Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 WiFi: An 8-Inch Tablet With S Pen and 2GB RAM
When Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 8.0 in 2013, the company pitched it as a device that fit between the popular Galaxy Note II smartphone and the Note 10.1 tablet. The WiFi-only version quickly became the pick for anyone who wanted S Pen functionality without locking into a mobile data contract. With a quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM, and an 8-inch display, the slate borrowed heavily from the Galaxy S III design language while introducing a form factor that felt closer to a small notepad than a traditional tablet.
For shoppers across Australia, the Note 8.0 WiFi arrived at a moment when JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, and Officeworks were all expanding their tablet aisles. Many buyers in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane picked one up alongside a Telstra pre-paid SIM for travel, even though the WiFi model itself could not take a SIM card. The combination of a familiar Samsung TouchWiz interface and a sub-$400 price tag made it a sensible pick for tradies sketching job quotes on-site, university students annotating lecture slides, and parents looking for a family-friendly entertainment screen for the back seat on long drives down the Pacific Highway.
Design and portability
The Galaxy Note 8.0 WiFi is built around an 8-inch form factor that, at the time, sat in an awkward middle ground between the iPad mini and the various 7-inch Android slates flooding the market. Samsung kept the bezels reasonably slim and the overall weight at around 338 grams, which felt light enough to hold one-handed for a decent reading session. The white plastic back with a silver trim mimicked the look of the Galaxy S III and Note II, giving the tablet a familiar feel for anyone already inside the Samsung ecosystem.
Build quality was solid for the price bracket, even if it did not feel as premium as the aluminium iPad mini. The rear cover had a slight texture that helped with grip, and the curved edges made it comfortable to hold during extended sketching sessions with the S Pen. The tablet measured just under 8mm thick, slipping easily into a satchel or backpack pocket, which made it a popular choice for commuters hopping between train stations in the CBD. Unlike many rugged tablets pitched at Australian worksites, the Note 8.0 was clearly designed with lifestyle buyers in mind, and that focus showed through in every curve and button placement.
Display and multimedia
The 8-inch TFT display runs at a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels, which translates to roughly 189 pixels per inch. That figure was competitive with the Google Nexus 7 of the same era, although it fell short of the iPad mini's pixel density. Text remained crisp enough for reading ebooks and news apps, and the widescreen aspect ratio made landscape video playback feel natural on YouTube and catch-up TV services like ABC iview and SBS On Demand, which were already popular in Australian households.
Colour reproduction leaned towards the saturated side, a hallmark of Samsung's older panels, and the auto-brightness sensor did a respectable job adjusting to the harsh midday glare you get on a balcony in Perth or Adelaide. Watching downloaded movies on a long-haul Qantas flight was a perfectly reasonable experience with a pair of in-ear headphones plugged into the 3.5mm jack. The single rear speaker delivered passable audio for casual viewing, though most users would reach for a Bluetooth speaker or a pair of cans for serious listening.
S Pen features and productivity
The Wacom-powered S Pen tucked into the bottom-right corner of the Note 8.0 WiFi was the standout feature that separated the slate from the crowded Android tablet market. Pulling the stylus out triggered a radial menu of tools, including S Note for handwritten memos, a screen capture utility, and a launcher for Samsung's pen-friendly apps. For Australians who had grown up jotting down notes in class or sketching in a Moleskine, the idea of replacing paper with a digital equivalent was genuinely appealing.
Samsung preloaded a respectable collection of templates, including planners, calendars, and meeting minutes, which worked well for small business owners running through quotes with a client at a cafe in Newtown or Fitzroy. Air View let you hover the S Pen over content to preview emails, videos, and gallery thumbnails without tapping, while Popup Note let you scribble a phone number over any app without leaving the current screen. Compared with capacitive styluses sold at Officeworks, the pressure-sensitive S Pen felt closer to a real pen, with enough accuracy for handwriting recognition and light illustration work.
Hardware, performance, and storage
Under the hood, the Note 8.0 WiFi runs on a Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core chipset paired with 2GB of RAM and a Mali-400MP GPU. That combination was generous for an Android tablet in 2013 and meant the slate could juggle multitasking, split-screen apps, and S Pen input without choking. Browsing in Chrome with multiple tabs open, streaming Spotify in the background, and switching back to S Note to capture a quick thought all happened with minimal delay, especially after the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update that Samsung rolled out to Australian units.
