Samsung Galaxy Note 8 hands-on at MWC 2013
Summary: At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung has shown off the Galaxy Note 8.0, a tablet follow-up to its successful Note and Note II tablets.
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Samsung's newest addition to the Note series uses an 8-inch display. But don’t worry, it still comes with the same special S Pen stylus and apps that gave the original its name.
The device was announced just ahead of the start of Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona on 24 February by the South Korean handset maker.
Under its glossy white exterior lies a 1.6GHz quad-core A9 processor and 2GB RAM that keeps the Note 8 ticking along nicely. In ZDNet's short hands-on testing the device showed no sign of lagging or stuttering that can ruin user experience in some devices.
However, as its name suggests, the Note 8.0's main focus is on its expansive 8-inch display, which puts it in direct competition with the likes of the iPad Mini as well as other 7 or 8-inch tablets like the Nexus 7.
The 8-inch display has a 1280 x 800 pixels resolution and a 189 PPI (pixels per inch) pixel density, edging out the iPad Mini's 163 PPI.
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Talkback
Anything Would "Edge Out" The Ipad Mini
Totally Agree
why?
Why...
What about the price?
iCrap, oops wipe myself.
The best tablet by far is the Samsung Galaxy 7.7. It has the best screen on any tablet (Super AmoLED plus), it has a higher resolution than the mini, and more ppi than the mini.
You can also make phone calls and send text message on the Galaxy Tab 7.7. The 7.7 is the perfect size at 7.7", all aluminum construction, etc etc.
The iPad mini is crap. No GPS either. My friend has one, to get directions, you have to use maps. LOL, that was whack. You have to "swipe" the screen at every turn. How lame is that?
Get your head out of your butt. The iPad Mini is crap. The screen sucks, no micro sd card slot.
I mean c'mon man, this thing is just ancient. No features whatsoever. It's just a stupid LCD screen that plays games and browse the web and take crappy pictures.
If you want a real tablet that can actually "do something", get your hands on the 7.7.
It's even thinner than the iCrap mini. Thinner, higher res screen, more ppi, GPS, wifi, data, micro sd card slot expansion, etc etc.
ldo17 - how much did Samsung pay you to say that?
Facts:
Appearance: a matter of opinion. I think this Note 8 thingy looks like more typical generic mediocre hardware. Large bezel area, somewhat absurdly rounded edges. To me it lacks basic refinement.
Specs:
heavier than the iPad mini
lacks 4G LTE - iPad mini has it
slow data transfer speeds - uses only USB while iPad uses Lightning Connector (so have fun transferring all the video you want to watch on this)
Storage: OOPS - I guess if you buy a Galaxy Note 8 you don't have to worry about transferring lots of movies - unlike the iPad mini, it has storage capacity of only up to 32Gb. The iPad Mini goes up to 64Gb. So as a proud Note 8 user, enjoy swapping stuff on and off your device.
Security: With the Note 8 enjoy getting infected with malware that steals you contacts and spams your friends. With the Note 8 enjoy having your credit card information stolen as you type it.
Yeah, that great Android experience... malware, buggy, small storage, slow transfer speeds even when hard linked to your computer. Gee, maybe that's why Apple has been the underdog story of the century, proving that people actually do want high-quality devices, not just the plasticky junk that visionless MBAs can bring themselves to offer.
HUH? so sure of what u are telling?
spec to spec
Where is all of this malware you speak of? I have nine android devices, and never had any problems. Who is really spreading the fud here?
jeraymyeggs - thanks for the meaningful comments
To your points:
Storage: sure, you can pop a 128 Gig card in there, but it uses a slow data transfer protocol. So it's not useful for holding meaningful content. An example, once again, of how the specs don't translate into usage. Apple concentrates on maximizing system usability for the customer. Samsung, as a "me too" manufacturer, just tosses the components together and says, "Look at my specs!" Sure, they don't work, but look at those specs!
So the Samsung device is heavier, communicates slower, has less useable storage, has mediocre appearance, and uses an insecure, buggy operating system.
