Tablets Android tablets are dead

[jimimac71]

Both my eyesight and hearing aren't great.
Having a big bad device of any kind makes no sense to me.
But that's just me. I've always been of modest means.
I don't drive anymore, but in the day I was totally rockin' in a Pinto with a 6 cylinder and automatic.
I do enjoy reading the posts about top notch products but I don't drool.
I don't use the speakers in any tablet. I prefer wired headphones.
Having a low resolution screen means text is bigger. That is a benefit for me.
I'm looking at a case for my new tablet and found one with a Bluetooth keyboard. It's from Fintie for $33. Wondering if that's too good to be true?
I realize the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is from 2021, but it is Samsung and has a smaller screen. Lighter too.
My Nokia was running Android 13 and the A7 Lite might make it there too.
Before I'd spend the money for a rocketship tablet, an MBA would be a better choice. I could imagine a lower priced Dell laptop, but Windows really is that annoying. Chromebook before Windows.
(Sorry, I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore)

 

[Technerd108]

Both my eyesight and hearing aren't great.
Having a big bad device of any kind makes no sense to me.
But that's just me. I've always been of modest means.
I don't drive anymore, but in the day I was totally rockin' in a Pinto with a 6 cylinder and automatic.
I do enjoy reading the posts about top notch products but I don't drool.
I don't use the speakers in any tablet. I prefer wired headphones.
Having a low resolution screen means text is bigger. That is a benefit for me.
I'm looking at a case for my new tablet and found one with a Bluetooth keyboard. It's from Fintie for $33. Wondering if that's too good to be true?
I realize the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is from 2021, but it is Samsung and has a smaller screen. Lighter too.
My Nokia was running Android 13 and the A7 Lite might make it there too.
Before I'd spend the money for a rocketship tablet, an MBA would be a better choice. I could imagine a lower priced Dell laptop, but Windows really is that annoying. Chromebook before Windows.
(Sorry, I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore)

I hear you. The a7 is a decent tablet but my worry was that it would not be supported for very long compared to the a8 which just came out. Since your budget is tight and you want to keep what you have the longest the a8 makes more sense and it has a faster processor which help it go longer. The base a8 is $149 which is a very good price. Obviously if you want the extra storage it gets a little more pricy at $199 but if you get to keep it with updates for 3 more years than the a7 it might make up for that?


Just a consideration but again as it is now the a7 is fine but in a few months it will be a 3 year old tablet.

 

[jimimac71]

I hear you. The a7 is a decent tablet but my worry was that it would not be supported for very long compared to the a8 which just came out. Since your budget is tight and you want to keep what you have the longest the a8 makes more sense and it has a faster processor which help it go longer. The base a8 is $149 which is a very good price. Obviously if you want the extra storage it gets a little more pricy at $199 but if you get to keep it with updates for 3 more years than the a7 it might make up for that?


Just a consideration but again as it is now the a7 is fine but in a few months it will be a 3 year old tablet.

My desire was a smaller and lighter tablet, so the A7 Lite is the only less than 10 inch product from Samsung, right?
My Nokia T20 was equally as old. The support is probably equal. I hope the horsepower is also the same.

 

[Digitalguy]

I have an iPad air 5th gen with M1 8gb ram and a tab s9 11" with 12gb ram.

I really like my iPad. The design, the color(purple) and the performance are exceptional. The screen is the one area and probably the only area I feel a little let down.

Having M1 in an iPad and 8gb ram feels absolutely overkill and I love it. Literally, there is nothing that this iPad can't handle. It may not have the Pro features but for what I paid I have been more than happy with it. The two speakers are surprisingly good. I had two other iPads same model from other retailers and returned them because the volume of the tablet was terrible but this one I got from Apple is really loud.

The IPS LCD screen on the iPad is good but it could have been so much better. Better black levels would have been so appreciated.

Then I traded in my tab s8 11" for the new tab s9 11". Let's just say that in my opinion with this release Samsung released the best Android tablet of the year and possibly the best tablet of the year in the 11" category.

Tablets have a few metrics that make a huge difference. And they are weighted. Screen would be most important, then speakers, battery life, performance, build quality, etc.

Samsung slapped a 120hz AMOLED display in the 11" tablet finally. Huge change. Okay, not going to lie, biggest change. Then they improved already great speakers. The flagship processor gives better performance and battery life. Build quality is top notch. And you get a stylus included.

OneUI is decent, although I don't understand why Tablets are updated less than phones, specially on the high end?

