Which 10 inch Android tablet to buy? Samsung Galaxy Note 10 VS Google Nexus 10

A 10 inch tablet is what you need for browsing, playing games, work and have fun at home.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 was released on August and Nexus 10 on November 2012.

Most tablets don’t leave the couch or your bedroom so the 10 inch screen is what you need as there is no question of portability to make you choose a 7 inch tablet.

We compare the two tablets below on 6 fields. If we missed something, just add a comment.

[bq_right]Winners:
Shape: Samsung Galaxy Note 10
Design: Samsung Galaxy Note 10[/bq_right]

Body

The body of the two tablets is almost the same. Both have the same screen so they have the same dimensions.

Both are thin enough, 8.9mm and weight almost the same with Samsung Galaxy Note 10 being 9g lighter.

As they have the same body and the difference of 9g is not something you can understand, we think both devices are equal.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has also two color options, white and black.

[bq_right]Winners:
Better screen: Google Nexus 10[/bq_right]

Screen

The screen is something really important on a tablet and here Nexus 10 has a plus point.

Both tablets have a 10.1 inch screen but the screen on Nexus 10 has bigger resolution with more pixels per inch.

So on Nexus you have 2560×1600 pixels with 299PPI versus 800X1280 with 149PPI. That’s a big difference.

[bq_right]Winners:
Primary camera: Google Nexus 10
Second camera: no winner[/bq_right]

Cameras

Even though the camera on a tablet is not a selling point as the device is too big to use it as a camera, we need the camera to have good quality so as to make video chat.

Both devices have the same camera 5MP with autofocus and LED flash.

The difference is on the video, Nexus 10 can take 1080p videos @ 30fps and Samsung Galaxy Nexus 10 can take video at 720p @ 30fps. So the video quality gives Nexus an extra point.

The second front camera is the same in both devices, we talk about a 1.9MP camera.

[bq_right]Winner: Google Nexus 10[/bq_right]

Speed

The speed is also something we take into account as you want to do a lot of stuff with your tablet.

You start by just browsing or playing a game and then you do more and more stuff using this device. So you would better have a strong processor.

Nexus 10 has a dual core 1.7GHz Cortex A15 but is this enough to beat the Quad Core 1.4GHz Cortex A9 of Samsung Galaxy Note? Yes it is.

Nexus 10 is speedy and can beat even iPad 4 with a great difference (benchmark score 2505 for Nexus 10 and 1329 for Samsung Galaxy Note 10). So don’t look at the cores, this is not a performance certificate.

The devices have the same RAM memory (2GB).

[bq_right]Winner: Google Nexus 10[/bq_right]

Battery

The battery is really important for our tablet. Even a tablet is rarely moved from the house, it is better to have more battery than being plugged in all the time.

Google Nexus 10 has a 9.000mAh battery compared to 7.000mAh battery of Samsung Galaxy Note 10. This is a big difference so the winner is one.

Other specs and details

Memory: Google makes a big mistake with the devices it creates, there is no SD memory slot. Why? When a 100$ phones has support for microSD, there is no explanation why an expensive tablet would not. Nexus 10 is available in two versions 16/32GB and Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has 3 versions 16/32/64 plus a microSD slot for every version. Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Android version: All Android devices have access to the latest Android version so Google Nexus 10 has Android 4.2 compared to Android 4.0 for Samsung Galaxy Note 10. Samsung upgraded the tablet to 4.1 and Google to 4.2.2 so Google Nexus is the winner as it has the latest Android version and will be updated to the next versions as long as they are available. Winner: Google Nexus 10

Options: Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has a pen. And this is an option we like very much. We used a lot the pen on this device and on Samsung Galaxy Note 2. With the pen you can draw, hand write and do a lot of stuff. Of course you can buy a pen for your Nexus but it’s not the same. Samsung has done a good work with the pen and we like it much. Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Apps: Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has a lot of apps pre installed. Along with the pen you can find some useful apps to make your life easier. Moreover there is TV-Out that is useful for a tablet, Photoshop touch and some other small apps. Of course both devices have Google apps. Winner: Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Final verdict

Both tablets have the same size with Note 10 being a bit lighter. But it’s not the weight that makes the difference but the quality of the screen, the processor and the pen. You have to answer a simple question to decide which one to buy. Do you need a pen on your tablet? Don’t be quick to respond, especially if you have never used a pen on Samsung devices. If you are sure about the answer, then you need to buy the Google’s beast which is faster, with better screen and a bigger battery.

Total Wins

[two]Google Nexus 10
Better screen
Better video quality
Faster processor
Bigger battery
Latest Android version[/two]

[two_last]Samsung Galaxy Note 10
Lighter
Two color options
More memory options (+microSD)
Pen
More preinstalled apps[/two_last]

SpecSamsung Galaxy Note 10Buy now:Google Nexus 10Buy now:
Width8.9

8.9

Weight594603
Screen PPI149299
Camera MP55
2nd Camera1.91.9
Processor4 * 1.42 * 1.7
RAM MB20002000
Battery mAh70009000
Android4.04.2
Release Date2012-082012-11
Our view75%80%
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