Last week during MWC in Barcelona, Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 8.0. The device is designed to bridge the gap between smaller 7-inch tablets such as the Nexus 7 and the full sized 10.1-inch tablets like the Nexus 10, with a form factor that offers more screen real estate without sacrificing too much portability. The only other major competitor in this market is the iPad Mini with its 7.9-inch display. Samsung are expanding their Note line with this offering, sitting in between the Note II and the Note 10.1. The Galaxy Note 8.0 has an 8-inch 1280 x 800 display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, compared to the iPad Mini’s somewhat unique 3:2 aspect ratio, and a lower resolution of just 1024 x 768. Aside from a more standard display aspect ratio, the Note 8.0 will also feature the S-Pen, a clear advantage over the iPad Mini with the added flexibility a dedicated stylus gives over just hand inputs as well as packing superior specs with a quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM.
There’s also both a front and rear facing camera, with the rear sensor taking photos at 5 megapixels and be capable of recording 1080p videos. The hardware will of course be backed-up with Samsung’s usual collection of software features in TouchWiz Nature UX including Smart Stay and the plethora of features that are enabled through the S-Pen. Unfortunately, the tablet will be paired with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, not the latest 4.2.2.
The exceptional list of hardware and software specifications in the Galaxy Note 8.0 makes it an impressive device that I can’t wait to get my hands on, however all press images release thus far have shown a pebble white device. Phone Arena has managed to get a leaked promo picture of a from one of their sources and this time it shows a very stealthy and stunning looking charcoal black device.
What do you think of the black version of the Galaxy Note? Will you choose this over the pebble white edition? Do you see yourself buying this or waiting to see what Google have to show off at I/O later in the year.