If someone asked me what tablet I thought was best I am still not 100% sure. Samsung needs to adopt Google's 7 year update policy or at least make it 5 years of OS updates and security updates because Apple still has the advantage here.

If Google stepped up their tablet game and actually tried to make a high end tablet next year I would totally be in. A Pixel Tablet 2 with 11" 120hz OLED screen, quad stereo speakers that don't need a dock, Tensor G4, 12gb ram, 128gb storage and 7 years updates and charge $150 less than the tab s9 and we are done! But I don't think that will happen so the tab s9 is about the best tablet there is right now.

The tab s9 is the best tablet you can buy in 2023 if you want an OLED screen and included stylus. When Apple puts OLED in their tablets and m3 then I will probably change that assessment. But for now Samsung has done it. The s9 is in my opinion the perfect size. The build quality is excellent although I prefer the glass back section for the sPen on the tab s8 better. But if I have to trade off for OLED then no problem.

OS updates on Android are less important than on iPadOS. There are 3 mains reasons why updates can be important:
1. New features (that's the main reason for me and particularly Samsung constantly adds nice new features)
2. App compatibility, this is almost a non issue on Android. As an example, my Tab S4 on Android 10 is 100% compabitly with everything. My Lenovo tablet from 9 years ago on Android 5 is compatible with 90% of the apps. IOS 9 and 10 instead are unusable today, hardly anything works on them and they are newer than Android 5... So it's not unreasonable to expect that a Tab S9 will works with virtually everything 15 years from now, as crazy as that might sound.
3. Security: this is a very controversial point, because there is a lot of ignorance about this, but for me this is a non issue too. Getting malware on a mobile device is hard even for the dumbest of people, those that easily get it on Windows and it's mainly a social engeneering thing. For tech saavy people it's totally a non issue, so personally I don't care about security updates in the slightest. But I know this is a sensitive topic and people can easily become agreessive about this.

In summary, new features is great, but the main threat to longevity of an Android tablet is hardware.
However as I said earlier, current flagships are so overpowered that they still be blazing fast many years from now, lke my 2018 iPad pro with 6GB RAM is now (the 4GB has a RAM bottleneck however). This is new, so people don't necessarily realize this and tend to project the past into the future (in the past Android tablets were much slower than laptops, now flaghips are just as fast or faster). And battery, which can also last for many years if battery health protection is enabled and if the device is never left discharged (my Tab S4 still has amazing battery life).

 

[ozaz]

Samsung slapped a 120hz AMOLED display in the 11" tablet finally. Huge change. Okay, not going to lie, biggest change.

Yeah this is the one thing that might get me to upgrade my Tab S8. If it wasn't for this, I'm sureI'd be happy using my Tab S8 for the next 4-5 years.

 

[Ludatyk]

If someone asked me what tablet I thought was best I am still not 100% sure. Samsung needs to adopt Google's 7 year update policy or at least make it 5 years of OS updates and security updates because Apple still has the advantage here.

In its totality, it could be a split.

But I personally don’t see updates being a huge dealbreaker, I look at what features and apps that can be used on a tablet then go from there. And that’s why I lean toward the iPad especially in regards to the sheer number of optimized apps in the App Store. I know Stage Manager is a polarizing topic among the tech community, but I really believe that feature elevated the iPad.

If it wasn’t for Stage Manager… I’ll probably claim Samsung premium offerings were the best (those Tab Ultra’s are a beaut!), even though I use the iPad.

2. App compatibility, this is almost a non issue on Android. As an example, my Tab S4 on Android 10 is 100% compabitly with everything. My Lenovo tablet from 9 years ago on Android 5 is compatible with 90% of the apps. IOS 9 and 10 instead are unusable today, hardly anything works on them and they are newer than Android 5... So it's not unreasonable to expect that a Tab S9 will works with virtually everything 15 years from now, as crazy as that might sound.

It’s not necessarily about app compatibility… pretty much any apps in the Google Play Store can run on a tablet. It’s more so optimized apps, and I have to admit that Google is really trying to push developers in this category. And the gap is not as big as it was 3 to 5 years ago.

Pretty much all of Google apps are optimized for Android tablet and they have updated the Google Play Store to help tablet users find optimized apps.

 

[Digitalguy]

In its totality, it could be a split.

