All iPads Are you tempted by other tablets?

[BigMcGuire]

As for the many people saying apps are not optimised on Androids. Please. As if iPads do not have iPhone apps that are just scaled up.

No one ever said they didn’t exist. They’re just rare (for me and my usage). (I am probably not a normal iPad user).

Most of the iPad apps I have and currently use are absolutely beautiful on the larger iPad screens - definitely designed for an iPad with extra options and buttons to take advantage of the screen space, not just a blown up iPhone app.

 

[BigMcGuire]

All I can say, I still hadn’t moved an inch from iPad (despite having an old Air 2). Because it is a consumption device for me mostly but when I want to play with it (games, Garageband, some photo editing, video editing etc), it comes very handy. Android is still many steps behind and has not even a smallest part of apps that are available for iOS.



I have few questions.

Why would you want iPad Pro? Just for the OLED display? It barely differs from iPad Air, and you won’t feel a difference between M3 and M4. Air is much cheaper, if I were you I would have considered Air first.

Second question is why 1 TB? iPads are now USB-C and you can connect external drives any time, so you don’t have to overspend on storage anymore. Sure SD card is more convenient, sure Apple’s storage is overpriced. But overall experience is still worse on Samsung tablets.

As for the pencil, idk. Do you really need it for your tasks or it is more of an impulsive decision? Pencils are for artists, I’ve never considered one because I come from Steve Jobs era and his still support his “who needs a stylus?” philosophy. Same for keyboard, I have a Macbook Air for keyboard experience, a real laptop with real operating system

I can’t justify spending $600+ on an iPad but that’s for me. I get people who can, but I like to think there are more people like me than not so most people don’t need an iPad Pro. You can get some REALLY good deals on iPad Airs at Best Buy ($100-$150 off sometimes).

And agreed about the Apple Pencil - I could never make it work for me comfortably - and I have almost 500 Notability handwritten Apple Pencil notes. I write small and slanted very fast. Give me a Uniball Jetstream pen with the L refill and some Japanese paper and I’m in heaven - nothing replaces that, so I have been pen and paper for awhile.

I’m using a Bluetooth keyboard that can connect to 3 devices at once - writing this on my iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard.

 

[rui no onna]

Second question is why 1 TB? iPads are now USB-C and you can connect external drives any time, so you don’t have to overspend on storage anymore. Sure SD card is more convenient, sure Apple’s storage is overpriced. But overall experience is still worse on Samsung tablets.

There’s a limit to what you can store on external drives. Games and apps for example would have to be internal. Apple TV and iTunes downloads (and pretty much anything with DRM) would also need to be stored in the internal SSD.

Also, having a drive protruding from your iPad can be terribly inconvenient when you’re using the iPad in tablet mode.

Granted, I’m more interested in snagging a heavily discounted 2TB cellular M2 iPad Pro (last model with pSIM, I believe) rather than the current top of the line iPad Pro.

 

[Euroamerican]

I have been iOS assimilated. I actually forgot a fair amount of what I was doing on my Macs after a couple years of intense non-computer priorities in my personal life. The iOS experience between the phone and the tablet and the rare occurrences of using the desktop Mac is very seamless and very "out of the way" for anything other than how I need to use it to get things done.

I can't be bothered to have to learn another OS and workflow at this time.

So... Nope. Ain't looking at all at other tablets.

 

[martint235]

No one ever said they didn’t exist. They’re just rare. “Please?”

Most of the iPad apps I have and currently use are absolutely beautiful on the larger iPad screens - definitely designed for an iPad with extra options and buttons to take advantage of the screen space, not just a blown up iPhone app.

I think rare is pushing it.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I think rare is pushing it.

OK I’ll give you that, it definitely depends on the apps you use. Out of all the apps I use the few that come to mind are some old timekeeping/timesheet apps I have and the Tesla app. I don’t do social media so maybe I’m a bad gauge for “most” iPad apps.

 

[martint235]

OK I’ll give you that, it definitely depends on the apps you use. Out of all the apps I use the few that come to mind are some old timekeeping/timesheet apps I have and the Tesla app. I don’t do social media so maybe I’m a bad gauge for “most” iPad apps.

I’m pretty sure The Times in the UK is just the iPhone app blown up.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I’m pretty sure The Times in the UK is just the iPhone app blown up.

To further prove your point right - I avoid newspaper apps because they usually force ads - whereas if I access them via Safari I can Adblock their billions of ads (my wife’s employment gives me access to tons of newspaper sites).

I updated my original post to include that I may not be the best gauge for a normal iPad user.

 

[Momof9]

I am Apple all in - love how they all work so well together. But not my family - my younger girls do have iPads for drawing etc. But they both wanted an android for games, YouTube etc. They like android better. So I did look around and did get them what they wanted - but it NO way are they comparable to say the upper end of the iPad lineup. I think the top of the line Samsung was being compared to the airs and iPad still was a better tablet. yes the cost is more, but you are getting quality and long term support. Remember updates on Samsung are usually only for 2 years.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Is there an Android tablet with OLED in a size somewhat similar to iPad Mini?

That's what would sway me, as my iPad Mini is basically just a content consumption device.

The OS/ecosystem in particular is really immaterial and I'd honestly prefer some way to get a full "real" browser on there (for the extensions).

