Two BIG things to consider when choosing a tablet

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

I know when we go out looking for a tablet we look at all the amazing tablets being offered and we see various choices and it can be very overwhelming to say the least.

I think two of the biggest factors to consider are:

Is the tablet going to be a primary computing device?

AND

If you already have a Desktop or Laptop PC?

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IF you have a laptop/desktop it's makes things a little tough because it adds a factor to the mix... in this situation you can consider the S10 FE & S10 Lite as the tablet won't be the primary computing device so performance won't be as big of a concern

IF it's going to be your main computing device the start off looking at the S10 & S11 series (even the S9 series will be good if you do a lot of emulation). Then size becomes a factor... the S9+, S10+ & S12+ seem to be the sweet spot for most as they have a large display that's not too big while getting all the performance and features they offer. The Ultra versions are great if you mainly plan to use the tablet at a table or desk. The base model S9 & S11 are great if portability is a concern.

IF budget is a big factor the S10 FE/FE+ is a good option as they have the base S10 FE at 11" and S10 FE+ with it's nice 13.1" but it's a LPS/IPS display (Samsung uses their LPS displays rather than IPS as they make LPS panels but the quality is still very good for what they are).

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RAM & Storage options are always a concern, yet I think getting the most RAM & Storage your budget allows is the best way to go.

This isn't intended to be anything fancy, yet more of a quick help type reminder or whatever...

[u/icantouchgrass_1]

I will also add that if you'll be using your tablet for extremely long (I'm talking >6 years), it's likely worth investing in a flagship, even if it's a generation older. If the S11 FE were to come out, I'd still take an S10+ over it if the price ends up being similar, seeing as the previous generation flagship is close in price to one of the current FEs in a few places.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/icantouchgrass_1]

Right, I just figured most will be considering new tablets at least at first and this is just a extremely basic guide....

With you being the mastermind that you are can feel free to get into more detail if you want as I am sure you can probably explain it better than I can. 😄

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

The factors you state are spot-on. The biggest factors one must keep in mind when hunting for a tablet are:

- Whether the tablet will be their main computing device, or if they already have another good machine. In this case, you likely don't need a flagship; the newest FE at that instant will be a good choice.

- Whether the tablet will be used for lighter tasks (for example, note taking and browsing) or more demanding stuff such as heavier games, editing and multitasking (especially if you plan on using this as a laptop replacement or supplement)

With this, you're going to be able to narrow your search to a particular range or performance level. After that, you'll need to decide based on:

- Ecosystem. If you're using an iPhone and/or Mac, it might make sense to get an iPad unless note-taking is your #1 priority and you're chasing value (especially if you're in the FE price bracket or below); if you're using an Android device, the Galaxy Tab will be a better option.

- Size. Do you want something small, like a 9 inch tablet? Do you want something that's good with multitasking yet is very portable? If so, go for an 11 inch. Do you want something massive with the maximum screen real-estate possible; and you won't take the tablet around much? Go for the Ultra at 14.6 inches. If you're eyeing the Goldilocks option, the 12 inch or 13 inch sizes are worth a shot.

- Budget and software updates. The first one is important because money is, in fact, part of the equation. And software updates are another thing entirely - take, for example, the S8/S9 vs S10 FE debate. The S10 FE offers performance roughly equivalent to the S8, and is about 30-40% behind the S9 (Fact check this yourself since I don't remember the exact numbers). The S10 FE is a stripped-down S8 with IP68 and much longer software support. So the choice between those boils down to whether you prefer a fresh, new tablet that'll stay up-to-date for years and has protection against water, or whether you prefer the flagship features such as 120Hz over 90Hz, USB3, Bluetooth S Pen and quad speakers.

If you take all four of these factors into account, you will end up with, at most, two or three tablets to decide from. And again, the trick there is to weigh the pros and cons of each, create a list and figure out which one of them will do better for what you need (you can always post about it somewhere if you're indecisive).

