Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 hands-on: First look
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- AnonD-93438
- QcR
- 04 Mar 2013
I know you might have read my same comment everywhere, but cant stop myself! these manufacturers are using Chinese stuff same as local Chinese manufacturers and same processors, same RAM chips, same displays, hell there are 200$ Chinese tabs available with retina!! they are just looting us all with expensive prices! and Chinese tabs come in warranty as well!!!
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- AnonD-88520
- ftK
- 01 Mar 2013
the_seba, 25 Feb 2013I don't really agree with the Super AMOLED comment at the b... moreBroda you right. nice comments
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- AnonD-118674
- k%J
- 28 Feb 2013
I disagree with GSM Arena's comment about the Mali 400 supporting a higher resolution. It would really hurt 3d gaming performance if they used a 1920x1200 screen. Samsung is trying to make this an affordable tablet. There's no reason to make a top of the line 8" tablet when their competition is a very modest iPad mini with older specs and lower resolution than even this. They can see how we'll the iPad mini has sold, its sold better than probably anyone would have thought. They are trying to get in on the sales with tablets just as they have with their GALAXY S2 and s3 in the phone sector against the iPhone. They know what they're doing. I have an iPad mini and this looks like a very appealing tablet, I want the spen and I miss Androids customize options.
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- AnonD-118674
- k%J
- 28 Feb 2013
yousif, 25 Feb 2013i thought samsung will go further than Ipad mini and nexus ... moreNo it's a higher resolution than the iPad mini. 1024x768 vs 1280x800 Galaxy note 8.0 is HD iPad mini is not.
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- Jon (Swe)
- mhB
- 28 Feb 2013
Dom , 25 Feb 2013Looks like a great device and i love my galaxy note 1 but i... moreI used to agree about the bad cameras in tablets.
But as they are really impractical to use as photographers tools, I dont think high resolution cameras are all that important.
A led could be nice, though.
In a device like this, the camera is mainly for on screen applications, like taking pictures as notes, and maybe scribble on them, for augumented reality or video calls when showing something.
So full HD should more than cover those grounds, and 5 is even over the top, and with the lens sticking out like that, they should have gone for a smaller sensor and lens, with lower resolution.
Perhaps not full HD, but an unsual 1920x1920 sensor, and accelerometer/gyro support in the recording mode to make sure all videos have the right orientation.
(But sure, in a tablet, at least bigger ones that are often used on tables, they could put a bulge on the top, think landscape mode, and fitted a good camera with good lens, xeon flash and much better speakers, but this needs to be slim and light weight, otherwise it wont be as practile as a notepad replacement. In those tablet that bulge would give the tablet a nice sligly angeled working position on a desk, and something to hold on to when you hold it up in portrait mode, and it could hold an even bigger and more comfortable stylus. But really when would you take full advantage of that camera.)
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- Jon (Swe)
- mhB
- 28 Feb 2013
the_seba, 25 Feb 2013I don't really agree with the Super AMOLED comment at the b... morelets not forget that is this is supposed to be used for taking notes, as it comes in a handy notepad format, those are often made on light backgrounds, as well.
But there are higher end LCDs, so if they was aiming for the best, they missed, but I dont think they were, considering the old GPU/CPU combo, so lets hope the price is right.
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- Jon (SWE)
- mhB
- 28 Feb 2013
Anonymous, 25 Feb 2013Epic fail. I'll stick to my htc flyer. sticking to the Flyer makes no sense.
This has better screen resolution.
It has quite a bit better digitizer.
Better weight.
Probably better display, in general.
Quite a bit better processor, and better Android release.
A bit better battery, and as this is new and your old flyer probably has somewhat worn battery, that would problably make quite a difference.
Built in Pen holder.
This has calling capabilities, much missed in the flyer, especially since the developer unit had it.
Quicker HSDPA.
Bluetooth 4.0, for those acessories that you want long battery life on.
Support for 64GB Micro SD cards.
Dual band wifi.
Infrared port to use as a remote.
Better software suite.
Split screen support.
I suspect the camera is better, but not great.
I can't remember if Flyer had USB host functionality, but the Note 8 has it.
And it will probably get better software support than the flyer got when it was around.
Sure it is a little bit bigger, but better in almost every way (if not exactly every way, even).
You might not be able to afford an upgrade, but this is not a fail compared to the flyer, this is quite a bit better product, and will probably end up costing quite a bit less than the flyer did when it was still around (and not the shelf clearing sales).
If you ever liked the flyer, I dont see any reason to call this product a fail.
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- Jon (swe)
- mhB
- 28 Feb 2013
My comments:
The pertruding camera could have been made less pertruding, by going for a smaller sensor. In a device like this all you really need is full HD, that is enough for Augumented reality, video calling (showing things off), for picture notes (sometimes with scribble on them). Or possibly 1920x1920 and using accelerometer and gyro to make sure that the video is recorded att full HD in at the right orientation at all times.
The front camera should have been f/2.0, or better, or IR-light assisted for the best use of smart-stay and smart rotate, after all the smart rotate is usually used in bed at night.
The display, well I wanted amoled, but this is much of a notetaking device, and then light background is pretty much standard. It's size makes a lot of sense, as its usable as a notepad, certainly at that weight. The note II is too small for that, and the 10.1 is a bit big and heavy (even bigger screen and higher resolution could make a good working tool out of the 10.1 follower).
