Recently I ordered a new Fire tablet online (after I learned Best Buy hadn’t had any for sale for ages, this despite literally the entire line being on open display…I really don’t get modern capitalism at all). I got it largely for Google Play, and specifically for one massive game that was getting really sluggish on my old Fire tablet. What a shock to learn that…for no reason that was ever offered…the new tablet couldn’t download the app that the old one could. (You want to explain why this is, knock yourself out; I’m more than satisfied with “big corporations are scum and will screw you over for no good reason”.) So, after going through a lot of trouble to return the useless thing, I’m now in the market for an Android tablet. At present the only things I know about this device are that Wal-Mart sells them and last I checked at least one model runs Google Play.
I’ve always been terrible at researching electronics, and you people have always been so spot-on (and fast!) about recommendations, so I figured I’d throw it out here. Here’s what I’m after:
Just so we’re perfectly clear, tablet, NOT phone (I already have a perfectly functional IPhone). I’m getting this for games, maybe some occasional stuff I do with my Fire tablet like taking pictures, and size, in particular readability, matters to me. Something the size of my Fire tablet and my old IPad (I think 10" x 8") is plenty sufficient.
My Fire tablet has 26.45GB capacity. Recently I ran up against it at least twice due to the increasing demands of my huge game (currently 5.96GB) and had to delete things. I don’t think it’s going to get much more massive, but you never know. I’d like 64GB, but I’d be satisfied with 40-50GB. 32GB is the minimum I will consider.
I don’t intend to get a subscription or premium service or anything like that. All I need is a working Google Play app which I can download games from. (The game in question has in-game purchases.) I would be interested in hearing what kind of subscriptions you have and what you think of them.
Any case must have freely adjustable angles. This is absolutely non-negotiable. I will prop the device up against a flowerpot before I’ll accept goddam preset fixed carved in stone completely freaking useless angles. (Why yes, that’s another thing I got taken on, why do you ask? )
I don’t need anything fancy like a keyboard or stylus. I found that pointing devices are way more inconvenient than just having a bottle of glass cleaner on hand.
Any Android is going to be a steal compared to Apple’s white elephant garbage (seriously, do not get me started ), so price isn’t an issue so long as it’s not a total ripoff.
I’ve been happy with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S series (currently S8), although I don’t do any gaming, so I can’t comment on its suitability for that. I do know that the S series is the top of the line, and the Tab A series is the budget line, the display and most other features are superior in the S line.
When it’s time for me to buy a new one, I usually find a new or refurbished model that’s two or three steps down from the current top of the line. Usually about half the price of the current flagship model.
A couple of questions - first, if your game is a big issue it’s probably worthwhile for us to know what it is, or if you’re not comfortable sharing it (which is fine!) a list of it’s actual requirements at least would be a good idea.
Second, do you have a price range in mind? Because that’ll also make a huge difference in what I’d recommend.
Third, did you want/need an LTE/Cellular Tablet, or planning on getting by fine on the more typical Wifi only tablet (I have both, so I ask).
IMHO - no matter your choice, I lean heavily towards the side of whatever tablet you can get with the least bloatware possible. I love Samsung hardware historically, but have rarely bought their products in recent years because of the overwhelming bloat issues they had about 10 years back. It may be better now… but, damn, it was bad when you had to manually load Chrome because it came with “Samsung Internet”.
So my first response would echo @Reply and say a Pixel tablet. But they’re harder to get at a lower price point. I’m not saying that they aren’t worth the price (especially if you can get a sale), but they may well be more than you need at the near $400 price point. Which brings me back to knowing what sort of game/requirements you’re zeroing in on.
I’m currently using a Samsung Tab A7 (they’re now on A9+) and prior to that I had a couple tablets from the Lenovo Tab line.Yes, both call their tablet line “Tab”. I was perfectly happy with the Lenovo brand but Costco happened to have a sale on the Samsung at the time I was ready to upgrade. My next tablet will probably be between the two based on which has the better deal for the specs at the time.
My tablets are all 10” displays as I don’t casually travel with them and 10” is what I like for bed/sofa use. Both are expandable with SD cards which is where I drop any PDFs or other media I might want on them, saving the internal storage for apps.
I mainly use my tablets for casual internet and media consumption. I sometimes play a game if I’m on an airplane or in a hotel but my tablet gaming is limited to old Kairosoft “sims” and Letter Quest. They’ve always been perfectly fine for that sort of thing but I haven’t used them with anything that takes more speed or snappiness than those marble shooting/matching games. I don’t use cases (and they never came with one) so I can’t speak for angles.
My experience is that Fire tablets usually can actually install any apps that any Android tablet can use, but you have to know how to sideload apps, and then install 4 applicationt to run the Google Play Store on the device. (Or just sideload every app you want to run)
Last I checked, there really aren’t any other tablets of the same general price to performance ratio. Everything else will either be cheap offbrand garbage or more expensive, usually significantly.
