Any decent Android tablets?

micks_address

Hi folks,

I'm interested in upgrading my Nexus 9 to something that's still close to pure android experience. Ideally with OLED screen, 4g memory and no logo on the front. Is there anything out there? The Pixel slate looks out of reach budget wise.

Looks like its hard to match the ipad in terms of value

Thanks,
Mick

the mi pad 4 has a very good price/performance ratio.

8 inch or 10 inch (plus version)

base model is 3gb/32gb but there is a 4gb ram / 64gb (or up to 128gb on the plus). sd card also.

about 220 euro delivered for the 8 inch 4gb/64gb model from honorbuy (quick delivery from european postage option so no customs). the 10 inch version is ~70 more? plus version also has LTE modem if you wanted to put in a sim card but you don't have to. it also has gps which the 8 inch version doesn't have. also a fingerprint reader and a bigger battery.
about 12hours on mi pad 4, 16 hours on plus version in terms of battery life.

8 inch 64gb (dollar price and will add 35 for european delivery)
https://www.honorbuy.com/1469-xiaomi-mi-pad-4-64gb-tablet-black.html?search_query=mi+pad+4&results=754


10 inch plus version
https://www.honorbuy.com/1521-xiaomi-mi-pad-4-plus-4gb-ram-64gb-rom-lte-tablet-pc-black.html?search_query=mi+pad+4&results=754

delivery in 2 to 3 days.

no logo on front, tiny logo on back.

snapdragon 660 is a pretty powerful cpu for a tablet. antutu benchmark of almost 140,000 vs 38,000 for nexus 9.

the screen isn't oled but it's quite nice. all-metal build on the body

it has emui which is not exactly stock android (you'll only really notice the difference in settings layout) but you could put a stock android rom (like lineage which has updates provided) on it at a later point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctm1ROlD2zU

detailed review for plus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvnhl_7y1LY

corkie

What is wrong with your Nexus 9?

I recently took advantage of Aliexpress 11/11 to replace my degraded battery. (Arrived Monday).

It was freezing up with a static screen, because not been able to draw enough power from the degraded battery.

Follow this thread from here, on my progress with that.

Also looking out for an upcoming replacement, but Android tablets, are no longer a good choice anymore (if they ever where).

corkie wrote: »

You nearly had me tempted to put in an order, i was wondering where you saw them prices, until I realized I was looking at the plus model.

My Nexus 9, on it's last legs, have a replacement battery (11/11) and New case (today), ordered to hopefully get a bit more life out of it.

I also hoping some more affordable Chrome OS Tablets, get release in the new year, so holding out for them.

^^^ Also see the above Nexus 7 Replacement thread, where options are discussed including the Mi Pad 4.

android tablets still have a use for some people and there still are some good ones out there

media watching / youtube etc
pdf reading - best method for this
best way to play android games
with a bluetooth keyboard can be a productivity device that's lighter than a laptop
battery life usually much longer than phones due to bigger battery

micks_address

glasso wrote: »

the mi pad 4 has a very good price/performance ratio.

8 inch or 10 inch (plus version)

base model is 3gb/32gb but there is a 4gb ram / 64gb (or up to 128gb on the plus). sd card also.

about 220 euro delivered for the 8 inch 4gb/64gb model from honorbuy (quick delivery from european postage option so no customs). the 10 inch version is ~70 more? plus version also has LTE modem if you wanted to put in a sim card but you don't have to. it also has gps which the 8 inch version doesn't have. also a fingerprint reader and a bigger battery.
about 12hours on mi pad 4, 16 hours on plus version in terms of battery life.