But I personally don’t see updates being a huge dealbreaker, I look at what features and apps that can be used on a tablet then go from there. And that’s why I lean toward the iPad especially in regards to the sheer number of optimized apps in the App Store. I know Stage Manager is a polarizing topic among the tech community, but I really believe that feature elevated the iPad.

If it wasn’t for Stage Manager… I’ll probably claim Samsung premium offerings were the best (those Tab Ultra’s are a beaut!), even though I use the iPad.

I really like Stage Manager in iPadOS 17 (way better than it was on 16). Now it's finally good for external monitor support.

It’s not necessarily about app compatibility… pretty much any apps in the Google Play Store can run on a tablet. It’s more so optimized apps, and I have to admit that Google is really trying to push developers in this category. And the gap is not as big as it was 3 to 5 years ago.

Pretty much all of Google apps are optimized for Android tablet and they have updated the Google Play Store to help tablet users find optimized apps.

Concerning optimized apps, if you are a bit tech saavy the gap is pretty narrow...
Let's be concrete and make some examples:
Social media have historically been the main culprit and still are. Well if you use PWA apps (and there is no reason not to) you can have all your facebook, twitter, instagram (which is not even an option on iPad) etc, perfectly optimized.
Google and Microsoft apps are now just as good as on iPad...
With either Samsung settings or even just a rotation app you can run in landscap any app you want.
Lumafusion is now on Android and is perfectly optimized.
You have plently of options for notetaking (good notes, noteshelft, the excellent Samsung notes, Onenote) and for drawing (ClipStudio, HiPaint from Huion, which is a perfect clone of Procreate, free but with ads, and many others).
Most of the other apps I use (newspaper, tv, cloud services, streaming, mail, second screen) are all optimized for tablet use. The idea the Android apps are all blown-up phone apps is simply no longer true, now it's more the exception that the rule.
The only area where Android is not competitive is music playing / creation.
But there are also important apps that do not exist for iPad. Like whatsapp, and that's a big deal for many outside the US, or Superdisplay (the app I use the most every day).

 

[Ludatyk]

I really like Stage Manager in iPadOS 17 (way better than it was on 16). Now it's finally good for external monitor support.

Yeah, but according to iPad naysayers… particular those who favor the Mac, Stage Manager is awful (needs to be more like macOS lol).

Concerning optimized apps, if you are a bit tech saavy the gap is pretty narrow...

Oh, no doubt… the gap has narrowed. But as far as how big it is… that’s debatable.

I think in all areas, but one… is where the iPad has undoubtably a sizable lead. And I think that plays a huge part in buying decisions. And that area is content creation… from Affinity Suite to the now introduced Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, heck.. you can throw in DaVinci Resolve and Photoshop.

And I’m not saying that one can’t do content creation on an Android tablet… I’m only saying that it’s more to offer on the iPad side.

 

[Digitalguy]

Yeah, but according to iPad naysayers… particular those who favor the Mac, Stage Manager is awful (needs to be more like macOS lol).

I don't like MacOS multitasking so I don't want the iPad to be more similar to that...

Oh, no doubt… the gap has narrowed. But as far as how big it is… that’s debatable.

I think in all areas, but one… is where the iPad has undoubtably a sizable lead. And I think that plays a huge part in buying decisions. And that area is content creation… from Affinity Suite to the now introduced Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, heck.. you can throw in DaVinci Resolve and Photoshop.

And I’m not saying that one can’t do content creation on an Android tablet… I’m only saying that it’s more to offer on the iPad side.

Sure you have more high end options on iPad in music/video/photo editing and I am not stopping using my iPad pro. I bought the $95 studio version of Davinci (not interested in the FCP subscription however) and I use it for music. But I moved my editing to the S8 ultra (more real estate and easier to trasfer videos from my Samsung phone) and I have been using Lumafusion for long enough that it is my default app, I only use Davinci for special features (which are partly part of the paid version).
I don't expect Android tablet to catch up with iPads in everything... ever... but then again, Android has superior apps in some areas. What I have been able to accomplish with some Android-only apps is insane and I can only wish this would one day be possible on iPad. Sure, I am and "advanced" user who likes tinkering etc, but normal tablet users wouldn't probably use those premium iPad apps either....

 

[LightSpeedSteve]

Yeah this is the one thing that might get me to upgrade my Tab S8. If it wasn't for this, I'm sureI'd be happy using my Tab S8 for the next 4-5 years.

I have the Tab S8 as well, I think I bought it the first month it came out. When they released the S9, the trade in deal was real tempting, I think 300 or 400 for the new version with a cover.

I didn't go for it though since the S8 LCD is good enough for me . I'll probably splurge for a larger model next gen with a trade in.

 

[ozaz]

I have the Tab S8 as well, I think I bought it the first month it came out. When they released the S9, the trade in deal was real tempting, I think 300 or 400 for the new version with a cover.

I didn't go for it though since the S8 LCD is good enough for me . I'll probably splurge for a larger model next gen with a trade in.

In most situations, I'm happy with the S8 display. The issue I have is that its technically a HDR display (this is how it presents itself to apps), but it really struggles with some challenging HDR content - particularly dark scenes, where shadow detail is sometimes handled very poorly. OLED screens typically handle this type of content much better, and on LCD screens this type of content is often a lot more watchable in SDR than in HDR. Unfortunately it's not possible to disable HDR via a system setting, so unless streaming apps have their own setting to disable HDR (not all do) you're sometimes stuck with it. Low end HDR TVs that don't have ability to disable HDR have the same issue.

 

[Digitalguy]

In most situations, I'm happy with the S8 display. The issue I have is that its technically a HDR display (this is how it presents itself to apps), but it really struggles with some challenging HDR content - particularly dark scenes, where shadow detail is sometimes handled very poorly. OLED screens typically handle this type of content much better, and on LCD screens this type of content is often a lot more watchable in SDR than in HDR. Unfortunately it's not possible to disable HDR via a system setting, so unless streaming apps have their own setting to disable HDR (not all do) you're sometimes stuck with it. Low end HDR TVs that don't have ability to disable HDR have the same issue.

I wonder if the S8 screen is the same or similar to the one on my S7 FE (I have the S4, S7 FE, the S8 ultra and the S9), the only non OLED Samsung tablet that I own (bought precisely to work as a monitor all day long, it stays under my 28" monitor all day, sold my old S7+ and bought the FE instead to avoid burn in).
When comparing blacks of cours the OLED is better, but also my 11" iPad pro is much better than the S7FE, maybe I'll post a picture at some point comparing various tablets with a dark (but active) screen in the dark

 

[ozaz]

When comparing blacks of cours the OLED is better, but also my 11" iPad pro is much better than the S7FE, maybe I'll post a picture at some point comparing various tablets with a dark (but active) screen in the dark

For challenging dark scene content I even found my 2018 entry-level iPad more watchable than the Tab S8 in some side to side comparisons. My interpretation is not that the entry level iPad has a better display, it's just that it doesn't attempt to render in HDR. I have actually found a workaround of sorts with the Tab S8 which might be worth mentioning: streaming through a web browser instead of a streaming app seems to lead to use SDR instead of HDR, which is useful when that's desired. But this comes with its own downsides such as inability to download content for offline playback, and possibly lower resolution streams.

In case anyone is interested and has an Amazon Prime Video account, an example of a scene that illustrates the issue quite well is in Jack Ryan, Season 3, Episode 5. From about 12:30 for a couple of minutes, there are some shots of a guy inside a car at night. When watching this via the Amazon Prime Video app on my Tab S8 I basically just see a black screen. But the details are present when watching through a web browser on the Tab S8 and when watching via the Prime Video app on other LCD displays that don't present themselves as HDR displays.

 

[jimimac71]

On the subject of app compatibility from the Play Store, I’ve experienced more than a handful of apps that are not compatible with my device. Things are better now but my bank app is not compatible with any Android device I have and I cannot find an APK anymore.
It isn’t unusual for apps to be developed for phone use and don’t even rotate.
That happens with my iPad too.
Obviously it isn’t the fault of the Play Store, but lazy programmers.
I prefer using a browser versus an app most of the time, but sometimes an app does more than the website.
Some apps are developed for phones and that’s that.
A plus for Apple. Most apps are designed for iPhone and iPad.
My bank app is only for iPhone and does not use the iPad keyboard layout.

 

[Digitalguy]

On the subject of app compatibility from the Play Store, I’ve experienced more than a handful of apps that are not compatible with my device. Things are better now but my bank app is not compatible with any Android device I have and I cannot find an APK anymore.
It isn’t unusual for apps to be developed for phone use and don’t even rotate.
That happens with my iPad too.
Obviously it isn’t the fault of the Play Store, but lazy programmers.
I prefer using a browser versus an app most of the time, but sometimes an app does more than the website.
Some apps are developed for phones and that’s that.
A plus for Apple. Most apps are designed for iPhone and iPad.
My bank app is only for iPhone and does not use the iPad keyboard layout.