Now this is general information. It’s possible there are apps that don’t work right on a Fire Tablet even with this method. I’m curious what app you couldn’t run.
(I hope it’s not an issue of the app being 32-bit, with the newer tablets being 64-bit, as it won’t matter what tablet you get if that’s the case.)
I didn’t really think it would be important, but the game in question is Touhou LostWord, which I cited in post 224 and post 327 of this thread. It’s a gacha game meaning that it’s constantly adding things. It’s not that demanding in terms of technical aspects (the majority of the graphics are still pictures), but there has to be memory capacity. Any other games on it are going to be, well, tablet games. Temple Run 2? Subway Surfers? Doodle Jump? Word Cookies? Roll The Ball? That sort of thing. Real low-key and simple. (I don’t really need a case for Touhou LostWord, but anything requiring precise movements or where I have to hold the device, it’s going to help a lot.)
I’d consider $230 to be a decent price, but if I had to pay a little higher for a top-of-the-line system, I wouldn’t mind.. I don’t have a problem with spending $300 on a superfast, reliable tablet that’ll provide 4-8 years of excellent service, I have a problem with spending $1,100 on an overrated defective gizmo that’ll become a bookend in 15 months (mumble grumble Apple mumble grumble… ).
I really, really do not want to go online for this. That it’s become my only outlet for pants in my size and replacement shaver heads is painful enough, and I’m still pretty raw over having to return the Fire tablet two days after I got it. I have access to Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, and Walmart. I can check out three of them tomorrow.
I am not interested in side app tricks. I remember having to go through that frustrating jank to get games to work on a bootleg PSX, and I’m way too old for that now. I want something where I search for the Google Play app, it’s there, I download it, I download games from it. Don’t understand why that needs to be such a hassle.
Every case I have seen has a few notches (for lack of a better word) that allows the tablet to be at two or three different angles. I have never seen one that is infinitely adjustable. Maybe they exist, I am not an expert on this stuff.
There are requirements for certain apps that won’t let then run on a tablet with certain hardware, but that’s not a Fire thing, that can apply to any manufacturer. Fire tablets tend to have poor hardware (that’s one reason why they’re so cheap) so they’re likely to run into this issue, but again that’s not specifically a Fire issue.
Just get a Pixel or Samsung tablet. Any of them would be able to run those games. You’d get simpler software and less bloat on the Pixel, but some of the Samsungs have better specs.
I think the hardest part is actually finding that case. You probably would have to go online for that.
Just don’t get another Fire. It’s like that cuz Amazon wants their cut and doesn’t want to play nice with Google.
The Pixel will be the easiest in this regard.
Samsung has access to the play store but also has another app store alongside it, as well as a bunch of first party bloatware and their own UI.
Android is open source so every vendor kinda makes their own variant, so each brand is a little different. Pixel is the most original/vanilla one but not necessarily the best one.
Just install Nova Launcher and set up your own UI/”Desktop”. There are some unremovable Samsung apps but they total less than 170MB (mostly between its unused UI and Galaxy Store).
I mean, it’s not just the home screen, but also needing a separate Samsung account, dealing with the default browser, different system updates, UI gestures, split screen methods, etc. Samsung isn’t as different as Fire in that regard, but it’s still a fair bit different from vanilla Android.
None of that was an issue for me. You don’t need a Samsung account at all, you just install Firefox/Chrome/etc from the Play store and Nova allows you to customize gestures[1]. I’m not sure what you mean by “different system updates” – it just updates when an update is available.
Edit: Coincidentally, I just saw that Nova Launcher is shutting down (or has?) and folks moved to Hyperion or Octopi as their launcher of choice.
If you’re coming from Amazon’s system you’re probably learning new gestures anyway or can just set these to match the ones you know. I almost never use gestures anyway. ↩︎
Another vote for the Pixel. I’ve had one for several months now and it’s great.
My phone is a Motorola, which runs a almost pure version of Android (with just a few Motorola apps which are actually useful). I went for the Pixel simply because I didn’t want to deal with Samsung’s version of Android which looked to be significantly different than what I am used to on my phone.
The Pixel “starts from $279”, so I’m not seeing how it’s an advantage over the Android, but it’s definitely something to consider. I’ll keep my eyes open for it.
I have a freely adjustable case for my Fire tablet right now. It has a hinge that opens outward. I again completely fail to see why this is so untenable. I’ll see if there’s anything good in the stores; otherwise I’ll just make do with what I have.
All right, good advice as always! Looks like I have some shopping to do.
(You want to explain why this is, knock yourself out; I’m more than satisfied with “big corporations are scum and will screw you over for no good reason”.) So, after going through a lot of trouble to return the useless thing, I’m now in the market for an Android tablet. At present the only things I know about this device are that Wal-Mart sells them and last I checked at least one model runs Google Play.
)
), so price isn’t an issue so long as it’s not a total ripoff.
Looks like I have some shopping to do.