One of the biggest launches of MWC was the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 – and we mean that literally, at least if you’re counting Sammy’s latest Android device as a smartphone. And why wouldn’t you? After all, it does pack in telephone call features. However, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is an 8-inch tablet at heart, and one that impressed us during our hands-on testing over in Barcelona. Click through to find out why…
The first thing that you’ll notice about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is that it stays faithful to the current Galaxy crop in terms of aesthetics. The curved silver edges are nice, and the white shiny finish is strikingly familiar to anyone who has picked up Samsung’s flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S3. But it’s a gorgeous design, so why bother messing with a winning formula?
The dimensions of the Note 8.0 are 211 x 136 x 8mm and it weighs in at just under 340g. It’s actually a very comfortable tablet to use, whether that be with the stylus (S Pen) or good old fashioned finger-based fun.
Apple (well Steve Jobs, who was essentially Apple) openly mocked Samsung in the past for producing 7-inch tablets, long before the boom in their popularity thanks to the likes of the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, and made a big deal of stating that its smaller tab, the iPad mini, wasn’t a 7-inch tablet at all – thanks to its 7.9-inch display. So, with an 8-inch display, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons between the iPad mini and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.
The display is an 8-inch, 1280 x 800, one with a pixel per inch count of 189. And while this isn’t a ppi count to get too excited about, it trumps the iPad mini’s 163ppi. It’s a shame that Samsung has, for a change, decided not to use an AMOLED display in one of its devices – the Note 8.0’s screen is a TFT one – but it still shines pretty brightly and the viewing angles and reflections were positive, even under the strain of the neon trade show lights.
The hardware setup is impressive – a 1.6GHz quad-core A9 CPU runs the show, backed up by 2GB of RAM. Storage is 16 or 32GB and you can expand this up to 64GB further using microSD. Both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi and 3G versions will be available come launch day, which we’re told will be in Q2 2013.
The software on board is Android Jelly Bean, with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI thrown over the top. We found app loading to be incredibly nippy (not surprisingly given the engine room) and multi-tasking and even dual-screen app running didn’t cause the Note 8.0 any bother. HD video playback was also stutter-free.
As part of the ever-expanding Note family, the 8.0 has plenty of Stylus-based features too – including S Pen previews when you hover over a media icon, detailed drawing functions and, of course, hand-writing applications. For the first time on a Note device the S Pen is also able to control the physical menu and back buttons thanks to the built in Wacom technology.
New and updated apps from previous Note devices include an upgraded ChatOn (Samsung’s answer to WhatsApp), Smart Remote (a visual TV programme guide) and a new reading mode for when you want to settle down with an ebook.
There’s a 5-megapixel camera at the back for your snaps and videos on the go and there’s a 1.3-megapixel sensor facing frontwards for video calling. You’re hardly likely to use the Note 8.0 as a camera – but you can play around with any pictures you do take (or indeed load onto the device) – using Samsung’s S Pen and the variety of art-based apps on offer.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is a great little tablet (rather than a great massive smartphone) that goes head-to-head with the iPad mini in a new tablet arena of ‘slightly bigger than a 7-inch tablet but not quite a 10-inch tablet’.Its design is tried and trusted and works well at this size, and the impressive hardware packed in means that Samsung’s tweaked-Android interface is slick and without issue.
The inclusion of a stylus is hit or miss depending on your own personal preference (you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to) but the enormous success of previous Galaxy Note devices suggests it’s a hit more often than not.
Overall, we’d have to say that Samsung has unearthed another gem in the Note 8.0 – although you’ll have to check back for our full review once we’ve spent a lot more time with it to see what we really think.
Out in Q2 this year, the price is still to be confirmed. Click through the gallery for more DOTCRUSH Tech hands-on pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.
- Introducing the Apple AirTag - July 20, 2023
- Slavish Thinking: غلامانہ سوچ - April 27, 2017
- Android is expected to welcome BBM before October - July 21, 2013
About The Author
No Comments Yet