

As we listened to Beyonce's "Love On Top," the chanteuse's vocal was nice and clear, but the rest of the track sounded distant. The speakers were passably loud, barely filling our small test space. Similar to its predecessor, the Note 10.1 has a pair of side-mounted speakers. It's also brighter than the Xperia Tablet Z (354 lux), iPad (346) and Excite Write (344). That rating is well above the 363 lux average. The Note 10.1 delivered an average brightness of 427 lux using our light meter. The Note continued its winning ways when we queued up an HD trailer of "Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Katniss and Peeda's flaming garments were a tantalizing mixture of red, black and orange, with the resulting embers flashing a deep gold. Samsung also won on sharpness, enabling us to better discern the individual fish scales. When we pitted the Note against the iPad and its 9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 display using a picture of clownfish swimming in a coral reef, staffers unanimously preferred the Note 10.1, pointing to the richer color, including deep blacks, oranges and phosphorescent greens. We were blown away by the Note's 10.1-inch 2560 x 1600 screen, which provided wide viewing angles and vibrant color. Click to EnlargeAnything Apple can do, Samsung can do better.at least when it comes to Retina displays.