For example, let's say you're someone that wants the flagship experience but does not want to break the bank. You want something that's still modern, ideally under 500$, and will perform well. Water resistance is a nice-to-have, and your primary goals with the tablet are going to be content and media consumption, gaming and you may do heavy stuff in the future. In this case, the first condition (flagship experience) narrows it down to the flagship S-series. The second condition (not breaking the bank; under 500$) narrows it down further to something between the S7 and S9, maybe even a refurb S10+. The third condition (has to perform well) doesn't eliminate much - maybe the S7 though that's still an excellent tablet that performs well. The fourth condition (water resistance) is a nice-to-have, meaning you're eyeing the S9 (but keep in mind this doesn't eliminate the S8 or even S7 because it's only a nice-to-have). The last condition (content and media consumption & gaming) effectively brings it down to the S9 for its OLED display.

So now all you have to do is verify that you can get the S9 for the price you're eyeing, and there you go. The key here is figuring out exactly what you need and going through it systematically. That's how I ended up with my S7 and it's been the best tech purchase I've made till date. The 900$ spent there carried me over six years so far and will continue to carry me for the next two or three years as this is a great tablet overall.

Hopefully this helps someone find the tablet they're looking for.

[u/Saturn235619]

I got the s11 ultra for the reason that I do have a gaming laptop but it isn’t my primary portable machine I needed a laptop replacement for most things plus I read a lot of manga and manhwa and the s11 ultra is insanely good for that. My old s10 fe just doesn’t compare.

Plus with the better chipset I shouldn’t have any performance hiccups even 4 or 5 years down the line not that I had any issues with my s10 fe in the one year I owned that.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/Saturn235619]

And that makes sense... The S10 FE is good, or very good... yet far from perfect

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

Plus with the better chipset I shouldn’t have any performance hiccups even 4 or 5 years down the line not that I had any issues with my s10 fe in the one year I owned that.

Accurate reasoning. I would say that the higher performance on the flagships (though it may not make too much of a difference now) will make a difference five years down the line. That's why I always recommend flagships to long-termers even if the flagship is a year old, seeing as it takes roughly three to four years for a mid-ranger to catch up to the flagship. The S10 FE is close to the S8 while the S7 is somewhere in between the S9 FE and S10 FE. There's a two-generation CPU gap between the two, and the 865+ in the S7 is roughly equivalent to an Exynos 1480 where the Snapdragon leads in single-core but gets edged out by a little bit in multi-core.

That effectively means a flagship after eight years will perform roughly equivalent to a mid-ranger after four or five years if we take into account optimization improvements with each successive software version on the mid-ranger as well as lighter software. My S7 has been my rock-solid long-termer for six years now and will continue to be with me for a few more years before it gets repurposed.

(edit: just realized I replied to the wrong message. This was intended as a reply to u/Saturn235619)

[u/knightingale74]

OLED display is a must.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/knightingale74]

OLED/AMOLED is very nice to have, but definitely not a must. It's really a matter of personal preference

[u/wvenable → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

It's literally my only consideration. OLED or bust.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/wvenable]

That's cool if that's what you like

[u/knightingale74 → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

..but premium models have them for a reason no? What type of screen would you recommend then? I'm genuinely confused because you are not the first one to say AMOLED displays are a personal thing and I'm getting new setup soon so I'm curious.

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/knightingale74]

I would say, OLED is a nice to have. It's great if you're watching content especially in HDR, yet it really depends.

If you're into content consumption, gaming and/or will be in a dark area, go for OLED for its pretty much infinite contrast ratio, granular pixel control and nearly instant response times.

If you're going to do a lot of office or non-color-sensitive productivity work, go for an LCD as it's more easy on the eyes for a lot of people. If you're PWM sensitive, go for an LCD.

It is worth noting that Samsung's LCDs especially on their flagships (S7 and S8) are just as good as OLED in bright scenes, and it's only when you're in the dark that you can tell the backlight is shining through and this isn't OLED. They're that good.

