graphics component. The result? Predictably the same when it comes to the CPU-taxing Geekbench, which gave us exactly (nearly) the same score. The web-based SunSpider benchmark was the same. We averaged a low 2,100ms score on the iPad 2 and the new iPad averaged at 2,111ms.

Geekbench	Results (higher is better)
Apple iPad (2012)	720
Apple iPad 2	721
Apple iPad	442
Apple iPhone 4S	623
Apple iPhone 4	375

So, don't be expecting a revolutionary change when it comes to day-to-day usage, but really we still find the iPad 2 to be far more snappy and responsive than just about anything else on the market. So too, then, is the new iPad.

This is the first iPad to offer 4G LTE wireless, and so we were naturally quite eager to load up Speed Test and see what it could do. We received a Verizon model to test and it did not fail to impress, delivering download speeds consistently in the 22 - 25Mbps down range. Uploads, meanwhile, hovered between 16 and 19Mbps with 50 - 70ms pings. That is, needless to say, quite healthy.

We also had the opportunity to test an Orange model in the UK and saw speeds averaging 3.5Mbps down and just north of .5Mbps up. That too is respectable but will likely leave you pining for the day the cooling rays of LTE to show up in your hood, especially since the iPad can be used as a wireless hotspot for no extra cost.

Tablet	Battery Life
Apple iPad (2012)	9:52 (HSPA) / 9:37 (LTE)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7	12:01
Apple iPad 2	10:26
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime	10:17
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	9:55
Apple iPad	9:33
Pantech Element	9:00
Motorola Xoom 2	8:57
HP TouchPad	8:33
Lenovo IdeaPad K1	8:20
Motorola Xoom	8:20
T-Mobile G-Slate	8:18
Acer Iconia Tab A200	8:16
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus	8:09
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet	8:00
Archos 101	7:20
Archos 80 G9	7:06
RIM BlackBerry PlayBook	7:01
Acer Iconia Tab A500	6:55
T-Mobile Springboard (Huawei MediaPad)	6:34
Toshiba Thrive	6:25
Samsung Galaxy Tab	6:09
Motorola Xyboard 8.2	5:25
Velocity Micro Cruz T408	5:10
Acer Iconia Tab A100	4:54

We had high expectations for battery life, despite those substantial improvements to both the built-in radios and display. The new pack inside the iPad is rated at a massive 42.5 watt-hours. That's nearly double the size of the 25 watt-hour pack found in the iPad 2. The reason for the boost is to make sure there are plenty of electrons to shovel into the LTE antenna and the new A5X processor, both of which are presumably quite hungry.

Apple rates the new iPad at 10 hours of casual surfing on WiFi or nine hours if you're doing it using cellular data and our own video rundown test gave a similar rundown time. At 50 percent brightness, our European model on HSPA pushed out just under 10 hours of constant playback, with 3G and WiFi on. That's barely half an hour behind its predecessor, despite this year's hardware improvements. Our Verizon LTE model, meanwhile, came in just 15 minutes shorter, again with LTE and WiFi firing.

It's worth noting, though, that all that juice not only takes a long time to drain but it takes time to charge, too. We've found the new iPad takes much longer to refill on the charging stand than the iPad 2. No surprise, given the nearly 100 percent increase in battery capacity.

Cameras

We called the cameras on the iPad 2 "pretty bad" and, well, they are. Thankfully Apple has finally raised the game on the rear shooter for the new iPad, but it's unfortunately left the front-facing VGA FaceTime camera alone. If you're sick of looking murky when FaceTiming with loved ones from a dimly lit room, we're sorry to say it might be time to finally invest in that extra lamp.

iPad (2012) review sample shots (rear-facing camera)

iPad (2012) review sample shots at night (rear-facing camera)

Obviously, the company's time and effort was spent focusing on the lens poking out the back, but in some ways that, too, is a bit of a let-down. It's a 5-megapixel unit consisting of the same five-element, f/2.4 lens and stabilization processing wizardry found in the iPhone 4S. But, curiously, the bigger iPad takes a step down to a more lowly 5-megapixel sensor.

