Is there really a healthy market for LTE android tablets? I can understand for a Surface Pro where it's needed for business, contractors on site etc, but android tablets are consumption devices. Do people really use their tablet in such a way, when phones are far more portable and convenient?
Carriers keep offering them, so they must make them at least a small amount of money. I doubt it would be considered "healthy sales" as far as tablet #'s though. We use a few here at work for people out in the filed with a particular custom app, but I doubt it would ever be more than a niche thing.
My uncle ended up with a lower spec one ($100-150 class, not sure what the list price was) about 18mo ago as some sort of convoluted package deal along with several new phones for his kids. Apparently some sort of new line bonus or what have you made it marginally cheaper up front and month to month than just buying the phones. Just based on that pricing I assumed they were having trouble selling them normally.
I suppose if you use it enough on the go the modem it might be worth it to avoid killing your phone battery tethering; but I can't see them ever being more than a niche item as long as they come with an extra monthly fee on your bill. Remove the $240 over 2 years connectivity surcharge and let me tap my normal data pool, and I could see paying a little extra up front just for a bit of extra flexibility; but probably no more than $25-50 (and if it got cheap enough eventually economies of scale would erode the extra cost for the LTE variant and narrow the gap even more).
I use my phone when I'm out and about, but when I'm at home on the couch or in the kitchen or in a meeting, it's my Nexus 7 (2013). Incidentally, I spent more time on the tablet than my phone by a pretty wide margin. You can do more on a larger device than a smaller one, but I only use it in places where the larger device's diminished portability isn't such a factor.
I've never understood all the hate on Android tablets. It has all the apps my phone does but is generally far easier to use because of the increased size. If you're in the Android ecosystem, why not? I spend 90% of my non-video time in a browser, so the state of android tablet apps doesn't really bother me.
Not exactly sure either, but one annoyance would be the consistent use of inferior SoCs. There's also the whole OS argument. Everyone in this site seems to believe that any other OS besides Windows renders any tablet unusable.
"Everyone in this site seems to believe that any other OS besides Windows renders any tablet unusable."
I don't feel that way at all. In a tablet form factor, I don't think Microsoft is offering a superior computing experience with Windows for non-business use cases. Apple products and Android-based tablets are reasonable alternatives for in-home media consumption. As Androids are less expensive, they're not a bad alternative.
Had this been a couple years ago, I would have sided with Microsoft based on the fact that MS didn't appear to gather as much user data for marketing and mining purposes. However Windows 10 has certainly changed that perspective. With all devices being equally invasive and Linux not being particularly viable on a tablet device, my personal opinion has changed with regards to Microsoft offering a compelling alternative.
But why use a tablet for in-home media consumption when a laptop (with a touch screen) is just better? Do you enjoy holding your tablet up for 30 minutes to two hours while watching a TV show or a movie? That gets tiring, a laptop has a built in base that holds itself up. Portability doesn't matter in-home, and when portability matters, why not just use your phone?
When i fly southwest, I use my tablet (nexus 7 2013) to watch TV via their free cable offering.
I also use my tablet when travelling in cases where i don't need to bring my laptop. Casual internet browsing, etc. I can also put on a kids show and set it on the stand for the kids to watch.
I can cast shows and apps to my tv for easier viewing. I also have a controller to play games with.
App support isn't the greatest even though Google pushed the Nexus 7 hard back in the day. Many apps are basically blown up phone apps. The biggest android tablet-maker also has a strategy where they throw everything against the wall and sees what sticks. Samsung has literally made like 20 different tablets in the last 2 or 3 years. I love my 12.2" Pro Note but sadly it didn't see a successor or updates past a year or so. And even so they don't have good vision on their products. The Tab S2 is inferior in battery life and pixel density to the S1; and the S1 is the better media consumption device with a 16:10 aspect ratio.
That being said, I'm in the ecosystem for life. Android Tablets are still hugely versatile machines that can do more than an Ipad; you just have to tinker a lot with it to get there because of the huge fragmentation of devices.
Well I suppose if you do things right, and is not very crazy, fragmentation problem is almost non-existent. Once you out of the comfort zone (eg. use native code), then it will be quite a nightmare.
I used to do a couple of apps on Android, but right now I only do apps for my own uses (not even publish it to the store). I think I ran into problem once or twice at the time ActionBar was new and no support library provide that. After that it's pretty much a smooth sail. Of cause I don't use cutting edge things anymore....
Oh well my ex-boss said he ran into Galaxy s7-specific problems. Poor you Samsung ....
Also People don't like the 'enlarged phone apps' kind of thing. In contrast many developer just refuses to create separated layout for individual screens size for whatever reason I wish I can understand. I think if the app still looks good, and usable, then it's still a good tablet. If the app has 60% of waste space, then they should re-layout the app quite a bit. My app mostly have two layouts for small and large screens (regardless of resolution), and in worse case I'd have orientation-specific layout. That should cover most of the use-case out there.
