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[Q] Nook Color vs. Viewsonic G Tablet

just looking for some input here. what does everyone think about the pros/cons of these two tablets? after everything's all said and done, which would you rather invest in?
The nook seems to have a much better screen and a more appealing form factor. it's also $130 cheaper.
the G tablet appears to have a mediocre screen but it already has the horsepower/expandability of tablets that will cost twice as much (ie. xoom). i know the xoom will shred this thing in benchmarks, but for all intents and purposes the g tablet can handle anything software-wise that's currently available with flying colors.
i'm assuming both will have a fully functioning port of honeycomb in the near future (whether official release or custom rom) so software-wise they will probably be pretty similar.
is the tegra 2 and added expandability of the g tablet worth the extra $ and putting up with the marginal display, or is the lower cost/better build-quality of the nook worth accepting the limited hardware? am i missing something in my comparison of the two?
would love to hear from the community on this debate.

How are you planning on using it?
I went with the Nook because I like the form factor, it has a great screen, and more than enough power for what I want it for (e-reader, browser, portable multi-media, simple games, etc). Lacking a mic port and decent sound are the only two real negatives, but headphones do sound quite good.
I don't yet consider tablets to be replacements for PC's or Laptops so far as doing any heavy lifting, but the NC can probably handle the majority of business and entertainment needs for most people (minus phone features, which *may* be partially remedied is Blutooth support is worled out by the awesome XDA people working on custom ROM builds...)

ColoradoPhoney said:
How are you planning on using it?
I went with the Nook because I like the form factor, it has a great screen, and more than enough power for what I want it for (e-reader, browser, portable multi-media, simple games, etc). Lacking a mic port and decent sound are the only two real negatives, but headphones do sound quite good.
I don't yet consider tablets to be replacements for PC's or Laptops so far as doing any heavy lifting, but the NC can probably handle the majority of business and entertainment needs for most people (minus phone features, which *may* be partially remedied is Blutooth support is worled out by the awesome XDA people working on custom ROM builds...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good question, and probably the main factor people will use to decide between the two.
for me, i originally liked the idea of the nook because i've wanted an ereader for awhile, and plan on using it to read magazines, books etc pretty often. but i also want to use it as a multimedia device- streaming video/movies etc. i like the idea of gaming on a device that is larger than my phone. i have lots of fun playing games on my droid x (my two faves are gun bros and dungeon defenders) and the potential for using a tablet device as a killer gaming console seems to be limitless. the G tablet seems to fit the multimedia/gaming niche better, but i think it will be inferior for e-reading because of the screen. i guess my question is: does the superior screen/e-reading capability of the nook (and lower price) outweigh the untapped hardware potential and video/gaming prowess of the G tablet?

I was shopping G-Tablet and Nook as well. In the end I wanted a smaller form factor that can be easily held for a period of time for reading. I'm not a big gamer so Nook is my choice.
I think you would miss Nook's screen if you pick the G-tablet! The IPS screen is just awesome.
Did you look at Tmobile G-Slate as well?

I've owned both... And honestly its hard to compare. Main reason is the size factor. That will ultimately be the deciding factor...
Reading on a 10 inch had its benefits, as well as drawbacks. Holding the Gtab for extended amounts of time is tedious. The quality of the screen (viewing angles) really does not affect ebook reading etc. Honestly unless its laying in your lap flat, you won't notice the loss of angle.
For gaming... There is no comparison. Tegra2 @1 ghz rocks even the most graphic intensive games.
So... I'd say the following in summary=
For heavy reading and light gaming, coupled with moderate productivity and light media... Go with the NC
For light reading, heavy gaming and moderate productivity & media... Choose the Gtab.
Its really a matter of personal preference... Depending on what your ideal usage looks like.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

Bandage said:
I've owned both... And honestly its hard to compare. Main reason is the size factor. That will ultimately be the deciding factor...
Reading on a 10 inch had its benefits, as well as drawbacks. Holding the Gtab for extended amounts of time is tedious. The quality of the screen (viewing angles) really does not affect ebook reading etc. Honestly unless its laying in your lap flat, you won't notice the loss of angle.
For gaming... There is no comparison. Tegra2 @1 ghz rocks even the most graphic intensive games.
So... I'd say the following in summary=
For heavy reading and light gaming, coupled with moderate productivity and light media... Go with the NC
For light reading, heavy gaming and moderate productivity & media... Choose the Gtab.
Its really a matter of personal preference... Depending on what your ideal usage looks like.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uggh... this sucks. i feel like i'm right in the middle of these two categories. maybe i should buy both and see which i like better...

