- Jul 14, 2011
- 19,799
- 1,219
- 113
Hello guys,
Well, I've been using the tablet with the new KitKat update for a couple of weeks now and here are my impressions:
PROS
Improved Battery Life Before the update, my tablet would have abysmal battery life on Standby (around 10% loss per 12 hours). Now, I get around 2 or 3 percent if the tablet is just lying there doing nothing. And if I turn WiFi off, the loss is nearly negligible. Still not perfect, but better. And during regular use, I'm getting better screen-on time now.
Snappier It definitely feels like a speedier tablet. Gone is the tortuous delay when trying to wake the screen up from standby and even TouchWiz feels faster (but I'm still sticking to Nova, though). Opening apps and doing stuff just feels like a snap. Probably an improvement on how the multilayered processor now works using all cores, don't really know.
Faster reboot Probably not something that will make you drool, but the tablet restarts in less time now. Also, you can start using it in less time than before when powering it up. And, of course, I've mentioned the faster response to waking up.
Icons and Look I know, it feels like it's iOSed now, but I just like the new icons hehe.
UPDATE: Multitouch bugs fixed I can't believe I overlooked this one when writing this! The KitKat update fixed the multitouch bug that was ailing most of our units (sure, some weren't affected, but most were). If you don't know what it is and you don't have the KitKat update yet, try this: Open a long webpage you can scroll up and down from, zoom in as far as you can so that the text is very large (it's where it's most noticeable), now press-and-hold your finger to scroll the page, now stop scrolling but don't lift your finger... See? It should have stopped scrolling but now the screen is 'flickering' with the text jumping up and down incessantly. The bug was also apparent when trying to move icons around the homescreen; they would just bounce up and down your finger while holding them
CONS
Notification Panel While I've said I liked the new look, I don't like the smaller notification panel. It just feels incomplete, and one of the things I complained about when I had an iPad. And now it's in my Android tablet. Sad, sad, sad.
SD Card Management It's a KitKat thing, but it's still bugging me. Gone is full write access to non-system apps. Read all about it on AC's article, it really does clear things up.
BT Keyboard support Remember how annoying it was that you had to switch to Samsung Keyboard to use an external one? Well, it's not fixed. Some tablets (mine affected) also have disconnecting issues with BT Keybaords. The bug is NOT fixed. Still getting disconnections if BT and WiFi are active at the same time. Probably a hardware issue, but it's still there.
New Location Settings That 'GPS' toggle in the notification bar? Well, it doesn't work the same way now. Now, instead of turning GPS on and off, it turns ALL location settings on and off. You have to go into said settings to select no location services, only wifi, only gps, or both. For some it provides more control, but for me, it's annoying having to go through extra steps to turn GPS on and off.
Slight Overheating Especially when using the S-Pen, the right-hand side of the tablet gets warm. And I've run into a couple of hiccups when using the S-Pen, too, mostly when using SNote.
Missing Album Art on Lockscreen I hadn't noticed this, but the Now Playing music widget in the e lockscreen won't display album art... Aaaarrrggghhh
UPDATE: DayNote Screwed up Date This was already present in the last version (at least for me), and after the update, nothing changed: Daynote screws up the date in the afternoon. I haven't really tested exactly WHEN it goes awry, but in the morning the calendar shows up my day's appointments just fine, but then in the afternoon, it seems to think it's already the next day. My guess is that I'm on CST (-6 hours) and the Daynote app takes it's date as if it were on GMT (0 hours), so would skip the date around 6pm? Maybe, I don't know... the thing is that since I can't rely on it, Daynote is off in my tablet because of this.
Well, there you go. Anything you've seen that I missed? Anything I should try and include?
Well, I've been using the tablet with the new KitKat update for a couple of weeks now and here are my impressions:
PROS
Improved Battery Life Before the update, my tablet would have abysmal battery life on Standby (around 10% loss per 12 hours). Now, I get around 2 or 3 percent if the tablet is just lying there doing nothing. And if I turn WiFi off, the loss is nearly negligible. Still not perfect, but better. And during regular use, I'm getting better screen-on time now.
Snappier It definitely feels like a speedier tablet. Gone is the tortuous delay when trying to wake the screen up from standby and even TouchWiz feels faster (but I'm still sticking to Nova, though). Opening apps and doing stuff just feels like a snap. Probably an improvement on how the multilayered processor now works using all cores, don't really know.
Faster reboot Probably not something that will make you drool, but the tablet restarts in less time now. Also, you can start using it in less time than before when powering it up. And, of course, I've mentioned the faster response to waking up.
Icons and Look I know, it feels like it's iOSed now, but I just like the new icons hehe.
UPDATE: Multitouch bugs fixed I can't believe I overlooked this one when writing this! The KitKat update fixed the multitouch bug that was ailing most of our units (sure, some weren't affected, but most were). If you don't know what it is and you don't have the KitKat update yet, try this: Open a long webpage you can scroll up and down from, zoom in as far as you can so that the text is very large (it's where it's most noticeable), now press-and-hold your finger to scroll the page, now stop scrolling but don't lift your finger... See? It should have stopped scrolling but now the screen is 'flickering' with the text jumping up and down incessantly. The bug was also apparent when trying to move icons around the homescreen; they would just bounce up and down your finger while holding them
CONS
Notification Panel While I've said I liked the new look, I don't like the smaller notification panel. It just feels incomplete, and one of the things I complained about when I had an iPad. And now it's in my Android tablet. Sad, sad, sad.
SD Card Management It's a KitKat thing, but it's still bugging me. Gone is full write access to non-system apps. Read all about it on AC's article, it really does clear things up.
BT Keyboard support Remember how annoying it was that you had to switch to Samsung Keyboard to use an external one? Well, it's not fixed. Some tablets (mine affected) also have disconnecting issues with BT Keybaords. The bug is NOT fixed. Still getting disconnections if BT and WiFi are active at the same time. Probably a hardware issue, but it's still there.
New Location Settings That 'GPS' toggle in the notification bar? Well, it doesn't work the same way now. Now, instead of turning GPS on and off, it turns ALL location settings on and off. You have to go into said settings to select no location services, only wifi, only gps, or both. For some it provides more control, but for me, it's annoying having to go through extra steps to turn GPS on and off.
Slight Overheating Especially when using the S-Pen, the right-hand side of the tablet gets warm. And I've run into a couple of hiccups when using the S-Pen, too, mostly when using SNote.
Missing Album Art on Lockscreen I hadn't noticed this, but the Now Playing music widget in the e lockscreen won't display album art... Aaaarrrggghhh
UPDATE: DayNote Screwed up Date This was already present in the last version (at least for me), and after the update, nothing changed: Daynote screws up the date in the afternoon. I haven't really tested exactly WHEN it goes awry, but in the morning the calendar shows up my day's appointments just fine, but then in the afternoon, it seems to think it's already the next day. My guess is that I'm on CST (-6 hours) and the Daynote app takes it's date as if it were on GMT (0 hours), so would skip the date around 6pm? Maybe, I don't know... the thing is that since I can't rely on it, Daynote is off in my tablet because of this.
Well, there you go. Anything you've seen that I missed? Anything I should try and include?
Last edited:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram