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Do 7 inch tablets still have a place?

I currently own a Samsung Galaxy Note, which is an admittedly large phone at 5.3 inches diagonally across. But, many new higher-end phones now offer screens around the 4.7 inch mark, which still is only 2 inches approximately off of a 7 inch tablet. For me, the Nexus 7 is only 1.7 inches bigger in size. So, my question is are 7 inch tablets really needed for those of us with the higher-end and, subsequently, larger phones?

That's something you'll have to personally decide. With the same resolution 1280x800 on your phone I assume your text is pretty crisp and readable.
I want a 7 inch tablet for 2 reasons, so I can view websites in landscape mode without any need to zoom in. And so I don't drain the battery my phone while browsing the net for hours.
I won't always have the tablet with me of course like I would the phone, the phone's handy to have while out, but at home I would far rather use the tablet in pretty much all cases.
So... it's really up to the individual. But the battery life is a big factor, I don't want to have to charge my phone multiple times through the day to be able to browse the web for a few hours and still have the phone last to the end of the day.

Psipherious said:
That's something you'll have to personally decide. With the same resolution 1280x800 on your phone I assume your text is pretty crisp and readable.
I want a 7 inch tablet for 2 reasons, so I can view websites in landscape mode without any need to zoom in. And so I don't drain the battery my phone while browsing the net for hours.
I won't always have the tablet with me of course like I would the phone, the phone's handy to have while out, but at home I would far rather use the tablet in pretty much all cases.
So... it's really up to the individual. But the battery life is a big factor, I don't want to have to charge my phone multiple times through the day to be able to browse the web for a few hours and still have the phone last to the end of the day.
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+1
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium

The performance of the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Note is almost identical, as they both sport the same resolution and one with a dual-core 1.4Ghz processor whilst the other has a quad-core albeit clocked slightly slower at 1.3Ghz in speed. The main appeal to me of the Nexus 7, initially, was its ridiculously cheap price, the ability to run tablet apps and also as a battery saver for my phone.

you know what I love about android there are devices and sizes for everyone, I want a seven inch tab after a year of having a ten inch tab I find it very uncomfortable to use while at home and on the go. Holding it portrait is very cumbersome. while my gf's kindle fire is just right size for ME.
Who cares if there is a place for a seven inch tablet, I for one never want to see devices like these built one way

Well, I'd say 10 inch tabs are too big personally. As it was mentioned at the Google I/O, the 7" Nexus won't fall over when holding it with one-hand in bed at night. Plus, in my opinion, 10" devices are verging on laptops for me (Mac laptops for example start at 13 inches). I really cannot decide over the Nexus 7. It'll be quite a strain to save up the money, so I'm not sure whether or not it is worth it.

Psipherious said:
That's something you'll have to personally decide. With the same resolution 1280x800 on your phone I assume your text is pretty crisp and readable.
I want a 7 inch tablet for 2 reasons, so I can view websites in landscape mode without any need to zoom in. And so I don't drain the battery my phone while browsing the net for hours.
I won't always have the tablet with me of course like I would the phone, the phone's handy to have while out, but at home I would far rather use the tablet in pretty much all cases.
So... it's really up to the individual. But the battery life is a big factor, I don't want to have to charge my phone multiple times through the day to be able to browse the web for a few hours and still have the phone last to the end of the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SinisterModz said:
+1
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
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Click to collapse
+2
I currently run out of battery life at the end of a work day on my GSII due to playing games for a total of an hour and a half and checking it a lot through the day. It will be nice to use the N7 to play games and use phone for texting and Facebook.
Then tether with my phone if I want to browse or what not on the interwebz

tory13579 said:
+2
I currently run out of battery life at the end of a work day on my GSII due to playing games for a total of an hour and a half and checking it a lot through the day. It will be nice to use the N7 to play games and use phone for texting and Facebook.
Then tether with my phone if I want to browse or what not on the interwebz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you say 7 inches is a portable size?

Haven't you made two other threads asking pretty much the same thing?
One thing I will say is that the "only 2 inch difference" is deceptive. 10 inch tablets are only 3 inches bigger than the 7 inchers, yet generally have twice the area (and, if you compare them side by side, you'll probably opine "so much bigger").
If my calculations are correct, the Nexus 7's screen is as large, as the Galaxy Note itself is. Maybe that's not such a large upgrade from the Note, but from smaller, sub 5 inch phones, it may well be.

