Hardware

The Galaxy Note 8.0 works with an 8-inch display with 1280 x 800 pixels across its face – that’s not exactly the sharpest screen on the market, mind you, but it’s certainly sufficient for the basics. Compared to the biggest competition this device has – the iPad mini – it’ll certainly do enough to fight: the iPad mini rings in at 163 PPI while the Galaxy Note 8.0 brings a cool 189 PPI to the table.

There are going to be at least two versions of this device coming to the market, one of them being the wifi version we’ve got here. This version works with wifi connectivity alone, leaving the 3G/Phone abilities iteration to come internationally. There’s also the possibility of a 4G LTE version coming to the USA later this year. Any version of the tablet appears to be coming in at the same 210.8 x 135.9 x 7.95 mm – thin and light indeed at 340g.

The S-Pen you get here fits snug inside the side of the tablet right under the right-hand side when you hold the tablet in portrait mode. This particular S-Pen and tablet has a newly advanced set of features that work exclusively with one-another. One of the first – and perhaps most important – of these is the pen’s ability to tap the menu and back buttons below the display where past Galaxy Note devices were unable to do so.

You’ll be using the S-Pen to preview objects as well – “Air View” is what this is called, and it works not just with gallery images and videos as it did with the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1, it now has the ability to preview Flipboard stories, open website menues that normally require clicking, and preview an email attachment. Some/all of these features will be available to your finger with the Air View connection on your Samsung GALAXY S 4, too.

This tablet is just a bit too big to hold comfortably in one hand while you’re walking around and penning in notes with the S-Pen with the other. If you want top-notch on-the-go note-taking, you’ll want to check out the original Galaxy Note or the Galaxy Note II – they’ll even fit in your pocket! With the Galaxy Note 8.0 you’ll be popping your hardware out at the desk or on the bus more than likely. This device is just large enough to join the Galaxy Note 10.1 with the lap-balance family of tablets.

Meanwhile this device is, once again, small enough to fit into your purse, your backpack, or whatever kind of travel sack you’ve got on-hand. You’ll find the device to match the aesthetic of the Samsung GALAXY S 4 you’ll be purchasing this spring or summer and – for now – you’ll be getting it in any color you like (just so long as it’s white).

Remember also that this device is made of plastic and glass – the front panel is all reinforced glass while the back is a hard white shiny plastic. This device is not crash-proof in any way save the most basic of falls – you’ll likely want to pick up a case and/or screen protector or two before you head out for a night on the town with the Galaxy Note 8.0.

Software

The S-Pen that comes with this device is at the center of the excellence of the software experience. Though the processor in this device is more powerful than any other Samsung tablet at this size, if you’re not all about the S-Pen, you might want to consider a device like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (see our full review here) for your money – its display is much sharper and the back casing is made of aluminum – hardcore! Of course the Galaxy Note 8.0 also has Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and all the positives that brings on – including Google Now.

With the S-Pen you can circle any piece of your screen and store it as a screenshot. Save it to a note and write about it to read about it later. You can add hand-written notes to your Office documents with Polaris Office, work on both Word and PowerPoint slideshows, and do it all in Multi Window view. With your Muli Window view you’ve now got the ability to watch a YouTube video while you draw a picture in S Note, move files around in My Files while you chat with your buddies in ChatON – whatever you like!

You can access a collection of Samsung Multi Window supported apps by holding down the device’s back button – that little white tab you see can be pulled out and bam! There you’ll see apps like Music Player, My Files, Polaris Office, S Note, and S Planner. Each of these apps can be run at half-screen, quarter-screen, or full-screen. This is separate from your basic Android app switcher (multi-tasking again, that is) which you can access with a long-press of your home button.

You’ll also have access to Group Play, an app that’s been part of the Samsung smartphone and tablet experience for the past couple of generations for smartphones and tablets. With this you’ll be able to join up with other Samsung smartphones and tablets in your local wireless network and share a screen – the screen you have up will be the same screen they see from their device. You can share photos, music, PDF files, and even PowerPoint slideshows!

You’ve now got more than one app right out of the box that’ll make use of your built-in IR-Blaster – that’s the black piece of plastic sitting on the side of your tablet. With that you’ll be able to control your television – and it’s not only smart TVs that work! You’ll simply have to choose your TV brand and go through a short troubleshooting session to get connected. Both Peel and WatchON are available now to bring you into your local television network’s listings day-by-day.