Storage options started at 16GB, with a microSD slot accepting cards up to 64GB, which was essential given how quickly Samsung's TouchWiz skin, preloaded apps, and offline media libraries could chew through internal space. Australians heading off on a camping trip to the Red Centre or driving the Great Ocean Road could load the tablet with movies, music, and maps without worrying about running out of room. For a sense of how Samsung's software experience compared with rivals, our look at the Xiaomi Mi Pad coverage walks through a more performance-focused Android tablet of a similar size.
Battery life, connectivity, and cameras
Samsung fitted the Note 8.0 WiFi with a 4600mAh battery that comfortably delivered a full day of mixed use. Reading ebooks with the screen brightness set to about 50 percent, jotting down notes in S Note, checking email, and watching an hour of streaming video at night typically left around 20 percent in the tank by bedtime. Heavy users pulling long sessions at a desk in Surry Hills or Cremorne could still squeeze a second day out of the slate by enabling Samsung's power saving mode.
Connectivity centred on WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n with channel bonding, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS, but the headline omission for the WiFi model was cellular data. Australians wanting always-on connectivity had to step up to the Note 8.0 3G variant, which worked on Telstra and Optus 3G networks. The rear 5-megapixel camera was serviceable for document scanning and quick reference shots, while the 1.3-megapixel front camera handled Skype calls adequately, though the quality paled in comparison with the camera-first Nokia Lumia 1020 that arrived the same year.
Pricing in Australia and how it compares
When the Note 8.0 WiFi first reached Australian shelves in mid-2013, Samsung positioned it at around A$399 for the 16GB model, putting it squarely in competition with the iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7. JB Hi-Fi typically ran it with a small discount during back-to-school promotions, while Harvey Norman bundled it with a protective case and a one-year subscription to Samsung's Milk Music service. By the time stock wound down in 2014, clearance prices had dipped below A$300, which made it a tempting upgrade for anyone still holding onto an aging Galaxy Tab 7.0.
For shoppers weighing their options in 2013, the table below outlines how the Note 8.0 WiFi compared with three popular tablets of the era:
| Feature | Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 WiFi | Google Nexus 7 (2013) | Apple iPad mini (1st gen) | Asus Fonepad 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 8-inch, 1280x800 | 7-inch, 1920x1200 | 7.9-inch, 1024x768 | 7-inch, 1280x800 |
| Processor | Exynos 4412 quad-core | Snapdragon S4 Pro | Apple A5 | Intel Atom Z2420 |
| RAM | 2GB | 2GB | 512MB | 1GB |
| Storage | 16GB + microSD | 16GB/32GB | 16GB/32GB/64GB | 8GB + microSD |
| Stylus | Yes (Wacom S Pen) | No | No | No |
| OS | Android 4.1 (upgradable) | Android 4.3 | iOS 6 | Android 4.1 |
| Launch Price (AUD) | ~$399 | ~$299 | ~$369 | ~$299 |
The Note 8.0 WiFi earned its place in the conversation by offering stylus input, expandable storage, and 2GB of RAM at a price that undercut the iPad mini. It was not the fastest tablet on the market, and the display trailed the Nexus 7 in sharpness, but the S Pen experience was unmatched by anything in its price tier. For anyone embedded in the Samsung ecosystem, it was a no-brainer bridge between phone and laptop. Shoppers more interested in a polished slate experience may have preferred Apple's option, which is why so many Australians wandered over to the iOS lineup instead.
Pick up yours and make the most of it
If you are hunting for a Galaxy Note 8.0 WiFi today, second-hand listings on Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay Australia remain the most reliable source, with most units selling in the A$60 to A$120 range depending on condition and included accessories. Look for a model that still has its original S Pen tucked in the silo, as replacement styluses from Samsung are increasingly hard to source locally. Pair the tablet with a sturdy folio case from Officeworks, a quality microSD card for media, and you have a serviceable note-taking and reading companion for arvo sessions on the verandah.
Head over to our tablet and phone archives for more hands-on coverage, drop us a comment with your favourite use case for an 8-inch slate, and grab the latest deal alerts straight to your inbox to make sure you never miss a bargain.