Of course 7in tablets have a place... for some of us
I for one love 7in tablets.
I read ebooks and a 7in screen is almost exactly the size of a paperback book page... and its much easier to read on a tablet (on a stand) than it is to hold an actual book and wrestle with pages.
I have a 4" Droid X, but that's still way to small to read on for me.
And I doubt that a 5" screen is much better.
I want to buy a Nexus 7, but I am really really angry that they didn't include an SD card slot. For me the cloud doesn't exist. Where I live I have wifi at home. But, away from home, 95% of the places I use my tablet do not have wifi... no wifi = no cloud access. I have a 32GB SD card almost filled with ebooks, music, and videos. But that's useless on the Nexus 7, limited to only 8GB or 16GB... and I'll bet that all of that isn't available for media either.

thebobp said:
One thing I will say is that the "only 2 inch difference" is deceptive. 10 inch tablets are only 3 inches bigger than the 7 inchers, yet generally have twice the area (and, if you compare them side by side, you'll probably opine "so much bigger").
If my calculations are correct, the Nexus 7's screen is as large, as the Galaxy Note itself is. Maybe that's not such a large upgrade from the Note, but from smaller, sub 5 inch phones, it may well be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose so.

after having a galaxy s vibrant for a while (among other previous phones), i decided just to stick with a basic smartphone that can provide me with the ability to text/email/do basic web browsing/yelp. aside from that i use the tablet to fill in the gaps when traveling and/or sitting at home. my 10" tablet is a bit too big, imo, and i think 7" tablets are a good idea. 7" tablets are easy to hold and tbh having a large phone is a pain getting it into your pocket.
it was a weird adjustment dumbing down on my phone but if i hadn't then i wouldn't have seen the need to get a solid use out of my tablet. plus having a $25 month bill (virgin mobile) for unlimited text/data/small minutes works out much better for me vs paying $100~+ each month w/tmobile.
tl;dr: yes, i think the 7" market will consistently be the most popular market, even with smart phones growing in size.

The Nexus 7 has 16GB of storage, with which you can store what you like on. It's still pretty decent, as eBooks don't take up too much space, and I think this tablet is aimed for home use. For a close to tablet experience on the go, check out the Galaxy Note. Although, here in the UK where there isn't Google Play Music, fitting all my music into 16GB is going to be difficult. Any news on a UK release for Google Music by the way?

Im not to sure where a 7" tablet fits, I have wanted to try one for a while, so I figured the nexus 7 would be a good one to try out the form factor.
I already have a largish mobile 4.3" Samsung Galaxy S2 and a 10.1" tablet Asus EEE. I know some days when I am just web browsing in the home the 10" feels too big but the 4.3" feels a bit small, so a 7" seems like it could work well. I will find out soon enough.
Another place I noticed the 10" seeming to big is when I am using it in bed as if im on my back I have to support the weight of the tablet, which does get surprisingly heavy after a few hours holding it.
Brad387 : I signed up for Google Music when it was first released using a proxy server, after initial signup you dont need a proxy to upload or listen to music
the only thing I am not able to do is actually buy music from the Play Store.

There is already a thread discussing tablet sizes etc, please continue all further discussion there.
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Disregarding the price, is this the best 7inch tablet? (Compared with gtab 2.0, 7.7)

I ask this because I need a tablet for my 1 month summer vacation soon, and I'm not sure if I can buy a Nexus 7 at that point yet.
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 actually costs the same, or even cheaper than Nexus 7 right now. Tab 7.7 will also be only slightly more expensive, because the Nexus 7 will be sold at a higher price in my country after tax and so on.
So, disregarding the price, would 7.0 or 7.7 be a good choice too?
7.0 is very affordable, but i think the resolution isn't as good as the Nexus or 7.7?
7.7- I love the hardware, it's slim, AMOLED screen, and the battery life is great. I've heard about lagging though. However, I will probably root and use a stock android rom.. or use a launcher that replaces samsung's crap.
Both the samsung tablets also have sd card support. They do lack the development scene of the Nexus though.. but I am not someone who messes around with the custom rom a lot. I just need one simple clean one, then I'm good.
Would you choose the samsung tabs if they all cost the same price? why or why not?

Bought this tablet and gave my GTab 2 7" to my girlfriend and couldn't be happier. This thing is miles ahead of it.

This is the best 7in. Out there period. In terms of power and quality. Nothing even remotely comes close to touching the power this device has. Or at least below the 10 in. Range. Get one asap! Lol. So happy to have one.
Samsung tab in 7in. Range sucks, spec wise. Not worth the extra cost to pay for a lower spec device. Samsung smiled screen good but nexus 7 has an excellent display also. Actually aside from infinity pad, nexus 7 has the highest dpi of any android tablet out. So the resolution looks even better and sharper. If we go by the way apple rates their screens, nexus 7 has a retina display. Nexus 7 has like 216 dpi. New ipad3 has 250 or something close to that. So the screen quality on nexus 7 is top notch for a tablet, especially an android one.

