Maybe there IS such a thing as a good 10" Android tablet

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
07/08/2015 at 14:49 • Filed to: None

A couple days ago I posted about my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The general conclusion was the only good 10” Android tablet is the Google Nexus 9, which is a 9” Android tablet. Well, I may actually have found a good 10” Android tablet!

Here’s a quick refresher on my criteria for a good 10” Android tablet, which really don’t feel like all that much to ask for:

10” screen with 1920x1200 or better resolution, good colors and viewing angles

2 GB of RAM

No stuttering or lag

The less bloatware, the better

I thought I had found a perfectly decent option in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and at first I was very happy with it. But I returned it because it won’t play 1080p streaming video. It tops out at 720p, and everything looks crappy and pixelated. This happened with Netflix, Amazon Instant, and Youtube.

After I returned the Tab 2 A10-70, I checked out the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and really didn’t like it. I could maaaaybe live with Samsung’s bloatware, but animations while switching apps, opening up menus, and scrolling around web pages are all herky-jerky and not smooth. Response to touch input is similarly bad.

After doing more searching, I’ve found a new possibility: the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It’s not yet on Acer’s US site—that link is to Acer Germany—but stores here have started selling it.

Unlike its predecessor the Iconia Tab 10 A3-A20FHD, which I said sucks in my last post because it has a crappy slow MediaTek MT8127 CPU, the A3-A30 has a perfectly decent Intel Atom Z3735 CPU. There’s very little bloatware, and a some useful tweaks including a tap-to-wake feature like LG phones, beefed-up build quality to meet Google Education standards, and some kind of fancy touchscreen sensor that lets you use everyday objects as a stylus. Here’s a guy speaking Italian and using a #2 pencil as a stylus (skip ahead to 2:00 for the #2 pencil stylus action):

I honestly don’t care about the pencil stylus gimmick, but a slightly ruggedized but still thin/light 10” Android tablet with capable hardware, a good screen and minimal bloatware for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! seems like it’s worth investigating. So I ordered one! I’ll be sure to post a review once it arrives.

DISCUSSION (17)

KirkyV > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 14:53

It’s kinda overpriced for now, but how about the new Z4 tablet? If money were no object for me, it’s definitely the one I’d go for. Amazon are selling the Nexus 9 at a huge discount right now, so I’m probably going for that. I’ve tried to make myself put up with iOS, and it just isn’t happening, as much as I like certain aspects of it.

djmt1 > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 14:54

I planned to buy an Android tablet since I’m pretty deep in the eco-system but so much of the internet I use is still mobile unfriendly. So I’m just waiting for the day when I’m crazy or rich enough to buy a Surface Pro.

Textured Soy Protein > KirkyV
07/08/2015 at 14:59

Looked at the Z4 but I’m trying to keep the price down. I was all excited about that Lenovo because it was a steal at $179 on sale. Well, it would have been without that stupid video problem.

Amazon has the 16GB Nexus 9 for $375 but I’m not super comfortable with being limited to 16GB and it doesn’t have a microSD slot. So I’d have to go for the 32GB Nexus 9 for $415. This Acer is only 16GB but has a microSD slot and a 64GB microSD card is only 25 bucks.

Textured Soy Protein > djmt1
07/08/2015 at 15:02

I don’t really have that issue. For me a tablet is kind of a luxury since I already have a still-perfectly-fine LG G2, and 13” retina Macbook Pro. So the tablet is more for casual chilling on the couch internetting, or watching Netflix in bed. Which is why I’m trying to keep the price down.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 15:04

Just curious, by why only Android?

The new Surface -not the Pro, just the normal Surface- is a 10-inch tablet and it runs full Windows now, not that RT nonsense.

KirkyV > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 15:08

I can understand where you’re coming from there. I know for a fact that I’ll be able to make do with 16GB - it’s kinda annoying on my phone, ‘cause I have to rely on Google Play Music streaming, but it’s never caused me trouble on my mostly at-home-use Nexus 7 - and the discount, Ł120/$184 off, is just too great to pass up. It’s Amazon, too, so if I run into any of the Nexus 9’s patchy hardware issues, I should be able to return it no problem.

Textured Soy Protein > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
07/08/2015 at 15:16

Putting aside the fact that every time I’ve tried Windows 8 I’ve ended up wanting to punch things, the Surface 3 is still 500 bucks.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 15:24

Care to elaborate? Windows 8.1 is really not that different from 7. The tiles are your icons now. I use a touch-pad mouse with my Pro3 and don’t have any complaints.

Textured Soy Protein > KirkyV
07/08/2015 at 15:27

Maybe the discount from Amazon UK is more. In the US, Google charges $399 for the 16GB and $479 for the 32GB, while Amazon has them for $375 and $415. So that’s $24 off the 16GB and $64 off the 32GB.

Also, there’s this:

Kinja'd!!!

KirkyV > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 15:33

It’s on sale at the mo, hence the huge discount. I think they’re price matching another retailer, Argos.

