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Samsung has been showing its superiority for quite so long around the smartphone market especially with its flagship devices under the Samsung GALAXY Note series.
The real flagship in this Note series are actually the Samsung GALAXY Note 1, 2, 3 and 4, of course, the “phablet” models.
(HP Slate 7 Extreme VS Samsung GALAXY Note 8 Specs Comparison)
However, seeing that all of Samsung GALAXY Note tablets also share the same exact spec sheet and even design of the phablet variants, then all of these Note tablets must also be considered as “the real flagship devices” as well.
The reason why Samsung GALAXY Note series has been so awesome is mostly thanks to its amazing S-Pen stylus that always comes packed on this series.
Not only is this S-Pen so impressive in terms of features and writing experience, but you can literally use this stylus to create some beautiful professional paintings out of it.
And that just shows how advanced all the technology behind this stylus.
And the fact that Samsung GALAXY Note series always receives the best hardware specs from Samsung, really makes this series stand out among its rivals on the market.
Not to mention, its 4K video recording capability also puts this series up ahead than even the iPhones.
However, besides Samsung GALAXY Note with its amazing S-Pen, there’s one other great note-taking tablet that actually has been one of my favorite tablets since 2 years ago.
This one is – you probably already know about it -, HP Slate 7 Extreme.
There are many reasons why i’m really impressed a lot with this tablet.
And i’ve already mentioned them a lot in many of my previous reviews – like its amazing stylus, powerful gaming performance, Tegra 4 processor, great sound quality, good cameras, modern-looking design and many more.
This is the reason why today, i’m really excited to bring up these 2 awesome note tablets in my next tablet comparison review.
I think the comparison of both devices would be pretty interesting to see because these tablets have their own strengths and also weaknesses, despite being the same note-taking tablets.
I also think their gaming performance could also take an integral part especially to determine which one of these tablets are more powerful in performance.
Well, if you’re also interested to see how these 2 tablets fare against each other, including my scrutiny on their gaming performance, then here you go, the comparison review between HP Slate 7 Extreme vs Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
Introduction
Samsung GALAXY Note series has been really popular globally in the past few years.
More impressively, this Note series has been one of the best selling devices even on both smartphone and tablet markets (but of course, the phablet model is the one that always gets most of the sales).
The thing that attracts most of the people to buy this device is definitely its great stylus.
It’s just so amazing you can literally use it to create some beautiful paintings out of it. And this is already impressive for today’s modern smartphones, or even more than greater for today’s standards.
Around 2 years go (or so), Samsung decided to make the 8-inch model of Samsung GALAXY Note 2, to accompany the 10.1-inch Note tablet.
This device turned out to be a great success for the company as everybody – especially designers or artists - really loved it a lot especially given its ideal 8-inch screen size, which is not too big and not too small.
Just like the Note 2 and Note 10.1 devices, this Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is also really impressive in the whole aspect, not just its stylus experience.
Long story short, back in 2012, if you were looking for a great Note tablet, then Samsung GALAXY Note 8 was definitely your best shot out there.
Besides Samsung GALAXY Note 8, there are actually some other note-dedicated devices around the tablet market – like Microsoft Surface Pro, Toshiba Excite Write, HP Slate 7 Extreme and some other more.
However, from all of those note-taking devices, the only one tablet that makes me really impressed a lot is definitely HP Slate 7 Extreme.
I think it’s just amazing to see an affordable device that offers a lot of benefits to its users.
The stylus of HP Slate 7 Extreme is one of many things that i really like from this device. Similar just like the S-Pen of Samsung GALAXY Note 8, the stylus of HP Slate 7 Extreme is also amazing especially in terms of writing experience.
Its touch response is really fast and in real time, the results are really realistic, there is palm-rejection technology (in order to prevent your palm from being registered) and not to mention, some other useful features dedicated for the stylus of HP Slate 7 Extreme.
In fact, this device also provides the dedicated hole/port to keep the stylus on the rear-cover when it's not needed, just like the one found on Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
Compared to Samsung GALAXY Note 8 – in my own opinion -, I think HP Slate 7 Extreme is a better tablet in the whole aspect than Samsung’s device.
And it’s mostly because HP Slate 7 Extreme is not only great with its stylus, but it also has powerful gaming performance, sharp cameras, good sound quality, modern-looking design and of course, a monster Tegra 4 processor.
With all of these elements, there’s no doubt that HP Slate 7 Extreme is a great all-around device.