I have no experience with banking apps on tablets since I only use them on phones. As much as I don't use any video or streaming apps on my phone, but only on tablets, banking apps for me are phone only, as are supermarket apps, authenticator apps and, mainly, apps like instagram. If I am at my desk I'll use a web browser, but it's not always possible, some services are app only.

 

[ozaz]

Things are better now but my bank app is not compatible with any Android device I have and I cannot find an APK anymore.

Are you referring to Android tablets here or Android in general? If the latter, and if the bank has produced an iOS app it seems odd it hasn't also produced an Android app. If the former, it seems odd they don't just allow you to install the phone-optimised app onto your tablet.

Perhaps you've just got unlucky; out of curiosity I just searched the Play store from my Android tablet for the 15 main retail banks in my country. Although most appear not to be optimised for landscape orientation, I would be able to install all of them.

 

[jimimac71]

Are you referring to Android tablets here or Android in general? If the latter, and if the bank has produced an iOS app it seems odd it hasn't also produced an Android app. If the former, it seems odd they don't just allow you to install the phone-optimised app onto your tablet.

Perhaps you've just got unlucky; out of curiosity I just searched the Play store from my Android tablet for the 15 main retail banks in my country. Although most appear not to be optimised for landscape orientation, I would be able to install all of them.

All I have are Android tablets. My phone is a flip phone, the old fashioned kind.
My bank is Direct Express, which is how I receive my Social Security. They have an Android app but it is not compatible with any tablet I've ever owned. It is pretty simple. The Google Play Store says the app is not compatible with my device. So I can't install it.
I feel it is the developers who drag their feet and don't put in the extra effort.
Over the years there have been at least six apps that would not install because they are not compatible. There are probably only a couple now.
It is really annoying when I can't install an app because it was designed for an older version of Android.
The best thing about iPad is app compatibility. That might be the only true positive. Android is so much easier for me.

 

[jimimac71]

My New Tabby!
The Tab A7 Lite was delivered and had some battery life.
All was fine until I did an OS update. The screen went dark and it would not boot.
Learned how to Power/Volume Down restart and it looks okay again.
Freaked me out.
Came with Android 13.
I can boost the fonts to work with my vision and the tablet so far is excellent.
I test its power by judging how quick apps update or install on the Play Store.
It is easily on par with my old (dead) Nokia T20.
I can't install Direct Express on the new tablet either.
I like the OS from Samsung better than plain vanilla Android.
Right now it is charging. I'm pleased!

 

[Technerd108]

My New Tabby!
The Tab A7 Lite was delivered and had some battery life.
All was fine until I did an OS update. The screen went dark and it would not boot.
Learned how to Power/Volume Down restart and it looks okay again.
Freaked me out.
Came with Android 13.
I can boost the fonts to work with my vision and the tablet so far is excellent.
I test its power by judging how quick apps update or install on the Play Store.
It is easily on par with my old (dead) Nokia T20.
I can't install Direct Express on the new tablet either.
I like the OS from Samsung better than plain vanilla Android.
Right now it is charging. I'm pleased!

Sweet! I am glad you are happy with it.

I had one of these briefly before I got the s6 lite. The a7 is just a tablet and doesn't try to be anything else. It isn't fancy but does a great job of being a tablet. As long as you aren't playing Genshin impact or want to draw it does everything a tablet needs to do and does it well. Nice screen, nice speakers, decent quality.

Still I would have gotten the a8 for the longer support but it is hard to argue $129 for a 64gb tablet.

I hope you get many years of use. Try XDA forum. They have a lot of developers there that like to tinker and sometimes have custom roms for devices past their support window. You might be able to get a couple extra years of use this way?

 

[jimimac71]

Sweet! I am glad you are happy with it.

I had one of these briefly before I got the s6 lite. The a7 is just a tablet and doesn't try to be anything else. It isn't fancy but does a great job of being a tablet. As long as you aren't playing Genshin impact or want to draw it does everything a tablet needs to do and does it well. Nice screen, nice speakers, decent quality.

Still I would have gotten the a8 for the longer support but it is hard to argue $129 for a 64gb tablet.

I hope you get many years of use. Try XDA forum. They have a lot of developers there that like to tinker and sometimes have custom roms for devices past their support window. You might be able to get a couple extra years of use this way?

