Samsung is definitely riding the high tide, as two of its latest mobile products - the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 8.0 - topped Consumer Reports' rankings.

The company's new smartphone and tablet were highly praised for their performance, with both receiving lots of positive remarks from Consumer Reports.

The Samsung Galaxy S4, the company's new flagship smartphone, is now officially Consumer Reports' new "top-rating" smartphone, dethroning the LG Optimus G from the top spot it occupied for several months.

The smartphone ranked top with three major mobile carriers in the U.S.: AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The Verizon Wireless Samsung Galaxy S4, meanwhile, was late to the party as usual and is only shipping now to consumers. The handset is also available from various other local mobile operators in the region.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 got top scores for a number of categories, including usability, messaging and voice calls. Consumer Reports also notes that "battery life and voice quality varied slightly between cell carriers." The previous top-rated smartphone, the LG Optimus G, had the same note.

On the tablet front, it seems that Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet impressed Consumer Reports considerably more than Apple's iPad Mini did. The device scored 84 points in the company's survey, outshining its iOS archrival.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 got top scores in the "7- to 8-inch Wi-Fi tablets" rankings, with the mention that it "offers stellar performance." The Galaxy Note 8.0 is the main iPad Mini challenger and although it costs $70 more than Apple's tablet it packs some features the iPad Mini doesn't. Samsung's 8-inch slate has a stylus, a memory card reader that makes up for the limited 16GB of internal storage and GPS support, while the iPad Mini has none of these features.

The Galaxy Note 8.0 hit store shelves on its home turf back in late April. The tablet has a smaller screen than the 10.1-inch Galaxy Note, but is part of the same family and comes as the fourth-generation Galaxy Note.

Leaving Samsung aside, Consumer Reports also notes other products such as Coby tablets with 7-, 8- and 10.1-inch display sizes, the Archos Gamepad and the Windows 8-powered Dell Latitude 10 Essentials.