Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

Available now
24th February 2013

Forming part of Samsung's two distinct ranges of Android tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is a mid-sized tablet that comes with a stylus called the "S Pen".

The stylus is the key thing that differentiates the Galaxy Note range from other tablets, because Galaxy Notes are designed for content creation rather than just browsing. The Galaxy Note comes with a number of software add-ons to enable annotations, accurate drawing, handwriting-to-text conversion and you can select items by simply floating over them with the stylus. The stylus can also control the physical buttons on the front of the tablet, so you don't have to put the stylus away to use them.

When it comes to hardware, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 sits partway between the 5.5" Galaxy Note II and the 10.1" Galaxy Note 10.1. Inside is a quad-core 1.6GHz processor with 2GB of RAM and 16 or 32GB of flash storage. On the front is a 8.0" 800 x 1280 pixel display and a 1.3 megapixel video calling camera. On the back is a 5 megapixel camera capable of 1080p video capture.

The operating system is Android 4.1.2, plus Samsung enhancements for social networking, media sharing and of course to support the S Pen. One useful feature is the ability to run two apps, side-by-side. All the usual Android features are here, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has broad WiFi support, GLONASS plus GPS positioning, Bluetooth 4.0, a microSD slot and can support 3.5G data as an option. If you have a Samsung TV then you can use AllShare to mirror content to it, although the Galaxy Note 8.0 doesn't appear to have an HDMI output.

The Note 8.0 really is just a larger version of the Note II with the same resolution display as the Note 10.1. The advantage is that it is more pocket-friendly than the 10.1, and hopefully it will be cheaper. When it comes to cost.. well, it's a bit confusing because the Note II and Note 10.1 retail for roughly the same price of €520 depending where you get it from. The iPad Mini comes in it a similar €500 mark, and we would expect the Galaxy Note 8.0 to be broadly the same.

Samsung say that the Galaxy Note 8.0 should be available in most markets worldwide from Q2 2013. We suspect that this will be a very strong seller, especially if backed by one of Samsung's massive advertising campaigns.