Samsung Galaxy Note 800 Review

Sameer Mitha

The Apple iPad defined the tablet genre. It wasn't the first device in this category, but it was one that nailed it right. The third generation iPad is now considered as a benchmark for what the tablet should be like.

Till date, if there was one Android tablet that could give the iPad a run for its money, it was the Asus Transformer Prime. Its biggest disadvantage was the price at which it launched in India (Rs. 50,000 with the keyboard dock).

Today we have with us the Samsung Galaxy Note 800. Globally the device is called the Galaxy Note 10.1 N8000. The tablet brings with it some impressive specifications and nifty features too. It also brings with it the S Pen, which we first saw, in the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone-tablet hybrid. At its price - Rs. 40,000, can it compete with the iPad or the Transformer Prime? Let us find out.

Design and Build
Unbox the device and it is quite pretty looking. It has a white body with a silver border surrounding it. Straight up, the face of the device has the 10.1-inch display, front facing camera, ambient light sensor, and two speakers on either side of the screen. This is a refreshing design change when compared to the other tablets in the market where the speakers are either on the frame or the rear of the device.

The overall build of the Galaxy Note however is very plasticky. If you have seen the third generation iPad or the Asus Transformer Prime, then the build of this device unfortunately, in comparison feels a little cheap. Being built-out of plastic isn’t a bad thing – the Note 800 is quite a lightweight device at less than 600 grams – but we would have liked to see some aluminium or a rubberized finish or any material that would make the tablet feel more like a Rs. 40,000 device.

With the build out of the way, let’s take a look at the design. For those of you that are familiar with Samsung’s line-up of products would think that the Note 800 looks like the love child of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Samsung Galaxy Note!

In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy Note 800 has the Samsung proprietary dock at the bottom. This dock connector is very reminiscent of the Apple 30-pin dock connector. We wish that Samsung had stuck with microUSB as it is more universal and easily accessible.

On the top of the tablet we have all the controls neatly laid out. You have the power/sleep/wake button, volume rocker, micro SD card slot, an IR beam (which lets you use the device as a remote), headphones jack and a SIM card slot. The SIM card slot can be used not only to access 3G data but make calls as well. There is no earpiece on the Note 800 but you can use the on-board speakers and if you want privacy, the bundled headphones.

The bottom right of the Note 800 also houses the S Pen. It is a lot bigger when compared to the Galaxy Note, but its build is quite nice. Overall, the connectivity options on the Note 800 are what you’d expect from a tablet. The build quality is sub-par when compared to the competition but the trade off is that the device is really light weighing less than 600 grams. But the fact still remains that the Transformer Prime is a well-built device and that too manages to keep the weight under 600 grams (without the keyboard dock).

Features and Specifications
The build of the device may be sub par but when it comes to the power under the hood, the Galaxy Note 800 blows the competition straight out the window. To start with, it has a quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 CPU and a whopping 2GB of RAM. It shows off the Mali-400MP GPU and runs on Android 4.0 ICS. Two gigabytes of memory on a tablet is a first, its effects on the Galaxy Note 800 are quite visible. More about that will be covered in the performance section below.

To put things into perspective, here is a quick look at the specifications of the Asus Transformer Prime, Apple’s third-gen iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Note 800.

In terms of its features, the Note 800 is very well endowed. To start with the OS is skinned with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. The amount of customization that TouchWiz offers is nice and something we have come to like from the skin. It is also an advantage to those who have used other Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S III, or the Galaxy Tab 2, you will feel right at home here.

The Galaxy Note 800’s lock screen is simple and elegant. It has the watery effects that we have seen on the Galaxy S III - touch anywhere on the lock screen and you will see ripples. It is meaningless in terms of utility but somehow, its presence made us feel happy. The screen can be unlocked by swiping anywhere on the display.

The Note 800’s lock screen also gives you quick access to 4 apps. To access these apps simply swipe them, and the app launches. By default these apps are – S Note, Browser, Videos and Gallery.

Unlock the Galaxy Note 800 and you have access to five customizable home screens that you can load with apps and widgets.

At the bottom of the home screen you have access to the usual Android buttons – back, home and multitasking. There is another touch button present here which is a shortcut for taking screen shots. The bottom of the screen also has a dock that is hidden and can be accessed with a simple tap. This dock houses the shortcut to 10 apps and can be accessed at anytime, whether you are on the home screen or using a particular app. This dock can be edited to house the apps of your choice.

Visit page two to read more about the Galaxy Note 800, including the S Pen, its Peformance and Benchmarks, as well as the Verdict...