But the questions remain. With all of these great things found on both note-taking tablets,
Does HP Slate 7 Extreme have what it takes to be Samsung GALAXY Note 8 killer? Which one that is a much better gaming tablet? Is it really worth it to buy any of these tablets right now?
Design
In terms of design, i think i have to go with HP Slate 7 Extreme here because i’ve always been a big fan of the modern-looking design of HTC’s flagship smartphone, HTC One – which actually is the inspiration behind the design of NVIDIA Tegra Note, the reference device used to manufacturer HP Slate 7 Extreme.
On the other hand, i think Samsung GALAXY Note 8 doesn’t look quite elegant and premium – despite being a flagship tablet –, especially compared to the newer Samsung GALAXY Note 3 series (Note 3, Note 10.1 and Note Pro 12.2) or Note 4.
It looks really chubby and bulky at the glance, mostly thanks to its fully rounded rectangular looking design – which has been the ‘trademark’ of older-gen Samsung GALAXY devices.
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| HP Slate 7 Extreme |
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| HP Slate 7 Extreme |
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| Samsung GALAXY Note 8 |
And this has something to do with its great sound quality.
According to many reviews i’ve gathered on YouTube, the sound quality of HP Slate 7 Extreme is really great, it sounds really loud and clear, making the experience of playing games or watching movies more realistic for users.
And more impressively, the sound doesn’t get muffled even if you hold the device with your 2 hands and cover the speaker grilles.
Besides that great sound quality, the design of HP Slate 7 Extreme actually looks more modern and elegant compared to the chubby looking Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
Not to mention, its rear cover – in my opinion – looks more professional and elegant especially with “HP” logo engraved on the center.
This is probably the reason why i think HP Slate 7 Extreme has a much better design than Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
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| HP Slate 7 Extreme | Samsung GALAXY Note 8 |
|---|---|
| No SIM Released December 2013, 7.0 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels, (~216 ppi pixel density) Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) Nvidia Tegra 4 Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 CPU 1 GB RAM 5 MP rear-facing camera, autofocus, HDR VGA front-facing camera microSD card slot for up to 32 GB 16 GB Internal storage, No GPRS No EDGE Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth USB No Radio GPS HDMI port Java Non-removable Li-Po 4100 mAh battery | SIM Micro-SIM Released April 2013 8.0 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen 800 x 1280 pixels (~189 ppi pixel density) Exynos 4412Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU Mali-400MP GPU 2 GB RAM Android OS 4.1.2 Jelly Bean 5 MP rear-facing camera, autofocus 1.3 MP front-facing camera MicroSD card slot for up to 64 GB 16/32 GB Internal storage GPRS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Bluetooth Infrared port USB No Radio GPS Java Li-Ion 4600 mAh battery |
On the hardware side, both devices actually can be considered as equally great.
However, the display of HP Slate 7 Extreme looks sharper given that the 720p resolution (1280x800 pixels) is crammed on a smaller 7-inch screen, as opposed to the same 720p resolution crammed on the 8-inch display of Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
Meanwhile, on the sector of performance, i think HP Slate 7 Extreme looks more superior with its monster Tegra 4 processor plus 72-core GeForce ULP GPU, compared to the quad-core Exynos 4412 processor and Mali-400MP GPU found inside the Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
When doing multitasking, however, Samsung’s tablet might be the winner here as it has bigger 2Gb of RAM than the 1GB of RAM of HP Slate 7 Extreme.
However, Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is gonna use most of memory for all of TouchWiz and note-dedicated features (which is a really heavy UI), while HP Slate 7 Extreme is really efficient with the use of memory, thanks to the use of stock vanilla Android UI on this device.
The camera department of both devices is probably ‘on the same page’ on paper and quality.
Samsung – as we all know – has been doing great with the cameras of its GALAXY devices, especially the flagship models.
Meanwhile, the cameras of HP Slate 7 Extreme are also not too shabby at all.
According to some reviews on YouTube, this tablet impressively is able to take decent shots, even with the front-camera as well.
In terms of battery life, Samsung GALAXY Note 8 looks better than HP Slate 7 Extreme – of course on paper.
It’s powered by 4600mAh battery capacity, as opposed to the 4100mAh battery found inside the HP Slate 7 Extreme.
However, Samsung’s device comes pre-installed with some heavy TouchWiz UI, compared to the stock vanilla Android UI on HP Slate 7 Extreme.
So when it comes to longevity, i think both devices are equally great on that sector.
Screen
As 2013-released tablets, no wonder if both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Samsung GALAXY Note 8 are still on the same bandwagon – 720p display.
