Why are android tablets so much worse than the iPad?

[tps3443]

2013. Yep, Nexus 7 2013 is still the best Android tab I've used. Excellent value for $200.

I had one too. It was great the nexus 7. Mine wasn’t the Late 2013 though, it was the original nexus 7. 2012? I think. I remember it was the 32GB model, I paid like $249 for it.

I don’t think you get that performance out of Android tablets for that price anymore though.

All of the Nexus devices were great. It was pure android without bloatware.

The nexus 5 was awesome too.

They like did away with nexus?

 

[BigMcGuire]

I had one too. It was great the nexus 7. Mine wasn’t the 2013 though, it was the original nexus 7. 2012 I think. I remember it was the 32GB model, I paid like $249 for it.

I used that tablet for years and years. (I had the 2013 model) - it was so great I used it for Ingress with an external battery (Anker). Loved that tablet. It was amazing. I read books on it too. I do miss it. Because it was Google ASOP it got updates and was very fast.

 

[PeterJP]

This. Apple seems determined to cripple the Ipad with a weak OS.

That's funny. In the Mac forums, people are convinced that Apple is crippling the Mac to move more people to the iPad. Funny how people complain on both sides of the fence.

But anyway. Why are Android tablets so bad? Let me show you something. Here is the official homepage of android for tablets. It shows exactly 3 tablets: the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 (released August 2018), the Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 (released Juli 2014) and the Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet (released March 2015).

That's the current status of the Android tablet ecosystem. It has been completely abandoned by Google, with as a consequence that no hardware manufacturer cares anymore. Except for Samsung, but they have always done their own thing and they have the resources to do so. Yes, there's a few cheap options left. My son uses one for YouTube. We have one at work that we use as a clock because it's actually cheaper than a clock that size. Don't expect to use it for anythjinag useful, though.

I've been a hardcore Android fan since 2012, but I've been getting so p*ssed off with Google abandoning anything they start up without any sensible reason whatsoever that I bought the only exciting tablet in the last few years, an iPad Pro. They stopped the Nexus lines of phones, replacing them with the Pixel line, right after I bought my Nexus 6p 3 years ago. Chances are high my next phone will be an iPhone, now that I've experienced the integration of the iPad with my Mac. It's not like the Android phone ecosystem is getting any less messy, even after the Treble project. Hardware manufacturers still build their own malware ridden and bloated versions of Android that they treat as a one-off piece of abandonware. And silicon vendors are making it harder to develop custom ROMs, so that's the advantage of being open gone as well. If you think the situation is bad in the Apple camp sometimes, you don't have to look far to find a system that is in a much worse state.

 

[tps3443]

I used that tablet for years and years. (I had the 2013 model) - it was so great I used it for Ingress with an external battery (Anker). Loved that tablet. It was amazing. I read books on it too. I do miss it. Because it was Google ASOP it got updates and was very fast.

Asus made them, and they were great quality. I loved the sorta soft dimpled textured back of the tablet. And the nexus 7 folio was awesome too.

All of the Nexus devices were some of the best ever. Huawei, LG, Asus. They all had there turns making the Nexus devices for Google.

Not a big fan of this google pixel stuff there pushing now.

 

[joeblow7777]

There’s way more money in smartphones, so no one really bothers to fight with Apple over the much smaller pie that is tablet profit.

 

[tps3443]

There’s way more money in smartphones, so no one really bothers to fight with Apple over the much smaller pie that is tablet profit.

That’s true, but phones are expensive. I felt way better dropping a lot of money on some top of the line iPad vs a top of the line iPhone.

I’d like to get a new phone, if they would only release a iPhone SE 2nd Gen.

 

[joeblow7777]

That’s true, but phones are expensive. I felt way better dropping a lot of money on some top of the line iPad vs a top of the line iPhone.

I’d like to get a new phone, if they would only release a iPhone SE 2nd Gen.

Fair enough, but on the whole, way more people spend way more money on iPhones every year than iPads. No doubt the same is true for Android phones and tablets.

 

[loybond]

The new Samsung S5e looks interesting for a few reasons

- Nice design, super thin (even thinner than the iPad Pro)
- OLED screen! Great for videos, pics or anything else really
- File system (this is obviously massive)
- Not expensive

Not as smooth as the iPad, but file system + OLED are so big that it is at least worth a look

 

[Hadron]

This. Apple seems determined to cripple the Ipad with a weak OS. It could be so much more, but I think there's a faction at Apple that wants to protect MacBook sales ( or even MBP sales ). Innovation and disruption is something that's lost in large parts of Apple.

Ironically I've long felt that the real reason MBPs don't have touchscreens is in order to protect iPad sales.

 

[Ffosse]

My iPhone XS Max was almost exactly twice the price of my iPad 10.5 Pro. I'm not sure if that means I'll get twice the enjoyment out of it. When people see my phone they ask abot the price and are shocked that it was 1249 Pounds, most of them shaking their heads in disbelief.