Isn't this the only 7 inch running quad core at the moment?
I had the GTab 7.7, it was the best sub-10" tablet, before the Nexus 7 came out (or if you must have 3G).
However, JB on it sucked due to wifi problem. Samsung is not exactly know if fast when it comes to OS updates.

Don't even have mine yet but I've been shafted by enough devices that I don't think I'll ever buy anything except official Nexus devices from here on out.

It's so smooth and fast' nothing lags' even web browsing is a great experience. My wife is extremely jealous...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

ikeny said:
Isn't this the only 7 inch running quad core at the moment?
I had the GTab 7.7, it was the best sub-10" tablet, before the Nexus 7 came out (or if you must have 3G).
However, JB on it sucked due to wifi problem. Samsung is not exactly know if fast when it comes to OS updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, its the only quad core (really 5) tegra3 7in. Tablet out now. Plus its the only one that can play all tegra3 optimized apps n games. Plus its the only 7in. To have really fast ddr3 ram. Then aside from infinity pad, it has the highest dpi of any android tablet. Really making it have the best display for this size factor. Then its the only android tablet period running official jellybean firmware.
BUTTERY SMOOTH...very fast! Plain n simple it works great. I will likely buy my woman one also.

Nexus 7 hands down.
I actually looked at the Galaxy 2 7" last night to see how it compares. The hardware across the board is grossly inferior. From the CPU, to the GPU to the resolution, to the DPI, etc.
The Samsung does have some added features (ie: gorilla glass, sd card, etc.), but it hurts where it counts.

If you disregard the price the new Toshiba 7.7 (AMOLED screen) is better as general hardware and construction, no question here.I think right now is th best 7" tablet you can buy. But it cost more than double which I can not justify (it is better but it's not "twice" as good).

My relative have one of these and, having set it up for her, it feels very nice in the hand and the few apps I loaded seemed really quick. Reviewers tend to be in agreement that this is, not just the best budget tablet, but the best Android tablet - period.

there is ZERO reason to buy any other ~7" android tablet, whether taking into account pricing or not.

I sold my Galaxy Tab 10.1 to buy the Nexus 7 and I absolutely do NOT regret doing it. I love it. Best selling decision I ever made.
And the original Tab line is BETTER than the Tab 2 line (look it up, they cut a lot of stuff to make it cheaper and the performance of the Tab 10.1 actually BESTED the Tab 2 line)
So bottom line, I can't see why anyone who choose the Tab 2 7 or 7.7 over the Nexus.

I have the nex7 and the gtab 7.7, disregarding price the gtab is better.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Care to elaborate jr?

mariolouis said:
Care to elaborate jr?
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Click to collapse
Well he doesn't really have to. The 7.7 is a beast. Don't even think about how other Gakaxy Tabs stack up with the Nexus 7. That is like comparing the Galaxy Ace to the Galaxy Nexus, of course the Nexus wins that. The tab 7.7 however, is a different story. It is pretty much the Galaxy S3 of tablets.
The thing maybe a year old but it is still a beast.
-Super Amoled plus display at 197 ppi, not that much lower than the 215 ppi of the Nexus 7. Exact same resolution actually but a bigger screen on the 7.7
- lightest tablet ever
- one of the thinnest tablets ever, a lot thiner than the Nexus 7
- perfect size and form factor. Aluminum build but still feather light
- Best battery life out of any tablet including the iPad 2
- Exynos processor (dated now but insane a year ago)
Pretty much can go down the list. It is a premium device.
Now the Nexus 7 has some pretty big advantages, especially price, CPU, GPU, and Jelly Bean, it is still hard to decide somewhat.
You are comparing an older high end car to a newer consumer car. Not as clear cut as some people make it out to be. If I were to ballpark it, the tab 7.7 would be a 2010 Acura TSX and the Nexus 7 would be a 2012 Civic SI. I would probably go with the Civic myself but some might go for the TSX.

