Toshiba Excite Write Specs

Hi guys, welcome back!

Samsung has been really successful over the past couple of years in selling one of its flagship devices – Samsung GALAXY Note series.

(Toshiba Excite Write Specs)

Not only has this phablet become the real flagship from this company every year, but Note series usually becomes the highest-grade model that influences the future portfolio of all Samsung devices each year.

So everytime Samsung releases the new generation of this Note series, that device has got to have the best hardware specs on the market or at least, the highest class of specs just like its flagship rivals.

As we all know already, Samsung GALAXY Note series is always released in various different models, ranging from the original phablet size, the 8-inch model and finally the largest 10-inch variant.

Not to mention, this year, Samsung has also announced the even bigger 12.2-inch model, dubbed as the Pro version in a new Samsung GALAXY Note Pro series – which actually packs some similar class of specs just like the 10.1-inch variant.

So there are 4 different models that Samsung has released under the current Note series, although the 8-inch model actually is the last year's generation model, alongside Samsung GALAXY Note 3 and 2013 edition of Note 10.1 tablet.


Anyway, in this note-taking tablet category, Samsung GALAXY Note actually has some contenders from other tablet manufacturers.

HP has the HP Slate 7 Extreme, Asus has the Asus Fonepad Note 6, NVIDIA has the current-gen Shield tablet (with Tegra K1), not to mention, Tegra Note and some other tablet brands.

Microsoft actually also has a note-taking tablet and it is the Surface Pro tablet, but i don’t think it’s relevant to compare this tablet to other Android note-taking devices, especially given its full-fledged Windows 8 OS and laptop-class of specs that are not on the same page with other note-taking Android devices.

Interestingly, besides HP, Asus, NVIDIA and Microsoft, there is one other company that wants to take over Samsung's superiority in note tablet category.

And that is Toshiba with its own homemade tablet which i’m about to show you right now.

This Toshiba note-taking tablet actually kind of reminds me with NVIDIA or HP note-taking tablet – NVIDIA Tegra Note or HP Slate7 Extreme, which both are powered by Tegra 4 quad-core processor.

The great thing about these Tegra Note and HP Slate 7 Extreme is, not only does this tablet have great note-taking experience just like Samsung’s note tablet, but it amazingly has much better and more powerful gaming performance than Samsung’s device - thanks to its Tegra 4 processor, along with the staggering 72-core GPU.

So that’s definitely the same thing that you can totally expect on Toshiba Excite Write, given its same exact Tegra 4 processor.

Well, what do think?

If you are interested to get to know more about this Toshiba’s note-taking tablet, as well as its gaming performance and what games that would work great on this device in full graphics, then here you go, my personal review of Toshiba Excite Write.


From the hardware standpoint, this Toshiba tablet is actually “on the same page” with one other Tegra 4 tablet i’ve already showed you a couple of months ago – Asus Transformer Pad TF701T.

And when i say “on the same page”, then it means this Toshiba tablet has the same class of specs just like Asus’ Tegra 4 device – from the same super high-resolution 2560x1600 pixel screen, 10.1-inch screen size, 2GB of RAM, etc.

Actually, it’s not only Asus that has the “same looking” specs just like Toshiba Excite Write.

There are also Kobo with its Kobo Arc 10HD and not to mention, Toshiba Excite Pro (which both come with the same Tegra 4 and 2.5k display).

So when it comes to performance and especially gaming capability, these Tegra 4 tablets obviously are in the same class.


However, despite using a really powerful Tegra 4 chipset and super high-resolution screen - Toshiba Excite Write sadly doesn’t have the same great stylus experience just like other popular note-taking devices – such as Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 or even the 7-inch HP Slate7 Extreme (which also is powered by Tegra 4 processor).

And it’s shown clearly by the touch response of the stylus on the screen of Toshiba Excite Write, which is not as fast and responsive as the touch experience of stylus on Samsung or HP’s tablets – which both are amazing even for drawing professional paintings.

But even so, for a note-taking tablet, Toshiba Excite Write can still be worth considering especially given its high-class of specs that it comes with.

Besides really superior in terms of performance, Toshiba Excite Write also excels on other departments. Toshiba Excite Write features an 8MP and 1.2MP cameras back and front, 33Wh battery and many other high-grade goodies.

But the questions are, with all of these amazing high specs, as well as its stylus, does Toshiba Excite Write have what it takes to be a great gaming tablet?

Is this tablet still relevant to be positioned alongside other 10-inch rivals on today’s tablet market?

Is it worth it to purchase this tablet, especially compared to other similar rivals like Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1?

Well hopefully, we’re about to find out more about the answers of these questions at the end of this review. So be sure to stick around guys!