8 inch 64gb (dollar price and will add 35 for european delivery)
https://www.honorbuy.com/1469-xiaomi-mi-pad-4-64gb-tablet-black.html?search_query=mi+pad+4&results=754


10 inch plus version
https://www.honorbuy.com/1521-xiaomi-mi-pad-4-plus-4gb-ram-64gb-rom-lte-tablet-pc-black.html?search_query=mi+pad+4&results=754

delivery in 2 to 3 days.

no logo on front, tiny logo on back.

snapdragon 660 is a pretty powerful cpu for a tablet. antutu benchmark of almost 140,000 vs 38,000 for nexus 9.

the screen isn't oled but it's quite nice. all-metal build on the body

it has emui which is not exactly stock android (you'll only really notice the difference in settings layout) but you could put a stock android rom (like lineage which has updates provided) on it at a later point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctm1ROlD2zU

detailed review for plus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvnhl_7y1LY

Thanks,
No issues loading lineage on it?

The Nexus 9 is a little small and can stuggle performance wise I find with some apps etc. If it had 4gb ram would probably fly

haven't done it yet as have to wait 360 hours before the bootloader unlocks (this is done by Xiaomi to stop sellers putting dodgey stuff onboard). I just got the 8 inch version this week.

here is the xda lineage thread for it.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-pad-4/development/rom-lineageos-15-1-mi-pad-4-mi-pad-4-t3871520

fairly new as Xiaomi just released access to the kernel (literally less than a week ago) but seems to be ok.

the 4gb ram and the much faster processor would be a big upgrade over the Nexus 9.

micks_address

glasso wrote: »

haven't done it yet as have to wait 360 hours before the bootloader unlocks (this is done by Xiaomi to stop sellers putting dodgey stuff onboard). I just got the 8 inch version this week.

here is the xda lineage thread for it.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-pad-4/development/rom-lineageos-15-1-mi-pad-4-mi-pad-4-t3871520

fairly new as Xiaomi just released access to the kernel (literally less than a week ago) but seems to be ok.

the 4gb ram and the much faster processor would be a big upgrade over the Nexus 9.

It's 360 hours from power on?

ED E

Think he means 36, not 360.

no it's 360 hours / 15 days.

you have to create or associate a mi account with it to start the bootloader unlock and will need a windows laptop. a new account takes a few minutes. use your phone number as using email will give you problems later as even tho it won't send anything to your phone as most products from xiaomi are phones this is required.

so yes you'd have to wait 15 days.
as I said the reason for this is to stop vendors putting stuff on. it's the same with phones.
at least they allow unlock and release kernels as other companies like Huawei have totally blocked this now.

you start here.

https://en.miui.com/unlock/

corkie

glasso wrote: »

android tablets still have a use for some people and there still are some good ones out there

media watching / youtube etc
pdf reading - best method for this
best way to play android games
with a bluetooth keyboard can be a productivity device that's lighter than a laptop
battery life usually much longer than phones due to bigger battery

Allot of what you say is true, I loved my Nexus 7(2012) and still getting use out of my Nexus 9 (hence why I invested in replacement battery). Works well as media consumption device. Android app developers rarely provided apps for large screen displays on tablets.

Chrome OS (in it's early stage yet), seems like a promising future for productive tablet use. Playstore apps + Linux apps.

Five Reasons Android Tablets Failed

Can two operating systems coexist? The Pixel Slate thinks so

Reason why I'm not in the rush to upgrade my device yet, when there is a possibility of new devices with a more productive environment.

Chrome OS still has it weakness if you read/watch reviews of it.

fair enough but it will be a fair while before there are a good few chrome os devices on the market to drive the price down.

I suppose that it will be possible to also install chrome os on existing tablets also.

support for the mi pad 4 from the mod community will be decent as it's probably the best price/performance sweetspot.

android is still ok at the moment for me on tablets - not perfect but does the job.

alec76

I dunno , I think it just crazy spending €300 for Mi Pad 4 Chinese version ...
It is in same price range as IPad 9.7” (2018 ) which got better screen , better SoC , iOS vs Chinese MIUI ?
I am all the way for android phones ( MI 8 6/128 my current phone ) , but android tablet for the price of iPad , seriously?!
https://www.eglobalcentral.eu/apple-apple-ipad-9.7-2018-32gb-wifi-tablet.html

alec76

alec76 wrote: »

