Android Police, one of the two best Android-related news websites (together with AndroidCentral) put together a holiday gift guide. Which tablet do they recommend?
iPad Air 2 ($499-expensive). Yes, I am breaking the gift guide by putting this here. Why? Because
as you’ll notice, none of us recommended the Nexus 9(edit: Cameron recommended it, but don’t listen to him), because it’s not exactly great. In fact, I’d argue no Android tablet is. The Shield Tablet is a lot of bang for your buck, but the screen kind of sucks and the battery life isn’t spectacular (standby is bad in particular) and it’s heavy, thick, and kinda ugly.[…]
The Air 2 is reliable, predictable, and very fast. iOS still has some tablet experience apps lacking Android equivalents, too, and while Android tablets do have some advantages (like a better Gmail app BY FAR), the iPad remains a no-brainer for me. If it’s my money being spent on a tablet, I’m going to buy the one I know is going to live up to a standard of quality – the iPad has been the gold standard in tablets since it was unveiled, and that hasn’t changed. I don’t see it changing any time soon, either.
And he’s totally right, of course. Assuming you don’t yet have a preference for Android and you’re out looking for the best tablet, the iPad is the only real option. Better applications, better experience, better build quality, better performance, better battery life – the list is endless. Google’s still got so much work to do on tablets.
There are decent Android tablets, but there are no great ones.
The best tablet would be the tablet that you already have. Tablets have only improved bit by bit and nothing exciting is going on in that space. An “ancient” Ipad2 will still run every app, has enough battery life, is light and small enough, etc, etc. There are simply no use-cases for tablets that are any different between back-then and now.
It is not that the new tablets aren’t better, it is that they don’t offer any reason to upgrade
My experience is similar to yours. Save that I own the first iteration of the retina ipad. I use it quite a lot, but I find no real reason to upgrade. Note that if I had an iPad 2 I would find the extra resolution of the retina display as a compelling reason… but then, the retina resolution made me buy my current iPad (I didn’t own one before).
iOS is soooo limited. I coud never use it.
Try jailbreaking.
My last 6 phones have been Android: OnePlus One, Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Samsung Galaxy S2, Motorola Atrix, etc. My two tablets are android. So, I’m not an apple fanboy by any measure.
But, your comment makes no sense to me. While I appreciate the customizability of Android, I recommend iOS to my friends. And my next tablet would be an iPad.
So, please, explain to me how it is so limited?
I guess my usage pattern is very different from most of those who use tablets. I use mine like a laptop and, to that end, iOS’s restrictions just won’t do. I can’t even upload files to websites reliably with it because Safari only supports sending photos, and the 3rd-party browsers that do allow it are incomplete. The iPad is great for consumption but you can forget getting real work done on it even with a keyboard.
Not trying to say you are wrong, but what real work do you do with your tablet?
While I was taking a class last year I used my android tablet (Tegra Note 7 $200 new) as a tiny laptop with a camera. With the stylus I was able to take notes, while taking pictures of the slides (It was an art history class) and record audio of the lecture. When I would get home I would transfer all those files I had made to my file server and type out nicer versions of my notes into flash cards on my workstation while it was all fresh in my head. The iPad does not have pen input, it does not have a file browser that I can use to move the files I have created around or upload them through windows networking etc. I honestly can’t figure out the appeal of apple tablets and phones. They seem so restrictive.
Ok. Thanks for sharing your use case. I never would have expected that people would actually seriously use the stylus for note taking.
But then again, I just read an article that talked about how different Chinese use their mobile devices due to the input differences. Pen input makes a lot of sense for Mandarin.
Bill Shooter of Bul,
When I’m at home I always type my notes into the computer, keyboard is king
However I still use paper for taking notes at clients. I also prefer sketching diagrams on paper than trying to do it on a computer.
I’ve tried taking notes on a tablet, but I’ve learned that many have difficultly picking up stylus input and virtual keyboards are just plain inferior for serious typing, I’d rather write it down and type it up when I get home. If I had a tablet that worked very well with stylus input, I could see myself using it instead of paper. Ideally for me it would be the size of a regular clipboard and no smaller.
I have seen someone using a cheap (15 euro or so) bluetooth keyboard with a tablet (or large phone) He was cheerfully typing along some maintenance report.
I took most of my university lecture notes on a Palm IIIc with the fold-out keyboard. Still better than current solutions IMO.
I can type faster than I can write, it was always legible, and I didn’t need to carry a bag anywhere (though I did smash a Palm after coming off my skateboard on the way home one day
).
I chuckle when I see people say that you can’t get “real work” done with it because the very nature of developers succeeding in the iPad ios space is around work. All the enterprises that are using iPads to enable their workforce aren’t doing so to allow their employees to play angry birds, y’know. So again, I chuckle, nay, I actually, LOL, when I see it. Because the facts simply don’t bear it. MS made a mint from iOS activations of office optimized for iPad, that’s not work being done? Cmon fellas, cmon. LOL.
Have you actually witnessed a deployment of ipads in an entreprise? I have, and it was a total failure. It’s not because something is done and publically announced that it will certainly be a success y’a know.
Edited 2014-12-09 21:36 UTC
jackeeblue,
This is a strawman, at least in relationship to the darknexus post you responded to since he never said any of the things you are criticizing.
My use cases are like his actually, a tablet for me isn’t nearly as good as a laptop or desktop, but so what? If other people can use it to get work done, then why would we have a problem with that? It depends on what you do. Lots of people I know love their ios devices. Still, isn’t telling that their “sent from my iphone/ipad” emails are always short and quick while they postpone writing long/detailed emails until they’re in front of a physical computer keyboard to write something longer? I suspect this may be a widespread trend since I know many users from different circles who do the exact same thing. Anyone else notice it?
No one is saying work cannot be done from a tablet, but never the less one shouldn’t deny that sometimes it isn’t the best tool for the job. Other times maybe it is.
But, as soon as you try to share it between multiple users, you run into a brick wall. iOS does not play well in that regards at all. And the tools for managing large numbers of iPads are a joke.
Nexus 7 2013 is still a great Android tablet. I wonder how a blogger at Android Police neglected to mention the “obvious” choice (maybe because it’s old?)
Probably because it is not available for purchase anymore, which is sad. I love my Nexus 7 2013. It works better than my wife’s iPad Air, where Safari seems to crash too often for my tastes.
Actually, one of the other sites did. But you know the Android tablet landscape is shitty when a tablet released in mid-2013 shows up on a ‘best of 2014’ list, especially when said tablet basically had the same specs as a phone released in late 2012 (Nexus 4), which itself was not even the best in class when it was released.
Don’t get me wrong… I love Android on phones, but on tablets? Not so much.
I also like the nexus 7 2013, wifi, gps and 32GB for 220 euro the ipad mini with gps was something like 500 euro.
Screen could be bigger though when you get older it’s a bit tiny without reading glasses.
I still don’t understand why Google killed the Nexus 7 in favor of the more expensive, less portable Nexus 9. Samsung was already making large Android tablets that nobody was buying. There are a lot of smaller Android tablets, but none as good as the Nexus 7.
Wasn’t very durable though. I loved mine right up until the screen failed for no reason. I knew five people this happened to in my circle of friends alone with the 2013 Nexus 7, and if you google you will find this is quite common. Google was no help as they said I needed to call Asus, and Asus were no help as they wanted $168 plus shipping just to replace the screen on it. I hadn’t even had it for a year, and the others I know had had the device for less than a year as well. So while it was a nice experience while it lasted, it didn’t last nearly long enough and I won’t be getting anything Nexus that’s made by Asus in future. For now Samsung seems to be doing okay, though I hate their horrible slowness when it comes to updates.
Mine had no problems and it fell to the ground several times.
Since I got my Nexus 7 my iPad is collecting dust. (Although it cost three times as much.)
maybe because they’re bloggers and not responsible, experienced journalists.
I’m also in the Nexus 7 love camp. I still rock a 2012 N7. It’s hampered by a lack of RAM, but it still plays video back perfectly, so I haven’t been able to justify the upgrade.
I’m really bummed that they’ve left the 7″ tablet behind.
I have a Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition,LTE.
I am perfectly happy with it, there is virtually nothing you can’t do with it, and the specs are fantastic. Only problem, the official ROM had some strange writing permission issues. Solved by using another ROM. That is another great thing with Android, you can try all the ROMs available for your device.
A couple of years ago I had an iPad 2. There was very little I could do with it, or perhaps I was too lazy to learn. I sold it within a short time.
yeah… I have to admit, my brother bought one, and he loves it.
I am of the mind of the android central authors, I’d have expected most people to prefer the air 2.
I’ve got the WiFi edition. Bought it at a rather hefty discount (~€270/$337, VAT and all). I considered returning it. It’s laggy, gets warm under load, and I find TouchWiz obnoxious. Still, it’s probably better than vanilla Android for a 10″ screen. My next tablet will run Windows.
You could try a custom ROM. I am using Android Revolution HD 2.0. You can also replace TouchWiz with many other launchers
Does the stylus work as well under the custom ROMs?
To be honest I don’t use the stylus at all, but I suppose it does.
$500 is the only tablet they recommend. C’mon, folks, that’s just plain goofy. During the Black Friday fun you could get the Amazon Kindle Fire 6-inch for $79. Very few people need the extra $420 dollars of features. This is great example of a First-of-the-First-world attitude. The rest of us manage just fine!
Very few people need a BMW or Mercedes either, but we don’t all drive around in economy-class Hyundais.
The point is most guides have levels. The Mercedes class, the Buick class, and us folks down here in the Yugo class. Otherwise, you’re seriously narrowing your audience.
Eh, I doubt the kind of people that read dedicated Android blogs would have a lot of interest in a Kindle Fire. Anyway, the KF is not even an Android tablet – it’s an Amazon tablet, running a bastardized, FrankenAndroid variant.
I heard he is definitely anti-Abacus, refuses to use one. And he kicked a kitten once.