Understandable... That's exactly what i did lol. Also have the Dell streak 7 heh.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

I'm coming off the G Tablet and still waiting for my Nook Color to come in, but I'll chime in with why I returned the Viewsonic.
Ultimately, it came down to cost and quality. There is a lot of hardware under the hood of the G Tablet, but for the $400 I paid, I regretted not just getting an iPad. It was really a build quality thing for me. I was willing to look past the horrendous viewing angles and the weird 3D effect in portrait mode, but I started getting some screen rippling, and the unit would kind of "creak" as if cheaply constructed. The rippling was so small that it didn't bother me, but it sure made me paranoid, because it showed up after just a week.
I will try to post after I've rooted my Nook and played with it a little while to give a comparison, but I'm pretty confident the screen is going to blow away the G Tablet. Probably build quality, too. I don't want it to come off as me hating on the G Tablet, because I really wanted to love it (it was a sweet cbr reader), but I couldn't risk having the thing crap out on me once the warranty ran out. For the money, if the NC dies after a year, I won't feel as duped out of my money and will still be able to replace it with whatever the new thing is.
I should also comment that I'll probably buy an iPad 2 later in the year so I have a big tablet for comics, movies and games and a smaller tablet for e-reading and light multimedia use. Because I do miss my G tablet for the multimedia uses.

cwininger said:
just looking for some input here. what does everyone think about the pros/cons of these two tablets? after everything's all said and done, which would you rather invest in?
The nook seems to have a much better screen and a more appealing form factor. it's also $130 cheaper.
the G tablet appears to have a mediocre screen but it already has the horsepower/expandability of tablets that will cost twice as much (ie. xoom). i know the xoom will shred this thing in benchmarks, but for all intents and purposes the g tablet can handle anything software-wise that's currently available with flying colors.
i'm assuming both will have a fully functioning port of honeycomb in the near future (whether official release or custom rom) so software-wise they will probably be pretty similar.
is the tegra 2 and added expandability of the g tablet worth the extra $ and putting up with the marginal display, or is the lower cost/better build-quality of the nook worth accepting the limited hardware? am i missing something in my comparison of the two?
would love to hear from the community on this debate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Quadrant benchmark for the Xoom is 1826. With Honeycomb and 1.1GHz overclocked kernel, I just got 1728 running the same benchmark on the Nook Color, so i'm not sure I'd call that "shredded"?

Side by side the NC screen destroys the gtabs mediocre screen. Dell streak 7 has a crappy 800x480 resolution and also bad viewing angles.

I returned the g tablet because of the screen and weight. I could have looked past the weight or delt with it but the screen angles were so bad it was a chore to use. anything beyond black text on white was almost impossible to see unless directly in front of your eyes. I really wanted it to work too...
now that I picked up a nc and running honeycomb I'm glad I made this choice. I am also really liking the size and portability of the nc. for $250 I just dont see how you could go wrong
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

ta2025 said:
The Quadrant benchmark for the Xoom is 1826. With Honeycomb and 1.1GHz overclocked kernel, I just got 1728 running the same benchmark on the Nook Color, so i'm not sure I'd call that "shredded"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quadrant isn't an appropriate benchmark to use when comparing these two devices. besides, when apps start coming out that take full advantage of the tegra 2 it won't even be a discussion. that's not even taking into consideration what the dev's around here will be able to get out of the xoom.

Mikroft said:
Side by side the NC screen destroys the gtabs mediocre screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Having owned one for a week, I'd say calling the screen mediocre is waaaaay too nice though. The NC is so much better.
While the Tegra2 destroys the NC's 530, it wasn't meant for that. I'd wait for the LG G-Slate pricing, etc. The XOOM is already a fail IMO due it's pricing, data plans and crippled wifi (until someone here at XDA remedies that). If either Tablet were to appear in a WiFi only capacity that'd be sweet too.

cwininger said:
uggh... this sucks. i feel like i'm right in the middle of these two categories. maybe i should buy both and see which i like better...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me reading in portrait mode on gtablet was horrible.Was too long and the horrible viewing angles made it impossible to get proper screen without weird viewing artifacts.....returned it and got the nook.
For flash though, the gtablet ran as well as my laptop

