Samsung’s announcement of its latest device — the Galaxy Note 8.0 has been widely seen as a direct competitor to Apple’s iPad mini.

Here is a quick look at how they compare across various parameters:

The screen:

The Galaxy Note 8.0 screen comes with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels which comes to 189 pixels per inch (ppi) since it an eight-inch device. It is powered by a 1.6 Ghz A9 quad-core processor. In terms of screen resolution, the Note 8.0 is kicking the iPad mini hard. The iPad mini in contrast has a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels with a screen resolution of 163 ppi, powered by a dual-core A5 processor. According to tech experts, the iPad mini’s screen has resolution has been a bit of a deal-breaker.

Camera:

The Note has a 5-megapixel back camera (plus a 1.3-megapixel one on the front for video calls).

The iPad mini has very similar camera capabilities. Its back camera is also 5 megapixel, while the front camera is slightly less powerful at 1.2 MP.

S Pen: Hover is the new touch!

Samsung is clearly counting on the S Pen to steal consumers away from the iPad mini, and has upgraded it to work better on tablet devices.

According to TechCrunch, the S Pen stylus has been upgraded to work both on the touchscreen of the Note 8.0 as well as with the physical navigation buttons, and Samsung is also extending the functionality of the pen in other ways. And the Air View feature, where users can initiate previews by hovering their pen over something without touching the screen, is now getting expanded to third party apps.

It seems that Flipboard has also got a serious upgrade for Galaxy Note 8.0 and users can now select and expand a tile by hovering the pen over a selection.

Other S Pen optimised features include Popup Note, Popup Video, Shape Match, Formula Match and Idea Sketch. Clearly with Galaxy Note 8.0, Samsung isn’t just competing at the level of raw specs but also offering some new features that Apple’s iPad mini clearly doesn’t.

Connectivity

The Note 8.0 supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and USB 2.0. Oh and users can make calls with the Galaxy Note 8.0 which is obviously a big plus. So its not just a mini-tablet but, also a pretty big smartphone. The device also comes with 2GB RAM. It will come in two variants — 16GB and 32GB. Its memory is expandable up to 64 GB using a microSD card.

The Note 8.0 has a 4600 mAH which battery which comes to around 17 watt-hour and so is slightly bigger than the iPad mini which has a 16.3-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery. In terms of connectivity the iPad mini has WiFi, Bluetooth, data and LTE. It comes in three variants — 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB.