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
NAND Performance
Given one of my obsessions over the past 5 years, focusing on NAND performance in modern smartphones and tablets is an obvious fit. For these tests we turn to Androbench, using a modified version of the default performance settings. By upping the read/write buffer to 100MB we get more repeatable results, which is always nice to have. Just as in our PC SSD reviews, we focus on large block sequential read/write performance as well as small file random access. For Windows 8 tablets, we use Crystal Disk Mark as a rough comparison point. Note that we are looking at peak performance here and not sustained write speeds. I don't even want to know how slow these things will get if exposed to prolonged random writes. I've toyed with worst case performance on modern iOS and Android mobile devices and it's not pretty. For now, just try not to fill these things up.
The Galaxy Note 8.0's peak sequential performance is ok, the Nexus 10 does far better. Random IO performance however is great (for an ARM based tablet). The latter is very important for IO heavy multitasking workloads, which could be why we're seeing a mild focus on it here. Random write performance is still lower than I'd like to see (realistically we need to be about an order of magnitude better than where we are for real IO intensive multitasking), but the Note 8.0 at least ends up near the top of these charts.
If you look at the Note 10.1's performance you'll notice a big difference in random IO performance. It's entirely possible that Samsung is using a better controller/firmware combination in the Note 8.0, or it could be that my review sample happened to source a better eMMC solution. NAND based storage is typically treated like a commodity by most OEMs, so I wouldn't be too surprised to see wide variation in performance depending on how well you do in the eMMC lottery.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
95 Comments
View All Comments
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
If you think Jean`s story is terrific..., 1 weak-ago my son in-law basically got a cheque for $4657 putting in a 10 hour week from home and their friend's mom`s neighbour did this for 9-months and actually earned over $4657 in there spare time from their computer. the advice on this web-site All29.comTAKE A LOOKA_Smith - Thursday, April 25, 2013 - link
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.