Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on April 17, 2013 11:29 PM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Samsung
- Android
- Mobile
- Galaxy Note 8.0
Camera
Although it’s sometimes used as one, I still don’t believe the majority of the population uses a tablet as their primary imaging device. That doesn’t however mean that it can’t be used as as a camera. In fact, I do see an increasing number of situations where tablets are being used as cameras in a pinch. Particularly on the productivity side of things where you may need to take a photo of something you’re studying on site (e.g. insurance adjuster taking photos of a claim). All of this is a long winded way of saying that tablet camera performance matters. It doesn’t perhaps matter as much as it would in a smartphone, but it still matters.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 comes with a fairly standard two camera setup. Around back there’s a raised bump to accommodate a 5MP camera module (2560x1920) with F2.7 lens. Up front there’s a 1.3MP sensor (1280x960) and F2.8 lens. Neither camera has a flash of any sort.
The Note 8.0’s size actually doesn’t make it ridiculous to take photos with. The camera UI is fairly standard for Samsung and includes a fairly typical set of customization options (ISO, exposure adjustment, JPEG compression, etc...). Shot to shot latency is about on par with the iPad mini, but considerably slower than the latest and greatest smartphones like the HTC One.
Camera preview is relatively smooth but clearly not anywhere near full resolution, as a result photos tend to look pretty bad during framing but can come out surprisingly decent once captured.
Samsung integrates optional voice recognition with its camera app. You can say smile, cheese, capture or shoot to activate the shutter. The process works surprisingly well but it does add additional latency to shooting since the voice recognition isn’t instant. Oddly enough some words worked better than others for me, although accuracy improved the closer my face was to the tablet.
Image quality outdoors was surprisingly decent. Both the Galaxy Note 8.0 and iPad mini did relatively well on camera duty. Samsung's auto white balance could definitely use some work, and in lower light scenarios the iPad mini seems to resolve details better than the Note 8.0.
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| Outdoor 1 | Indoor | Outdoor Nature | Macro | Outdoor Low Light | |||||
| Apple iPad mini | |||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 | |||||||||
Low light performance is horrible on both tablets. In well lit scenarios, the Note 8.0 is a competent shooter though the iPad mini seems to do better overall. I was personally surprised by how well these tablets performed at macro shots. Again, I wouldn't use either as a primary shooter, but if your job requires embedding photos in emails and all you're carrying is one of these tablets you can make it work (assuming there's plenty of light around).
Video recording performance was also surprisingly decent on the Galaxy Note 8.0:
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boomhowler - Friday, April 19, 2013 - link
I really like that you included a NAND-test. Those memory chips can be a real performance killer if they are bad. A request: it would be interesting to see if the NAND performance is about the same when the storage has been filled to ~90%. I have several colleagues who experience large performance degradations on their androids when the storage starts to fill up. And if you can, also add comparisons to Win8/iOS models as well.awehring - Saturday, April 20, 2013 - link
Anand,you are missing an universal remote to control a home cinema. Me too!
But I found TouchSquid Remote at the Android Play Store, which claims to be just that. Have you ever tried it?
arifmahmud - Saturday, April 20, 2013 - link
This review is a compact review of Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 & help any readers at glance about the awesome device.Commodus - Sunday, April 21, 2013 - link
Like it or not, Samsung is going to be burned by that $399 price.Is it fair for what you get? Sure -- but most people don't need a pen and Wacom digitizer. You could safely argue that most customers at this size are buying for cost, not features; otherwise, they'd get a 10-inch tablet or a low-end laptop. While the iPad mini isn't the best value-for-money deal in its current state, it also costs $70 less, carries more tablet-native apps and first launched several months ago.
Personally, I'd be more curious to see what Apple does for the second-gen iPad mini than the Note 8.0. Put in a Retina-ish display and an A6 at $329 and the tiny iPad could be a killer combo.
herts_joatmon - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
I be suprised if Samsung designed this as an "iPad killer". Unlike Apple and some other manufacturers, Samsung dont have a one size fits all policy. Rather, they have segregated the market into smaller segments. This tablet is aimed at creative types, where as most tablets are designed for consumption (reading, gaming, browsing etc).Like the original Note phone. They wont have expected it to sell in abundance, but if other market segments take it up, it will be a bonus to them.
For me, the closest rival is the Surface Pro. Thats the only other tablet that you can actually draw on with pressure sensitivity support and good accuracy (that im aware off) and that is over twice the price. So is $399 a fair price? Compared to $999, its a bargain.
What I want is a mobile sketch book. Any other functionality is a bonus in my opinion.
nerd1 - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
$500 Ativ smart PC has the same wacom support.ZoeAnderson24 - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
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Is that a painting colored by fabric colors at the back of photos in the review?fteoath64 - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Only 1 comment that is most important is the aspect ratio of the screen!. The iPad Mini's 4:3 ratio is just perfect for web and reading and it is nor less good for movie watching either!. The 16:9 ratio of Note makes it look long and web reading is constrained by either too narrow a width on portrait mode or too shallow if put on landscape mode. I suggest a 1600 X 1200 screen be used with minimal bezel on the sides. All other things are perfect as they are ...Pessimism - Wednesday, May 8, 2013 - link
Plastic housing and no cellular telephone capability = no care.