It was clear right from the start that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and the Apple iPad mini will be direct competitors. Both devices are fighting for almost exactly the same customers – those who're on the lookout for a tablet, but a compact one. One that you can carry easily with you and hold like a real notebook.
But with two wonderful products like the Galaxy Note 8.0 and the iPad mini, the choice you have to do will surely not be easy. Both have valuable and different assets that will make you ask yourself which one to get... again, and again, and again... Let's see what we can do to help you with your choice!
Design
Let's start by comparing the external designs of the Note 8 and iPad mini! The two manufacturers have clearly chosen completely different paths when it comes to the design. The Note 8 has a glossy-plastic construction which feels good to the touch and makes the device easy to hold even with one hand only. Meanwhile, the iPad mini has a premium body made of metal. Apple's device is equally comfortable to hold. Don't be fooled by the thinner side bezels of the iPad mini. That won't cause any accidental presses because Apple has tweaked the device in such a way that it won't detect your thumbs (resting on the bezels and part of the screen) as presses. This will work in about 9/10 cases, which is about the same success rate you'll get with the wider bezel of the Note 8.0.
Both tablets are quite thin, though the iPad mini pushes this to the extreme. Apple's tablet is just a bit lighter – it weighs 312 grams versus 338 grams for the Note 8.0, but the difference in weight is pretty much negligible.
Display
Both devices use LCD TFT screens, but there's some noticeable difference between the two. Apple's product features a 7.9” screen with a resolution of 768 x 1024, while the Note 8 has an 8” screen with a slightly higher resolution of 800 x 1280 pixels. This difference may not seem so big, but it's just enough to make things on the Note 8's display a bit easier to read.
Color tones on the iPad mini, however, are more natural, as those on the Note 8.0 tend to gravitate towards the colder side. Viewing angles, brightness and outdoor visibility all seem to be pretty similar, but the Note 8.0's screen can become dimmer, which is very handy when one's using the tablet in the dark.
Interface and Functionality
If you thought the external designs of the two devices are different, wait til you see the operating systems! As you might expect, the Note 8.0 is loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Samsung's TouchWiz UX, while the iPad mini has the latest iOS version.
The differences are obvious – while the Galaxy Note 8 has widgets, many customization options, and overall one of the best user interfaces available on Android, the iPad mini has a simplistic interface consisting of an icon grid – not particularly fun and entertaining, but super efficient and easy to use.
Out of the box, the Apple iPad mini has a better QWERTY keyboard – it's a actually a superb keyboard. Meanwhile, the Note 8.0's one isn't exactly marvelous, in fact we find it to be mediocre, but the good news is that you can still install a better, third-party one and tweak it to your liking.
Internet and Connectivity
iPad mini has a wonderful browser, there's no doubt about that. Safari is super smooth and very responsive, but the Note 8.0 is almost equally responsive and even manages to beat the iPad mini in terms of performance in some situations. In addition, it also supports Adobe Flash Player, which is not available on the iPad mini. As you can imagine, there are still tons of sites online which utilize Flash for one thing or another.
Throw in the superior screen resolution of the Galaxy Note 8.0 and it easily becomes the better device with regards to web browsing.
The iPad mini is already available with the three biggest US carriers – AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, and it supports 4G LTE connectivity to make the most of these guys' networks. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note 8.0 is yet to get announced by US carriers. For the time being, we're only aware of the international model, which packs HSPA+ connectivity. Theoretically, the iPad mini should be able to establish a faster connection even when used on an HSPA+ network, but it isn't certain if this would happen in a real-life situation.
S Pen
A Note 8 feature that is nonexistent on the iPad mini is the S Pen, which works very well and allows you to take hand-written notes comfortably. There's a lot of custom software on the Note 8.0 which makes handwriting work very well, and it certainly is a wonderful feature that gives the Note 8.0 a certain degree of uniqueness.
Camera
Both the Galaxy Note 8 and the iPad mini come with 5MP cameras, but the images from the iPad mini come out slightly better. In most situations, you'll have a pretty hard time telling the difference between the two, but there are some instances where the iPad mini manages to expose its shots better. In addition, indoor photos have much more natural colors with Apple's tablet.
The iPad mini also has the advantage in terms of video recording. Its 1080p video footage has a noticeably higher amount of detail, compared to the 720p video recorded by the Note 8.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Sample Video:
Apple iPad mini Sample Video:
Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Indoor Sample Video:
Apple iPad mini Indoor Sample Video:
If the camera performance of your tablet is important to you, you should keep in mind the iPad mini's superiority in this aspect.
Multimedia
We're of the opinion that the Samsung product here will be better suited for watching video, because its screen has a wider aspect ratio. In addition, the open nature of its platform allows you to easily transfer your media files to its internal memory and start watching, while the same process is a bit more complicated with the iPad mini, as you have to go through iTunes syncing.
The speakers of the two tablets are almost equal in terms of loudness, with just a sight advantage for the iPad mini. However, Apple's tablet also produces a clearer sound, which makes listening to music or video watching a bit more pleasant.
Conclusion
Both tablets obviously have their pros and cons. While the iPad mini has a more stylish casing, the Galaxy Note 8.0 features an S Pen and a higher resolution. While the iPad mini is superior in terms of software ecosystem and camera, the Note 8.0 has a highly customizable OS, allowing you to tweak it to your liking.
The main point here is that the Galaxy Note 8.0 and the iPad mini are two very close competitors, which offer their own unique features that make them both equally relevant and worthy of their relatively high price tags.
Rad Slavov is the Editor-in-Chief at PhoneArena. He joined the media in 2008, right on the cusp of the modern smartphone revolution. Through time and perseverance, he amassed a great deal of knowledge and industry know-how, allowing him to guide and organize the company's growing line-up of talented content creators and ever-expanding content portfolio.
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