My first experience with a 7-inch tablet was an Acer A-100. I was never really satisfied with it and ended up selling it. I don't know what made me decide to pick up the N7, but I'm very happy with it. For $250, the building quality it outstanding and it's very fast.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Yeah what he said, it is great to hold as well same height, thinner lighter again disregarding price
Tomatoes8 said:
Well he doesn't really have to. The 7.7 is a beast. Don't even think about how other Gakaxy Tabs stack up with the Nexus 7. That is like comparing the Galaxy Ace to the Galaxy Nexus, of course the Nexus wins that. The tab 7.7 however, is a different story. It is pretty much the Galaxy S3 of tablets.
The thing maybe a year old but it is still a beast.
-Super Amoled plus display at 197 ppi, not that much lower than the 215 ppi of the Nexus 7. Exact same resolution actually but a bigger screen on the 7.7
- lightest tablet ever
- one of the thinnest tablets ever, a lot thiner than the Nexus 7
- perfect size and form factor. Aluminum build but still feather light
- Best battery life out of any tablet including the iPad 2
- Exynos processor (dated now but insane a year ago)
Pretty much can go down the list. It is a premium device.
Now the Nexus 7 has some pretty big advantages, especially price, CPU, GPU, and Jelly Bean, it is still hard to decided somewhat.
You are comparing an older high end car to a newer consumer car. Not as clear cut as some people make it out to be. If I were to ballpark it, the tab 7.7 would be a 2010 Acura TSX and the Nexus 7 would be a 2012 Civic SI. I would probably go with the Civic myself but some might go for the TSX.
Click to expand...
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Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

For someone who was against getting a 7 inch because I thought it was going to be useless since I had a 10 inch.. I would have never thought how much I hate having my transformer this whole time. Thing is amazing. Just too bad my device is defective.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Don't have any larger tablet to compare but honestly my screen is only on par with the nook tablet. Pretty sad... mine is defective. This thing is supposed to have good saturation, viewing angles and black levels. Mine has good viewing angles but there's a little light bleed and other than pitch blacks, the gray scale is awful. To top it off mine stutters and has an unresponsive screen. Hope my RMA tag comes in soon. Ascetically its the best hands down.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

I actually have both, and though I love the Nexus, the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has a special place - I love it. It proved to me that specs didn't matter that much when it comes to every day use (had many tablets, including the biggest disappointment of all time - the Transformer Prime).
It was embarrassing that my Tab 2 was more enjoyable to use than the Prime, but it was, that is simply a fact. Browsing is what I do most on a tablet, and the Prime was laggy as hell. Though I love Chrome as a browser (the only one I use on PC), Chrome on the Nexus is simply not good. Still behind the stock browser (IMHO), so overall, I find browsing more enjoyable on my Tab 2 7.0.
I can't wait for the Tab 2 to get JB (if it does).
If you had to pick one though,go with the Nexus 7. For the Price, unbeatable.

Tab S vs Tab 4 10.1 vs Tab Pro 12.2...which one?

Just saw four Sammy tablets at my local Costco:
Galaxy Tab 4 7": $160
Galaxy Tab 4 10.1: $300
Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2: $530
Galaxy Tab S 10.5: $480
I would like something bigger than 7". Can anyone give some pros and cons as to why I would choose a Tab S over Tab 4 10.1 or Tab Pro 12.2 (ignoring cost).
I have looked on some different techy sites for comparisons and am still none the wiser so figured the faithful at XDA would be able to give a real-world comparison/input as to why the different models would be chosen. The 12.2 seems huge - great for movies and other larger requirements, but I've heard the Tab S screen is exceptional.
Sigh...which one do I choose...?

Honest opinion #1
Any bigger than 8.4 you should just buy a laptop.
Snapdragon rules so that rules out the Tab S .
Go with the Tab Pro series
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vigZOYJYnf8
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xhsMFOwksAM
Nexus 5 via Tapatalk

Honest Opinion #2
I personally have bought the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and previously had the Note 8. Now I cannot give you real life experience because mine is still in the mail but the reason why I chose it was to replace my current windows 8. I have a Samsung Smart 500t PC and it recently has crapped out so I decided to get a replacement. I ultimately chose the 10.5 for multiple reasons:
1. This is going to be my "main" mobile device, I am going to use it for work, meetings, etc. I wanted something more portable than a laptop but bigger than an 8.
2. From my research, the Tab 4 series doesn't have much support. In fact, looking for reviews from the "big" tech companies was difficult to find. I wouldn't want to get a device knowing that there isn't much support right off the bat.
3. Galaxy Tab S is the newest of the Samsung Tabs and thus has the highest chance of getting an Android L upgrade (if Samsung decided to do)
4. Of course the SCREEN is beautiful from what I have seen.
It was a bit pricey but you can find some good deals off of ebay. I got mine for about $439 new free shipping insured.

I'll add that I do own the Tab S 8.4 (SM-T700) and it is nice,it's just the future for kernels are limited.some who notice when I post I always mention that this Tab S is slick on AOSP

Got for Galaxy Tab S 10.5, nice screen.. perfect size for magazine reading as you dont need to keep zooming in and out.
Movies looks great. Very light to hold. Great cover
Cons: Exynos and hard to hold in protrait due to small bezel.

