Is it a phone? Is it a tablet? Who knows, but it’s very nice
SamSung’S galaxy notes have caused many arguments in the Mobile Choice lair. While the original 5.3-inch galaxy note was a beast, it could just about get away with its mobile phone credentials. Those arguments are going to get bloody now that Samsung has unleashed its mighty galaxy note 8.0, which as the name suggests is an eight-inch slab of beauty.
It has a Sim card slot (sadly only 3g is supported, so no speedy 4g web browsing yet), but holding the galaxy note 8.0 in one hand is a tough task, and speaking into it as you walk down the street will (rightly) generate ridicule. We’re thinking a Bluetooth headset might be the way forward.
Still, as a tablet, the galaxy note 8.0 is just as user-friendly as the rest of the range. The excellent S-Pen stylus can be slipped from a rear corner and used to scribble on the screen, proving as responsive as usual to every poke and swish, and Samsung has included classic galaxy note software such as S Planner and S note to maximise your use of the S-Pen.
The display itself is typically bright and vibrant, but we were surprised to see Samsung went with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, the same used by budget rivals such as amazon’s Kindle Fire, and less sharp than the nook HD tablet’s seven-inch screen. Despite this, the photos we checked out were still crisply reproduced and there were some lovely rich colours on the android 4.1 desktop (overlaid with Samsung’s custom interface).
The overall build is similar to the iPad mini; impressively slender and also pleasingly light. The glossy body feels good in the hand, although we wouldn’t want to drop it on a hard surface for fear of it splintering into pieces. as usual, you can multi task to a ridiculous degree, opening all kinds of email, browser and app windows side-by-side. The eight-inch screen makes it easy to do this, so you won’t have to resort to squinting. as for specs, the note 8.0 packs a 1.6gHz quad-core processor, ably backed up by 2gB of Ram.
You get either 16gB or 32gB of storage for your media and apps, while the mighty 4600mah battery should keep it going for a good few hours. Camera enthusiasts get a fivemegapixel snapper on the back, as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facer. Samsung’s galaxy note 8.0 should hit uK stores before summer, but pricing is yet to be revealed.
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