Bandage said:
I've owned both... And honestly its hard to compare. Main reason is the size factor. That will ultimately be the deciding factor...
Reading on a 10 inch had its benefits, as well as drawbacks. Holding the Gtab for extended amounts of time is tedious. The quality of the screen (viewing angles) really does not affect ebook reading etc. Honestly unless its laying in your lap flat, you won't notice the loss of angle.
For gaming... There is no comparison. Tegra2 @1 ghz rocks even the most graphic intensive games.
So... I'd say the following in summary=
For heavy reading and light gaming, coupled with moderate productivity and light media... Go with the NC
For light reading, heavy gaming and moderate productivity & media... Choose the Gtab.
Its really a matter of personal preference... Depending on what your ideal usage looks like.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to disagree with this. Hardware is hardware, but unless there is software and a medium for the user to take advantage of the hardware it is as good as a piece of poop in your hands.
Perhaps, with better software, the GTab is a great option, but the screen is still lacking, big time.
For $249 you can NOT do better than the Nook Color. And with the 1.1gHz OC, it flies! As far as a gaming it runs everything I throw at it currently. That being said I still game more on my iPhone and iPad. Not because of the hardware but because of the software selection.
When we start seeing games like "Infinity Blade" on Android ... then I will sell my Apple products, until then I keep both.

The screen and portability won me over
I currently own an ipad and nook and did own a gtab. The screen on the gtab was what killed it for me. It was blazing fast, but get a tiny bit off center and the colors go straight to hell, a little further off center and it becomes unusable. The ipad and nook have amazing screens. I prefer the nook though for its hackability and size. Both the ipad and gtab are a bit heavy and awkward to hold for any length of time. For the money, you really can't do better than the nook right now.

OP: Just curious what you ended up doing, as I'm in a similar situation.
I want an android tablet but I'm tired of waiting for the "really good" tablets to come out. I would like to get something in the mean time until my ideal tablet is released sometime in the future.
I feel like the G tab could last me longer because it has Tegra 2 and a 10 in. screen, but the screen isn't great and is missing gps. The NC has a great screen but older slower processor and the screen is smaller. I plan on using a tablet in a variety of ways. Probably about an equal amount of reading, browsing, gaming and video watching. Another reason the NC is tempting is because it's cheaper and I'm not sure spending more on the G Tablet is necessary if I'm just going to upgrade again in the near future.
Anybody have insight on which one has better battery life?

cwininger said:
just looking for some input here. what does everyone think about the pros/cons of these two tablets? after everything's all said and done, which would you rather invest in?
The nook seems to have a much better screen and a more appealing form factor. it's also $130 cheaper.
the G tablet appears to have a mediocre screen but it already has the horsepower/expandability of tablets that will cost twice as much (ie. xoom). i know the xoom will shred this thing in benchmarks, but for all intents and purposes the g tablet can handle anything software-wise that's currently available with flying colors.
i'm assuming both will have a fully functioning port of honeycomb in the near future (whether official release or custom rom) so software-wise they will probably be pretty similar.
is the tegra 2 and added expandability of the g tablet worth the extra $ and putting up with the marginal display, or is the lower cost/better build-quality of the nook worth accepting the limited hardware? am i missing something in my comparison of the two?
would love to hear from the community on this debate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own both. If I were constrained to use only one, it would be the Gtablet. Here are the reasons:
1. Froyo is not stable on the NC. Some ROMs are okay but it's not completely stable.
2. The wifi is buggy. If you haven't encountered problems yet it's because you haven't been to a site with incompatible wifi routers. When I travel, I can't afford to have a device that won't allow me to connect. Do a search and you will see all the wifi problems. Here's one recently: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=986133
3. NC is stock eclair while Gtablet is stock froyo. Makes a big difference when it comes from the manufacturer. I know there are smart XDA guys/gals hacking at making froyo work on the NC. I doubt BN will have an update to Froyo - there's no business reason for them to do it.
4. Gtablet has a microphone and camera plus bluetooth.
5. If honeycomb (and I mean if) comes to NC and Gtab, the Gtab will have it in performance.

Good points. What is the most popular rom on the Nook Color?