The Hyundai Genesis competes directly with the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E class. It is far more expensive and sophisticated than many BMW and Mercedes models.
Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear) says that buying a low end model of an prestige brand just tells everybody that you can’t afford anything better.
Right, that’s why I said economy class; I meant something on the level of a Moto E, or whatever. Perhaps that was a bad analogy though… I’m not a car person, so sue me
I have a no frills, 2008 Hyundai Accent. It’s been a good car… gets me where I need to go, with a minimal amount of maintenance required. It’s probably all most people really need.
Edited 2014-12-10 06:40 UTC
Which just proves the point: what’s best for most people isn’t a BMW or Mercedes.
I’m with you during the Christmas sales I picked up a LG G Pad 10.1 it is great, fast, bright screen, and battery life that puts every other tablet out there to shame. The best part it was just $210 on sale.
Welcome to IT gadget journalism, where common sense does not exist and quality reporting doesn’t matter.
Edited 2014-12-11 05:40 UTC
iPad is the same old tired POS it has always been from the beginning, a tablet for the mentally challenged who can’t handle anything beyond a page with bulky icons. It’s a good thing that the fanboy mentality is limited to just a handful of sites while much of the rest of the world has a realistic way of thinking.
Thom says: “…the iPad is the only real option.”
I say BS. The best option is that one that suits you.
Want a 7″ tablet? Sorry Apple doesn’t have that.
Want 16:9 layout? Sorry Apple doesn’t have that.
Want a fixed keyboard? Sorry Apple doesn’t have that.
Want an SD card? Sorry Apple doesn’t have that.
Want USB? Sorry Apple doesn’t have that?
Want an expensive non-standard PSU? Apple has that.
Want the abomination known as Tunes? Apple has that.
Want to upload a file? Apple doesn’t let you
Want to pass some downloads to your PC? Apple doesn’t let you.
Want to use the messaging/videoconf system to connect with someone outside Apple’s Universe? Apple doesn’t let you
Want to borrow a standard charger? Apple doesn’t let you
…
……
………
Garageband and iMovie have no equals, though.
1) Try one of the many FTP/SFTP apps. or iCab.
2) iDisk/DropBox/SharePro
3) Skype?
4) It might be a case of birds-of-a-feather but I can’t remember the last time I went to an office/house/restaurant/etc where I couldn’t borrow an iphone charger.
Edited 2014-12-10 10:06 UTC
Aha, so to move a download to my computer, I must upload it first out of the iPhone, to a cloud service. How absurd. Funny how that iTunes behemoth won’t help you with that; Apple likes to pick what you can do.
Wasn’t there some recent brouhaha about Apple prohibiting uploads iCloud of files that were not produced with the uploading application? Here…
http://www.osnews.com/story/28124/iOS_developers_up_in_arms_over_Ap…
Skype? Sure. Or Hangouts. Or Whatsapp. Whatever that is not Apple will be open to the world. As with the charger, Apple likes you to deal only with your fellow countrymen from Apple land, of which are remarkably few outside the US, where the Reality Distortion Field is strongest.
I’m clearly missing something here. You can transfer files via a cloud service (which I would have thought is more seemless). OR you can transfer directly via USB cable . Many iphone apps support drag and drop file transfers – via the itunes desktop app. I’m I misunderstanding your use case??
So you’re criticising the fact that I can use a third party app do it what it is you were asking about?
I move about frequently throughout Europe and the Middle East, and I’ve never had a problem getting my hands on a charger. Sure it’s propriety, if you have an ideological problem with that – fair enough, but let’s not pretend they’re hard to come across.
OK, the charger is standard, ad long as you carry your own cable.
And when I had my iPhone 4, I don’t remember I I could transfer any email attachments via USB, or anything via iTunes that was not one of the Apple sanctioned formats. I do remember, however, that keeping my iPhone in sync with two different computers meant all its contents would be unexpectedly wiped off every now and then when ¿syncing?
Anything you download can be transferred via USB. iTunes has a section for drag and drop file transers direct to and and from apps. It’s not access to the file system but it does the job.
Again, not true. You can transfer information without syncing on a number of different computers. I connect my phone to different computers on a daily basis and move information back and forth without syncing.
EDIT: the information you mentioned about functionality may have been true at one point but all the things you mentioned are readily available now and have been for some time.
Edited 2014-12-12 09:03 UTC
Look, one more example of Apple imposing their petty commercial and moral choices upon their customers:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/12/apple-forces-nude-immigrants-…
An iPad Mini is technically excellent, the included software is great, and the one without fingerprint reader has a very good price for a thing Apple, but I dislike going with a company that is so manipulative, so patronising, so restrictive in your choices.
I purchased my first tablet last week. It was a Nexus 7 2013 16GB for $149 new. I realize that it is discontinued but at $149; it is the best deal that I have found for a tablet.
Well, if the choice is between a $100 decent tablet and a $500 good tablet I’m pretty sure which one I”m going to buy, especially since I already have a good laptop.