I dunno , I think it just crazy spending €300 for Mi Pad 4 Chinese version ...
It is in same price range as IPad 9.7” (2018 ) which got better screen , better SoC , iOS vs Chinese MIUI ?
I am all the way for android phones ( MI 8 6/128 my current phone ) , but android tablet for the price of iPad , seriously?!
https://www.eglobalcentral.eu/apple-apple-ipad-9.7-2018-32gb-wifi-tablet.html

Well it's for the 32 GB on the Apple with no expandable storage. 32gb is too small these days imo.
the 128gb one is 400 on eglobal
Plus the screen isn't even laminated and even though it's retina is not that great - dates back to 2012

Plus it's locked to apple's ecosystem etc....
Which I for one have no interest in as Android is a lot more flexible.

for people who are into apple stuff yes it's a good deal I suppose but not all are.

alec76

1536 x 2048 vs 1200 x 1920 screen comparison...
Personally, I strongly believe there is no reason for existence Android tablets above €200 when IPad is here .

RocketRaccoon

alec76 wrote: »

1536 x 2048 vs 1200 x 1920 screen comparison...
Personally, I strongly believe there is no reason for existence Android tablets above €200 when IPad is here .

I got an Asus zenpad off my wife last year and I'd never swap it for an ipad. I can't stand apple and their services so won't buy their products.

alec76

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

I got an Asus zenpad off my wife last year and I'd never swap it for an ipad. I can't stand apple and their services so won't buy their products.

I had Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and definitely not going back there.

corkie

glasso wrote: »

I suppose that it will be possible to also install chrome os on existing tablets also.

Don't think so unfortunately

Chrome OS is closed-source and not available for download, so there is no way of installing it onto another device

There is an opensource alternative Chromium OS, but it doesn't have integrated play apps or Linux app support. <<< I think or read somewhere.

Some additional features, like support for Android apps, are not available on Chromium OS. You may also run into issues with websites that use certain multimedia or DRM features. This isn’t quite the same experience you’ll get on a Chromebook.

How to Install Chrome OS Chromium OS from a USB Drive and Run It on Any PC

alec76

alec76 wrote: »

I had Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and definitely not going back there.

they are ancient products - not very relevant.

the nexus 7 2nd gen 2013 was actually an excellent tablet.

anyways - the op was asking about an android tablet - no real need for an apple vs android discussion! (even in relation to tablets) but yes for 300 the ipad would be a good deal for some for sure.

android tablets, not even talking about the really expensive pixel ones, go up to 700/800 e.g. the galaxy tab s - so there is a market out there if they are still being made.

alec76

glasso wrote: »

they are ancient products - not very relevant.

the nexus 7 2nd gen 2013 was actually an excellent.

Totally , it was cheap as chips , 1/3 of IPad ...
Nexus 10 different story though, I thought it was good ...until I’ve got IPad Air.

The high horse brigade

alec76 wrote: »

I dunno , I think it just crazy spending €300 for Mi Pad 4 Chinese version ...
It is in same price range as IPad 9.7” (2018 ) which got better screen , better SoC , iOS vs Chinese MIUI ?
I am all the way for android phones ( MI 8 6/128 my current phone ) , but android tablet for the price of iPad , seriously?!
https://www.eglobalcentral.eu/apple-apple-ipad-9.7-2018-32gb-wifi-tablet.html

And then you wonder why it won't pay half the formats nor can you "borrow" a few episodes of a show from a friend as your tied to an ecosystem that makes you use iTunes for everything

alec76

glasso wrote: »

android tablets, not even talking about the really expensive pixel ones, go up to 700/800 e.g. the galaxy tab s - so there is a market out there if they are still being made.