I think froyo may be the most popular mainly because its safe. I for one love honeycomb. Even with all its little quirks and stuff but the pros far outweigh the cons to me
Sent from one of those missing Droids

Dream Tablet/Reader?

I've got a nook because I feel like it's the best combo of features. Still its a little small, a little slow, and I cant read it in the sun (I primarily use it to read).
What I would piss my pants for is a 8-8.6" transflective screen, with a current generation single core processor, 10+ hours of battery life, wifi-only, and of course rootable. I don't want to pay for a camera. I don't want to pay for a GPS receiver. I want this for $300.

I'd like to mention that dead trees are the best, before recommending the Amazon Kindle. I have a k2i and find it excellent for reading.

I attacheda matte screen protector. It makes a world of difference.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

Dream Tablet? Ok here we go:
Looks the same as my Nook Color does now. The aesthetics are great, its easy and comfy to hold and very thin. Here is what I would add if physics would allow me to
Tegra2 <-- Although I am very happy with the CPU that it has now.
2GB RAM (Sure 1GB is fine, but the chipset can address 2GB so why not?)
USB Port (full sized)
2nd MicroSD slot because, well, we can.
Kickstand
Nook OS (Stock) based on Honeycomb, but with full market access.
Bluetooth enabled at the factory - B&N to sell a nice looking bluetooth keyboard.
This is key: I do not want the dimensions altered in any way. It must be the exact same W H L that it is now, just with a few extra ports and some real power under the hood.

filterxg said:
What I would piss my pants for is a 8-8.6" transflective screen, with a current generation single core processor, 10+ hours of battery life, wifi-only, and of course rootable. I don't want to pay for a camera. I don't want to pay for a GPS receiver. I want this for $300.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if it's breaking 10 hours or has root yet, but it sounds like the Vizio tablet comes a bit closer to what you want than the NC. Reviews mention lag in the UI, but reports are that a software update smoothed things out considerably.

inportb said:
I'd like to mention that dead trees are the best.....[snip]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with dead trees and the print thereon is that you can't find all of the NY Times 100 best sellers just lying around in the street, in the way you can find epubs floating on the interweb thingy.

filterxg said:
I've got a nook because I feel like it's the best combo of features. Still its a little small, a little slow, and I cant read it in the sun (I primarily use it to read).
What I would piss my pants for is a 8-8.6" transflective screen, with a current generation single core processor, 10+ hours of battery life, wifi-only, and of course rootable. I don't want to pay for a camera. I don't want to pay for a GPS receiver. I want this for $300.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're in the right area.
If that's all what you asked for, then the NOOKcolor is the perfect one for you.
It's single core processor, it's wifi only, it's nootable, it has no camera, it has no gps, it's $250 new. If you turn everything off but reading, you will get 8 to 10 hours run. It's only 7" but the tradeoff is it's surely lighter than 8+" one.

HD+ Significant Upgrade from HP Touchpad?

I primarily use my tablet for reading and video watching. While my Touchpad doesn't really have issues handling this, it is somewhat bulky and heavy. Would the HD+ be a good upgrade or should I wait for a new Nexus 7? A smaller, lighter tablet (Nexus7) would be nice as I have played around with a Playbook and enjoy the size, however, the larger screen is nice for reading comics.

Factor in build, display, ease of rooting, battery life, size and price, nothing IMO touches the HD+.

I had a TouchPad (kids still use it daily) and got a HD+ recently.
I use it for reading, videos, and web browsing. Similar enough size, bigger than the nexus 7. Personally, the 7" size is too small for me. The screen on the HD+ is great, it's a 16:9 screen vs a 4:3 screen, so it feels taller than the TouchPad, but not uncomfortably.
I miss being able to use the TouchStone, but that was evened out by much better battery life. I just grabbed it, it was at 85% with 6 days of idle.
With the microSD slot I saw no reason to spend the extra $30 for the 32GB version. The device feels nicer in hand than the TouchPad did, IMO. Although I still don't get thr reason for the hole in the corner.
I have kept mine stock except I use Nova launcher. With google play access I don't have much motivation to put custom ROMs on it. I'm a little worried the battery life will suffer. But, B&N did some crazy stuff with the white theming and the back button. Those just haven't bugged me enough yet to throw CM on it.
Great upgrade from the TouchPad at $149.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

quarlow said:
I'm a little worried the battery life will suffer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
B&N cheated, they have a terrible wifi driver shipping that drains battery like there's no tomorrow. So their workaround is to turn off wifi when the screen is off.
Enable the same in any ROM and you'll have great battery life too