I'm not sold on this device.
You are seriously misinformed
Your Apple must be laced with a bit of fanboy
1. SD is more than capable of capturing and playing back HD video. Why do you think they're used in most cameras?
2. Malware is virtually non-existent on Android, kind of like choice is on IOS.
3. Samsung created the first widely used mini tablet with the Galaxy tab 3 years ago. They Android market has been flooded with 7-8 inch tablets for two years. So who's the "me too" manufacturer. At least Samsung is innovative enough to find a way to mainstream the stylus in a usable fashion.
And I'd like to see how you get all your videos over that "lightning" connection maxed out at USB 2.0 which is ironically the same speed as current micro-usb used in Android. Was it the name Lightning that made you think it was faster? What I'd really like to see is how you "fanboy" your way out of it when new Android phones are rocking USB 3.0 and have an available throughput of 5Gbps while "lightning' is still stuck at .3Gbps.
And I don't know if Apple has to go too far out of its way to work on "usability for the customer" when their customer base practically drools over any Apple product regardless of how poor it is. The iPad Mini an inch smaller and doesn't even have a retina display and they still sell it for $350... and the Apple fandom screams themselves into oblivion with excitement. And why is retina missing? It's the next "innovative feature on iPad Mini 2!! Really... you wait and see!
Apple hasn't had an innovative original product in several years. The last innovative product they had is Siri and it isn't even originally Apple developed! Apple bought the company that made Siri. Everything else they've done is basically resize the screen, increase pixel density, repeat. iPhone... iPad... iPhone with retina... iPad with retina... iPad mini... wait for it... iPad mini with retina. Ooohh, my bad, they did create Apple Maps. :) How'd that go for you?
Wow
My favorite part of your uninformative rant is the lightning connector. You clearly have no clue how things work.
not to mention...
They learned it from Apple!
= typical Apple fanboy behavior. Apple should sue ! (Who knows? Apple has perhaps a patent covering the fanboys too... would be fun to read the patent description.)
You have
"Picking on the Ipad Mini is like picking on the buck-toothed kid at school."
Apple best days may soon come to an End.
Are you paid by apple
I do like the fact you offer to make up a name and release it as if that somehow lends credibility to your comments. My name's Jack The Ripper, no honestly....
I bet you didn't like Seth McFarlane hosting the Oscar's either!
The "Lightning" is USB 2.0 it's not faster. Your thinking of Thunderbolt.
I think you maybe confusing the lightning connector with Thunderbolt. I believe the name lighting was chosen for that reason. Lightning is USB 2.0 I'm not sure where you get the idea it's faster than USB, it IS USB. Have you ever looked at the other side of you lightning connector or perhaps taken note of what port you plug it into on your computer. The only real difference in lighting is it's a different connector. It' probably more durable than the micrUSB connectors but it's also a lot easier to accidentally short out the terminals as they are unprotected.
You put the weight difference on the top of your list of short-fallings of the Note 8 I'm wondering if you realize how close the weight in fact is. The minipad weighs 0.69 pound or (312 g) the Note 8 0.73 pound or (335 g) that's 20g difference. 20 grams. For those that aren't sure what 20 grams is, 20 grams is the weight of 20 regular sized paper-clips or eight pennies. Does anyone seriously think that a significant or even a noticeable difference.
And storage, in spite of what you say the fact that the Note 8 has capacity for sdcard it does have more storage capability. And that more storage comes significantly cheaper. And class 10 sdcards have enough throughout to stream full HD video so I'm not sure how much more speed you need. You would have less need for fast storage on the iPad since its display is much lower resolution you would not need full HD.
Malware: Is not near the issue Apple-ites make it out to be. It's just a FUD comment that gets thrown out that has no real world experience to back it up. Just like saying Apple has no security because it's so easy to bypass the lock screen.
I guess I should ignore posts like this since they are so typical of fan-boi postings, but I just hate to see facts so egregiously misrepresented.