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Android tablets

Chuzzle7

I'm looking at getting an android tablet. I'm looking at 8" screens because I want something a bit bigger than my phone but smaller than those 10inch.

I have decided on a Chinese tablet, the Xiaomi mi pad 4 LTE version (LTE version has GPS). I already have a Xiaomi redmi note 7 and it's a great phone.

One thing that holding me off from buying the tablet are people's reviews. The tablet itself is great, however Xiaomi have stopped providing updates for this tablet. I honestly have no idea if this is good or bad. I read alot of people online about people bootloading and installing ROMs themselves to get updates. But this type of work is beyond my capabilities.

Is it best I avoid buying the tablet because of the lack of updates? Or are updates important?

Or can anyone give a few recommendations to other tablets?

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Guy:Incognito

They dont offer any new updates presumably because its a 3 year old tablet?

https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_pad_4-9249.php

Itd want to be nearly free at this stage.

refusetolose

most if not all android devices stop receiving updates few years after launch

Chuzzle7

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They dont offer any new updates presumably because its a 3 year old tablet?

https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_pad_4-9249.php

Itd want to be nearly free at this stage.

So is it best avoided? It is quite expensive as well.

corkie

Updates especially security patches will all depend on what your using it for (Online Banking, maybe risky).

glasso wrote: »

mi pad 4 - still have it and happy with it.

still working very well.

use it as a media consumption device primarily - video, newspapers, graphic novels, google photos.

especially when on holidays / travelling / commuting for bringing tv series and movies along etc.

so not so much used now at the moment except for reading the papers as it's better than a phone in that regard.

Xiaomi seem to have abandoned tables as far as I can see.

didn't get updates true but in my case made absolutely no difference.

still can get any app if required in any case.

Samsung are offering the best value at the moment on the Android front for tablets.

^^^ Cross-thread quote. Link to thread.

Edit: - Another thread that might interest you Cheap Tablets

[Deleted User]

What's it going to be used for?

I use cheap ones direct from China for travel. They do me fine but considering it's a few books, movies, etc I'm easily pleased with a good battery

Chuzzle7

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

What's it going to be used for?

I use cheap ones direct from China for travel. They do me fine but considering it's a few books, movies, etc I'm easily pleased with a good battery

Watching videos, reading, maybe a few games. It would be good for when we get back traveling but I also have a phone for that. So not hugely important but it's handy to have anyways.

[Deleted User]

Chuzzle7 wrote: »

Watching videos, reading, maybe a few games. God would be good for when we get back traveling but I also have a phone for that. So not hugely important but it's handy to have anyways.

Well just go by the policy of 'looks too good'. Travel is all about the battery primarily. Then the spec obviously but you are unlikely to need state of the art.

Last one I picked up, claimed more than it delivered but it still delivered more then enough for the few quid and meets my needs. The refund rather than having it returned was an excellent bonus considering I didn't need the claimed internal memory

So anyway, with that on mind the one you are looking at will meet your needs. Just a case of comparing it's price to similar ones then

Chuzzle7

Just looking online for tablets and my head is wrecked. Sure what's an extra 2inches on a tablet, so thinking I might as well go for 10 inches... Not as if I'll be walking around and reading at the same time anyways. I quite like the Samsung Tab A7. Or is there similar tablets out there that might be slightly cheaper?

AllForIt

Chuzzle7 wrote: »

Watching videos, reading, maybe a few games. God would be good for when we get back traveling but I also have a phone for that. So not hugely important but it's handy to have anyways.

If you are just using a table for watching video and reading there is eff all reason to concered about updates and having the latest version of android.

The lowest version of android that is still usable is android 7 aka android Nougat.

These seem to be on A8, so just get it if as you say it's a good tablet generally.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20210503082322&origin=y&SearchText=Xiaomi+mi+pad+4+LTE

Chuzzle7

I really do like the Xiaomi mi pad 4. Another question. Is it risky buying a flashed device? I think it's easy to install the play store with the unflashed version anyways.

listermint

No idea about the Xiaomi ones but picked up the Samsung S6 lite with the pen few months back.

