iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014. Which 10inch tablet is the winner of this Android OS vs iOS battle? In this AW Center article we compare both tablets considering different criteria and like always, you are the one to make the final decision. 

First let's take a look at the specifications of iPad Air and 2014 edition of Galaxy Note 10.1:

Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 iPad Air
Dimension 243.1 x 171.4 x 7.9 mm
547 Grams (LTE)		 240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm
478 Grams (LTE)
Display 10.1", 2560x1600, 299ppi 9.7", 1536x2048, 264ppi
Memory 16/32/64, 3GB RAM, SD Card 16/32/64/128, 1GB RAM, No SD Card
Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth V4.0,
Infrared		 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V4.0

CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400		 Apple A7
Dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone
GPU Adreno 330 PowerVR G6430
OS Android Jelly Bean 4.3 iOS 7.0.3
Camera 8MP / 2MP
1080p@60fps
LED flash		 5MP / 1.2MP
1080p@30fps
Sensors Accelerometer, proximity, Compass Accelerometer, gyro, compass
Battery Li-Po 8220 mAh Li-Po 8,820 battery


1. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Design
You will love the design of iPad Air as soon as you hold it for the first time, and it is really hard to love another tablet! Although Samsung tried to make Note 10.1 more elegant by using the leather finish in the back, but the winner is iPad Air undoubtedly.
iPad Air is also thinner and lighter than Note 10.1 and believe us 70grams lighter is a big deal.

2. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Display
Apple is still using the Retina Display for its new devices and the Retina display on iPad Air delivers well-balanced colors with 264 pixels per inch. On the other hand the 2048x1536 pixels resolution for 2014 edition of Galaxy Note 10.1 results in more pixels per inch (299 ppi) than the iPad Air, and you may notice more detailed images on the Galaxy tablet.
While iPad is still having 4:3 aspect ratio which is great for viewing web pages, we found watching movies more pleasant on the Note 10.1, thanks to the 16:9 ratio.

3. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: CPU Performance
Both devices are equipped with the most powerful hardware pieces possible and the benchmarks show the absolute domination of iPad Air over Galaxy Note 10.1. While iPad Air is the fastest tablet available, Note 10.1 will not disappoint you at all and it is fast enough to let you have a smooth interaction with your tablet.
Here are some benchmarks, showing the performance of both devices in different tests (credit: Anandtech)

iPad-air-vs-Note-10.1-Benchmark-01

iPad-air-vs-Note-10.1-Benchmark-02

4. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Camera
First of all, don't expect to take some perfect images with the camera of these 10inch tablets. The main advantages of Galaxy Note 10.1 over iPad Air is for sure the LED flash which is very useful in low-light scenes. Although iPad Air is equipped with a 5MP rear camera lens, but we couldn't find much difference (except capturing some more details) between iPad Air pictures and pictures captured by the 8MP Galaxy camera.
Speaking of the quality of pictures taken by the front camera, we were kind of surprise with the poor quality of Galaxy Note 10.1 comparing to the 1.3MP iPad Air front camera, and speaking of the video quality we didn't find much difference.

5. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Memory
Since iPad Air is faster than Galaxy Note 10 in every tests, we can not say 3GB of RAM is an advantage for the Samsung tablet over iPad Air with 1GB of RAM, but this amount of RAM on the Galaxy Note 10.1 has made the device super fast comparing to other Android tablets and you will find no lags or delays when working with the device.
Both devices offer 16/32/64 as the internal storages, and iPad Air is also available with 128GB of internal memory. But the main point is that Samsung tablet supports microSD card (up to 64GB) and you can easily add more space on your tablet, while you don't have such option on your iPad Air.

6. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Software
iOS vs Android? Which one is better? The answer to this question is really up to you and your expectations. As far as we can say, Apple Store offers far more iPad designed applications with better quality than available tablet apps on the Google Play, but Galaxy Note 10 is equipped with the S Pen and its unique features which is kind of a great deal for many users.

7. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Battery
The battery life is almost the same for the both devices and you can manage to get your device to work for about 10hours with a mixed usage (and not running HD games or intense activities)

8. iPad Air vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014: Price
The Wi-FI iPad Air with 32GB of storage will cost you $599 which is the exact price you need to pay for the Galaxy Note 10.1 Wi-Fi 16GB Memory, and while you need to pay $100 more for more storage on iPad Air, you can easily use a microSD card on your Note 10.1.

So, Which 10inch tablet is best to buy? iPad Air OR Galaxy Note 10.1 2014?