With WatchON you’ll be given not only the day’s television schedule, you’ll be able to get notified of shows several days in advance and will have access to detailed information about the programs you’ve got coming up! Tap in and head directly to the channel you’d like to watch straight from the tablet! Of course if you’ve got a 2013 Samsung Smart TV, you’ll have only to connect your TV and your tablet to the same wifi network – and you’re off and running.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 has a special “Reading Mode” that auto-tunes your settings for optimal reading levels. You’ll find the experience a bit more soothing to your eyes – you’ll certainly not be seeing everything at full-blast brightness. Reading Mode is accessible in your normal Settings – Display section and works with only certain apps until you add your favorites in manually. Thus far the Reading Mode option has not proven itself to be the eyeball-saver a true E-Ink E-Reader would be, but it’s fair enough, and nice to have as an option if you’re in the mood.

Awesome Note is now prepared for Android and will come with your Galaxy Note 8.0 right out of the box. Imagine an app that has every single option you could possibly want out of a digital repository for notes – that’s Awesome Note. Of course if you’re already using Evernote, you might just want to skip the Awesome Note experience. If you want your notes to be extremely well organized and lit up with friendly rainbow colors, go with Awesome Note.

You’ll find that this device busts out with its quad-core 1.6Ghz Exynos processor quite nicely – it’s not going to top the newest smartphones on the market as it does have a bit more screen real-estate to work with, but it’s certainly part of this current generation of multi-core beasts. Let us know in the comments below if there are any other tests you’d like us to run through other than the ones you see in the gallery above – we’d be glad to!

Camera

On the front of this device you’ve got a 1.3 megapixel camera and on the back you’ve got a 5 megapixel camera (with no flash). You’ll be taking some relatively nice photos with the back-facing camera, and the front-facing camera’s photos leave something to be desired. Like past Samsung tablets, this Galaxy Note 8.0 is able to take basic shots for uploading to social networks like Facebook, if that’s your poison of choice, but it’s certainly not something you’ll want to bring to replace your pocketable camera for a long vacation. It’s extremely likely that whatever smartphone you’ve got in your pocket takes better photos than this tablet.

Have a peek at a few example shots above and below and see what you think – also take note that the back-facing camera protrudes somewhat – this isn’t a tablet you’ll be wanting to bang back-down on concrete, that’s for sure.

Battery

If you plan on using this device non-stop from battery topped-off to battery zero, you’ll be working for a good 6 hours. Without mobile data running your battery into the ground, and if you’re not kicking out top-brightness or using your GPS to map the world, you’ll have some rather great battery life with the Galaxy Note 8.0. When the device’s display is off and you’re not downloading files – aka when the device is idle – you’ll find your battery drain flatlining.

That means that if you don’t use your tablet all that often, you’ll find charging to be a rather rare activity. If your display is off and you’ve got no internet activity going on, this device basically uses no power at all. That’s Samsung’s own Exynos processor you’ve got to thank for such a thing. Power Saving mode helps, too.

Wrap-up

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is going to be your perfect Samsung GALAXY S 4 companion – it’s got the same design aesthetic, it has a lot of the same features, and they both come in white! Of course when you find yourself marveling over the fact that the GALAXY S 4 is able to compete with this tablet for processing power, you’ll be a bit baffled about your Note purchase. The S-Pen will save the day, on the other hand, as there’s really nothing on the market that compares with what Samsung has done with this little value-added utensile.

The price on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 may be prohibitive to some at the outset – $399.99 USD (MSRP) in the USA starting in mid-April. If you’re all about travel-worthiness, there’s really nothing more all-inclusive from this manufacturer. Unless you want forward-facing speakers that don’t get covered up by your palm when you’re holding it (the Galaxy Note 10.1 has those) or a pocketable size (the Galaxy Note II has that if you’ve got big pockets). If you’re set on getting one of Samsung’s S-Pen-laden Note devices and you don’t want it to be too big or too small, the Note 8.0 may be just your cup of porridge.

Here with the Galaxy Note 8.0 you’ve got an 8-inch display that’s both bright and relatively sharp, 1280 x 800 pixel resolution working with TFT LCD technology and a connection to the newest in new S-Pen technology. The entire tablet measures in at 210.8 x 135.9 x 7.95 mm regardless of which version you’ve got while the weight will be ringing in at 340g for the wifi version (that being the one we’ve got here) and just 5g more for the 3G or LTE iteration (coming soon!)