I went to a store and compared them all before I bought the tab s. The Note Pro 12.5 is great, but it's to heavy for me.
I was looking for a tablet for watching movies and reading comics on while chilling in bed
Pros
Tab S screen IS exceptional.
It's ultra thin and light.
Looks very stylish
Fast and smooth
Cons
The hardware buttons when in portrait mode due to the ultra thin bezel. (Yes it can be solved by rooting etc.) but there's really no need to have them on a tablet. As I read a lot on my tablets in portrait mode the back button really frustrates me and I keep closing my magazines and comics by mistake. Its no deal breaker however.
I cant really come up with any cons except that tbh

i love the screen on the tab s, i find it very easy on the eyes for reading and movies.
That and the weight is about all i love though. the rest is just ok.

What are you going to use it for? The Tab 4's have 1,280x800 displays which by today's standards are pretty poor and will be painful for reading text. The Tab 4 7 has 8GB of storage and the 10 has 16GB. With the way 4.4 manages external storage and some media apps only supporting internal storage 8GB is woefully inadequate and 16GB borderline. They both have just adequate CPU/GPUs and you'll feel the lack of power in multitasking and anything graphic intensive. You get what you pay for.
The 12" tablets are huge. I don't know how someone could seriously compare a 7" tablet and a 12" tablet. I have a 5.7" N3 so 10" is the sweet spot for me between screen real estate and portability. I'm a productivity user though so anything less than 10" is too small to get any serious creation or office work done. From a portability perspective the difference between 7-8.4" isn't a big deal - you're not going to stick any of them in your back pocket. 7" tablets, in my opinion, are just too small to really enjoy media and browse the web without constantly zooming pages to read them. Samsung's high-end tablets have a lot of s/w features (EG: Multiview, Scrap Book, eMeeting, SideSync, Hancom Office) that, even if available on the 4's, wouldn't perform well because of lack of SoC power and RAM.
So first, think about what's important feature and performance wise and then think about size. And really consider the display. The Pro's and S' have beautiful 2,560x1,600 displays with high PPI that really are a joy to view. Tab 4's not so much.
Here's a size comparison...

I wanted to add to this as I've owned a few tablets lately, right now I have the tab s 10.5. I had a tab pro 4 10.1, pass. You won't be happy. It's performance is OK but the screen isn't that great. Plus the lack of vibrate and light sensors just made it feel cheap, I sold mine for 60 bucks, no regrets. I had an iPad air for a bit but I took it back as I tend to leave a lot of things running and, I just didn't like it overall. Now, the tab s. Had it about a week and I've disabled a lot of things and I have apex installed. However I think it's the best tablet I've owned. It's perfectly fast, I've not had a single hiccup doing anything. I love the processor, personally. The screen is amazing although I dialed mine back to the basic setting I find it more accurate that way. Seriously, this was 500 bucks. I a most wish I could not like it so I could return it but I just can't find any faults. I've tried but this is one brilliant machine. I could live without the bloat but like I said I disabled most of it anyway and apex took care of magazine ux. Sure the benchmarks will show snapdragon doing better and even the iPad air but consider this:I found a review that showed the Puffin browser blew every browser away I'm benchmark tests. It wasn't even close so I took UC off and paid for puffin. It's performance was so abysmal I got a refund and put uc back on. I am very happy with the tab s. The titanium bronze just looks superb and it's overall performance is stunning. I didn't want to believe I could like something better than an iPad but Samsung hit it out of the park. If you have the money buy the tab s 10.5 and thank me later. Don't listen to anyone who doesn't have one.

jball said:
Honest opinion #1
Any bigger than 8.4 you should just buy a laptop....
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vigZOYJYnf8
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xhsMFOwksAM
Nexus 5 via Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Let me guess. You are under 50, right? Some of us really need that bigger screen. Of course there are plenty of other reasons for preferring a larger screen. All boils down to personal needs and preferences so blanket statements are always wrong for a certain percentage of users.

