{"id":652490,"date":"2013-04-15T13:37:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T17:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=631116"},"modified":"2013-04-15T13:37:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-15T17:37:43","slug":"hands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/652490","title":{"rendered":"Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/2013\/04\/09\/samsung-bets-big-on-digital-ink-399-galaxy-note-8-0-hits-us-on-april-11\/\">Samsung&#8217;s Galaxy Note 8.0 arrived on store shelves this weekend<\/a> and after spending a few minutes with one, I paid $399 and walked out with the new tablet. That price gets you a 16 GB version of the 8-inch tablet running Android 4.1.2, which doesn&#8217;t have any mobile broadband connectivity. This is a Wi-Fi only model and unlike the international version, has the cellular voice capabilities stripped out. That means the Galaxy Note 8.0 competes squarely with Apple&#8217;s $329 iPad mini.<\/p>\n<p>The Galaxy Note 8.0 does have some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.samsung.com\/global\/microsite\/galaxynote\/note8.0\/specifications.html\">features and hardware components<\/a> that the iPad mini doesn&#8217;t, so I understand the higher price. Is it worth the $70 premium? It&#8217;s too early to say as I&#8217;ve really only had a solid day to use it. I&#8217;ll follow up with an answer to that question, but for now, here are my first impressions, in no particular order, followed by some photos.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The look and feel is definitely more like a super-sized Galaxy S 4 than a Note 2.<\/li>\n<li>I can grab the device one-handed from the back; it&#8217;s not too wide, even with my small hands. In fact, the Note 8.0 is nearly the same width as the iPad mini: just a scant 1.2 millimeters wide. It is thicker than the iPad mini: 7.95 millimeters vs 7.2 millimeters.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s too early to provide actual battery run-time results, but with limited testing of the integrated 4600 mAh battery I&#8217;m expecting at least 10 hours of moderate use.<\/li>\n<li>Samsung&#8217;s 1.6 GHz quad-core Exynos paired with 2 GB of RAM keeps the device moving along nicely. This isn&#8217;t the fastest Android device I&#8217;ve experienced, but there&#8217;s no noticeable lag.<\/li>\n<li>There&#8217;s little new here with Samsung&#8217;s TouchWiz user interface. If you&#8217;ve used a Galaxy S 3, Note 2 or any other recent Samsung phones, the UI is the mostly the same.\u00a0A few new UI tweaks <a href=\"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/2013\/03\/14\/samsung-galaxy-s-4-hands-on-shows-nice-hardware-but-software-is-the-star\/\">I saw in the brief hands-on I got with Galaxy S 4<\/a> have made their way to the Note 8.0, however: You can configure what settings appear in the Notification pane, for example. The Smart Stay feature &#8212; keeping the display on when the tablet detects your face &#8212; is also here.<\/li>\n<li>I like the rectangular aspect ration of the 1280 x 800 display. As far as the display itself, it has a slightly higher pixel density than the iPad mini, but generally looks the same; maybe a smidge better. Samsung has some nice options to change the fonts and add clarity to text. Running two apps on a display of this size is excellent; better than on my Note 2.0.<\/li>\n<li>Like the Galaxy S 4, the Note 8.0 includes a IR-blaster to control your television or set-top box. I haven&#8217;t tested this yet. Also included is WatchOn for your local television guide, which correctly showed both my local and FiOS TV stations.<\/li>\n<li>Video playback is quite good. Over the weekend I watched The Masters golf tournament, YouTube HD movie trailers and an NHL game.<\/li>\n<li>The 5 megapixel rear camera won&#8217;t likely replace your smartphone camera, however, it&#8217;s handy in a pinch. It captures images and 1080p video. There aren&#8217;t many scene modes, however. I haven&#8217;t tested the forward-facing 1.2 megapixel camera for video chatting yet.<\/li>\n<li>Two speakers at the bottom of the tablet &#8212; when held in portrait &#8212; are acceptable, but not great.<\/li>\n<li>Although the device comes with 16 GB of storage, around 6 are used by the system. Good thing the Note 8.0 has a microSD slot so you can add up to another 64 GB of storage.<\/li>\n<li>The S-Pen for the Note 8.0 is barely longer than the one included with the Note 2.0. I actually like taking notes on the tablet more than on my phone due to the larger screen. I can fit far more information on the screen and the writing surface is more like a small notebook. The back and menu button work with the S-Pen.<\/li>\n<li>Although the device is designed to be used in portrait mode, the home screen does rotate to landscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, I like the device; not surprising <a href=\"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/2011\/01\/21\/why-i-just-dumped-the-ipad-hint-size-matters\/\">given my long-standing preference for small slates<\/a>. But I&#8217;m already wondering where this device would fit in my life. Since it doesn&#8217;t have integrated 3G \/ 4G nor cellular voice, it can&#8217;t take the place of my Note 2.0. However, it does provide a better note-taking experience than my phone and replaces all of the functions of my iPad mini. It has even more functionality thanks to the S-Pen and IR blaster.