While I haven't used the note 8, I do use the mini retina extensively as an e-reader, and for me it works great for that purpose. In my opinion, the 4:3 aspect ratio of the mini is better for reading than the 16:10 of the note; although they both have something close to an 8 inch screen, the mini screen is nearly half an inch wider. Of course the retina mini has a higher resolution as well. The s-pen looks nice if you want a device for drawing or that will do hand writing recognition or store hand written notes. If all you want is a pointer to highlight text, you can get a pen for any touch device.