Samsung and Android tablets: the truth or why Apple is winning tablets war

[StoneJack]

I have been using iPad Air m1 for some time with all Apple accessories and it is a fantastic device. But I wanted something smaller since I already have Macbook Pro, on trips Air is somewhat duplicating it so a small tablet would be nice I thought. After looking for small tablets, Samsung A9 caught my attention with 8GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, Helio 99 chip. I watched some YT videos and thought why not.

I had Mini 6 for two years (now my wife is using it), we also have 9th gen iPad for a kid so I thought (foolishly) it is time to walk out of Apple's garden, try Android and try to save some money. Samsung A9 is bought and I discovered ugly truth. Android on tablets is a nightmare. It was combination of very raw OS experience on tablet and mediocre hardware that made me realize why we pay a premium for Apple devices.

The Samsung device was lagging (there is an option to swith to full CPU for fixing such lags), scrolling was giving me headache, the display is atrocious, touch sensitivity is even more atrocious, finding optimal font size was nightmare, the icons were ugly and dull, the games were nearly unplayable due to low framerates, the device did not support active pencils, resolution was abysmal (1320x800 pixels! on 8 inch display), and BOTH Edge and Chrome did not have options to show bookmarks bar! Operations were slow and there were a lot of Samsung bloatware, basically duplicating everything Google's and managing it was quite time consuming too. I tried for a week to live with the Android device, I bought a nice case for it and put on blue light fliter on display, but all in all, all small details made the experience very bad. In hindsight, maybe Lenovo Y700 or a more expensive Samsung would a better choice, but I am not inclined to further experiment in this field.

I paid some more money and exchanged the A9 for base configuration Mini 7 and difference is night and day. I am no in way Apple apologist and in fact, iPad section on Macrumors hates me for iPadOS criticism, but the attempt to use Android was a revelation. If you are smart, NEVER buy Android and especially Samsung, as I was dumb enough to spend money on it.

 

[MarkX]

So you bought a cheap Samsung tablet with a poor processor and are comparing it to an iPad with a top level processor and expected similar results.

Not sure it's a fair comparison!

You should have spent a bit more time and researched properly!

 

[russell_314]

So you bought a cheap Samsung tablet with a poor processor and are comparing it to an iPad with a top level processor and expected similar results.

Not sure it's a fair comparison!

You should have spent a bit more time and researched properly!

To be fair, he also mentioned an older 9th gen iPad. That’s a few generations behind on processor and it’s the base model Apple tablet.

I agree, though lower end android tablets can be a laggy mess. They are great for kids and teenagers who like to break things

 

[MarkX]

To be fair, he also mentioned an older 9th gen iPad. That’s a few generations behind on processor and it’s the base model Apple tablet.

I agree, though lower end android tablets can be a laggy mess. They are great for kids and teenagers who like to break things

A 9th gen ipad had the A13 Bionic I believe which is still a beast of a chip and would blow the helio G99 out of the water, so the age is irrelevant really.

 

[GMShadow]

You do have to spend more for a decent Android tablet experience - I tried the 2022 S6 Lite which wasn't bad but still was clearly limited - bought a used S8 Ultra instead and found that more pleasant.

It's still not an iPad, but it's not *bad*.

 

[AustinIllini]

Android is a great phone OS. Unfortunately it hasn't done much in larger form factors.

 

[User #07242024]

Better to buy Galaxy Tab S8/S9 tablet and learn to use DeX.

 

[aggie99]

So you bought a cheap Samsung tablet with a poor processor and are comparing it to an iPad with a top level processor and expected similar results.

Not sure it's a fair comparison!

You should have spent a bit more time and researched properly!

I'ma go buy a Ferrari tomorrow and compare it to my GMC truck. About as good of a comparison as the OP's.

 

[aggie99]

You do have to spend more for a decent Android tablet experience - I tried the 2022 S6 Lite which wasn't bad but still was clearly limited - bought a used S8 Ultra instead and found that more pleasant.

It's still not an iPad, but it's not *bad*.

Agree with this. I love my S8 Ultra. My iPad Pro M4 is my go to. But even for a 2-3 year old tablet the S8 Ultra is a beast. That bigger screen is great for media consumption. The s pen adds a whole other dimension. I use it a lot for marking up construction drawings. Dex is a phenomenal tool on the Tab S series as well.

 

[Technerd108]

I love Android but I hate cheap Android tablets. They are the bane of my existence!

However in the smaller size category most Android tablets are cheap and suck.

Also if you compare cost of an M1 iPad Air to any Android tablet in the same price range around $400 the iPad is so much better.

So the OP is right. Google really dropped the ball with Android tablets a long time ago.

I don’t love iPad OS but I have had my air for over 2 years now and it has been awesome since the day I bought it. Design is cool, colors are cool. Sure it has a 60hz IPS display and just 90hz would be so much better but I still love my iPad.

My Air with M1 chip is leaps and bounds above most Android tablets and runs iPadOS with ease.

