Samsung Galaxy Note 8 out in the UK, costs a pricey £339

Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 tablet has landed in the UK, giving British shoppers a first opportunity to throw down cash for the teeny tablet.

Currently the 8-inch Note is only on sale in Samsung's flagship shop in London's Westfield Stratford City. If you don't fancy hoofing it to London just to buy a tablet, Samsung says more retailers will be getting their mitts on the device, so hold tight.

I called the shop in question, and was told you'll be paying a costly £339 for the privilege of owning the 16GB Wi-Fi only Note 8, which is currently available in white.

Unfortunately, as early prices suggested, Samsung has made its newest gadget far too expensive. £339 is a lot of cash compared with the £159 Nexus 7, which boasts similar specs and an untouched version of Android, making it first in line for software updates.

That price tag also makes the Note 8 more costly than the £269 iPad mini, which we criticised at launch for putting undue strain on shoppers' wallets.

The Note 8 has an 8-inch display that crams in 1,280x800 pixels, as well as a quad-core processor and a 5-megapixel camera. On the software side, this Nexus 7-rival is powered by Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, though Google's software is hidden beneath a layer of Samsung's own TouchWiz interface.

Like the other slates in the Note stable this 8-inch gadget plays host to a stylus, which you'll use for doodling and sketching on the tablet's surface, right up until you invariably lose it down the back of your sofa or your dog mistakes it for a delicious snack.

Will you be buying the Note 8? Or does the high price put you off? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.