Absolute savage machine . Love it.

It's a bargain at 249 from amazon.de right now.

Actually the LTE version of it on amazon.de appears to be cheaper than the Xiaomi from Ali express.

310.

_Kaiser_

Chuzzle7 wrote: »

I really do like the Xiaomi mi pad 4. Another question. Is it risky buying a flashed device? I think it's easy to install the play store with the unflashed version anyways.

I have a Mi Pad 4 and it was a bit of a hassle unlocking the bootloader and flashing it with a different image - in my case to get rid of the Chinese ROM and better Google Apps support.

I did get it sorted though and flashed it with a port of a Google ROM from XDA. Works fine and as I was mainly using it for eBooks, security updates wasn't a big concern but I did have Kaspersky on it too.

I recently changed to an S6 lite though as I wanted the bigger screenso it's been sitting in a drawer since then.

[Deleted User]

the tab a7 2020 is a great tablet for the money and you can get it for a good price from the amazon europe sites for under 200

(just bought one for a family member)

and saying that as someone who owns a mi pad 4 (which is also good)

buying a cheap no-brand (e.g. not Xioami) tablet from China is risky mainly from the point of view of support if something goes wrong

they usually don't hold up brilliantly in the long run also - charging port may break etc compared to better brands

the s6 lite is also good if you'd make use of the pen or want a little more cpu grunt for gaming

Chuzzle7

glasso wrote: »

the tab a7 2020 is a great tablet for the money and you can get it for a good price from the amazon europe sites for under 200

(just bought one for a family member)

and saying that as someone who owns a mi pad 4 (which is also good)

buying a cheap no-brand (e.g. not Xioami) tablet from China is risky mainly from the point of view of support if something goes wrong

they usually don't hold up brilliantly in the long run also - charging port may break etc compared to better brands

the s6 lite is also good if you'd make use of the pen or want a little more cpu grunt for gaming

I've made up my mind, I'm getting the Samsung Tab A7. It looks very good and reasonable enough price wise as well. As much as I liked the mi pad 4, it doesn't make much sense, alot of work with bootloading and custom ROMs and then on top of that, you have to use an old Netflix app on a new device. That doesn't make much sense to me.

I've checked the European Amazon sites and the price is very good. It's 280 euro for the 64gb LTE version on Amazon Spain. But it's the Spanish version... Do these tablets have different versions? Or is just the language settings and can be changed to English?

[Deleted User]

There are no different versions afaik

Doesn't matter where you buy it.

Not much point buying the Lte version imo unless you really need a dedicated mobile connection in it all the time.

Share a phone hotspot or use other WiFi

[Deleted User]

Germany has the tab a7 at a downright amazing price of €159 right now (32gb version)

or €215 in Spain for the 64gb version

https://www.hagglezon.com/en/s/samsung%20tab%20a7

or 249 for the s6 lite (64gb) with s-pen in Germany

https://www.hagglezon.com/en/s/tab%20s6%20lite

Chuzzle7

glasso wrote: »

There are no different versions afaik

Doesn't matter where you buy it.

Not much point buying the Lte version imo unless you really need a dedicated mobile connection in it all the time.

Share a phone hotspot or use other WiFi

Yep, I think you're right. Ended up buying the 64gb WiFi version for 215 euro. And since I was going to save from buying the LTE version, I bought a cheap 8 inch teclast p80x tablet as well on AliExpress... Afterall, I wanted an 8inch in the first place!

