Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 review: Flying first class

Synthetic benchmarks and performance

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is available in two different versions - a Snapdragon 800-powered LTE model and a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa-running Wi-Fi and 3G editions.

We have the Wi-Fi-only model of the Galaxy Note 10.1 at our disposal, so we'll be running our benchmark routine over the latest Samsung Exynos 5420 chipset. It uses ARM's big.LITTLE architectures and has a four 1.5GHz Cortex-A15 cores and a four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 cores on its processor. The slate can't use both sets of cores simultaneously, instead it utilizes the power-saving Cortex-A7 for lighter tasks and runs on the Cortex-A15 when reporting for heavier duties.

Samsung has announced it is possible to unlock the capability to use all eight cores simultaneously via a firmware update, but there is a risk of huge power drainage or overheating, so there is very little chance the Note 10.1 will be getting this update.

Our first benchmark tests single-core performance. The Cortex-A15 core proved to be a worthy competitor for the 2.3GHz clocked Krait 400 CPUs, but still came second best.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• LG G2
  99
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  115
• Sony Xperia Z1
  115
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  115
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  130
• HTC One Max
  131
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  132
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  132
• HTC Butterfly S
  135
• LG Optimus G Pro
  147
• HTC One
  151
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  166
• Sony Xperia Z
  264
• HTC Butterfly
  266
• Oppo Find 5
  267
• HTC One X+
  280
• LG Optimus G
  285
• HTC One mini
  293
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  305
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  330
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  350
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  359
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
  366
• Nexus 4
  431

The multi-core Linpack trial saw the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition post another score very close to those of the Snapdragon 800 rivals.

Linpack

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  969
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  818
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• LG Optimus G Pro
  743
• HTC One Max
  723
• HTC Butterfly S
  669
• HTC One
  646
• Sony Xperia Z
  630
• HTC Butterfly
  624
• LG Optimus G
  608
• Oppo Find 5
  593
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• HTC One mini
  320
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  214.3
• Nexus 4
  213.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
  185
• HTC One X+
  177.7
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  175.5
• HTC One X
  160.9
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  141.5

GeekBench 3 is a very popular CPU and memory benchmark, where the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 beats every other device we've tested bar for its Galaxy Note 3 stablemate.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  2743
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG G2
  2243
• HTC One
  1972
• HTC One Max
  1899
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869
• LG Optimus G
  1623
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1315
• LG Nexus 4
  1288
• HTC Butterfly
  1257
• Oppo R819
  1047
• HTC One mini
  887

Quadrant gauges the overall device performance and the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition came some way behind the best devices we have tested. Of course the higher resolution has certainly took its toll here.

Quadrant

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G2
  19815
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  18177
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  17945
• HTC Butterfly S
  13130
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  12446
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  12376
• LG Optimus G Pro
  12105
• HTC One Max
  11914
• HTC One
  11746
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  11346
• Sony Xperia Z
  8075
• HTC One X+
  7632
• LG Optimus G
  7439
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  7153
• Oppo Find 5
  7111
• HTC One mini
  6048
• HTC One X
  5952
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  5916
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  5450
• Nexus 4
  4567

Even the pixel rich display didn't prevent the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition from topping the AnTuTu 4 scoreboard, though.

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  33198
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• Sony Xperia Z1
  30850
• LG G2
  30243
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  29185
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  27613
• HTC One
  26389
• HTC One Max
  26348
• LG Nexus 4
  17006

Next we put the Mali-T628MP6 GPU through the GFX Benchmark. It did as we expected - excellent and very close to the top of both tests. However, the Adreno 330 inside the Galaxy Note 3 managed to beat it on both occasions.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  68
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  60
• Sony Xperia Z1
  60
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  60
• Apple iPhone 5s
  56
• LG G2
  54
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  43
• HTC Butterfly S
  42
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  41
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  41
• HTC One Max
  41
• HTC One
  37
• Oppo Find 5
  32
• Google Nexus 4
  32
• Sony Xperia Z
  31
• Sony Xperia ZL
  31
• Sony Xperia SP
  31
• Apple iPhone 5
  30
• LG Optimus G Pro
  30
• LG Optimus G
  21
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  17
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  17
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  17
• HTC One mini
  15
• HTC One X
  11

GLBenchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26
• Sony Xperia Z1
  23
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23
• Apple iPhone 5s
  23
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  22
• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Apple iPad 4
  16.8
• HTC Butterfly S
  16
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  16
• HTC One Max
  14
• Google Nexus 10
  13.9
• LG Optimus G
  13.9
• Sony Xperia Z
  13.5
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  13
• Sony Xperia ZL
  12.8
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  6.3
• HTC One mini
  5.6
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  4.9

Moving on to the Epic Citadel benchmark, which runs on the screen and factors in the higher resolution. The Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 scored significantly lower than the top smartphones here, although it still produced playable framerates.

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1
  54.9
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  54.9
• LG G2
  51
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  47.7
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• HTC One
  35.6
• HTC One Max
  34.9
• HTC Butterfly
  29.6
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  24.1

Just as we expected the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 slate posted an impressive score in the JavaScropt SunSpider benchmark. It even managed to top the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 despite the two sharing their JavaScript enging.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  569
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• Apple iPhone 5
  694
• Apple iPhone 5c
  704
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• LG G2
  908
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• HTC One
  1174
• HTC One Max
  1295
• LG Optimus G
  1293
• HTC One mini
  1375
• LG Nexus 4
  1379
• HTC Butterfly
  1397
• Oppo R819
  1423
• Huawei Ascend P6
  3858

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition beat every device we've put through the BrowserMark 2 test bar the iPhone 5s.

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  3549
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  3138
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041
• Apple iPhone 5
  2825
• Apple iPhone 5c
  2799
• LG G2
  2718
• LG Optimus G
  2555
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2438
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2419
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2398
• HTC Butterfly S
  2378
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  2338
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262
• HTC One Max
  2243
• Sony Xperia Tablet Z
  2170
• HTC One mini
  2164
• Sony Xperia ZL
  2107
• Sony Xperia Z
  2093
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1801
• Oppo Find 5
  1797
• Nexus 4
  1794
• Nokia Lumia 920
  1774
• Google Nexus 10
  1773
• HTC Butterfly
  1475
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1247

Finally comes Vellamo and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition rounded up an overall impressive performance, even if it again come a bit short of the top Snapdragon 800 devices.

Vellamo

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2944
• LG G2
  2908
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2904
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2853
• Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition
  2743
• HTC Butterfly S
  2592
• HTC One Max
  2523
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  2418
• HTC One
  2382
• HTC One mini
  2252
• Sony Xperia Z
  2189
• HTC One X (Tegra 3)
  2078
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2060
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  2056
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2019
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  1936
• HTC Butterfly
  1866
• Oppo Find 5
  1658
• Samsung Galaxy S III
  1641
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1568
• LG Optimus G
  1522
• Nexus 4
  1310

So, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is certainly a powerhouse, posting solid scores all over the field. The good news is that more often than not this translates to flawless real-life performance and instant app loading.

However, on a few occasions we did notice some lag, which suggests that the firmware still has a few bugs that need to be addressed. There were no traces of it on the Galaxy Note 3, so we assume it has something to do with the tablet optimization of the TouchWiz UI.