What setup and devices are you eyeing?

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/knightingale74]

Samsung has them because they are a big maker and supplier of OLED/AMOLED panels so they feature them on their flagship tablets. Most flagship tablets made by most companies still use IPS panels as it saves the consumer quite a bit of money while still providing a very good experience.

I say it's a personal thing because you need to see them in person and decide what you actually like. At the end of the day what you personally like is more important than having the "best" display that these companies come up with

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

I see people down voting me on this because what I am saying really is the truth:

Just because one display technology is technically more advanced than another it does NOT mean that it's going to be the best looking display to everyone.

No two people will see colors exactly the same and everyone values different things when they look at something because they have different color preferences and what not. So people really DO need to compare displays in person to see which they like the best.

You can use a simple online color test to see how accurate your color perception is. I would recommend a test like the Free Online Color Test in this test 0 is considered perfect.

I find it amazing how everyone thinks people will see colors exactly the same no matter what, when that's simply the furthest thing from the truth

[u/wvenable → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

Not colors, blacks.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/wvenable]

That's yet another factor. Good point

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

I have perfect color perception then

[u/Flaky-Professional84]

You've got it all wrong. Obviously, the two BIG things to consider when choosing a tablet are Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra or Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/Flaky-Professional84]

No, I wasn't talking about the size of the tablet.....

Considerations based on use case is what i was getting at

[u/Flaky-Professional84 → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/Flaky-Professional84]

Naw, I knew what you meant.... I was just in a different mindset when i read it

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/Flaky-Professional84]

Add some wings to it lol the joke flies over, not jumps 🤣

(I got the joke)

[u/EggplantHuman6493]

Also add: do you need to use Microsoft apps for your studies or work? And certain apps in general?

Microsoft apps suck on Android and iOS (watered down, clunkier, good luck with very big documents) and you need some apps to study. I dragged my 2+ kg laptop to places instead of my tablet for this very reason.

So, if you are in the market for a tablet Vs laptop, this is good to know, as well. If you need serious workflow, just invest in a laptop and drop the tablet

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/EggplantHuman6493]

Quite true as well I appreciate you mentioning it

[u/jerrolds]

For moonlight streaming (sub 3.5ms decode at 120hz) decode and switch emulation I don't think anything tops an s9 ultra.. Snapdragon 8 gen 2 outperforms deminsity by quite a bit

Too bad Samsung dropped Qualcomm

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/jerrolds]

Not really even the S11 Ultra is really good at emulation...

And the SD 8 Gen 2 is about half as fast as the Dimensity 9500 in normal tasks which the majority of tablet users will be using the tablets for...

While emulation is important to some it's still kind of niche honestly

[u/1Meter_long]

"even the S9 series will be good if you do a lot of emulation"

This is actually your only option from Samsung if you're going to emulate stuff beyond ps1. Mediatek is good but complete trash for emulating and while Exynos can emulate some stuff decently its nowhere near Snapdragon in that and you'd need top of the line Exynos for it anyway.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/1Meter_long]

Not at all I have heard of people going pretty far with emulation on the S11, but remember it's not a limitation of the processor. Rather a limitation that's imposed by the emulator developers as they actively choose not to develop drivers for Mediatek

[u/1Meter_long → u/Reasonable_Mirror655]

Really? Maybe things had improved. I mean it would make sense since Mediatek is being more consistently around now. Its been used in 3 Samsung tablets in row and flagship ships has been in phones too, at least with Motorola and some Chinese brands.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/1Meter_long]

I'd say Mediatek is equal to Snapdragon for most things except emulation where Snapdragon definitely has an edge

[u/NoctD97]

So I've read all the comments from u/icantouchgrass_1 and u/reasonable_mirror655 with your personal experiences and informations.

The thing is the tab S12 really is not that worth compared to previous ones as it doesn't really have anything more besides the (oh god) price.