So far I've been very happy with my switch from a TouchPad to the Nook HD+.
My pros:
Slightly smaller = more portable, lower weight
WAY better screen with nearly double PPI = 256 vs. 132
Slightly faster dual-core CPU = 1.5GHz Dual Cortex A9 cores vs.1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 Scorpion cores
No weird WiFi issues
My niggles:
No wireless charging (not a big dealbreaker)
Stock software is based on archaic Android 4.0.4 - immediately replaced with CM10.1
Only 768MB of RAM is usable to CM10.1
GPU is best suited to a 720p display, but otherwise I'm not complaining
While the speaker quality is good, the TouchPad sounds far better
No camera

I just bought a 16GB HD+ today to replace my 32GB touchpad running CM9. I got tired of JB welding the cracks around the speakers and buttons.
It is definitely a worthwhile upgrade for the price, but there are some issues. Most notably, the stock rom doesn't play nice with 3rd party launchers, and the bluetooth stack is so broken it can't even connect to a keyboard. However, the visual style is well-executed, the stock fonts are far superior to Android's defaults, and it is expandable, which was a glaring oversight with the touchpad.
Also, no camera (not that the touchpad's was ever anything to write home about,) or even a light sensor for backlight dimming as far as I can tell. Speakers are worse, google voice crashes on launch, and it is about as configurable as an iPad out of the box.
With CM10, it is actually a decent piece of kit, albeit just as ugly as cm10 is on any other platform.

I got mine as a replacement for my TouchPad and it's been great. As others have mentioned, the slight loss of screen size is more than offset by the significantly improved battery life, high-res screen, solid stability and awesome development by verygreen. For anyone still on the fence, just do it!

I had a touchpad last year. I would say the nook rooted is a little faster and seems to work a lot smoother than the tp. Its a little slimmer and easier to carry.
Sound isn't as great but its still better than some tablets.
Sent from my BN NookHD+ using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Disappointed in the Tab S

I am planning to return my Tab S 8.4 today. Though the screen looks stellar and the build quality is great I just can not get over the terrible battery life in normal use (IE not limited just to movies with a darker theme) or the performance issues that this pair of Samsung processors has. I get so much noticeable lag and hesitation that it is just to annoying for a product like this. I really wish they had put in a SD 801 or 805 so that performance was stable and smooth across the board. Battery life if you do anything that uses much light colors is just terrible. The screen drains the battery so fast with web use for example. Reviews back this up. Testing with a movie on loop can have great results up to 12 hours if it is a dark enough movie but testing with a light background with web use on review benchmarks shows that time drop down to 7 hours. Unfortunately I don't do much movie watching on a tablet so it is a particular issue for me. I had it side by side with my ipad mini retina doing the same work and it was draining twice as fast as the iPad. I really wish they had not felt the need to go so thin and instead gave us a revolution in battery performance.
I can only imagine what this device might have been like if they released it with a SD 805 SoC and 10mm thickness with doubled battery life.

I've been using a black background on my amoled screens from S2, S4 and now S5. Dark themes in any apps that have them. On the Tab S I'm also trying night mode in Next Browser. Battery seems good so far and should be a little better with root/custom rom's.
I'm pretty damn picky and it's fast enough for me.

meboy said:
I've been using a black background on my amoled screens from S2, S4 and now S5. Dark themes in any apps that have them. On the Tab S I'm also trying night mode in Next Browser. Battery seems good so far and should be a little better with root/custom rom's.
I'm pretty damn picky and it's fast enough for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I really don't WANT to return it. I love that screen. Maybe I should try Next...In chrome most things are white and it is quite a drain. I also use black backgrounds. Primarily B/W portraits.

I am also disappointed in the performance of the device. It seems to stutter and lag constantly, even when not under heavy load. Maybe the L release (if it comes out for the tablet) will fix that, but I'm not holding my breath.
It seems like on a device coming out mid-2014, there should be no UI stutters.

I should also note that I'm using Nova Launcher so I can't speak much for lag on the Touchwiz Launcher.