However, in terms of sharpness, i think it’s clear that HP’s slate has the edge compared to Samsung Note 8 especially because all the pixels of 720p resolution are crammed into a smaller 7-inch display, as opposed to the same 720p resolution on a larger 8-inch screen on Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
So as a result, the screen of HP Slate 7 Extreme looks sharper and more crisp, not to mention, its pixel density is higher than on the Note 8 (216ppi VS 189ppi).
But even so, both tablets are equally good on this department, if not the best. The text looks clear, image looks crisp and everything on the screen looks pretty sharp.
User Interface
As mentioned above, Samsung GALAXY Note 8 has a much heavier UI compared to the UI of HP Slate 7 Extreme.
And this is not surprising because heavy UI has always been the ‘trademark’ of Samsung GALAXY devices. That’s why many of its devices have some huge RAM on board.
So no wonder if this Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is equipped with a bigger 2GB of RAM.
But this is probably really important for this device because it is a note-taking tablet and Samsung has been really good at making this type of device in the past few years (as shown on Samsung GALAXY Note series).
So by using a huge 2GB of RAM, Samsung is able to put a lot of stuff on the software to make a better writing or note experience for the users.
This really contradicts with HP Slate 7 Extreme that is only equipped with just 1GB of RAM.
This actually is not very surprising given that this tablet comes with the stock Android UI, which is not as heavy as the TouchWiz UI on Note 8 and its software doesn’t consume too much memory, although it still comes pre-installed with some stylus-related apps and tasks.
Both devices are actually great on this department.
Samsung GALAXY Note 8 has a lot of features going on in the UI – especially related to its S-Pen -, while HP Slate 7 Extreme has a really simple stock Android UI but it still has some great stuff especially the ones that have something to do with its stylus.
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Samsung has been really great at making fast-performing GALAXY devices in the past few years. And Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is no exception.
Thanks to its quad-core Exynos 4412 processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM and Mali-400MP GPU, this tablet is no doubt really fast and smooth in performance.
Even with Samsung’s usual TouchWiz UI – which usually is heavy in terms of features and pre-loaded apps -, this Note 8 is still blazing fast especially for doing some basic daily tasks like watching HD movies, browsing the web, reading books/magazines, controlling UI and even playing games.
It goes the same with HP Slate 7 Extreme.
I actually think that this HP’s tablet is gonna be much faster and smoother than Samsung GALAXY Note 8 given that this HP tablet only comes pre-installed with stock vanilla Android UI.
So even if this tablet is only equipped with 1GB of RAM, its overall performance will still be consistently smooth, even much faster than Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
Meanwhile, as far as the gaming performance goes, in my opinion, HP Slate 7 Extreme is more superior than Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
This is not very surprising given that Tegra 4 processor has been known (even in many benchmark tests) to have a really powerful performance than any other other chipsets in 2013.
And with its 72-core GeForce ULP GPU and 1GB of RAM, any Android games that you see today on the market right now.
Even the latest graphics intense titles like Modern Combat 5, GTA San Andreas or Asphalt 8: Airborne -, all can be played in buttery smooth performance and of course, in full highest graphics on HP Slate 7 Extreme.
On the other hand, even though i know that Mali-400MP GPU is also a powerful GPU – as seen on Archos Gamepad 2 and Mali-400-powered tablets -, it’s not as powerful as the 72-core GeForce GPU found on Tegra 4 processor.
This Note 8 tablet may be capable to handle games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Modern Combat 4 (and 5) or NOVA 3 smoothly in full graphics.
However, for a much heavier game like GTA San Andreas, i think this tablet will suffer a lot when playing this game in full highest graphics (with full visual effects, resolution, objects, reflection, etc).
But even so, this game is still playable in medium graphics.
In terms of gaming experience, i also think that HP Slate 7 Extreme has the superiority here compared to Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
It has much better sound quality (thanks to its dual-front-speaker grilles) – making the gaming experience more realistic -, it has THD well-optimized games for Tegra 4 tablets, it has a great gaming feel and grip on its design, and the most importantly, it’s powered by Tegra 4 processor, which is MADE for gaming.
Camera
Besides Apple with its iPad, Samsung has also been known very well around the tablet market as the manufacturer that can deliver great quality cameras on its GALAXY devices – especially the flagship models.
And this company is still very consistent on that sector until now.
Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is a flagship device in 2013, so no wonder if Samsung GALAXY Note 8 receives the best treatment from this manufacturer.
Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is equipped with a 5MP camera and the other 1.3MP camera on the front.