I'm not sure it's worth that price, either, but it does give me lots of enjoyment and I use it every day. I also bought the XR but carelessly leaving it with some nephews they managed to take the sim out and lose the sim card tray. Don't ask me how that's possible but I now have an XR which is like an iPod Touch in functionality. I tried to get a replacement from Amazon but, while it fitted in the slot it wouldn't get a phone signal despite trying several different sims.

I always go OT but I now have an XR used mainly for music and podcasts but can't make phone calls. I thought all Apple sim card slots would be the same.

 

[Oohara]

I'm still foolishly hoping that Samsung one day will swoop in with a Galaxy Note Tab 8 - 8" with a S Pen - and destroy the iPad Mini while waking people up to the fact that this size category actually is pretty wonderful.

Of course larger tablets are better for many things. But the 8" size is so light and pocketable. I absolutely prefer it for reading, gaming, note taking...just about everything. When I did have an iPad Air, I'd anyway always end up using my 15" MBP instead of it.

While commuting the bigger iPads feel too cumbersome and weird to pull up when squeezed in between other people. For extended gaming or reading they're just too heavy, and touch screen gaming doesn't get better over 8" IMO unless playing a board game or something with several players. For watching movies while traveling, 8" is enough most of the time at least for me.

Add do that the superb note taking functions of the Note + S Pen - without having to buy an $99 accessory - and a Note 8" would be the perfect digital Moleskine/gaming device/e-reader/web browser/entertainment pad.

Another key element of course being the OLED screen, which Apple doesn't seem interested in bringing to the iPad series. Maybe fortunately so as I probably wouldn't want to know how much they'd charge for that... OLED continues to just smash any IPS displays I've ever seen for basically all uses, and that includes the fancy pants iPad Pro displays.

Lastly a 8" tablet would allow me to go back to using a smaller smartphone instead of the current 'phablet' (remember that word??) category which has become the gold standard. The tablet would still be small enough to pocket/whip up out of the bag quickly, and the smartphone would be one handed usable again. Add a good smart watch and I'm golden. Honestly this combo would make me not need any of these coming foldable devices either (until they start getting really good, and more affordable).

TL;DR - the 8" tablet category is being largely ignored, while being the functionally best size category for many if not most tablet uses. Probably this is intentionally so, since manufacturers would rather sell us their expensive phablets + large tablets that we currently think are the best possible options. I'm sure that if Apple, Samsung et al would prefer that we preferred the 8" tablet category, then they could easily make us.

All IMO of course

And sorry for what is maybe considered a derail...but somewhere in all this I guess I'm trying to say that the tablet device as such being just a tad smaller than the current standard would also improve its functionality and solve some of its problems.

 

[rui no onna]

I'm still foolishly hoping that Samsung one day will swoop in with a Galaxy Note Tab 8 - 8" with a S Pen - and destroy the iPad Mini while waking people up to the fact that this size category actually is pretty wonderful.

Of course larger tablets are better for many things. But the 8" size is so light and pocketable. I absolutely prefer it for reading, gaming, note taking...just about everything. When I did have an iPad Air, I'd anyway always end up using my 15" MBP instead of it.

While commuting the bigger iPads feel too cumbersome and weird to pull up when squeezed in between other people. For extended gaming or reading they're just too heavy, and touch screen gaming doesn't get better over 8" IMO unless playing a board game or something with several players. For watching movies while traveling, 8" is enough most of the time at least for me.

Add do that the superb note taking functions of the Note + S Pen - without having to buy an $99 accessory - and a Note 8" would be the perfect digital Moleskine/gaming device/e-reader/web browser/entertainment pad.

Another key element of course being the OLED screen, which Apple doesn't seem interested in bringing to the iPad series. Maybe fortunately so as I probably wouldn't want to know how much they'd charge for that... OLED continues to just smash any IPS displays I've ever seen for basically all uses, and that includes the fancy pants iPad Pro displays.

Lastly a 8" tablet would allow me to go back to using a smaller smartphone instead of the current 'phablet' (remember that word??) category which has become the gold standard. The tablet would still be small enough to pocket/whip up out of the bag quickly, and the smartphone would be one handed usable again. Add a good smart watch and I'm golden. Honestly this combo would make me not need any of these coming foldable devices either (until they start getting really good, and more affordable).

TL;DR - the 8" tablet category is being largely ignored, while being the functionally best size category for many if not most tablet uses. Probably this is intentionally so, since manufacturers would rather sell us their expensive phablets + large tablets that we currently think are the best possible options. I'm sure that if Apple, Samsung et al would prefer that we preferred the 8" tablet category, then they could easily make us.

All IMO of course

And sorry for what is maybe considered a derail...but somewhere in all this I guess I'm trying to say that the tablet device as such being just a tad smaller than the current standard would also improve its functionality and solve some of its problems.

