Samsung Announces the Galaxy Tab A9 and Galaxy Tab A9+

[unwind-protect]

Not quite understanding why I would pick these over an iPad, especially the non-+ version.

What's involved in unlocking the bootloader and rooting these? I assume they don't support Android SDK's fastboot?

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

The size delta between small tablets and large phones is too, well, small. Not only that, but given the sad performance of the post-Nexus 7-8" class tablets I've used (outside of the iPad Mini, of course), you're better off with an older used big phone anyway.

I miss my nexus 7. I've had, and have, a big phone now, but its just not the same experience. Plus tablet data plans are super cheap now. $15 for unlimited from metro? Hell yes.

And dont get me started on the skimping of battery capacity on modern tablets. Camera bumps belong with the dinosaurs.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

I still have my old Teclast Tbook 16s dual win10/android tablet, it's imo a nice thing. just can't bring myself to replace it. My mate has a very high end sammy tab, he bought off his aut for £500, though not sure what it is.
https://www.gizmochina.com/product/teclast-tbook-16s/

 

[Belfaborac]

The size delta between small tablets and large phones is too, well, small. Not only that, but given the sad performance of the post-Nexus 7-8" class tablets I've used (outside of the iPad Mini, of course), you're better off with an older used big phone anyway.

Disagree. I think you're judging other people's needs and wants on the basis of your own.

A phone like my Galaxy S10+ is still too small to read on comfortably and I certainly wouldn't want a larger phone. Pretty much everyone I know who owns a small tablet uses it for reading and is in the same boat as me. The form factor of an ~8" tablet is pretty much ideal, having much the same page size as a book.

Keep in mind, the A9 does not have a snapdragon chip. Only the A9+ does. The A9 gets a mediatek chip in the US.

Ah, that's a shame. Oh well, like I said the Exynos will no doubt serve my meagre needs very well.

 

[bug]

As usual, good hardware (A9+) that will be hamstrung by Samsung horrible software. Deduct 32GB storage, because Samsung will install a doppelganger of almost every app that comes with Android. And it won't let you uninstall any of them.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Disagree. I think you're judging other people's needs and wants on the basis of your own.

A phone like my Galaxy S10+ is still too small to read on comfortably and I certainly wouldn't want a larger phone. Pretty much everyone I know who owns a small tablet uses it for reading and is in the same boat as me. The form factor of an ~8" tablet is pretty much ideal, having much the same page size as a book.

You may disagree, but the market clearly doesn't. Look, I like mid-size tablets. They're large enough to actually use for document work, yet small enough to slip in a back pocket. But no one's released a decent Android-based example (AFAIK) since the Galaxy Tab S8. Outside of Samsung for models worth having over the segment's entire history, there was, what, the Nexus 2013 and Nvidia Shield? The situation was so bad when my N13 needed replacing that I just gave up and bought a G7 Power instead (was still rocking a dumb phone at the time), because everything available that wasn't an S8 or iPad mini sucked, and I didn't want to spend $400. The only conclusion I can come to is that there simply aren't enough buyers out there to sell enough units to produce a well-performing small tablet at a modest price point.

Side note: The only reason the N13 was so good at its price point was because Google basically sold it at cost, intending to make revenue via the Play store. That clearly didn't work out.

 

[unwind-protect]

You may disagree, but the market clearly doesn't. Look, I like mid-size tablets. They're large enough to actually use for document work, yet small enough to slip in a back pocket. But no one's released a decent Android-based example (AFAIK) since the Galaxy Tab S8. Outside of Samsung for models worth having over the segment's entire history, there was, what, the Nexus 2013 and Nvidia Shield? The situation was so bad when my N13 needed replacing that I just gave up and bought a G7 Power instead (was still rocking a dumb phone at the time), because everything available that wasn't an S8 or iPad mini sucked, and I didn't want to spend $400. The only conclusion I can come to is that there simply aren't enough buyers out there to sell enough units to produce a well-performing small tablet at a modest price point.

Side note: The only reason the N13 was so good at its price point was because Google basically sold it at cost, intending to make revenue via the Play store. That clearly didn't work out.

Hey we always had Amazon Fire tablets.

/ducks

 

[Belfaborac]

You may disagree, but the market clearly doesn't. ...... .The only conclusion I can come to is that there simply aren't enough buyers out there to sell enough units to produce a well-performing small tablet at a modest price point.

I don't agree with that in the slightest, I was just referring to the use case of a phone vs small tablet. The market for the latter has certainly shrunk and those few who still need a small tablet are basically voracious readers like myself. Not many of those left it seems to me.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

There may not be a good performing small Android tablet, but there is from Apple.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

You may disagree, but the market clearly doesn't. Look, I like mid-size tablets. They're large enough to actually use for document work, yet small enough to slip in a back pocket. But no one's released a decent Android-based example (AFAIK) since the Galaxy Tab S8. Outside of Samsung for models worth having over the segment's entire history, there was, what, the Nexus 2013 and Nvidia Shield? The situation was so bad when my N13 needed replacing that I just gave up and bought a G7 Power instead (was still rocking a dumb phone at the time), because everything available that wasn't an S8 or iPad mini sucked, and I didn't want to spend $400. The only conclusion I can come to is that there simply aren't enough buyers out there to sell enough units to produce a well-performing small tablet at a modest price point.

Side note: The only reason the N13 was so good at its price point was because Google basically sold it at cost, intending to make revenue via the Play store. That clearly didn't work out.

Devil's advocate: which android tablets were the size of an ipad mini and offered flagship hardware like an ipad mini?

 

[bug]

Devil's advocate: which android tablets were the size of an ipad mini and offered flagship hardware like an ipad mini?

It's a bit complicated, because there are so many SoCs for Android tablets. Basically everything that's SD 8xx and even 7xx or 6xx can qualify as flagship, based on the features they offer.
I couldn't name models otoh, because I'm not interested in minis like at all. But in general, if you have time to search, you will find a config that meets your criteria.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

It's a bit complicated, because there are so many SoCs for Android tablets. Basically everything that's SD 8xx and even 7xx or 6xx can qualify as flagship, based on the features they offer.
I couldn't name models otoh, because I'm not interested in minis like at all. But in general, if you have time to search, you will find a config that meets your criteria.

6xx is midrange man, there are no flagship 600s. That's like claiming an i3-12100f is a "flagship". 800s are flagship. 700s are midrangers with some extra oomph for gaming purposes (hence why they originally had the G on the end).

And you can search until you are blue in the face. There were no flagship minis. Everything either used snapdragon 400s, last gen nvidia tegras (limited to really just nvidia K1 tablet), mediatek chips, or TI OMAPs (remember them?). This is why the mini android tablet died. The nexus 7, 2nd gen with a snapdragon 600, was the TOP TIER mini. With midrange hardware. Then said low end CPUs were paired with paltry RAM and slow eMMC. This is what killed the mini android tablet. I waited for years for a proper nexus successor before finally giving up. Apple won, because apple made decent stuff. The only other OEM to consistently make high end tablets was samsung, and they continue to make them with the Tab S series, which are larger (and then, they had a run of using mid range last gen hardware, and wondered why sales dropped).

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Devil's advocate: which android tablets were the size of an ipad mini and offered flagship hardware like an ipad mini?

One: the Galaxy Tab S8, but I'm not even talking about flagship-level hardware. That'd never fly anyway; people simply won't pay nearly 10" money for an 8" or smaller tablet. The iPad Mini itself tends to make do with last-gen stuff, and is updated with half the frequency of the regular iPad.

 

[trsttte]

Devil's advocate: which android tablets were the size of an ipad mini and offered flagship hardware like an ipad mini?

Lenovo Legion Y700 (though it's sadly not available globally and software support is a joke)

Apple won, because apple made decent stuff. The only other OEM to consistently make high end tablets was samsung, and they continue to make them with the Tab S series, which are larger (and then, they had a run of using mid range last gen hardware, and wondered why sales dropped).

Apple won because marketing - android on tablets was crucified for "bad interface on bigger screen" which was in part a bunch of bs, and investment - apple actively pursued having a tablet market, use cases for it and having developers launch their apps specifically for the ipad, google just let the market self regulate which didn't work at all.

Android tablets are in a ressurgent period because of the pandemic where the market wanted more afordable, flexible and varied options than what Apple offers but I'm pretty certain they're walking towards the same fate. Google had a very good idea with the latest pixel tablet of making it more of a home device with it's dock and all that (so much so Apple is copying some of the features) but they didn't really move past that base use case (half a year and there's still no basic accessories like a keyboard or stylus - the tablet supports any USI stylus but having Google offer a specific one and promote it's use matters)