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.)
(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.