The battery is somewhat a letdown for a device at this size. But not catastrophic.
The CPU/GPU combo all depends on the price, those are good chips for a 1280x800 display.
Resolution of the display is not really that bad, this is a tablet, usually held at some distance from you eyes. And I have compared two asus tablets, one with 1366x768 and one with full HD at the same screen size, and full HD didn't really make much difference. So it mainly just uses extra resources, draining the battery faster. Nexus 10 and iPad retina are different things, there the resolution makes a difference, but still at the cost of performance and battery.
Micro SD and Micro USB with otg are great.
IR is practical, but I do wonder, if it has a receiver and programmable software so it can learn odd remotes.
Hardware keys are nice, they dont waste screen estate, but it would have been nice to see them repeated in landscape mode.
And why are the stereo-speakers in portrait mode? You will hardly notice the stereo effect that way, and your hand will easily muffle the sound. And when you do use stereo material, its usually a video that is watched in landscape. I doubt the sound is fantastic, so if you use the speakers for music its probably when the device is resting on table, while you are doing something else, and just want a temporarily solution, and then landscape orientation wouldnt be a problem.
Calling capabilities are great. And the earpiece is good for those situations when you want to answer a caller just to tell them that you have to connect your headset. I usually have a bag with me, and with a device like this, I could see my self using it as a phone and always have a bag with me, except for certain situations, when I can use one of my really compact phones.
it seems like a pretty good device, if it supports the new HRT audio interface/headphone amp, I'll probably buy it, even if I would never use it as a phone, and even if I get the Note II or Note III.
But I hope to see something like this with Windows on it, RT or 8, after all, rumours talk about ~7 incher Windows tablets this year. Having OneNote on a device like this, would be great. I also wish there was a 4.7-5 inch note like device runnint WP8, with OneNote. Personally I can handle the 5.5 Note in one hand, but I would like something a little more compact, if I'm going to partner it with a tablet at about 7-8 inch. But I could see myself using a trio of Wacom digitizer products, starting with a phone, for quick notes and mouse over functionality, and quick editing (onenote documents), a 7-8 inch tablet as a notepad replacement. And a 12-15 inch tablet/laptop combo device (to replace my current HP TM2 2190e).
For now I can only hope the price is right, but I'm a bit afarid it will be at the level you can find the Note II and the 10.1 at, and that is almost twice the price of the Nexus 7.
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- AnonD-87222
- 3ZH
- 27 Feb 2013
Lol the design looks ridiculous. Soap again.
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- ah seng
- IVR
- 26 Feb 2013
if this thing cost around 300 USD without contract.... i'll consider to buy one...
i have the first galaxy note... and then my wife galaxy note 10.1.. it's just too big for me to carry around...
while i'm still using galaxy note instead of upgrading to note 2..
so could be a good choice for me...
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- AnonD-85611
- L4x
- 25 Feb 2013
"we have to admit we are starting to get bored with the design."
I got bored since the first time that this design showed up.
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- yousif
- L1x
- 25 Feb 2013
i thought samsung will go further than Ipad mini and nexus 7 but nothing great in this version.
same res, same ram, same S-pen, same build quality, same camera as compared to it's great brother the "Note 10.1"
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- the_seba
- mN}
- 25 Feb 2013
I don't really agree with the Super AMOLED comment at the beginning. Those screens are great for phones where web browsing is occasional whereas for a tablet AMOLED screens are just battery killers. You guys mentioned that more than a few times before. This particular choice of panel is just fine. It's affordable, viewing angles are good and it's much more power efficient than AMOLED when browsing mostly white web pages.
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- AnonD-410
- spD
- 25 Feb 2013
Ugly as hell..
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- Anonymous
- sG%
- 25 Feb 2013
AnonD-88723, 25 Feb 2013admit it, it's ugly. it looks like an oversized galaxy...ga... morein pictures I thought the galaxy s3 and the note 10.1 was ugly, but after seeing it in person hands on, it looked nice and felt nice... so I guess u should speak for yourself and not for others.
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- AnonD-88723
- LaB
- 25 Feb 2013
admit it, it's ugly. it looks like an oversized galaxy...galaxy everything. same old design...nothing new, nothing attractive...
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- Dom
- Rbq
- 25 Feb 2013
Looks like a great device and i love my galaxy note 1 but i just cant figure out why cant they put a decent camera on a tablet. The galaxy note has an 8 megapixle camera with flash while this new note 8.0 has a 5 megapixle with no flash. It does not compute you have all that space, I bet in a teardown all that space is wasted on nothing just a hollow space or a very big battery. I love samsung but sometimes it makes me wonder if this new note is just a big tv remote.
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- Jack of all trolls
- Hkt
- 25 Feb 2013
AnonD-80233, 25 Feb 2013It is not the ugliest device, it is only ugly!
Samsung e... moreWhat you call ugly is what lots of others call beautiful. Beauty simply belongs to the eye of the beholder. So just shut up instead of bashing everything samsung delivers.
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- Anonymous
- YcX
- 25 Feb 2013
Epic fail. I'll stick to my htc flyer.
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- AnonD-37279
- 3EV
- 25 Feb 2013
just enlarged Note 2