$399 Galaxy Note 8 to Hit U.S. Stores April 11

It's official. U.S. residents would be able to buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 for $399 on April 11, Thursday.

The U.S. sales will follow the UK debut of the phone which was initially shown at the World Mobile Congress. The 16GB device will be a WiFi-only version.

It features 1.6GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, an S-Pen and 8-inch screen. Techies who have tried the device said it is snappy as expected, but they lament the lack of a voice call feature.

For expanded memory, the Note 8 will take up to 65GB microSD card and Samsung confirmed that it is working on 3G/LTE versions of the gadget to be sold through carriers.

In its review of the Galaxy Note 8, CNET said it is comfortable to hold and has the best-looking small tablet screen, while writing using the S-Pen feels natural and preferred over typing on its tablet screen.

On the minus side, CNET said the $399 price tag is too much for a small tablet despite its great features. It also complained about the face buttons that sometimes get in the way as well as the occasional performance hangs.

The Web site said Samsung may find it hard to sell due to other cheaper alternatives such as the Nexus 7 which retails for $200 and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini which starts at $330.

Although the Web site conceded that the Note 8 is the South Korean giant's best tablet yet, Nexus 7 is still the best bet for 8-inch tablets, while Apple fans would find the iPad Mini better because of the California tech firm's unbeatable app ecosystem for devices smaller, lighter and cheaper than the regular iPad.

The device runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and includes the TouchWiz UI skin.