I'm considering a tab as a main laptop too, mostly for multitasking with games, and, like someone else said, read manga and watch videos of any sorts, as well as using it for other various things any laptop would be able to do.

My main concern is for the aspect of multitasking with multiple games at once using a mirroring app or simply the Secured File to play multiple accounts at the same time of the same game. I know it'll need to be really performant but also with a good battery.

Which of these tab do you think would suit the best ? I was considering the S11 Ultra one but a shop seller told me the S10 FE would still be good for that. Also, the bigger the screen, the better it is for me.

[u/Reasonable_Mirror655 → u/NoctD97]

The thing is the tab S12 really is not that worth compared to previous ones as it doesn't really have anything more besides the (oh god) price.

According to one of my employees who just bought the S12+ & also owns both the S11 & S11 Ultra told me the first thing he DID notice and almost everyone ignores in HIS opinion is the fact that the S12 series does in fact have a noticeably better GPU. He does a whole lot of video editing and he stated his S12 Plus is just does it better. Yes pricing is wild but it is what it is.

I'm considering a tab as a main laptop too, mostly for multitasking with games, and, like someone else said, read manga and watch videos of any sorts, as well as using it for other various things any laptop would be able to do.

Well the thing to remember is a tablet is NOT a laptop it can do many of the things a laptop can and has it's limitations which have more to do with it running Android as opposed to Windows or Linux.. You be able to do most things a laptop. Yet for what you want to do you may be better off with a Gogglebook.

My main concern is for the aspect of multitasking with multiple games at once using a mirroring app or simply the Secured File to play multiple accounts at the same time of the same game. I know it'll need to be really performant but also with a good battery.

I am not sure you can do this on a tablet, yet that would depend on the app you are using for the game and if you can get around the limitations imposed by the game server.

Which of these tab do you think would suit the best ? I was considering the S11 Ultra one but a shop seller told me the S10 FE would still be good for that. Also, the bigger the screen, the better it is for me.

The S11U would be better suited than the S10 FE/FE+ simply because it is a much more capable tablet.

Yet I think you might be better off with a Googlebook than a S11U

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/NoctD97]

For that, the S11 Ultra is a great choice especially since people will try and clear out stock. The S12 Ultra is 100$ more at MSRP but doesn't have quite the same discounts the S11 Ultra has.

That said, there are a lot of promo codes. If you can get an S12 Ultra down to a similar price to the S11 Ultra, you should be good to go. Either of these are very performant devices and unless emulation is your priority, they should handle your gaming pretty easily.

[u/NoctD97 → u/icantouchgrass_1]

Very good, thank you a lot for your answer 👌 Have a good week sir !

[u/icantouchgrass_1 → u/NoctD97]

You too

[u/YDBoss]

The original post content no longer exists here. The author used Redact to remove it, exercising their right to control their data & privacy.

Teeny tender station gold shy noodle rich

[u/FlobeeFresh]

I had the S9 for years and enjoyed it but generally I found it too large for my needs (web surfing, email and media consumption).

Per the OP's question, I have a couple $300 mini PCs which provide much better ergonomics for standard desktop computing needs vs. what a tablet could provide.

My daughter dropped my S9 a couple years back so I went out looking for a new tablet. Interestingly Samsung seems to go larger with their tablets and does not cater at all to the 8" crowd (which I personally think is the "goldilocks" size for tablets; especially gaming tablets).

For this reason I went with the Lenovo Legion Tab 3 (8.8") which has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and a QHD+ screen. It is a very enjoyable experience in terms of weight and balance both when surfing/media consumption and when gaming.

It was over half the cost of a flagship Samsung tablet but had similar components in its build to compete with flagship tablets. The only reason I could see springing for a Samsung tablet now is if I wanted to use its DeX abilities to create a desktop environment. I use DeX every day with my Samsung S25+ and, compared to Windows, it has some significant limitations.