For the first launch in the U.S., Samsung
has shed the Galaxy Note 8.0’s HSPA + radios, which turned it into a curious
thing at Mobile World Congress. Now, as it gets ready to go on sale, the Note
8.0 has matured more greatly, combining many of the attractive TouchWiz
software tricks from the high-end Galaxy siblings into something more serious,
along with a more pocket able size.
The 8-inch form factor might be new, but
the things used are quite familiar: Samsung has borrowed the elements from the
previous products, including the Note 10.1’s 1,280x800 TFT screen (despite the
higher pixel density of 189 ppi). Meanwhile, the Note 8.0 is also inspired from
a number of Samsung phones, with chrome accents, a bulging rear camera module
and a design that imitate both of the Galaxy S III and Note II. Furthermore, it
packs a 1.6GHz Exynos4 Quad inside - right, like its predecessor. It is easy to
consider the Note 8.0 as a pretty good redone version, one of the best versions
of the Note series. Considering it in a way, that is right. Yet Samsung is not
too reckless - there is a market for the tablets as a second screen, and the
company knows this well. So, can it defeat the iPad mini as a companion on the
sofa? Or is this $399 tablet a meteor of the Galaxy series? Keep reading to
find out.
The
Note 8.0 is also inspired from a number of Samsung phones.
Hardware
To prefer Samsung means that the
characteristic sign of the company is acceptable: plastic. You cannot have one
without the other, and no amount of customers’ complaints will change the view
of the company. From time to time, the company has defined luxury by durability
and a merely abundance of software, not necessarily by attractive industrial
design. So, be prepared for what could be described as the Note 8.0 innocuous
design. It's not attractive and totally forgettable. We know from our
conversations about GS4 with Samsung's U.S. design studio, showing that the
appeal to the common senses is mostly materials; an approach that is obvious to
play the part of the main character here.
The
company has defined luxury by durability and a merely abundance of software,
not necessarily by attractive industrial design.
But, although we might expect that the
company's product series become something more subtle such as HTC or Apple,
all- plastic shell of the Note 8.0 that is unremarkable serves a purpose. It's
sturdy, soft to the touch without being slippery, light in the hand without
feeling only disposable and wide enough at 210.8x135.9x7.95mm (8.3x5.4x0.31
inches) to fully handle with one hand. Unless you are an Avian Bone Syndrome
sufferer, the Note 8.0 will not strain your wrist to feel weary if you use it
long; a part of its weight is distributed wisely at the bottom to keep the
tablet from falling out of your hand.
All-
plastic shell of the Note 8.0 is unremarkable.
You may have noticed it from the start, but
Samsung’s Note 8.0 is not as monochromatic as it looks like. Carefully check the
backplate of the device and you will see the slight implementation of the cross-hatching
that we first saw on the Galaxy S4. And there are also many of the things to be
decorative you will find on Note 8.0; the rest of the back side is a white wide
range, which is highlighted by the hump containing a 5MP camera (no flash) and
a modest Samsung logo is just below. Underneath the un-removable backplate is
the 4600mAh battery.
The
back side is a white wide range, which is highlighted by the hump containing a
5MP camera (no flash) and a modest Samsung logo is just below.
Unlike the previous Notes, the hardware
keys (volume rocker and power button), IR blaster and S Pen are located to the
right side of the Note 8.0, with a microSD port cover that takes up the
opposite side. This neat arrangement was a smart move towards Samsung, a move
to help customers avoid groping awkwardly with the increase or decrease the
speaker volume. Talking about this, the dual-speaker setup on the bottom edge
(on the micro-USB port) is hardly user-friendly. Meanwhile, the Note 10.1
arranged its speakers on the front face (lying out of the consumers’ reach),
the smaller size and portrait orientation of the Note 8.0 mean that users will
have to be careful not to hide the lower speakers while watching video in the
landscape mode.
Unlike
the previous Notes, the hardware keys (volume rocker and power button), IR
blaster and S Pen are located to the right side of the Note 8.0, with a microSD
port cover that takes up the opposite side.
From the front face, the Note 8.0 looks
like any other high-end Galaxy device: capacitive buttons for menu and back hug
the physical home button below the screen, while the company's logo, a
front-facing camera and sensor lie at the top. Fortunately, most of the front
face is occupied by 8-inch screen - the surrounding bezels are large enough to
accommodate the thumbs without damaging the overall design of the tablet. We're
not saying it's perfectly suitable. We had a little concern when reading an
e-book reader, for instance, because any accidental infringement of the thumb
on both sides of the screen can activate a page flip. It's not ideal, but it is
not unaffected either.
From
the front face, the Note 8.0 looks like any other high-end Galaxy device.
As for the S Pen, allow us to get exceeding
picky for a bit of a moment. The fact that there is nothing wrong with the safe
and effective design of Samsung’s stylus: it's basically unchanged from what
comes with the Note II, only its bottom part is a little bigger. However, what
annoys us is the small notch that Samsung has indicated to remove it, is
located on the right side of the Note 8.0. Users who are familiar with the Note
II will definitely reach behind the tablet; it is completely due to the habit
to take the S Pen out of. So, it forces the Note loyalists to retrain a bit.
Again, it is a small problem, but we would prefer if Samsung retained the
experience consistent for its user base.
It's
basically unchanged from what comes with the Note II, only its bottom part is a
little bigger.
It may be the assertion to fame (and the
existence) of the Note series, but we cannot help feeling that the S Pen is
just a vestige; a preset accessory is essential to distinguish the first Note
as a new category. Even as a justification for its then-flaunting size of the
screen. As we get deeper into 2013, we will see the mega-smartphone screens
that are getting popular. You can even argue that the Note-sized smartphones
may eventually dominate the need for tablets. Except for the creative careers
like graphic design, there is no real productivity growth to be achieved by
using a stylus instead of your fingers.
We can only isolate a couple of cases where
the consumers may enjoy the S Pen, for instance, previewing the contents on
Flipboard or menu dropdowns on websites such as Amazon. However, beyond that,
we find it hard to care about the stylus. In fact, we found that it ruined our
workflow when trying to compose an email or a simple text in Google Voice -
which the keyboard’s input mode like Swype easily processes.