ratman6161 said:
Let me guess. You are under 50, right? Some of us really need that bigger screen. Of course there are plenty of other reasons for preferring a larger screen. All boils down to personal needs and preferences so blanket statements are always wrong for a certain percentage of users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good guess but wow I didn't think I would hit a nerve. I am sorry I stated an "opinion" .I understand now why someone would want a bigger tablet
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mikelp1973 said:
I had a tab pro 4 10.1, pass. You won't be happy. It's performance is OK but the screen isn't that great. Plus the lack of vibrate and light sensors just made it feel cheap, I sold mine for 60 bucks, no regrets. I had an iPad air for a bit but I took it back as I tend to leave a lot of things running and, I just didn't like it overall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All Samsung's high-end Wi-Fi tablets use the same Exynos 5420 CPU and Mail 628 GPU. The Pro 10.1 has 2GB of RAM vs. 3GB on the Tab S but I've never seen any multitasking complaints on the Pro forum. I've used all Samsung's high-end tablets on 4.4 from the N10.1-14 on. Those with M-UX are laggier than the N10.1-14 without it. The Pro's seem a bit more fluid than the S' but its most likely due to the S' using V1.0 video drivers where the Note/Pro's have been updated about four times. There's a ton of posts in various threads here where former Note/Pro users with Tab S' have commented on a perceived increase in lag in moving to the S. So your experience is definitely different. In using all the tablets none struck me as so different performance wise that I'd be swayed in to buying one over the other solely because of it. That includes S-800 vs. Exynos 5420 (caveat: I'm not a gamer).
Samsung's 2,560x1,600 LCD panels are great and have been rated so in objective testing. They draw less power overall than the AMOLED panels on the S' because their RGBW PenTile and do exceptionally better on whites which kill AMOLED battery life. Most productivity and creation apps utilize light backgrounds so the Pro's would be a better choice battery life wise for productivity and web users and heavy readers. There's no doubt the S' display blacks better and offer better contrast but it doesn't make Samsung's high-end LCDs cow dung either. I'm a heavy productivity user and the S' display would absolutely kill me.
Are you sure you had a Pro 10.1? This is from the T-520 manual...
Moral of the story is people should buy what makes them happy, draw their own conclusions based on hands-on time, and realize opinions (including mine ) are just that.

It was the tab 4 10.1 my apologies. When I bought this tab s btw I was lookng for the pro in 10.1 for $399. My thoughts were if they didn't have any I'd look for a laptop about in that range or just gwt another ipad air. But as she was unlocking the case I spotted "S". I had my credit card out before she pulled the box out. But the price being $499 almost stopped me which is why I compared it to the Air becau of price only. But I bought the S and like I said I keep the display on basic and disabled everything I could without root. I use Apex pro and I should also mention I use no widgets and a plain background. I do leave a lot of stuff running but still for me performace has been flawless. I can even attest to the WiFi being more powerful than the air as I'm on the road a lot and pick up wifi whereever I can and this is just been the best overall tablet experience I've had.
Yes I would agree the Amoled use more power overall but I keep everything I can themed dark. Also I had a nexus 10 and agree the LCD screens are brilliant. In many ways better
Amoled probably comes down to preference. Or for me I was on the road stopped at the first walmart I could find and they had one. I'm glad. I just wanted to heartily endorse the tab s (10.5). Maybe the only thing I could say is that I liked the feel of Apple's aluminum casing but the titanium bronze has a beauty all its own.

mikelp1973 said:
It was the tab 4 10.1 my apologies.
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Click to collapse
No worries; your experience being with a Tab 4 vs. a Pro explains a lot. With Samsung carpet bombing the tablet market it's very confusing to the consumer what they're actually buying. I think that's intentional to a degree.
This for $319 looks like a great deal...
...when compared to this for $499
And to the masses, maybe it is. Their standards are a lot lower than an XDA audience's.

Thanks very much for all the (informative and helpful) replies.
BarryH_GEG said:
With Samsung carpet bombing the tablet market it's very confusing to the consumer what they're actually buying. I think that's intentional to a degree.
Their standards are a lot lower than an XDA audience's.
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And this is why I came to XDA to ask opinions and suggestions -- I get real world helpful information rather than columns of comparisons on other sites which don't mean much. I'm just your average tablet user...but f I am going to save and buy one...I want to get the best bang-for-the-buck as I won't be buying a tablet every year!

IconBoy said:
Thanks very much for all the (informative and helpful) replies.
And this is why I came to XDA to ask opinions and suggestions -- I get real world helpful information rather than columns of comparisons on other sites which don't mean much. I'm just your average tablet user...but f I am going to save and buy one...I want to get the best bang-for-the-buck as I won't be buying a tablet every year!
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I think the best all around is the pro 10.1 inch. Don't get the tab 4 it's $80 more for the pro and you get so much more, the display alone is worth the extra $. Like I said I love the tab S but it just so happened it's what they had. I would say it's well worth the asking price. Stunning 10.5 inch display, performance is stellar, much better than I expected. Had it about a week and I can't bring myself to return it. I returned the nexus 10, sold the tab 4 and returned the iPad air. I look for reasons it seems but I just haven't found a thing to dislike. I even tried since yesterday it just fits me too well.
I just realized the tab pro 10.1 isn't on the list. Get the tab S. Obviously I am biased, but happily.

