Review Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Tablet

Connectivity options between the different models of the Note-series are also nearly identical. The top is home to a 3.5 millimeter audio jack while the right side houses the power button and the rocker switch for the volume control. The bottom is home to the Micro-USB port which allows charging the tablet or connecting it to a PC. A distinguishing factor is the S Pen which can be stored neatly inside the case itself. The left side has slots for the MicroSD and Micro-SIM cards. Somewhat surprisingly, the manufacturer from South Korea has also included an infrared port - once a standard for all phones but long since surpassed by Bluetooth. We will talk about the reason for the revival a little later.

Our review model comes with 16 GB of internal storage (9.78 GB available) which can be expanded with the aforementioned MicroSD card slot.

Software

When we turned on the Note 8.0 for the first time, we expected an OS tailored for tablet use similar to the Note 10.1. Instead, we were greeted with a smartphone-typical home screen and appearance - courtesy of Touchwiz. At this point, we have to ask the question: are we dealing with an overly large smartphone or a tablet that's styled like a smartphone?

Samsung adapted and modified the software. There are additional options in the system settings like "quiet mode" and "S Pen" for example. Samsung also includes their typical software like Allshare Play, ChatON, Game Hub, and Smart Remote. Some applications can be uninstalled but not all of them.

The application Smart Remote makes use of the infrared port we previously mentioned. The tabphone can be used as a universal remote if so desired. We tried this functionality with a Smart TV from Samsung. Although it appears to us that the application is still a bit rough around the edges, the initial connection and initialization worked without a hitch.

Cameras & Multimedia

The tablet comes with two camera modules. The main, rear-facing camera has a resolution of 5 MP and the front-facing camera 1.3 MP. The front camera can also be used to unlock the device as software for facial recognition is included. As long as the ambient brightness is sufficient, recognition works well.

The photo quality is acceptable but far from outstanding. The sensor has issues with darker environments and image noise can be an issue while sharpness could also be better. Photos taken with the front-facing camera suffer from even more image noise and a loss of detail. Outside, the picture quality is much better; noise is now not an issue and sharpness increases. When comparing the photos to the shots taken with the reference camera, we noticed a slightly bluish cast. The front camera is not capable of producing vivid colors but given the small sensor, the results are still acceptable.

We measured a maximum brightness of 465 cd/m² in the middle of display. The average brightness is an outstanding 449.2 cd/m² with a distribution of 88 %. The Asus Fonepad, which we recently reviewed, only reached 296.6 cd/m² and a distribution of 85%. High brightness like that is rather rare - although we occasionally do encounter it: the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity (534,6 cd/m²) comes to mind as an example. It would be great if the black value would follow suit - but 0.62 cd/m² is slightly too high, which results in a somewhat lower contrast of 750:1. The Fonepad has a black point of 0.3 cd/m² and a contrast of 1020:1.

The system settings allow for three different display modes which adjust the gray levels, saturation, and color accuracy accordingly. The movie mode shows the least amount of deviation from the ideal but there's still a distinct green cast and reds are too pale. In addition, the DeltaE 2000 value for blue reaches almost 20. For the movie mode, the actual deviation from the ideal is lowest for the gray levels. Only when brightness increases, the lack of presence becomes noticeable.

Because of the technology, the LCD TFT display exhibits excellent viewing angle stability regardless of the tilt direction. Both contrast and colors stay true up to very extreme angles.

Since our test results indicate ample performance, we would have been very surprised if video material or games would have posed a problem for the Note 8.0. We couldn't resist trying out a plethora of different 3D games from Need For Speed, Cut The Rope to Angry Birds - and the tablet handled them all equally well.

That's also true for HD video playback. All videos, some in FullHD (1080p), played without any lags or stuttering. For the test, we used MKV container files with a data rate of up to 6100 kBit/s.