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• No SIM
• Released 2013, July
• 671.3 g (Weight)
• Stylus
• 10.1 inch LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
• 2560 x 1600 pixels,(~299 ppi pixel density)
• Quad-core Cortex-A15 Nvidia Tegra 4 Chipset
• ULP GeForce GPU
• 2 GB RAM
• Android OS 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
• 8 MP rear-facing camera (autofocus and LED flash) 3264 x 2448 pixels
• 1.2 MP front-facing camera
• microSD memory Card slot for up to 32 GB
• 32 GB Internal storage
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
• Bluetooth
• microUSB v2.0
• Accelerometer, gyro, compass Sensors
• HTML5 Browser
• GPS
• No Radio
• HDMI port
• Java MIDP emulator
• Silver Colors
• Non-removable 33 Wh Li-Po battery
• Up to 11 hours for Talk time (multimedia)

As a flagship tablet from Toshiba, Toshiba Excite Write is obviously equipped with the best possible hardware on the market today.

And that’s true because Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2560x1600 pixel resolution on 10.1-inch display, 2GB of RAM, 72-core GeForce ULP GPU, 8MP rear-facing camera with LED flash and a huge 33Wh battery on Toshiba Excite Write are now considered as the best on today’s standards, alongside Samsung GALAXY Tab Pro/Tab S, Asus Transformer Pad TF701T, Kobo Arc 10HD, Google Nexus 10 or iPad Air (even though iPad Air has slightly lower resolution screen than Toshiba Excite Write).



Toshiba Excite Write features a 10.1-inch display sporting the 2.5K resolution (2560x1600 pixels), which is the best on the market today.

The good thing is, this tablet is already equipped also with the best processor on the market right now – Tegra 4 quad-core processor -, which is more than adequate to handle this super high-resolution display even in buttery smooth performance.

So basically, with this type of display, every thing that you throw on the screen will look insanely sharp on this tablet – HD movies will look great; contents like books, magazines or web pages are readable even in overview; and even HD games will look amazing on this tablet.

However, there is still something that could plague this device in the long run.

And that is the overheating issue. As you might have known, most of Tegra 4 devices have overheating issue, especially on their rear cover.

So this probably could happen on this Toshiba tablet, especially given its super high-resolution screen and of course its Tegra 4 processor.

And this could be quite annoying, especially if you are a tablet gamer.


Similar just like any other Toshiba tablets under the flag Toshiba Excite series, the UI of Toshiba Excite Write also looks pretty similar with its siblings, especially the ones with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box.

So if you’re already familiar using Android devices in the past, you will feel at home when using this tablet.

Most of the features of stock Android OS can be found easily here, like of course the standard homescreen with widgets, the standard app drawer, the standard notification and setting windows and pretty much everything.

But of course, given that this tablet is made by Toshiba, then there will still be many things that differentiate this device from other Android counterparts, mostly on the icons, skins, widgets or wallpapers that come pre-installed on this device.

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As far as the performance goes, Toshiba Excite Write is gonna be blazing fast, thanks to the quad-core Tegra 4 processor clocked at 2.2GHz per core, accompanied with 2GB of RAM and of course the staggering 72-core of GeForce ULP GPU – which already becomes the package of Tegra 4 SoC.

So when it comes to the performance, this tablet excels on this sector really well.

It handles all the basic tasks in buttery smooth performance, it has no lag whatsoever even when running graphics-related tasks, and pretty much everything about its performance is just perfect.

And that’s not shocking given that Tegra 4 quad-core processor is already known as a beast processor and in fact, it’s on same level with other today’s flagship mobile chipsets – like Snapdragon 800/801 or Apple A7 processor.

And it goes the same as a note-taking tablet. Toshiba Excite Write is still a decent 10-inch note tablet.

It handles the touch of stylus perfectly and smoothly and it performs great for taking notes or even drawing some paintings.

However, compared to other note-taking devices – like Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 or even the 7-inch HP Slate7 Extreme -, this Toshiba’s tablet sadly doesn’t have such a fast and smooth response of its stylus on the touch screen.

So everytime the stylus touches the screen, the result will be delayed for probably some milliseconds.

Not only that, the thickness of the stylus also cannot be controlled with our pressure to the stylus on the screen.

So you’ll always need to go to the setting if you want to change the thickness of the stylus, which is kind of annoying especially if you want to draw pictures.

And this is not the same thing you’ll find on other note-taking devices – like Samsung GALAXY Note or HP Slate7 Extreme, which both have amazing and responsive stylus that its thickness can be controlled easily according to our pressure to the stylus on the screen.

So it makes the drawing experience so much better and comfortable than on Toshiba Excite Write.

Besides as a note-taking tablet, Toshiba Excite Write is also great as a media-consumption or even gaming tablet.

And that’s thanks to its Tegra 4 quad-core processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM and 72-core GPU – which handle any basic task in buttery smooth performance.

So if you love watching HD or even full HD movies, browsing the web, reading contents like books or magazines or even playing games, Toshiba Excite Write can certainly accommodate all of your hobbies perfectly.

As for gaming, Toshiba Excite Write will also be great for that matter.