i own the Tab Pro 10.1 which has better specs than the Tab 4 and also have the Tab S 10.5 and the difference from the extra 1GB Ram and the much updated Touchwiz version of the Tab S makes me not like the Pro 10.1 that much anymore. also the Tab S has much better accessory options in the case keyboard area.
if you are buying something to use for more than 1+ years than spend the money and get the S

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YHXahMDDXJ8
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlAqk6om2s

moSess said:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YHXahMDDXJ8
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlAqk6om2s
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i am not using a 3rd party keyboard (video 1)
or
a 3rd party launcher (video 2)
and so i am not having these issues with my Stock TW Tab S 10.5
not saying its your 3rd party apps but saying that is not my experience with my Tab S 10.5

fletch33 said:
i am not using a 3rd party keyboard (video 1)
or
a 3rd party launcher (video 2)
and so i am not having these issues with my Stock TW Tab S 10.5
not saying its your 3rd party apps but saying that is not my experience with my Tab S 10.5
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At this price point, and this late in the game in android, this is a joke!
A Joke.

Has Samsung finally thrown in the towel?

Is it fair to say that Samsung has stopped competing when it comes to high-end tablets? It very much looks to me that, with the utterly underwhelming release of the Tab S2, it has all but admitted defeat in its war against Apple. What could be the motivation for this major disappointment? Could it be that behind this is the failed Qualcomm 810? Could that be it? Were Samsung relying on Qualcomm's SoCs, and when Qualcomm failed to deliver, they saw themselves forced to go with their older Exynos silicon?
Opinions and speculations welcome.

In my opinion the Tab S2 is great... what made me ditch my iPad was because the S2 has a microsdxc-slot, 4:3-aspect ratio, amoled-screen and it's fast!! If any of these criteria hadn't been fulfilled I would still be using my iPad. LED-flash would have been nice though, but in my case it wasn't a deal breaker.
The only advantage the iPad still has (in my book) is lower audio latency for musicians apps.
Brgds...

Tubgirl said:
In my opinion the Tab S2 is great... what made me ditch my iPad was because the S2 has a microsdxc-slot, 4:3-aspect ratio, amoled-screen and it's fast!! If any of these criteria hadn't been fulfilled I would still be using my iPad. LED-flash would have been nice though, but in my case it wasn't a deal breaker.
The only advantage the iPad still has (in my book) is lower audio latency for musicians apps.
Brgds...
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This !!
Excellent tablet for my needs and considering there are no other high end Android tablets to chose from you can either got with an iPad or get the S2 at the moment.
The nexus 9 which was suppose to be a high end machine was a serious flop, mostly by hardware.
Sent from my SM-T715 using Tapatalk

I, for one, am yearning for a 4x3 Android tablet in the same vein as Microsoft's Surface4 (stylus etc.), though hopefully much less expensive.

I also went from iPad to Tab S2. I hovered long between air 2 and Tab s2 but the android platform, amoled screen and microsdxc slot won against slightly better battery, iOS smoothness and faster processor.
Battery life has actually been better than expected due amoled blacks not eating charge and my use consisting plenty of video and reading in night mode. The weight and thinness are also a plus even though I didn't put much thought in them when considering which one to buy. I don't play games apart from Hearthstone which works perfectly so I don't feel that the tablet is lacking in speed at least in my usecase.
I even considered Touchwiz a minus for the tablet but this newest iteration is pretty snappy and not too intrusive. So all in all I'm positively suprised and happy that I took the risk from "safe" iPad air 2 and went with Tab S2.
Still not perfect but I wouldn't call it nowhere near a failure.
Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

The only failure is everyone else gave up on making android tablets.... The s2 is the best one available so get off the rock.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

I really like my S2. I have the 8" SM-T710 wi-fi model. The amoled screen is very good quality for oudoor use. I purcased a Survivor by Griffin case for my S2. I inadvertantly tested it by dropping it from about 5 ft to a concrete floor. It survived eit no damage.
My S2 is my daily driver that has replaced my aging Acer laptop.

I hate the S2 speaker arrangement. When you watch a movie, all the sound is overloaded on the right side. That is awsome!

Best tab. Trolls ignored.

I wanted a phone-tablet in one... apple surely never delivered... but Samsung did... the fast and stable OS is a big bonus.
...

I think it's a bit 'meh' too.
It's great having a 4:3 tablet, but the speakers are crap and there's no IR blaster (we use our phones a lot at home for controlling the TV).
I was expecting to it handle Samsung Pro Audio better for using it for creating music (it stutters every now and then as the processor isn't up to the job). At least we do now have a low-latency audio production method on Android, though.
I can just about get the fact it's battery is small, as the device is very thin and light - which I like when using it as for reading. Which I do a lot.
I still like it, but am fortunate enough to know I can afford to ditch it and get another device when a better device comes out.