[Deleted User]

tbh at the prices of 249 euro vs 215 euro I'd recommend going for the s6 lite over the tab a7 for the extra cpu power, s-pen functionality and Samsung Dex (tablet can act more like a laptop if required)

well worth an extra 34 euro

you can always cancel amazon if not shipped

listermint

glasso wrote: »

tbh at the prices of 249 euro vs 215 euro I'd recommend going for the s6 lite over the tab a7 for the extra cpu power, s-pen functionality and Samsung Dex (tablet can act more like a laptop if required)

well worth an extra 34 euro

you can always cancel amazon if not shipped

Didn't know it bad DeX function on it. Have to try it out

Absolutely lovely machine I use it to edit drone footage and the pen makes it a breeze. Recently been designing new garden layout with the Concepts app on it.

glic83

Is the Samsung Tab S7 lite due out next month?

[Deleted User]

glic83 wrote: »

Is the Samsung Tab S7 lite due out next month?

no idea.

the s6 lite is excellent as-is in any case and available right now at a great price that any newer model won't be available at (not even near)

Chuzzle7

glasso wrote: »

tbh at the prices of 249 euro vs 215 euro I'd recommend going for the s6 lite over the tab a7 for the extra cpu power, s-pen functionality and Samsung Dex (tablet can act more like a laptop if required)

well worth an extra 34 euro

you can always cancel amazon if not shipped

Can you explain Samsung Dex for me? Can't you use a Bluetooth keyboard with any tablet or is Samsung Dex different?

I am also in need of a new laptop sometimes soon, so cancelled the Samsung Tab A7 until I look more into this Samsung galaxy S6 lite device.

[Deleted User]

it gives a more more windows desktop experience (looks like windows for multitasking etc) so if you use say a keyboard and mouse it's more usable to navigate around etc

or you could run the s6 lite output to a 100 euro monitor with a usb-c to hdmi adaptor and with a keyboard and mouse have quite a usable system on a big screen

for stuff like browsing, productivity software etc it would be actually possible to replace a laptop if you don't need windows specific stuff

it's an option

certainly worth an extra 30 euro for that and the boost up in cpu power over the tab a7

[Deleted User]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8RGMF2m3fA

like this but on the tablet you can also just use dex on the tablet instead of having to connect to a monitor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuBmR6ck5_w

corkie

glic83 wrote: »

Is the Samsung Tab S7 lite due out next month?

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite leaks again on Google Play Console

"The tablet will pack a 5,100 mAh battery with 15W charging and boot Android 11. The Tab A7 Lite is expected to come in black and silver colors and we should see its debut as early as next month."

[Deleted User]

corkie wrote: »

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite leaks again on Google Play Console

"The tablet will pack a 5,100 mAh battery with 15W charging and boot Android 11. The Tab A7 Lite is expected to come in black and silver colors and we should see its debut as early as next month."

wasn't he asking about the s7 lite?

this a7 lite is a downgrade on the tab a7 model in terms of cpu, battery and screen

s7 lite projected specs

https://www.gsmarena.com/heres_the_samsung_galaxy_tab_s7_lite_5g-news-48668.php

I imagine that it will debut around 400 euro at least

Chuzzle7

glasso wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8RGMF2m3fA

like this but on the tablet you can also just use dex on the tablet instead of having to connect to a monitor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuBmR6ck5_w

Thanks for your very helpful advice. Quick question 64gb version on amazon.de is 249 euro... Is this a mistake or should I quickly go for it?

[Deleted User]

Chuzzle7 wrote: »

Thanks for your very helpful advice. Quick question 64gb version on amazon.de is 249 euro... Is this a mistake or should I quickly go for it?

it's not a mis-price.

you should go for it at that price imo

Chuzzle7

glasso wrote: »

it's not a mis-price.

you should go for it at that price imo

Just bought it. Thank you very much for all your help. Who knew it would be so hard deciding on a tablet. But happy now with my choice.

dinneenp

Chuzzle7 wrote: »

I'm looking at getting an android tablet. I'm looking at 8" screens because I want something a bit bigger than my phone but smaller than those 10inch.

Are you definitive that you want one smaller than a 10"? Physically the difference between 8" and 10" tablet isn't much and you have a larger screen. I'd go into a store and see the difference before I bought.
(for the record I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4" from Amazon.es for about €184).