I’m not really fussed about the back panel. It’s the potential for screen bleeding, shitty battery life, overheating and running out of memory - that is, RAM - that worries me.

Still, there’s a consumer regulation in the UK that means I can return anything purchased online within 14 days - the idea being that, buying online you don’t have the ability to examine a product as you would in a store - so I’ve got nothing to lose by trying it out. Amazon have a great record for easy returns, and excellent customer service in general.

KirkyV > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
07/08/2015 at 15:34

For me, it’s mainly the lack of mobile apps. I mainly use my tablet as a tablet, rather than a laptop, and so anything that makes me use the desktop with any regularity just isn’t going to work. That said, I was sorely tempted by the Surface 3 for a while.

Textured Soy Protein > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
07/08/2015 at 15:34

Most of my use of 8.1 was on laptops and I hate the constant switching between Metro style stuff for things like the Start screen, and the desktop environment for the majority of laptop things I would normally do, where the desktop environment looks like a shittified version of Windows 7. Also just getting to basic things like settings and whatnot takes too many steps, and is accessed by unintuitive gestures on the touchscreen or trackpad. Frankly, I don’t want to have to mess with a touchscreen on a laptop. Apps in the Start screen are supposed to be in that alphabetical list, except when they’re not in that alphabetical list because they’re in a folder. I was totally fine with Windows 7 and Windows 8(.1) has never ceased to irritate me. It’s just a mess. It’s why last summer when I was shopping for a laptop I bought a 13” retina Macbook Pro after using nothing but Windows PCs since 1994. I much prefer Apple’s very excellent touchpad to smudging my fingers all over the screen.

On a tablet obviously there would be less messing around in the desktop environment but the Metro environment is just unappealing to me. I already have that MBP so I’m not going to set up a tablet to use like a laptop with an external mouse. It’s for chilling while I’m on the couch, or watching Netflix in bed.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 15:37

Okay, so why not an iPad?

Get a refurb from Apple. See what Amazon offers on Prime Day?

Textured Soy Protein > KirkyV
07/08/2015 at 15:43

I have Amazon Prime and buy tons of stuff from Amazon. I’m very familiar with their returns. But I also have to pay 5.5% Wisconsin sales tax on Amazon orders so my total cost on the 16GB N9 would actually be $395 from Amazon, vs. the $271 shipped I just paid for the Acer.

TigerDirect returns aren’t quite as seamless as Amazon but they still have enough of a return window for me to try the thing out and decide if it’s any good. If I end up wanting to keep it I can get a 32GB microSD card for $13 or a 64GB for $25.

Textured Soy Protein > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
07/08/2015 at 16:00

I’m certainly not opposed to Apple. This is replacing my 4 year old iPad 2 and I have my MBP. That said, compared to iOS, I prefer the way Android handles notifications, widgets, and linking between different apps (i.e. click a Google Maps link in Chrome on Android and you get a popup to ask whether you want to open it in Chrome or the Maps app and you get the ability to set a default app for those kinds of links vs. in iOS you just get the web link and a smart banner for downloading or opening the app, but opening the app doesn’t take you to the actual link within the app). I also prefer Google Now over Siri.

Since a tablet is very much a non-essential item for me, I don’t want to pay a lot for one. I do fine with my MBP and LG G2. I’ve only been using the iPad 2 for streaming video in bed, because it’s worthless at multitasking and often even loading web pages is a chore.

The Lenovo was only $179 (that was a $20 discount for Best Buy’s July 4 sale). It would’ve been perfectly fine if only it could stream 1080p video.

Apple refurb iPad Air 32GB is $389 and iPad Air 2 64GB is $509. I don’t want to be stuck with 16GB and there’s no 32GB iPad Air 2.

The Acer, at least on paper, ticks all the boxes for what I want and it was $271 shipped. Sure that’s not as cheap as the Lenovo but still a good chunk less than the Apple options. If I decide to keep it I can snag a 32GB microSD card for $13 or a 64GB for $25.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Textured Soy Protein
07/08/2015 at 16:13

How about the Nvidia Tablet? I'm a nexus guy, and I've owned 3 android devices...all nexus

Textured Soy Protein > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
07/08/2015 at 16:20

The Nvidia Shield Tablet is 8” not 10”. I want a 10” tablet.

In an ideal world I’d prefer to have a Nexus vs. not. My previous phone was a Galaxy Nexus and my gf’s previous tablet was a 2012 Nexus 7.

A couple years ago the Galaxy Nexus just wasn’t cutting it anymore so I replaced it with my LG G2. I would’ve gone for a Nexus 5 but I’m on Verizon and they never sold the N5, so I went with its cousin the G2.

My gf’s N7 was ruined by Lollipop and she wanted something cheap and 8” so she got another Acer tablet, an 8” that’s nothing fancy but totally fine for her.

My next phone might be a Nexus 6 though.