There is no profitable market for such devices ( apart from South Korea of course ) , Samsung actually loosing money to make them .

alec76

The high horse brigade wrote: »

And then you wonder why it won't pay half the formats nor can you "borrow" a few episodes of a show from a friend as your tied to an ecosystem that makes you use iTunes for everything

I am not sure if I used iTunes ever, everything is streaming these days , what do you need to borrow anyway, YouTube, Netflix account?
Sure, I still using torrents for 4K HDR BluRay ISO ( 40-60 GB), but there is no point to play this kind of media on tiny 10” screen...
There is no need more than 32gb storage for the Tablet ( you not taking pictures with it or shooting videos , don’t you have a phone for this?)

alec76

alec76 wrote: »

I am not sure if I used iTunes ever, everything is streaming these days , what do you need to borrow anyway, YouTube, Netflix account?
Sure, I still using torrents for 4K HDR BluRay ISO ( 40-60 GB), but there is no point to play this kind of media on tiny 10” screen...
There is no need more than 32gb storage for the Tablet ( you not taking pictures with it or shooting videos , don’t you have a phone for this?)

depends - could be going on hols / travelling where you don't have access to wifi a lot.

that's actually where I use my tablet most - on the plane or on hols where I need space for media files.

also if you're into games on tablets the app sizes can be well into the gb range these days.

alec76

alec76 wrote: »

There is no profitable market for such devices ( apart from South Korea of course ) , Samsung actually loosing money to make them .

source or just pulling this out of your ass?!

the galaxy tab s range has a pretty loyal following going back a long way actually.

The high horse brigade

alec76 wrote: »

I am not sure if I used iTunes ever, everything is streaming these days , what do you need to borrow anyway, YouTube, Netflix account?
Sure, I still using torrents for 4K HDR BluRay ISO ( 40-60 GB), but there is no point to play this kind of media on tiny 10” screen...
There is no need more than 32gb storage for the Tablet ( you not taking pictures with it or shooting videos , don’t you have a phone for this?)

The exact situation has happened. I was presented with a iPad by someone I know saying they were going on a long distance flight and wanted something I had to watch. It wasn't possible without wiping it.

I'd rather pay an extra 200 on a tab not to have to ever deal with iOS. It's a horrible experience, so restrictive and locked down. I share an Emby server and iOS devices are a pain, everything needs to be transcoded because they support very few formats.

micks_address

I was tempted by the Asus zenpad s last year as it got decent reviews. Not sure what the third party rom support is like?

Apple eco system is painful but with Netflix download etc for flights I haven't loaded much stuff on my devices .. same with music .. with Spotify I don't have any other physical copies of music on my devices..

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/tablets-and-ereaders/tablets/asus-zenpad-z500m-9-7-tablet-32-gb-silver-10147850-pdt.html

alec76

micks_address wrote: »

....but with Netflix download etc for flights I haven't loaded much stuff on my devices .. same with music .. with Spotify I don't have any other physical copies of music on my devices
l

Why would you need android tablet than ?
Surely you can go for ASUS with Mediatek SoC €369 !?

micks_address

alec76 wrote: »

Why would you need android tablet than ?
Surely you can go for ASUS with Mediatek SoC for €369 !?

I've an Android phone and a lot of Google devices..

alec76

micks_address wrote: »

I've an Android phone and a lot of Google devices..

I have android phone too.
Google Drive, Maps , Gmail, YouTube working flawlessly on iOS .
Having android phone and iOS tablet is WIN-WIN combination.

micks_address

micks_address wrote: »

I was tempted by the Asus zenpad s last year as it got decent reviews. Not sure what the third party rom support is like?

Apple eco system is painful but with Netflix download etc for flights I haven't loaded much stuff on my devices .. same with music .. with Spotify I don't have any other physical copies of music on my devices..

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/tablets-and-ereaders/tablets/asus-zenpad-z500m-9-7-tablet-32-gb-silver-10147850-pdt.html

the mi pad 4 is pretty much 2x more powerful

almost twice the battery life of that (or the ipad )
plus it's only 32 gb

alec76

glasso wrote: »

the mi pad 4 is pretty much 2x more powerful

almost twice the battery life of that (or the ipad )
plus it's only 32 gb

and IPad 9.7” 2018 more powerful than your Mi Pad 4
Has much better screen
and battery life for 3-4 days of havy use.
and it’s ...Apple. You could actually sell it after couple years unlike Xiaomi.