In fact, this tablet is just more than great as a gaming tablet. Any games that you throw on this tablet – even the most graphically demanding ones like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Modern Combat 4 and 5, Dead Trigger 2, GTA San Andreas or NOVA 3 -, can all be played perfectly and smoothly on this 10-inch device, even in full highest graphics setting.

However, there’s still one issue that could plague this tablet.

And that is the overheating issue.

As i’ve already heard several times, most of the Tegra 4 tablets heat up easily on the rear cover, especially when doing heavy intense tasks like gaming or watching HD movies.

I actually also heard that other Toshiba tablet with Tegra 4 – Toshiba Excite Pro – has this same issue.

And this can be quite annoying because everytime you do some heavy stuff in several hours and the device gets hot, it becomes uncomfortable to hold the tablet, thus ruining the experience of using this tablet.

Therefore, if you’re planning to buy Toshiba Excite Write in the near future, you must be willing to accept that this tablet will have the same issue as other Tegra 4 devices out there - the overheating issue.

My suggestion is, get a great and comfortable case for this tablet if you want to tackle this issue.


Toshiba Excite Write is powered by 33Wh battery capacity, which is also the same one found inside its sibling - Toshiba Excite Pro (Tegra 4). According to GSMarena, this tablet is able to last around 11 hours in talk time (multimedia).

So that’s probably an all-day-long of battery life. But this will come down to which type of user are you.

If you are a moderate user and will mostly use this device only in your spare time, then you can expect to see this tablet last in one solid day – of course on a full charge of 100%.

However, if you are a power user and intends to use this tablet for doing some heavy intense tasks – like watching HD or full HD movies in marathon or playing games in the row – then its battery life will drop drastically to just around 4 to 6 hours – probably less than that.

Its super high-resolution screen and power-hungry Tegra 4 processor should be the ones to blame if this tablet could only survive in less than 5 hours in heavy use.


So in conclusion, just like my impression of other Tegra 4 tablets (like HP Slate 7 Extreme, Asus Transformer Pad TF701 or Toshiba Excite Pro), i personally think that Toshiba Excite Write is still a decent quality tablet, especially for those of you who are looking for a productivity note-taking tablet.

Not to mention, this tablet is also great as a media-consumption and even gaming device.

And that’s thanks to its really powerful processor, super high-resolution screen, complete set of cameras (8MP with LED flash and autofocus, which by the way, is able to take some decent shots according to CNET), huge battery, big RAM and the most importantly, great gaming performance.

Toshiba Excite Write is originally intended by Toshiba as a note-taking tablet. So this tablet is more suitable for you if you’re looking for an alternative of Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1.

However, based on video reviews i’ve seen on YouTube, sadly the stylus experience on Toshiba Excite Write is not as fast and responsive as on the Samsung’s note tablet or even a budget $199 HP Slate7 Extreme.

And that’s mainly because, the thickness of the stylus cannot be controlled in real-time by our pressure to the stylus.

So you’ll always need to go manually to the setting everytime you want to change the thickness of its stylus.

And this is not the same thing on Samsung’s note tablet or HP Slate7 Extreme – which both have amazing touch response and stylus experience.

Besides not really superior in the stylus’ touch response, the other thing that makes Toshiba Excite Write a not so worth it if compared to Samsung’s note tablet or HP Slate7 Extreme is its price. Toshiba sells this device at $600.

And this is insane because Samsung’s slate is way more superior than Toshiba Excite Write, in terms of features, stylus’ touch response, experience and many other things – even though the specs of Toshiba Excite Write are on par with Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1.

So if you’re planning to buy this Toshiba’s note tablet, i strongly suggest to switch to Samsung’s note tablet given its more superior overall quality.

So to end this review, i’ll try to answer some of the questions i’ve asked previously above:

Does Toshiba Excite Write have what it takes to be a good gaming tablet?

Yes, definitely – thanks to Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 72-core of GeForce ULP GPU, Toshiba Excite Write is no doubt a great gaming tablet.

It’s more than capable to handle all the games perfectly and smoothly even in full highest graphics.

Games like Modern Combat 4 and 5, NOVA 3, Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas, Horn or Dead Trigger – all will run smoothly with no lag whatsoever even in full graphics.

But i must remind you that, Tegra 4 tablets like Toshiba Excite Write is usually plagued with overheating issue, especially when doing heavy tasks intensively.

So if you’re OK with this problem, then you have nothing to worry about because it’s still a great tablet.

Is this tablet still relevant to be positioned alongside other devices on today’s tablet market?

Yes – given its high-grade specs (like 2560x1600 pixel screen, Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 72-core GPU, 8MP ‘sharp’ camera), Toshiba Excite Write definitely deserves to be positioned alongside other 10-inch flagship rivals on today’s tablet market.

Is it worth it to buy this tablet?

Yes – it is worth it to purchase this device because it’s great for many things – for watching HD movies, reading HD contents, browsing the web, playing games, listening to music, editing documents, writing notes or even drawing paintings.

Have any question? Leave your comment here!