<\/p>\n<p>Part of me feels this is more of the same from Samsung, however. I wish the display had a higher resolution of 1920 x 1080 to make it really stand apart from the iPad mini. Again, I&#8217;ll follow up with additional thoughts as I spend more time with it. Then I&#8217;ll decide if the Galaxy Note 8.0 has a place in my device rotation or if it&#8217;s going back to the store.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, if you have questions about Samsung&#8217;s newest tablet, drop &#8216;em in the comments and I&#8217;ll answer as many as I can.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/stats.wordpress.com\/b.gif?host=gigaom.com&#038;blog=14960843&#038;%23038;post=631116&#038;%23038;subd=gigaom2&#038;%23038;ref=&#038;%23038;feed=1\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/jump?iu=\/1008864\/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;%23038;c=157990\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ad?iu=\/1008864\/GigaOM_RSS_300x250&#038;sz=300x250&#038;%23038;c=157990\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:<\/strong><br \/>Subscriber content. <a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/?utm_source=mobile&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=631116+hands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0&#038;utm_content=kevintofel\">Sign up for a free trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2011\/09\/tablets-wars-apple-is-from-venus-amazon-is-from-mars\/?utm_source=mobile&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=631116+hands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0&#038;utm_content=kevintofel\">Tablets wars: Apple is from Venus, Amazon is from Mars<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2011\/09\/the-connected-planet-smartphones-arent-the-only-player\/?utm_source=mobile&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=631116+hands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0&#038;utm_content=kevintofel\">The connected planet: Smartphones aren&#8217;t the only player<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/pro.gigaom.com\/2013\/01\/how-new-devices-networks-and-consumer-habits-will-change-the-web-experience\/?utm_source=mobile&#038;utm_medium=editorial&#038;utm_campaign=auto3&#038;utm_term=631116+hands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0&#038;utm_content=kevintofel\">How to deliver the next-generation web experience<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img width='1' height='1' src='http:\/\/gigaom.feedsportal.com\/c\/34996\/f\/646446\/s\/2abf2d97\/mf.gif' border='0'\/><\/p>\n<div class='mf-viral'>\n<table border='0'>\n<tr>\n<td valign='middle'><a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/share\/twitter\/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F04%2F15%2Fhands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0%2F&#038;t=Hands-on+with+the+Samsung+Galaxy+Note+8.0\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/social\/twitter.png\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/share\/facebook\/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F04%2F15%2Fhands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0%2F&#038;t=Hands-on+with+the+Samsung+Galaxy+Note+8.0\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/social\/facebook.png\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/share\/linkedin\/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F04%2F15%2Fhands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0%2F&#038;t=Hands-on+with+the+Samsung+Galaxy+Note+8.0\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/social\/linkedin.png\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/share\/gplus\/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F04%2F15%2Fhands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0%2F&#038;t=Hands-on+with+the+Samsung+Galaxy+Note+8.0\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/social\/googleplus.png\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/share.feedsportal.com\/share\/email\/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgigaom.com%2F2013%2F04%2F15%2Fhands-on-with-the-samsung-galaxy-note-8-0%2F&#038;t=Hands-on+with+the+Samsung+Galaxy+Note+8.0\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/res3.feedsportal.com\/social\/email.png\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td valign='middle'><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/da.feedsportal.com\/r\/163644704553\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/2abf2d97\/a2.htm\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/da.feedsportal.com\/r\/163644704553\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/2abf2d97\/a2.img\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/pi.feedsportal.com\/r\/163644704553\/u\/49\/f\/646446\/c\/34996\/s\/2abf2d97\/a2t.img\" border=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/OmMalik?a=bye3-GZHwQg:9YM7W9zqaws:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/OmMalik?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/OmMalik\/~4\/bye3-GZHwQg\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Samsung&#8217;s Galaxy Note 8.0 arrived on store shelves this weekend and after spending a few minutes with one, I paid $399 and walked out with the new tablet. That price gets you a 16 GB version of the 8-inch tablet running Android 4.1.2, which doesn&#8217;t have any mobile broadband connectivity. This is a Wi-Fi only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}