In terms of quality, there’s no doubt that the cameras – especially the rear one – are capable to deliver great and sharp quality photos/videos to the users.
In fact, the cameras of this device are probably on par with the cameras found on iPads (of course, the ones released in 2013).
So if you’re into photography, you’re gonna be glad to know that your hobby will be well accommodated on this device.
The great thing is, you can also do some creative stuff on your taken photos with its S-Pen. Interestingly, it goes the same with the cameras of HP Slate 7 Extreme.
According to many reviews i’ve gathered on YouTube, this tablet impressively is able to take some decent shots with its 5MP rear-facing camera.
In fact, i’ve also already seen the photo quality of its front-facing shooter, which is not that bad for VGA quality camera.
And just like Samsung Note 8, you can also do some awesome stuff in your photos with the stylus of this tablet.
Battery Life
On paper, Samsung GALAXY Note 8 looks more superior with its 4600mAh battery capacity, compared to the smaller 4100mAh battery found inside HP Slate 7 Extreme.
However, in terms of battery life in real world implementation, i think both devices are equally great and could deliver an all-day-long battery life to users, of course in moderate use.
And that’s mostly because HP Slate 7 Extreme comes with a pure stock vanilla Android UI – without any bloatwares or unnecessary pre-loaded features and tasks -, as opposed to the heavy fully-featured TouchWiz UI on Note 8, especially with its stylus-related apps and tasks - which could really be power hungry in the long run.
However, if you’re a power hungry and you’re gonna use any of these tablets to do some heavy intense tasks without resting the screen – like for watching HD movies in marathon or playing games in the row -, then of course, its battery life would drop drastically faster to just around 4 to 6 hours, probably less than that.
My Personal Opinions
So in conclusion, i personally think that, as note-taking devices, both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Samsung GALAXY Note 8 are decent quality tablets. No doubt about that.
It has a fast-responsive stylus, it has some cool pre-loaded apps/tasks related to its stylus and the writing experience found on these tablets is just great.
However, given that Samsung has years of experience in note-tablet category, then of course, its Samsung GALAXY Note 8 is more superior than HP Slate 7 Extreme, especially in terms of features, pre-loaded apps/tasks and all the technology behind its stylus.
However, as gaming devices, i think HP Slate 7 Extreme has the edge here compared to Samsung GALAXY Note 8 especially given that this HP’s tablet is actually intended by HP as a pure gaming tablet.
And that shows perfectly when this device handles games like Modern Combat 4 (and 5), NOVA 3, Asphalt 8: Airborne or even GTA San Andreas – which all of these games will perform smoothly and in full highest graphics.
This contradicts with Samsung GALAXY Note 8 that is only capable to handle Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3 and Asphalt 8: Airborne in full highest graphics, while GTA San Andreas only runs smoothly in medium graphics setting.
The gaming experience of HP Slate 7 Extreme is also the thing that really stands out compared to Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
Besides its powerful gaming performance, HP Slate 7 Extreme also has a much better sound quality (thanks to dual-front-speaker grilles), much bigger THD well-optimized game catalog (games that have more improved graphics and visual effects) and its design is also really ideal as a gaming tablet.
And this is amazing for me because – just like Samsung GALAXY Note 8 -, HP Slate 7 Extreme is also intended by the manufacturer as a note-taking device.
And more impressively, the stylus and the writing experience of HP Slate 7 Extreme are also as great as Samsung GALAXY Note 8 (as shown on comparison tests between NVIDIA Tegra Note vs Samsung GALAXY Note 8 on NVIDIA’s official video on YouTube).
So overall, i think HP Slate 7 Extreme is a much better tablet than Samsung GALAXY Note 8.
It may not have the 2GB of RAM (because it doesn’t need to as it comes with stock Android UI), or larger 8-inch display.
However, in the whole aspect, what HP Slate 7 Extreme has to offer to users is probably better than Samsung GALAXY note 8, especially as a gaming tablet.
- It has more powerful Tegra 4 processor (which is made for gaming by the way),
- it has better sound quality (thanks to dual-front-speaker grilles),
- it has more modern-looking design,
- it has amazing stylus,
- it has great gaming performance and experience
- and pretty much everything about HP Slate 7 Extreme is just better than Samsung GALAXY note 8.
I mean, if you’re looking for a pure note tablet, then Samsung GALAXY Note 8 can be your choice here.
Meanwhile, if you want to buy a great note device that has powerful gaming performance, then your destination is definitely HP Slate 7 Extreme.
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