HughesNet said:
I am planning to return my Tab S 8.4 today. Though the screen looks stellar and the build quality is great I just can not get over the terrible battery life in normal use (IE not limited just to movies with a darker theme) or the performance issues that this pair of Samsung processors has. I get so much noticeable lag and hesitation that it is just to annoying for a product like this. I really wish they had put in a SD 801 or 805 so that performance was stable and smooth across the board. Battery life if you do anything that uses much light colors is just terrible. The screen drains the battery so fast with web use for example. Reviews back this up. Testing with a movie on loop can have great results up to 12 hours if it is a dark enough movie but testing with a light background with web use on review benchmarks shows that time drop down to 7 hours. Unfortunately I don't do much movie watching on a tablet so it is a particular issue for me. I had it side by side with my ipad mini retina doing the same work and it was draining twice as fast as the iPad. I really wish they had not felt the need to go so thin and instead gave us a revolution in battery performance.
I can only imagine what this device might have been like if they released it with a SD 805 SoC and 10mm thickness with doubled battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you prefer battery life to size, you might consider the Tab pro 8.4 Sam rez, slightly thicker, no amoled, SD 800, and really good battery life for surfing.

gottahavit said:
Since you prefer battery life to size, you might consider the Tab pro 8.4 Sam rez, slightly thicker, no amoled, SD 800, and really good battery life for surfing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have 3 of those in the house, my 2 sons and my wife. It is a nice device but not one that would cause me to sell my iPad Min Retina and switch. I was hoping the display and build of the Tab S would be that device. I think I may give it a second shot, try to live on the dark side as much as I can. Now that we have root I may be able to fix a couple issues.

I replaced my Tab Pro 10.1 for the Tab S 10.5. Speed and battery life on my part is much better on the Tab S than on the Tab Pro. Also, Wifi reception is much more better. My only complaint is with KitKat and not Samsung. They changed the permission setting and because of than, I cannot copy file from the internal memory to my SDCard with RootExplorer or save it directly on the SD Card with Dolphin Broswer.

For what its worth I am running Nova Launcher and have never experienced any lag whatsoever. Yeah battery life isn't great but that is never as advertised.
Wait for Freeza or someone to crank out a nice ROM for us and what lag there may be will improve. His ROM made my 8.4 Pro much faster.

urself25 said:
I replaced my Tab Pro 10.1 for the Tab S 10.5. Speed and battery life on my part is much better on the Tab S than on the Tab Pro. Also, Wifi reception is much more better. My only complaint is with KitKat and not Samsung. They changed the permission setting and because of than, I cannot copy file from the internal memory to my SDCard with RootExplorer or save it directly on the SD Card with Dolphin Broswer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the Samsung My Files you can do that. And now that there is Root for your tablet you can always remove that restriction right now all together.

HughesNet said:
If you use the Samsung My Files you can do that. And now that there is Root for your tablet you can always remove that restriction right now all together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I discovered that yesterday. But still a pain that I have to use My Files app while Root Explorer could be doing it without any problem. I'm holding off root for the moment. I rooted my Note 2 but I don't have any reasons for the moment to root my Tab S.

I have the Tab 8.4 S and have zero issues with lag or battery and I would consider myself a heavy user. Playing games to watching HD movies while surfing the web and the battery does just fine.
Now... I do have Nova installed and did so as soon as I got the device onlined since I customize the hell out of my devices so I never experienced the TouchWiz launcher. I also have Clean Master and Battery Doctor installed. The combination of these three has made this my main device not only for home and hobby but also my work.

Touchwiz is actually Korean for "pretty eye candy that makes your tablet go slow". I swear.

I sold my Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and bought a Galaxy Tab S 8.4 a couple says ago. Battery and performance are much better on Tab S IMO. This thing will be a beast after flashing a mod or two.

My only real gripe with this tablet is not how fast the battery drains but how long it takes to charge. This has to be the slowest charging electronic device I've ever owned. Wonder why?

mitchellvii said:
My only real gripe with this tablet is not how fast the battery drains but how long it takes to charge. This has to be the slowest charging electronic device I've ever owned. Wonder why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using the stock charger? I never bothered with it from the get go and I am unsure how many volts it is.
I picked up a Rocketfish 10.2v from BB months ago at no cost using my Rewards. Priceless!

robertc88 said:
Are you using the stock charger? I never bothered with it from the get go and I am unsure how many volts it is.
I picked up a Rocketfish 10.2v from BB months ago at no cost using my Rewards. Priceless!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock charger is 5v 2amps. Not sure I would want to risk any higher.

mitchellvii said:
The stock charger is 5v 2amps. Not sure I would want to risk any higher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be careful increasing the volts but the more amps the better. Though high end devices have power controllers so it doesn't matter how much over the specs you go the recharge will always be the same.