This machine continues the tradition begun with the original Samsung Galaxy Note, employing a built-in “S-Pen” device that connects wirelessly to your tablet. You’ll be able to hover over bits and pieces of your everyday Android experience to see previews or zoom-in, you can draw pictures galore in a lovely assortment of ways, and you can write all the notes you like. This device has all the features of the previous Galaxy Note devices and more – the closest you’ll get to this experience outside this experience is in the Samsung Galaxy Note II.

Below you’ll see a set of three basic benchmark tests, each of them run without this device’s “power save” mode activated. You’ll find that with this display size and processor, the Galaxy Note 8.0 should be more than powerful enough to handle your everyday activities, be they gaming, productivity, or simple web browsing.

This device works with a 5 megapixel camera on its back, a 1.3 megapixel camera on its front, and is just large enough to feel a tiny bit awkward using while capturing photographs. We’ll have photo examples for you later this week when we’ve posted the full review – the same goes for more detail on the software included here, and battery tests as well. Here we’ve got an additional gallery of up-close-and-personal photographs of the device for you to enjoy.

Let us know if you’d like any more information than you expect us to provide in the review and we’ll do our best to make a fabulous review appear for you! Meanwhile hang tight and get ready for another look!

This device is the same as the one we saw earlier this year in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2013, this time coming to the USA without its rather strange phonecall feature. Here in the USA you’ll find a smart tablet from start to finish, bringing the power of the Galaxy Note II and the Galaxy Note 10.1 to an 8-inch tablet form factor. Inside you’ve got 2GB of RAM and an Exynos 1.6GHz Quad Core processor so you’ll be rolling right with some of the most powerful apps on the market.

Included in your purchase you’ll be getting 50GB of Dropbox cloud storage for 2 years (if you’re a new member), 1 month of free unlimited streaming music from Samsung’s Music Hub, and a $25 Google Play credit when you register your device. That’s $25 USD worth of whatever you like from Google’s own digital content store – you can buy apps with it, too, mind you!

This device will be available for $399.99 USD (MSRP) starting in mid-April wherever fine Samsung devices are sold. You’ll be able to purchase a host of accessories that include Book Covers in white, pink, grey, or green, travel chargers, USB and HDMI adapters, and more! Have a peek at our timeline of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 features and hands-on posts below and let us know if you plan on picking this device up soon!

As there is indeed a speaker above the logo on the front of this device and yes, there is a microphone down near the bottom, you can use this “Note” device as a phone if you have some web-capable call service in mind. In the future, carrier editions of this device will be revealed on 3G networks internationally – sorry USA, you’re out of luck. This device works with an 8.0-inch WVGA display at 1280 x 800 pixel resolution – that being 189PPI for those of you wondering.

Have a peek at our full Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 hands-on experience now!

You’ve got a 5 megapixel camera on the back, a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, and a brand new S-Pen for artistry galore. This S-Pen device fits in to the smart device itself, allowing you to keep it with you without a second through – much like each of the Galaxy Note devices revealed before today. This device also works with 2GB of RAM backing up a cool 1.6GHz quad-core A9 processor (Exynos) and a selection of custom apps made for Samsung devices exclusively.

One example is Flipboard, this version of the app allowing your Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (and the GALAXY S 4, mind you) to preview stories while you hover above them – here with your S-Pen, there on the GALAXY S 4 with your finger! This device is just as thin as your Samsung Galaxy Note II, comes in every color you can imagine – just so long as it’s white, and will fit in perfectly with your Nature-themed Galaxy devices into the future.

This release of the device comes with the following as a bit of a bonus collection:

• A £20 voucher to spend in the Samsung Learning Hub
• A Two Month Free trial subscription to The Times newspaper worth £32.00
• AVG Anti-Virus Pro
• Access to the Samsung Music Hub for free for 1 month
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2
• 50GB DropBox free for 2 years

This device will be available starting today for a cool £339.99 GBP and will be coming to the USA soonish – no official word has been sent out yet as to when that’ll be. Stay tuned and let us know if you’re up for it!

