Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Review

By Rob Boggan

Samsung has been steadily hard at work with it’s takeover of the tech world. This time around, they have set their sights firmly on the mid-size tablet market with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. The Note 8.0 aims to snag some of the spotlight that Google’s smash-hit tablet the Nexus 7, and more importantly Apple’s iPad Mini. Using the already successful formula from the Galaxy Note Phablet, Samsung has turned one of its most beloved smartphones into a full blown tablet. Does the Galaxy Note 8.0 have what it takes to dethrone either the Nexus 7 or iPad Mini? Read on to find out…

The body of the Galaxy Note 8.0 is reminiscent of an over sized Galaxy Note, complete with plastic body. There’s an 8 inch WXGA(1280×800) TFT display, that does the job, but I wish Samsung would’ve opted for a bit higher resolution screen. That being said, the Galaxy Note still has a slightly higher pixel density than the iPad Mini, (189 ppi versus the iPad’s 169) so the screen is better than it’s next closest competitor. I’m sure Samsung wanted to be able to keep cost down, but with their available screen tech I would expect they’d want to do something more to make the Note 8.0 stand out amongst its competitors. As far as weight is concerned, The Galaxy Note 8.0 is definitely on the light side, and i could actually slip it right into my pocket (depending on what kind of pants I was wearing) most of the time. On the front of the device lies the 2MP front facing camera, and at the bottom lies the three standard navigation buttons (Menu, Home, Back).

As far as software goes, the Note 8.0 comes with Jellybean (Android 4.1.2) preinstalled. That being said, users can expect to enjoy the fruit of all the recent upgrades Google has done to their native apps. In addition to the standard Google apps built in you can also expect to see Samsung’s apps make their mark within the core of the tablet’s UI. WatchOn, is one of Samsung’s newest pet projects and it makes very good use of the Notes IR Blaster giving users a simple set-up option along with the ability to bring TV programming onto the tablet. WatchOn generally worked without a hitch, but I did notice an abnormal amount of battery drain while using the app for extended amounts of time. S Voice has seen a major improvement and an uptick in functionality, in order to allow it to better compete with Siri and Google Now. S Voice is a solid alternative but I found myself relying more on Google Now simply because it’s more integrated with my Google account, and let’s face it, Now is better.

I loved the translation of the Galaxy Note features over into a full blown tablet interface. S Note has made it’s triumphant return along with a slew of new features and updates. Formula completion for those who use the Note’s note-taking ability to solve mathematical formulas, Updated sketch capabilities for those would be artists, along with a sleek cut, copy and paste system makes the Note 8.0 one of those must haves for users who seek a little more function out of their tablets. With the enhanced S Pen, users can simply trace around an object, or photo, and the Note will take the traced area and add it to your clipboard, or save it to your gallery for future editing. It may not sound like a big deal, but I personally used this feature quite a bit and it comes in handy, especially when it comes to sharing the latest memes with grandma on Facebook (that rape sloth is a gem isn’t he?).

Considering the screen quality on the Note 8.0 I didn’t have exceptionally high hopes for the internal hardware, but I walked away pleasantly surprised. Rocking a 1.6 GHz  Samsung Exynos quad core processor, the Note 8.0 moved swiftly and without fail 90% of the time. With performance comes a price though, as battery life was a little below average for me. While the battery wasn’t the absolute worst that I’ve seen, I’ve definitely used better. With Wifi on, my usual round of social networking, YouTube, and the occasional movie I would average right around 8 hours of continual usage. Again, not terrible, but not the best, especially when I could snag more from the Note 10.1 while connected to LTE.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 is a wonderful tablet, and it works well for what I’d use it for. Given the fact that the model I reviewed was Wifi only and carries a hefty price tag ($399), I would be more likely to chose an iPad Mini or Nexus 7 in light of the price and performance of those two tablets. If you’re looking for a smaller, lightweight, quad-core, Android tablet with an advanced productivity suite, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is for you.