My two cents
I have owned every galaxy from vibrant to S4. I owned an N10 (currently have a 2013 N7 and N5). I owned a Note 2. For what its worth, even with the extra pixels to push, I don't think this is a hardware issue. Touchwiz has always just been a poorly coded behemoth of a skin. With the exception of the Note 2 (which TW seemed to be very smooth on)...it has always had frame stutters and an ass ton of processes eating up cycles. Whenever I flashed a stripped down...or even better an actual AOSP (I love slim) ROM, performance on these devices have been flawless.
Full disclosure... my 10.5 S is charging right now and I have not even fired it up yet. But I will immediately root and debloat the Eff out of this thing. I agree that Sammy's tablet update cycle is ridiculous...and that a snapdragon should have been the cpu by default, but que cera cera.
Once I fire it up...I will report back.

So far here are my 8.4 gripes after about 24 hours of ownership:
Battery life - I charged it to 100% prior to use and was a bit shocked that I lost 10% just doing the setup and installing my apps.
Pentile screen - Part of this is my fault as I did not realize the 8.4 is pentile and I thought both the 10.5 and 8.4 were Super Amoled Plus. There is a bit of a softness to the 8.4 screen that seems unusual considering its size and PPI. In some ways I find the Nexus 7 screen a bit better and more realistic. I own a LG G3 and the QHD display on it is fantastic, and I had thought the 8.4 would have a little of that magic but it is not in the same league at all. I wonder what the real PPI is on the 8.4 considering it is pentile, I gather it is less than the Nexus 7. This may be a dealbreaker for me, I am going to use it tonight and do a little side by side with my Nexus 7 and Note 10.1 2014.
That said Netflix looks great on this device, the best I have seen so I wonder if the app does some sort of edge sharpening. When I watch 1080p content streamed to the 8.4 find it is not as sharp as it should be and really no better than the Note 10.1.
Going to give it another couple of days and see if it grows on me.

Mini review and damn impressed with the MATE-10

I got the Mate 10 last week (not PRO) and I'm very impressed with the phone, I've tried a lot of phones and this one is really hard to fault, the only thing is that it's not running stock Android, but with Nova Launcher on it, you can make it feel like it, so no biggy here, now the rest, damn impressed with it, amazing camera, had the S8+ before this one and in my opinion, the pictures are simply amazing... great 6" 2k screen, with the regular 16:9 aspect ratio, so no letter boxing when watching videos and because the bezels on the sides are very, very slim, it feels great in the hand too... headphone jack output quality is clear and loud, not as loud as the V30, but very close... IR blaster (missed these on phones), it's awesome when you are in the sofa chilling and the remote is gone on a mystical journey again and no where to be found, but hey, just use your phone to control your TV =D... And now the battery, wow, very impressed, never had a phone that lasted me a full day off the charger, I use my phone heavily, so I always had to top up my other phones around 3pm, after unplugging at 6am, with the Mate 10, I'm getting 8hrs SOT, enough to last me 18hrs off the charger, simply amazing battery beast.
If you are looking for a new phone, with top of the range specs and without breaking the bank, I recommend the Mate 10, right now the true flagship killer IMHO.

absolutely correct! im also getting around 8h SOT and i play alot of heavy games. first i though that the phone is draining battery fast but after seeing SOT i realized that it was just my illusion. the 12 core gpu drains the battery faster but actually not that fast. i have set the screen to 1080p mode and power saving toggle is turned on and the phone is still blazing fast even in heavy games. the camera in DxO mark scored 97 (100 in picture quality) and that is truly amazing. knowing that at this point i can respond to those note 8 and iphone x owners who brag about their phone being a camera topper and performance beast. in newer antutu 7 people say that kirin 970 already beaten up the SD845. if thats real then i dont know why would someone not get this phone. the audio quality is just jaw dropping. not to mention the powerful theme engine huehuehue.
also the charging speed is insane. 0 to 100% in just 80 minutes is awesome.

