Samsung has kicked off its MWC 2013 campaign by revealing the Galaxy Note 8.0; an Android Jelly Bean tablet with an S Pen stylus and plenty of software trickery to please productive folks.
Mimicking the design of the popular Galaxy Note II but on a much larger scale, the Note 8.0 is now the fourth Note product that Samsung has launched and the second tablet to bear the name. As the name implies, it offers an 8-inch display of the TFT variety with a 1280 x 800 resolution. With a pixel density of 189 ppi however, it’s not as impressive as the likes of the Nexus 7.
Samsung hasn’t held back in terms of power, opting for a healthy 2 gigs of RAM paired with a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, which will both make the Android Jelly Bean OS fly.
Several variants of the Note 8.0 will be available – 16GB and 32GB storage types and Wi-Fi, HSDPA and 4G for connectivity – although both can be augmented with additional storage by using the micro SD card slot.
Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 is the core operating system, complemented by Samsung’s latest TouchWiz user interface. This brings plenty of functionality to suit the S Pen, with apps for note taking, drawing and much more already on board.
Samsung has made the Note 8.0 to be very thin at just 7.95mm thick, and with an overall weight of 338g it’s just a touch heavier than the iPad Mini.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 may seem like a rival for the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini but we think it’ll carve a niche for itself. The S Pen stylus and its size will make it the ideal tablet for taking notes and making sketches on the move.
A price hasn’t yet been given for Samsung’s new tablet, but we can expect it to hit the UK around Easter time.