Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 was a sight to behold in immaculate white but another looker is on its way - a charcoal black of the latest mini tablet, which also doubles as a big-sized smartphone, from the Asian tech giant.

We now have a glimpse of this Samsung phablet in glorious black, courtesy of Phone Arena, and the image showed a fine-looking tablet that brings with it the power mostly absent from the slate it aims to topple - the iPad Mini.

Awkward as it seems, the 8-inch tablet introduces call function that according to Engadget is a not a harmful addition at all for tablet users.

If wary of the funny looks that you may draw while holding up the Note 8.0 talking to somebody and practically covering your face, the problem is easily solved by grabbing a nice piece of earpiece, Engadget added.

And with at least two colour choices on the table, more reasons are now apparent to own the device, Phone Arena said.

Introduced with fresh Premium Suite features and an enhanced S-Pen, using the Note 8.0 "means that there are plenty of graphic intensive features on the slate that let you show off your creative side," added the tech blog site.

If not for the iPad DNA, the upcoming small Note slab from Samsung is a hands-down winner compared to the iPad Mini, according to early reviews.

Sporting a screen resolution of 1280 x 800 on TFT LCD, the Note 8.0 would have been miles away from the Apple small tablet had Samsung opted to deploy Super AMOLED or IPS display screen with the phablet.

Now Samsung will have to think hard on the reality that a few months after its scheduled Q2 2012 release, the Note 8.0 will have to compete with the iPad Mini 2 that is rumoured to carry Retina display and higher specs from the previous edition, Engadget said.

However, there is one area that the South Korean firm can attract higher buys for the quad-core Exynos-powered tablet, which spins away at 1.6GHz, lower price.

Apple sells the iPad Mini at $US329 for the basic model and the Note 8.0 would be served well for Samsung to either match or beat that price point.

A price range between $US250 and $US300 will definitely merit more than second looks for a compact and powerful tablet that is available in black and white and offers more possibilities than the iPad Mini.