Does anyone have good experience with android tablets, and possibly replacing the OS? I see some interesting options from Google, lenovo, one plus, etc… I imagine the pixel one will be the easiest to load a new OS to, but I also wonder about the tablet support of things like lineage or graphine.

The hardware doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, just good enough to be my “travel laptop” for movies, comics and general interneting. I don’t want a laptop, as I often like to sit in chair/bed to read comics or watch movies and a keyboard would make that awkward.

One of my main concerns is the update support - my iPad has been getting updates since 2017, a lot of the android manufactures are promising a pathetic 3 to 5 years. I don’t want to be “software bricked” in 5 years (I.e apps eventually requiring an Android version I cannot update to)

  • @bazsyEnglish
    3•10 months ago

    With the currently available Android tablets the software really limits its uses. Many of the higher quality product focus too much on productivity without success. But this creeps up the prices so much that makes them hard to justify for entertainment.

    I think there are only a few use cases where tablets shine:

    • A small (and cheap) reader that’s a comfortable in one hand with a decent screen resolution. It works great as a big phone to enjoy reading comics, books, websites or browsing social media. The Tab S6 Lite 2022 is a solid 10" option and chinese brands offer 8" tabs like the Doogee T20 Mini. You won’t get long software support but the price makes it somewhat acceptable.
    • An Oled multimedia screen. These are great for all kinds of videos, movies and series. There are just a few options like the P11 Pro Gen2 that are affordable.

    Longer software support is only available from just Samsung or Google and I can’t justify the prices of those if a laptop can replace it. Here a Pixel Tablet or a Tab S9 costs the same as 13" laptop with oled screen (Zenbook S 13) with “unlimited” software support.

    I do own a T20 Mini and an old ThinkPad and I really like reading on the Android tablet even with the slow SoC and medicore screen, but bring a real laptop along for longer trips.