 

[sparksd]

Is there an Android tablet with OLED in a size somewhat similar to iPad Mini?

That's what would sway me, as my iPad Mini is basically just a content consumption device.

The OS/ecosystem in particular is really immaterial and I'd honestly prefer some way to get a full "real" browser on there (for the extensions).

No, no small form factor Android tablets with OLED out there (I don't count the Steam Deck as it's just a gaming console).

 

[Momof9]

Is there an Android tablet with OLED in a size somewhat similar to iPad Mini?

That's what would sway me, as my iPad Mini is basically just a content consumption device.

The OS/ecosystem in particular is really immaterial and I'd honestly prefer some way to get a full "real" browser on there (for the extensions).

not at all - my daughter has the latest from 2018 - horrible. She likes the small from factor....

 

[BigMcGuire]

not at all - my daughter has the latest from 2018 - horrible. She likes the small from factor....

Using an iPad mini 7 to type this now (with a Bluetooth keyboard) - I’m surprised how much I’m enjoying this after years and years of using the 11’ iPads. Lol

 

[SnowPenguin]

''''

never even seen an android tablet in person before lol. can't be much to be tempted by

You didn't? They are everywhere.

 

[turbineseaplane]

never even seen an android tablet in person before lol. can't be much to be tempted by

I see them all the time.

Odd.. Maybe you just haven't noticed I guess?

 

[okkibs]

But if we are streaming TV and watching youtube... a bigger screen makes a difference, right? That's the point of the Tab Ultra S10.

Sure if you're willing to pay twice as much as for that older Galaxy Tab tablet I guess it's a better experience with the bigger display. You are correct that the bigger display tablet makes more sense.

I think the reason why I think differently is that I don't consider 14" and even more to be tablet territory. I got a 14" Macbook with better ergonomics that I can just put down anywhere and tilt the display the way I want it. It doesn't have OLED but it's got the same brightness and good contrast. (I do think the miniLED panel is trash compared to OLED due to the ghosting and excessive blooming but for content consumption it's good enough. It does do real HDR after all.)

Last year I tried out the 13" M4 iPad Pro (and ended up choosing the 11" once more), it's heavy and I don't understand how I can hold it comfortably. That Samsung is probably even heavier and of course bigger so I would need some accessoires to make sure it's rugged and won't bend to hell and back in my backpack and also I'd need a stand or case that holds it up where it won't fall over even with the charge cable plugged in.

On flights I use my iPad just fine and for short hauls where I fly economy there wouldn't be space to use a 14" tablet. And with case/keyboard/stand it would probably not save me much weight compared to simply bringing my Macbook instead. All of this is mostly my personal preference but I really see these big tablets as laptops without most of the functionality.

It's still cheaper to buy a brand new 14" Galaxy Tab with OLED than a 14" MBP that's for sure. So purely based on pricing the Samsung might be a better choice.

 

[tekboi]

I have both Android Tablets and iPads.

I like them both for different reasons. The android tablet lets me easily side-load other applications, run emulators, termux, and tons of other stuff that Apple's closed ecosystem will not allow. The old DeX mode on android truly gives it a laptop field, while iPadOS 26 is a lot closer to giving this experience, it cannot match DeX which is essentially a version of linux on your iPad.

On the flipside, Android apps are not nearly as optimized for tablets as they are for iPad. And if I had to give one of my tablets up, it would be a no-brainer. I'm keeping my iPad and ditching the Android devices.

 

[rui no onna]

No, no small form factor Android tablets with OLED out there (I don't count the Steam Deck as it's just a gaming console).

The Steam Deck doesn’t run Android anyway. It runs SteamOS on top of Arch Linux, iirc.

Works as desktop in a pinch if you have a mouse/keyboard/monitor setup.

 

[rui no onna]

I see them all the time.

Odd.. Maybe you just haven't noticed I guess?

US here. I rarely see tablets outside. Most folks seem perfectly happy using just their phones.

When I do see tablets, they’re usually either iPads or Amazon Fire for Kids.

 

[Digitalguy]

I am Apple all in - love how they all work so well together. But not my family - my younger girls do have iPads for drawing etc. But they both wanted an android for games, YouTube etc. They like android better. So I did look around and did get them what they wanted - but it NO way are they comparable to say the upper end of the iPad lineup. I think the top of the line Samsung was being compared to the airs and iPad still was a better tablet. yes the cost is more, but you are getting quality and long term support. Remember updates on Samsung are usually only for 2 years.

You have such outdated info... Samsung updates the Tab S line as much as iPad pro (7 OS updates)
And the air is better than the S line just in terms of CPU power, the Samsung ones have much better screen (Oled 120 hz, with antireflective coating), much better speakers, more RAM, wacom pen included... even the FE line is far from what you describe

 

[martint235]

US here. I rarely see tablets outside. Most folks seem perfectly happy using just their phones.

When I do see tablets, they’re usually either iPads or Amazon Fire for Kids.

Come to London. People use tablets as cameras here

 

[wmadan]

I get tempted by and end up purchasing a Samsung tablet from time to time because of the Wacom EMR digitizer and better inking experience when handwriting notes. Apple can't match that, IMO. But after using the Galaxy Tabs for a few months I get swayed back to iPads because the hardware is better and software is so much more polished.