Samsung Galaxy Note 800: First Impressions

After launching Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in UK and USA, the company has now introduced it in India as the Samsung Galaxy Note 800. On the specs side, this tablet packs in the new 1.4GHz quad-core Exnyos processor, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal flash storage, and one can expand the memory via microSD cards of up to 32GB.

The 10.1-inch display comes with 1280x800p resolution, and there is a 7000 mAh battery on board. Just like the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 800 is also S-Pen optimised. It will retail at Rs. 39,990.

We were very excited when we saw the specifications of the tablet, and really looking forward to laying our hands on it. We have been playing around this tablet for a few hours now since Samsung had provided a unit pre-launch. However, the actual experience with the tablet has been bit of a disappointment.

Of late, there have been quite a few ivory white tablets in entry and high end tablet segments and Galaxy Note 800 is the latest to join the bandwagon. At just 0.35 inch thick, Samsung Galaxy Note 800 is slim and feels light. However, on the down side we found that it is a little too 'plasticy' for our taste. In fact some of the entry level tablets have a better casing than this one. This plasticky feel of the tablet in a way also makes the tablet look fragile.

To illustrate the same, when you try to hold the Galaxy Note 10.1 firmly, one can see the rear casing start to bend from the place that the pressure is being applied on it! This is something that one will not expect from even an entry level tablet, leave alone a premium one from the house of Samsung.

Moving on to the screen, from the makers of Super AMOLED one expects a cracker of a display especially for its tablet device. Even on this front, Galaxy Note 10.1 underwhelms with 1280 x 800 LCD screen. On the up side, we are very happy with the performance of the tablet (at least so far). It is able to multi-task like a pro and browsing, too, feels breezy.

What about the battery-life, camera and the bundled apps? Stay tuned for a detailed review coming soon. Meanwhile, check out our gallery of the Samsung Galaxy Note 800 a.k.a. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

Samsung Galaxy Note 800 hands on