I think the market has spoken and 10-11" class is the preferred size. Manufacturers wouldn't be ignoring the 8" class category if there were lots of profit to be made.

 

[spinedoc77]

I think only Samsung has tablets that could be called good, but still not as good as many of the iPads. Did other companies just decide not to bother with tablets anymore?

Probably the same answer as why messaging on Android sucks compared to imessage, etc. Google doesn't put any energy into it and just lets things lapse. It's a huge shame to see their complete lack of initiative towards Android tablets.
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I think the market has spoken and 10-11" class is the preferred size. Manufacturers wouldn't be ignoring the 8" class category if there were lots of profit to be made.

Especially now that foldable tablets are on the horizon, but that will be a good thing IMO.

 

[The Game 161]

As mentioned software is better on iPads and developers take more effort with them

I have the 12.9 and tab s4 and while the iPad is better for apps files system on the tab is better than the iPad and least there are user profiles on the s4 when there isn't on the iPad

I will always keep my pro 12.9 but I do like the tab s4 as I think it's better for files and media.

 

[Shanghaichica]

As mentioned software is better on iPads and developers take more effort with them

I have the 12.9 and tab s4 and while the iPad is better for apps files system on the tab is better than the iPad and least there are user profiles on the s4 when there isn't on the iPad

I will always keep my pro 12.9 but I do like the tab s4 as I think it's better for files and media.

I think Samsung tablets are the best for media and always have been. Obviously the S pen, Dex and a proper filing system make them good for some productivity tasks too.

My tablet use is mainly consumption: watching videos, web browsing, comics, games, colouring, reading magazines which is why the iPad is a better fit for me.

 

[tbayrgs]

So funny that I stumbled into this thread right after I just cleaned out a bunch of old tech from my office this very morning. Included in the pile were both a 2013 Nexus 7 and a LG GPad 8.3 GPE. The Nexus last OS update was 6.1 while the LG was on 5.1. Really was a blast from the past.

Unfortunately, included in that nostalgia was the fact that apps on Android tablets were just often inferior to their iPad counterparts, if they even existed. Most were just giant blown up versions of the phone apps.

And that’s IMO the biggest reason why there are no longer comparable Android tablets...no support from both Google and the developer community. It’s also why those were the last 2 Android tablets I bought.

 

[The Game 161]

I’m glad samsung are still trying in the tablet game. The tab S4 is an impressive device I must admit and does basic tasks well. Apps wise they are ok and yeah a lot are blown up versions of the phone apps but what do i use my tablet for? Browsing and media mainly So for that basics it works well.

I’m tempted to get the keyboard for the tab S4 so i can use it like i do with my iPad Pro 12.9 which i would still find a use for both i’m Sure.

 

[apolloa]

I suspect for 95% of iPad users they could happily use an Amazon Fire tablet. They browse the web, email, watch videos. Use social media.. that’s pretty much it.
Only a few use them for work or heavy tasks or drawing.

So the term ‘sucks’ doesn’t always fit, because you don’t need the power of a device that can run full photoshop to browse Mac Rumors... and in this use case you could argue an Amazon tablet is better because it does the same for way less money.

 

[1BadManVan]

I’m hoping they learn this year and atleast put the current gen processor in their tab s5

 

[StellarVixen]

Because Eric Schmidt didn't get the opportunity to spy on the iPad's development and transfer all that intelligence to Google, unfortunately (for Google and him).

 

[Dreads]

Must admit I own a max but still got and use my trusty old Expedia z2 tablet it still works a treat still rapid and well made..

 

[Klyster]

I’m glad samsung are still trying in the tablet game. The tab S4 is an impressive device I must admit and does basic tasks well. Apps wise they are ok and yeah a lot are blown up versions of the phone apps but what do i use my tablet for? Browsing and media mainly So for that basics it works well.

I’m tempted to get the keyboard for the tab S4 so i can use it like i do with my iPad Pro 12.9 which i would still find a use for both i’m Sure.

I have the keyboard, it is useful and great for watching vids too.
Video is great on the tab s4, browsing is fine too.
That's about all I do on my tab apart from the odd comic.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

My issue with Android tablets several years ago was the battery life was horrible, especially stand by life. I had no issues with the apps and games I used. I don't know how battery life holds up on the top tier Android tablets nowadays, but if battery life (mainly stand by) is still an issue, then I'm going to stick with the iPad.

The only experience I've had with the latest Android tablets, is the Amazon Fire tablets, and the battery life holds up well. But it's heavily modified and has low specs.

Does anyone have a recent Samsung tablet? How's the battery life on it?
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2013. Yep, Nexus 7 2013 is still the best Android tab I've used. Excellent value for $200.

It was a great tablet. Minus the battery stand by life.

 

[jamesrick80]

If I could combine the best of what the tab S4 offers and what my top of the line iPad pro offers, I would have the perfect tablet. There are pros and cons on both ends.....Samsung high end tablets are great devices.

 

[djas]