I don't think Samsung has really used the highest possible SOCs on their tablets before, maybe I'm wrong.
I was quite pumped about the Tab S2 and ended up disappointed by it to the point where my mind was made not to buy it in the end. The bottom speakers and the lack of features Samsung tablets used to have (IR, vibration motor) are far from good things, but the deal breaker for me is ironically the screen. I love Amoled but I felt that 264 dpi on that screen is not good enough to justify the expense when text on my Tab Pro looks far better to me... and that should never be the case for an expensive tablet released almost two years later.
Anyway... on my wishlist for future devices there's now a Samsung clone of Google's Pixel C, 2560×1800 10.2″ with Amoled screen. A man can dream

I'm a bit hacked off my Note 4 phone beats the S2 in Antutu. Which is also borne out in day-to-day 'feel' as well.
At 4:3 it does make a good e-reader and web device, but it is an expensive option for that.

Is tab s2 8.0 worth the buy if I already have a note 5?

I'm thinking about the s2 8.0 since it's on sale at Best Buy and a couple other places but I currently have a Note 5 and is it really worth spending the money on a tablet with only an 8 inch screen when I got the Note which has a fairly large screen already.

Depends on your budget, but a 5.7" widescreen display is an entirely different animal from an 8.0" 4:3 aspect ratio... much more text fits on a 4:3 8.0" display the page for web browsing, flipboard, reading textbooks, etc.
If youve never had a tablet, showroom it at best buy or something, you'll see.
While in some ways I miss the phone shape of my nexus 7, easier for typing, but the ipad-mini shaped tab S2 8.0 is very cool, i dont regret the $350 I spent on it.
I bought a 6S Plus phablet for my wife and its a cool display size but just not the same as an ipad mini or Tab S2 8.0. Different form factor entirely, best suited to different tasks.

joelbnyc said:
Depends on your budget, but a 5.7" widescreen display is an entirely different animal from an 8.0" 4:3 aspect ratio... much more text fits on a 4:3 8.0" display the page for web browsing, flipboard, reading textbooks, etc.
If youve never had a tablet, showroom it at best buy or something, you'll see.
While in some ways I miss the phone shape of my nexus 7, easier for typing, but the ipad-mini shaped tab S2 8.0 is very cool, i dont regret the $350 I spent on it.
I bought a 6S Plus phablet for my wife and its a cool display size but just not the same as an ipad mini or Tab S2 8.0. Different form factor entirely, best suited to different tasks.
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If I'm going to be using it for reading articles and books for school wouldn't a 9.7 inch one be better than an 8?

I personally think the 9.7 inch one is too big for extended usage (reading for example). I use my 8 inch one for reading text books in bed and it's awesome. Can't imagine doing the same with the bigger one but that's just me.
I own a 5.5 inch phone and when my previous tablet broke (iPad mini) I had to use my phone a lot m9re. Hated the whole experience compared to using a tablet.

Blues fan said:
If I'm going to be using it for reading articles and books for school wouldn't a 9.7 inch one be better than an 8?
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For me 9.7 is perfect for reading (main use) specially PDF books and comics. Of course my eyes are not what they used to be. . I like the bigger screen format when administering remotely my servers through RDS. Paired with the keyboard case and a Bluetooth mouse is perfect for me. I just give to my wife my new, now old for me, Asus Zenpad 8 inch 64gb tablet, and I can feel the difference between an 8 inch screen vs a 9.7 inch.

my 2 cents... i have a note5 and had the same reservations as the OP. i'm fortunate that budget was not a concern so, i purchased an unlocked, Tab S2 8.0 LTE/Wifi version (international) and i'm glad i did. 3 main reasons i'm pleased with the device: (a) perfect size my work activities (mgmt consultant where i read/reply to a butt-load of emails every day), (b) great for reading personal and work stuff during my weekly travels to client sites and (c) the international version has a "real" phone. full LTE capabilities using AT&T in the US. i've been doing well my Note5 and will continue to rely on it for work as well. Nexus 7 was my first tablet and this is my second and a keeper.

Blues fan said:
If I'm going to be using it for reading articles and books for school wouldn't a 9.7 inch one be better than an 8?
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8" is okay for me for reading textbook PDF's, and the other activities I use it for like browsing flipboard.
Sure, 9.7" you would have slightly bigger text, but it's slightly bulkier.
I don't think you can go wrong with either though, I'm not aware of any better android tablets currently.

I bought the 8 today absolutely love it beautiful screen nice size text love it
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