Saadkhalid786 said:
absolutely correct! im also getting around 8h SOT and i play alot of heavy games. first i though that the phone is draining battery fast but after seeing SOT i realized that it was just my illusion. the 12 core gpu drains the battery faster but actually not that fast. i have set the screen to 1080p mode and power saving toggle is turned on and the phone is still blazing fast even in heavy games. the camera in DxO mark scored 97 (100 in picture quality) and that is truly amazing. knowing that at this point i can respond to those note 8 and iphone x owners who brag about their phone being a camera topper and performance beast. in newer antutu 7 people say that kirin 970 already beaten up the SD845. if thats real then i dont know why would someone not get this phone. the audio quality is just jaw dropping. not to mention the powerful theme engine huehuehue.
also the charging speed is insane. 0 to 100% in just 80 minutes is awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I swap phones very often, every week or 2 weeks, but I don't know what to get now, because I'll feel like I've just downgraded and there will be nothing new to try, the only one I'm considering right now is the Mi MIX 2 or Essential phone, because of the narrow top bezel, but other than that, I know I'll have a worst phone compared to the MATE 10, so there is really no reason to get another phone, when the Mate 10 is this good. Oh well, guess I found the perfect phone for me, finally xD

This looks like as good as any place to add my thoughts on my ALP-L29 (Mate 10 non pro).. I'm not going to rattle specs, just highlight features I enjoy..
1 month in, 3 firmware updates thus far, unrooted and still content..
Design:
Though the idea of a glass sandwich makes for slippery surfaces, drops, constant fingerprints and extra weight, it is stunningly beautiful. The ergonomics are very good with no sharp edges, balanced perfectly and is one of the few devices with a symmetric design. The volume/power button placement isn't ideal though, I prefer a better separation or texture to identity what I'm pressing, and using these for screenshots is awkward. Thankfully there are several ways to bypass this minor issue. I use my device on a desk and appreciate the front fingerprint scanner location as well.
Hardware:
The inclusion of an ir blaster wasn't a feature I looked for, but find myself using frequently. My daughter constantly leaves the TV remote in odd places and I save stress/time just using my phone instead. I really enjoy the desktop mode, and the added functionality of the usb 3.0.. I travel frequently and am looking forward to leaving the laptop at home. The headphone jack was and is still a main reason I didn't choose the pro model. The rest of the hardware is as described, awesome battery life, great camera and blazingly fast fingerprint scanner..
Software:
Emui is different, not bad, but feels a bit heavy.. I forgive most of this due to its included theming, functions like gesture/voice controls and uniqueness over not just being another "android".. I still threw Nova on it because the stock launcher is too limited (as most stock launchers are). The updates have been regular, no rogue apps eating battery and everything has been super stable. There are flaws though. The non removable battery notifications of heavy apps is annoying, the knuckle gestures (while sometimes useful) rarely work as accurately as I'd like and there is performance optimization problems. I find small lags sometimes while scrolling, slight touch accuracy/unresponsiveness several times (across updates, maybe hardware related), and its aggressive ram/battery management sometimes reloads even single apps..
Being a phone:
At the end of the day this is a phone, and as a phone it works very well. I travel through Paris daily by metro, and signal strength has been good and keeps cellular connection better than my old phone. I don't miss messages or calls, though the mobile data cuts out a bit more than my last device which I find odd.. It'll have reasonable signal but doesn't try to keep poor mobile data connection, maybe to save battery?.. This happens as well with the switch between 2g/3g/4g, often preferring the lower band unless signals are ideal (toggling airplane mode helps coax it to grab the higher band). Call quality has been excellent, loud and no complaints about the microphone output.
Conclusion:
As I've stated, I'm very content, and recommend this device. It's a powerful flagship, great for media consumers, gamers, photo junkies and those who need a bit more productivity out of their device. It has stamina for a full days usage and charges in mere minutes for a few extra hours if needed.. The positives far outweigh any minor annoyances. This is the first device I haven't eagerly wanted to unlock, root and mod..

Not going to rehash what all the previous users have already stated. Even the little quirks can be ironed out with a little research and playing around with the numerous settings. Great phone! Highly recommended. I do believe that after many years of phones going in the opposite direction from what I wanted that I have finally found the one that ticks all the boxes for me! I cannot imagine another phone satisfying me as much...unless Huawei makes another one with all the same ports but with newer SOC's.