Day time video test

Night time video test (done alongside an iPad 2)

But, move past megapixels (as we encourage most digital shooters to do) and you'll find the image quality to be very high here. We found it very easy to take pleasing photos with the new iPad but we didn't see the drastic increase in shot-to-shot speed that we did on the 4S. That phone wowed us with its rapid-fire prowess, and indeed the iPad 2 is quite snappy moving from picture to picture. The new iPad is much slower. It's still plenty quick, on the order of two shots per second, but we'd estimate the iPad 2 is roughly twice that fast.

Still, we'll take quality over quantity, and the new iPad shots are far more pleasing to the eye.

Video has stepped up a good bit too, to 1080p from the previous 720, and again we saw a nice increase in quality over the former iPad. While we still hate the idea of taking pictures or videos with something packing a 9.7-inch display, if you must you will at least have great results now.

Accessories

Thankfully, most cases aren't made to exacting specifications, so there's a very good chance your old sleeve will do just fine.

So width and height are the same as the iPad 2, but as we mentioned above thickness is now .6mm greater than before. That's but a sliver of a difference and difficult to notice unless you stack the two next to each other, but if you're dealing with a finely-crafted case made to exacting specifications that increase is more than enough to cause issues. Thankfully, most cases aren't made to such high standards, so there's a very good chance your old sleeve will do just fine.

We tried a few different sleeves and loose cases and there was no issue with the majority of them. Some plastic-backed cases that clip on refused to hold on very securely, but for the most part this new iPad is backwards compatible. Indeed, Apple's own Smart Cover clips on to the side magnetically just like on the iPad 2. In fact all the other first-party iPad accessories should be perfectly compatible, thanks in large part to the continuation of the 40-pin dock connector. And, thanks to the hugely useful iOS version of iPhoto, the SD Card Reader and Camera Connector are of particular value now.

But, the best accessory for the iPad will likely prove to be the new Apple TV. This guy features a friendlier UI and, finally, 1080p support. It isn't the iOS-having, app-running update that we've been hoping for, but beaming 1080p content straight to your TV over AirPlay is about as easy as it gets and, for many, worth the $99 price of admission.

Price, options and data plans

The new iPad is priced exactly the same as the old iPad used to be. That is to say, a 16GB model starts at $499. 32GB costs $100 more and 64GB is another $100 on top of that, for a range-topping price of $699. Rather unfortunately there's still no 128GB option, a particular shame given the size of the textbooks Apple is now hawking. More storage is a must for whatever the next new iPad turns out to be.

The 3G / LTE models, whether you choose AT&T or Verizon, will cost you $130 more. So that's $629, $729 or $829. Cheap? No, but those are at least off-contract prices. As before, data plans are all month-to-month, so no worries about signing away the next two years of your wireless freedom. You'll simply buy your data at the beginning of the month and next month, if you want more, you'll have to pay again.

On AT&T you're looking at 250MB for $14.99 monthly, but on LTE we could see blowing through that in a day. A more realistic 3GB will cost you $30 while 5GB is $50. AT&T does not offer tethering yet (though it intends to in the future), so if you want your slate to also be a portable hotspot today you'll need to go to Verizon. There you'll be paying $20 for 1GB, $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB on the top end. If you opt to buy your iPad pre-activated through Verizon they'll also give you the option of paying $10 for every GB over your allowance.

Wrap-up

With the new iPad, Apple has chosen to take small steps in many areas, making a logical upgrade on the camera, a modest improvement in graphics performance and the perfectly natural addition of LTE wireless. Other things have been left the same, like the overall size and form-factor, speed, the selection of capacities and, most importantly, the pricing. It's only with the display that Apple made a truly big step forward here over the iPad 2, and for many that's enough to make an upgrade worthwhile.

The new iPad doesn't do anything substantially better or particularly different than the iPad 2, offering the same rich world of content as before. But, it's the amazingly high quality window into that world the new iPad offers that is completely unmatched -- for the moment. We have no doubt that others will be bringing similarly high-res offerings to market soon, but for now the new iPad takes the cake. Is it worth a purchase if you still have the original iPad? Yes, absolutely. The iPad 2? That, dear readers, largely depends on how much disposable income you're swinging around, but if you have the means...