I would find it hard to justify spending more on a Galaxy s series tablet as if I wanted a more premium experience I would just get an iPad Pro base model.

 

[klasma]

I paid some more money and exchanged the A9 for base configuration Mini 7 and difference is night and day. I am no in way Apple apologist and in fact, iPad section on Macrumors hates me for iPadOS criticism, but the attempt to use Android was a revelation. If you are smart, NEVER buy Android and especially Samsung, as I was dumb enough to spend money on it.

I use a Samsung Tab S9 and have none of your problems. I originally tried an iPad mini 6 but ditched it because the screen was so bad.

 

[acorntoy]

I love Android but I hate cheap Android tablets. They are the bane of my existence!

However in the smaller size category most Android tablets are cheap and suck.

Also if you compare cost of an M1 iPad Air to any Android tablet in the same price range around $400 the iPad is so much better.

So the OP is right. Google really dropped the ball with Android tablets a long time ago.

I don’t love iPad OS but I have had my air for over 2 years now and it has been awesome since the day I bought it. Design is cool, colors are cool. Sure it has a 60hz IPS display and just 90hz would be so much better but I still love my iPad.

My Air with M1 chip is leaps and bounds above most Android tablets and runs iPadOS with ease.

I would find it hard to justify spending more on a Galaxy s series tablet as if I wanted a more premium experience I would just get an iPad Pro base model.

Went from an M1 pro to an S8 a few years back due to the SD storage and the 16:10 aspect (after having iPad's since the original).
I side upgraded/downgraded slightly to an S9 FE for the water resistance after I shattered the S8 (for watching tv/reading books in the tub). Was so impressed I got the actual S9 this year.

I honestly believe the pro (and air) are so overpowered for the software the chip doesn't really matter anymore.

Top tier Android tablets are more than capable and because of features like Dex I actually prefer them to iPad's (even though they get trounced in benchmarks), I would tell anybody to avoid mid/low end devices though. (The S9 FE wasn't actually too bad but not near what it should be in 2023 and now its 2025).

I do use an iPhone still however.

 

[840quadra]

With how awesome DEX is, I am really wanting a Samsung tablet to use as a hybrid desktop since Apple refuses to elevate the iPad to allow for a more “MacOS” experience. (You can have and Bin stage manager. It is a terrible UX).

With new snapdragon processors finally putting out decent performance, I feel the Android tablets can finally compete in overall performance.

Waiting to see how things pan out in the next year or so.

 

[Iwavvns]

With how awesome DEX is, I am really wanting a Samsung tablet to use as a hybrid desktop since Apple refuses to elevate the iPad to allow for a more “MacOS” experience. (You can have and Bin stage manager. It is a terrible UX).

With new snapdragon processors finally putting out decent performance, I feel the Android tablets can finally compete in overall performance.

Waiting to see how things pan out in the next year or so.

I don't think we need to worry about bringing macOS to the iPad.. it seems to me that macOS is slowly becoming iPadOS, with the UX changes and the bringing over of apps. I remember Mavericks, it was the first time I had ever used OS X and it was absolutely gorgeous. But macOS today.. it's a very different animal.

 

[RSB96]

I don't think it's a fair comparison. The Samsung is a basic tablet, you should have compared it, at least, with an S FE, so that it was comparable.

However, I consider that the iPad is still above Android due to the quality of the apps, much superior. However, One UI and DEX have a much higher multitasking capacity than the iPad.

 

[Technerd108]

Went from an M1 pro to an S8 a few years back due to the SD storage and the 16:10 aspect (after having iPad's since the original).
I side upgraded/downgraded slightly to an S9 FE for the water resistance after I shattered the S8 (for watching tv/reading books in the tub). Was so impressed I got the actual S9 this year.

I honestly believe the pro (and air) are so overpowered for the software the chip doesn't really matter anymore.

Top tier Android tablets are more than capable and because of features like Dex I actually prefer them to iPad's (even though they get trounced in benchmarks), I would tell anybody to avoid mid/low end devices though. (The S9 FE wasn't actually too bad but not near what it should be in 2023 and now its 2025).

I do use an iPhone still however.

I never said anything bad about top tier Android tablets as I have a Tab s9 11" with Oled screen and it is very nice but quarterly updates suck and the s series is almost as expensive as Apple's pro line of tablets. In my opinion I would rather have an iPad pro?

I like Android and I like Android OS in general over iPadOS but when I use my cheaper M1 air against my s9 besides the screen I prefer the iPad.

Of course the comparison was a cheap, budget Samsung tablet and if you have ever used any budget Android tablet you would run as fast as you can to a iPad. I can find the M1 Air still on sale very cheap. It is not under $300 but I would rather pay a little more and get a way better tablet.

Everyone is different and it is nice to have choice. I actually had one of the first Android tablets with a dual core Tegra chip back in the day and have been waiting for Google since Honeycomb to refine their tablet OS and am still waiting......

 

[drugdoubles]

Android tablet apps are horrible, just because basically 99% people who would pay for apps use iPad