For some people, a large-screen smartphone is a must.
This is undoubtedly the type of demographic gravitating to the large phablets currently skirting the line between tablet and smartphone. As we’ve previously discussed on TG Daily, Samsung has offered a lineup of phablets in the past, including its 5.5-inch Galaxy Note.
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to see someone talking on one of these large-screen devices, they honestly look quite awkward holding a giant phone up to their ear.
Nevertheless, Samsung is betting that phablet fans will be willing to use a device with an even larger screen in the form of the Galaxy Note 8.0.
Then again, I’m not sure if a device with a screen measuring eight-inches can even be called a phablet. To be sure, I’m thinking this is more like a tablet which happens to have the ability to make phone calls.
I can only imagine people will look at you quite oddly when you hold a decently sized tablet up to your ear to make phone calls. I also imagine that the width of the device will make holding it comfortably in a single hand rather difficult.
Minor quips about the screen size aside, the Galaxy Note 8.0 – which includes a microSD card slot for storage expansion – is powered by a 1.6 GHz Samsung Exynos 4 quad-core processor paired with 2 GB of RAM and up to 32 GB of storage.
The tablet tips the scales at 12 ounces, with an 8-inch screen that renders at 1280 x 800. Additional key hardware specs include integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, integrated GPS and support for HSPA+. The tablet runs Android 4.1.2 with the Samsung TouchWiz UI on top.
As expected, the phablet supports Samsung’s S Pen software and is packaged with a stylus – allowing user to take notes by simply writing on the screen. The tablet has an integrated IR port allowing it to be used as remote control as well.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 is slated to ship in Q2 2013, with pricing and carrier availability still pending.
