Samsung has announced a new tablet that will surely rival Apple’s Ipad mini, we told you about rumored Galaxy Note 8.0 earlier this month. The Samsung Galaxy 8.0 fills a gap in Samsung’s line-up of pen-equipped devices between the Galaxy Note II smartphone, with its 5.5-inch screen, and the Galaxy Note 10.1, a full-size tablet.
The Galaxy 8.0 will debut in select countries European and Asian countries starting in the second quarter of 2013. Samsung has not yet revealed the Pricing details for this device.
The Specs
Hardware-wise, the Galaxy 8.0 has a 1.6GHz A9 quad-core processor and 2GB RAM, which is plenty to power the default OS, Android 4.1.2 Jellybean. The 7.9-inch tablet has a WXGA display with 1280×800 resolution and 189 ppi.
The Galaxy 8.0 has two storage options 16 GB and 32GB of onboard storage that can be expanded up to 64 GB with the use of a microSD card slot.
Galaxy 8.0 will pack a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera capable of recording 1080p Full HD videos and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera.
Connectivity-wise, the Galaxy 8.0 has all the standard connectivity features such as HSPA+ 21Mbps, Wi-Fi capabilities, Bluetooth 4.0 and A-GPS + GLONASS (3G Version).
The Galaxy 8.0 weighs 335g which is quite light compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and is slightly heavier than an iPad mini.
It feels comfortable, with friendly round edges and corners varnished by a smooth finish. The pressure-sensitive S-Pen stylus — which can be used to take handwritten notes extremely easily — now works with the back and menu buttons, which is a feature that should have been on the Note 2. In addition, the stylus feels a lot smoother to write with than on previous models.
On the right side of the Note 8 is a SIM card slot, and this brings us to the tablet’s call capabilities: with built-in 3G, it is a fully functional as a phone.
