Ten years ago today, Google released the 2nd-generation Nexus 7, just days after a surprise announcement. Back then, Android tablets still felt fresh and exciting. It seemed like anything was possible, and things could only improve from there. Well, we know what happened next. But the depressing state of the tablet market to come was in no way the fault of the Nexus 7. In fact, this is still one of the best Android tablets ever made, and it’s worth looking back and showing it the honor and respect it deserves.
How
Sheer processing power, stylus compatibility, and interoperability with computers of the same brand, which Samsung does too. I want an Android tablet that has as good a stylus and CPU speeds, then I would be right on it, because Android is a superior mobile OS in many ways. I loved my Nexus 7 and my ASUS Transformer but they just weren’t there yet.
Literally the opposite of my definition of interoperability 😂
That would be “intraoperability”, I guess.
“walled garden”
True, that was poor word choice. I guess it would just be “operability?” Or “integration?”
“Forced ecosystem”
Honestly can’t say enough good things about my Tab S8. I use it for editing photos in Lightroom Mobile, and it works so damn well with the stylus. Very responsive and fast.
So is it the ipad pro you’re talking about? Are the high end Samsung tabs comparable?
I remember the high end Android tablets being in a rough place because of app performance and layouts (where some apps still don’t offer a really good tablet centric layout, they give you a big mobile layout)
I remember looking at the Galaxy tab range about 5-6 years ago and while they had good processors, they seemed to struggle on multi-core performance and smoothness.
It could totally be a different scenario today, but it feels like their reputation has been set, the Android tablets are a poor man’s iPad (which is a bit funny considering how expensive some can be!)
This is basically it, we just need better hardware in android tablets and maybe more optimization, Google is trying with tensor but it is a ways off.
I haven’t been satisfied with the iPadOS software compared to the S23U. Feel like that utilizes multitasking and stylus functionality way better which would be much more appreciated on the large screen of the iPad. Little things like edge panels, one hand operation +, and stylus being built in and having options like smart select pop right up when I take it out leads me me to using it more. Then the limited folder options on top of that and worse external monitor support feels like all that power that can run a full on desktop is wasted and held back by the mobile OS.
One thing I do love about the iPad is that I can rely on long term security updates, since majority of my use is as a glorified comic reader along side my kindle for ebooks. It does make it easier to tolerate iPadOS, and pretty the only reason I chose it over the Samsung despite finding myself using the S23U way more even when I have the iPad available. I ended up expecting less from the iPad than my phone. I don’t know if it would have ended up that way even if it had more features, or if it was just me adapting and accepting iPadOS for what it was.
Thank you for a detailed post with pros and cons. With everything it’s not black and white,
Agreed about the software. I wish we had a base Android tablet with the same hardware as the iPad Pro.
Unfortunately, not really. iPad with an m2 chip is on another level.