[via Android Community]

So you’re planning on deciding between the Samsung Galaxy S IV (or S4, whichever you prefer) and the Samsung Galaxy Note III, yes? They’re going to be exceedingly similar when it comes down to it, their display size and abilities with or without the Samsung S-Pen notwithstanding. So here’s what we’ve got – and remember, all of this is based on tips, leaks, and rumors galore. The details for each of the specifications listed are either listed in the timeline at the end of this post or are brought up with educated guesses on the part of your friends at SlashGear.

Display

Galaxy S4
5-inch display (aka 4.99-inch)
AMOLED
1080 x 1920 pixel resolution
440 PPI

Galaxy Note III
6-inch display (aka 5.9-inch)
AMOLED
1080 x 1920 pixel resolution
376 PPI

Processor Manufacturer

Both the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note III will quite likely be using the new Samsung Exynos 5 Octa quad-core processor. Note that there will actually be 8 CPU cores here, but that each of the four main cores will be “backed up”, so to speak, by another core for low power tasks. So just as the NVIDIA Tegra 3 and Tegra 4 have five CPU cores, one of them being a sort of “ninja” core for low power tasks, so too is this new Exynos beast for both the Galaxy S4 and Note III.

It’s also important to note that with the Galaxy Note II the same processor was used for all models while the Galaxy S III had Exynos internationally and Qualcomm Snapdragon inside the USA. Because Samsung has come a bit of a way since all the way back when the Galaxy S III was revealed, there’s a chance they’ll be releasing the Galaxy S4 with the same processor worldwide – we shall see!

Camera Power

A back-facing 13 megapixel camera with advanced photography software can be expected on both the Galaxy S IV and the Galaxy Note III. At the moment there’s no reason to believe that the Galaxy Note III will have anything less than the Galaxy S4, and as in the past, we’re not expecting the Note to out-do the S hero in this respect. The front-facing camera will also likely be the same on both devices at 2 megapixels – with 1080p video capabilities on both sides.

S-Pen Functionality

One of the two big differentiators between the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note III will be the built-in S-Pen that the Note is known for. We’re expecting abilities advanced beyond what we’ve seen on the Note II, but won’t expect the actual hardware to be much different from what we’ve seen on the Galaxy Note 8.0 just this past month at MWC 2013. Have a peek at our hands-on with the Note 8.0 to grab a bit more insight – one of the biggest changes will be the ability to tap the back and menu buttons off-display with the pen – neat!

Conclusion: we’re all winners!

The big decision you’re going to be making – when it comes down to it again – is how long you’re willing to wait for Samsung’s 2013 vision for the perfect smartphone. You’ve got the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II out on the market already – both of them perfectly capable machines in their own right, but you want to go forth and grab the next big thing. Based on what you see above, expect similar (or identical) features on these devices in the near future when they’re shown off for real – check back a week from now and see how we did!

We can be confident in expecting that this version of the Galaxy Note will be rolling out with many of the features revealed on the Galaxy Note 8.0 just this pas week at Mobile World Congress 2013 as well. With this release we saw the ability to tap the back and menu keys with the pen – an ability never before seen on a Note device. We also saw out-of-the-box integration of features like multiscreen and transparent box multi-tasking, too.

This next-generation Samsung Galaxy Note III was spoken about by The Korea Times courtesy of “an official” that spoke on condition of anonymity. While it’s not the first time this publication has published anonymous tips, it would be the first time we trusted their word without a grain of salt. That said, a Galaxy Note III with a 5.9-inch display would not be out of the question given the size increase between the first and second iteration of the device.

Have a peek at our review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II as well as our hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 to gain a better understanding of what we’ll be seeing in a third handset later this year. The release of this device is likely for the first half of 2013, but we’ve had no official work from Samsung to that tune. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Samsung is already doing great in the smartphone sector of the mobile business. Its Samsung Galaxy line of smartphones grows in sales upon each consecutive release, and some consumers have a hard time differentiating Samsung from Google. So it makes sense that Samsung would want to focus more of its efforts on the tablet sector of the mobile business now. Like HP, Samsung sees the potential of the tablet market, and how consumers are in demand for both budget tablets as well as high-end tablets.

In Q4 2012, Samsung’s tablet market share rose 15.1%, which is over double the 7.3% market share it had in the earlier quarters. To jump start its tablet sales for 2013, Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet. The tablet, which also works as a phone, has an 8-inch WVGA 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, 1.6GHz quad-core A9 processor, 5MP rear-facing camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 16/32GB of built-in storage, 2GB RAM, microSD card slot, and an IR blaster. The tablet will be competitively priced, and will go head to head with the likes of the iPad Mini.

Alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, we may also see new Windows 8 tablets, as well as a refresh to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 later on this year. It has a long ways to go in order to catch up with Apple and its huge lead in the tablet market. We should be seeing affordable, yet efficient tablets as well as high-end tablets coming from Samsung’s product line soon. Getting its products in the hands of as many consumers as possible is Samsung’s, and any company’s, mission.

[via CNET]

In Quadrant, the Galaxy Note 8.0 scored 6,848 overall, with a CPU score of 14,608, memory score of 5,386, I/O of 11,035, and 2D/3D of 1,000/2,211. That’s actually more impressive in all but the CPU category than the Galaxy Note 10.1, running Samsung’s 1.4GHz Exynos quadcore, though the 8-inch tablet’s software is likely to get a last-minute polish before it ships.

Turning to SunSpider, the JavaScript benchmark of browser performance, the new Galaxy Note completed the test in 1,021.7ms. Faster is better in SunSpider; in contrast, the iPad mini completed it in 1,698.9ms.

In practical terms, we had no trouble multitasking on the Galaxy Note 8.0, even when using Samsung’s window-in-window system which allows you to view two apps on-screen simultaneously. The most pressing test, of course, relates to digital inking: if the experience of writing and drawing on-screen isn’t smooth and accurate, then the pen becomes near-worthless.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 hands-on:

Happily Samsung got that right too, and it’s the same clean ink-flow as we’ve seen on the Galaxy Note II, simply with more space to take advantage of. That could be the best argument for the 8-inch model overall, in fact; the Note II is pocketable, but arguably not quite large enough to replace a typical notebook, something the Note 8.0 is far closer in size to.

We’ve more on the Galaxy Note 8.0 in our full hands-on.

This device is a Galaxy Note – Samsung’s brand for a line of devices that in some cases are closer to smartphones, in some cases much more a tablet. The Galaxy Note 8.0 works with an 8-inch WVGA (1280 x 800 pixel resolution, 189PPI) and working with TFT LCD display technology, mind you. This device has a 1.6GHz quad-core A9 processor for all your next-generation processing action, and you’ve got a couple of cameras on it as well – 5 megapixels on the back, 1.3 megapixels on the front.

Backing up that processor inside you’ve got 2GB of RAM, either 16 or 32GB of built-in storage, and a microSD card slot able to work with up to 64GB cards. The 3G version of this device is 210.8 x 135.9mm small with 338g of weight on it – this version also works with A-GPS and GLONASS. You’ll also of course be working with wifi, Wi-Fi Direct, BlueTooth 4.0, and AllShareCast. You’ve also got an IR-Blaster and Smart Remote to control any TV – not just the smart ones!

You’ll be working with a couple of new versions of apps, the first being the already popular but soon to be Samsung extra-excellent Awesome Note. There’s also a brand new exclusive Flipboard app made specifically for the Galaxy Note 8.0, complete with pop-up previews when you hover over blocks with your S-Pen. You can work with Popup Note, Popup Video, and Air View is active right out of the box as well. Essentially all the best bits of the Samsung Galaxy Note software experience can be found here, with some extra sugar on top.

Some of that sugar comes in the form of some new WACOM technology allowing your S-Pen to control not just the elements inside your display, but the Back and Menu buttons below it as well. Just like you’ve always wanted! This device works with Dual View as well as Reading Mode. This brand new Reading Mode you’ll have transformed your Galaxy Note 8.0 into an e-Book with optimized settings for the most well-balanced e-reading experience on any Galaxy Note device yet revealed.

You’ll also note that the design language from the Galaxy S III – and the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy Note 10.1, and so on, continues here with the Galaxy Note 8.0. This device works with the same white back and front, same silver rim, and even a rather similar thinness as the newest handset Note (the Galaxy Note II, as shown here.) This device is as similar to the Galaxy Note II as the Galaxy Note II is to the original Galaxy Note – it’s just growing up!

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will be available in the second quarter of 2013 across the planet – or just in the following places, as it were: EUR, SWA, CHN, SEA, KOR, NA, MEA, LA, TW. The United States-based release will be coming at some other time – neither the precise date nor the price have yet been revealed.

Have a peek at the rest of our Mobile World Congress 2013 coverage right this minute for more hard-hitting gadget action on a global scale!