I don't know about the A8. My A7 Lite is an almost 9 inch screen. Thanks! XDA? My elderly Tab A is working okay.
My iPad gets to be my last choice after my two Samsungs.

 

[Technerd108]

I don't know about the A8. My A7 Lite is an almost 9 inch screen. Thanks! XDA? My elderly Tab A is working okay.
My iPad gets to be my last choice after my two Samsungs.

The tab a8 is the new version of the tab a7. It is essentially the same tablet but updated.

No one but Samsung is saying that the tab a7 is elderly. It is a decent tablet but support is waining.

From Wikipedia, "The Samsung Galaxy tab a8 was announced December 15, 2021, and released on January 17, 2022. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7."

The tab a8 will be supported until 2027. The a7 will be supported until after next year. After 2024 the a7 leaves support. It might be another year but the point is that software update support is ending for the tab a 7 within year or two and won't receive any OS updates. Whereas the a8 is still relatively new and will get several more years of both updates. Since you wanted to spend as little as possible but as be supported as long as possible I think the tab a8 is the logical choice. For $149 32gb is not bad. You can use an SD card or for $199 you get 64gb. It is more expensive but probably worth the investment as it should last a long time.

Spending money with a budget is always a challenge and only you know what is best for you. So if the a7 is it then that is why I suggest XDA forum because they might have custom roms for the tablet after Samsung drops support. You can check it out if interested.

 

[ozaz]

From Wikipedia, "The Samsung Galaxy tab a8 was announced December 15, 2021, and released on January 17, 2022. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7."

The tab a8 will be supported until 2027.

Are you sure the Tab A8 gets 5 years of updates? I thought the Tab S series are the only Samsung tablets that have this.

 

[jimimac71]

The Tab A8 is a 10.5 inch screen.
It is also as heavy or heavier than my other 10 inch tablets.
My Tab A7 Lite is just a little too small but I still like it.
I wanted a lighter tablet and smaller was the only option.

 

[Digitalguy]

The tab a8 is the new version of the tab a7. It is essentially the same tablet but updated.

No one but Samsung is saying that the tab a7 is elderly. It is a decent tablet but support is waining.

From Wikipedia, "The Samsung Galaxy tab a8 was announced December 15, 2021, and released on January 17, 2022. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7."

The tab a8 will be supported until 2027. The a7 will be supported until after next year. After 2024 the a7 leaves support. It might be another year but the point is that software update support is ending for the tab a 7 within year or two and won't receive any OS updates. Whereas the a8 is still relatively new and will get several more years of both updates. Since you wanted to spend as little as possible but as be supported as long as possible I think the tab a8 is the logical choice. For $149 32gb is not bad. You can use an SD card or for $199 you get 64gb. It is more expensive but probably worth the investment as it should last a long time.

Spending money with a budget is always a challenge and only you know what is best for you. So if the a7 is it then that is why I suggest XDA forum because they might have custom roms for the tablet after Samsung drops support. You can check it out if interested.

You are confusing the A7 and A7 lite, the A7 lite is a smaller version that came later and has the same software support as the A8 (up to Android 13). Anyway, in terms of software support it's a non issue on Android, because security is non issue on tablets (contrary to laptops) and app compatibility is non issue for a decade on Android (I mention these thigs in an earlier post). Custom ROM could actually slow down these entry level devices. I don't know what version of the A7 lite this is but the base model has only 2GB RAM... Best is to stay on Android 13 for good.

 

[jimimac71]

You are confusing the A7 and A7 lite, the A7 lite is a smaller version that came later and has the same software support as the A8 (up to Android 13). Anyway, in terms of software support it's a non issue on Android, because security is non issue on tablets (contrary to laptops) and app compatibility is non issue for a decade on Android (I mention these thigs in an earlier post). Custom ROM could actually slow down these entry level devices. I don't know what version of the A7 lite this is but the base model has only 2GB RAM... Best is to stay on Android 13 for good.

I'm glad my A7 Lite has 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage. Android 13 occupies 15 GB of storage alone.
32 GB of storage is silly these days. My 2019 iPad only has 32 GB storage and iPad OS uses about the same 15 GB.
Because I have the fonts bumped up a little, I had to actually lower them, some websites won't display completely, even in landscape mode. Yes, it is a bit sluggish and gets a case of the hiccups sometimes.
My Galaxy Tab A from 2019 is actually a more comfortable experience, but now I know.
My Amazon tablets were 2 GB RAM. The OS was pretty lightweight.