PS. Android version of Youtube does not play well with keyboard/remote style of input. It's almost unusable on settop-box devices. My conspiracy theory says Google wants us to buy Android TV instead ...
It has no where near all the apps. Many arn't usable on the tabs, and others are usable but even instagram can't rotate to landscape even now. I hate my samsung 10.1". Was a waste of money.
The hate is because tablets are basically useless. If you are on the couch or in a meeting, why not just use a laptop? With a larger screen, a keyboard that you can type quickly and comfortably on, and a mouse to easily select small items?
Tablets are pretty useless overall. I think they have more use cases in commercial applications such as POS terminals.
I have a laptop and prefer to use a tablet the vast majority of the time. The tablet sleeps and wakes instantly and has a vastly superior battery life with much easier recharging since the plug is ubiquitous.
If I want to get work done, do something the tablet can't do or can't do well, I have a desktop, which is far superior to the laptop when it comes doing what I want. The laptop is the device I almost never use. I suppose one could spend enough money on one to be as fast as a decent desktop and it might work, but I want a real keyboard, real mouse, usefully sized display. I can hook all that up to my laptop, but then what's the point?
I guess the spectrum goes phone -> tablet -> laptop -> desktop, and in that range, tablet and desktop see the most use for me. The phone I keep around because the portability is unmatched. The laptop, I honestly wouldn't have spent money on, but it's a hand-me-down, so I have it in the stack. It's used mostly for travel when I need more than tablet power, which the desktop isn't suitable for. That could be connecting to the work VPN to write some code from a hotel, or troubleshoot a neighbor's router. It just keeps me from borrowing a device, which is what I did prior to having the laptop.
That seems to be the real price. I'm surprised too because AT usually puts only the contract price to help the carriers pretend phones don't have ludicrous $700 pricing.
The last two phone reviews on the site listed full retail prices; as did the Q1 2016 best android phones roundup. The same was true of a review I checked from a year ago.
My friend as an instructor in the field is using a custom app running on an iPad Mini with LTE making notes and getting those instantly synced. Thinking about it it's really not that hard to find business cases for a tablet with cellular support.
I'd much rather be able to take the data from my phone plan and put it on a tablet instead. Better battery life, easier to read, ece.
Problem is there are no good android LTE tablets. There is the ipad, and the surface 3 (oddly the surface pros dont have an LTE option) but the only real android options were the now discontinued nexus 9 and samsung's tablets. Since google didnt give the pixel C any LTE capabilities, and nvidia no longer sells the lte enabled shield tablet, we are stuck waiting to see if the new nexus tablet, or pixel refresh, brings back LTE. Or chromebook, even, biggest flaw with the chromebook pixel 2 IMO.
I've been using a Nexus 7 on Verizon's LTE network for 2 years now. After that the idea of a WiFi - only tablet has no appeal. It spends it's day on my dash mound on my work vehicle and most of the time is my navigator using Google maps. If the screen is a bright and view-able on sunny days, I'm getting one of these. Just wish it had more than 2 GB of RAM.
With the growth of productivity apps for Android, there presently exists a growing nitch for Android tablet users in business. A sure sign of market share draw is Microsoft's release of it's Office 365 software suite for Android. This can't be called a consumption app suite. Further, the Asus ZenPad s 8 seeks in part to tap into the professional user market through inclusion of some if its "value added" features - including 2 years of 100GB worth of Google Drive storage free! Android devices are fast becoming the go to smart device platform of choice for a growing number of tech savvy business professionals and entrepreneurs. Windows is actually behind in the mobile market by a good bit.
Surface Pro, huh? Why? Just buy an ultra slim laptop - way more power and functionality for the expense (which is another reason to choose Android based devices - builders are not shelling out millions for the OS and passing the cost on the the "consumer.")
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fanofanand - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
Is there really a healthy market for LTE android tablets? I can understand for a Surface Pro where it's needed for business, contractors on site etc, but android tablets are consumption devices. Do people really use their tablet in such a way, when phones are far more portable and convenient?retrospooty - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
Carriers keep offering them, so they must make them at least a small amount of money. I doubt it would be considered "healthy sales" as far as tablet #'s though. We use a few here at work for people out in the filed with a particular custom app, but I doubt it would ever be more than a niche thing.DanNeely - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
My uncle ended up with a lower spec one ($100-150 class, not sure what the list price was) about 18mo ago as some sort of convoluted package deal along with several new phones for his kids. Apparently some sort of new line bonus or what have you made it marginally cheaper up front and month to month than just buying the phones. Just based on that pricing I assumed they were having trouble selling them normally.I suppose if you use it enough on the go the modem it might be worth it to avoid killing your phone battery tethering; but I can't see them ever being more than a niche item as long as they come with an extra monthly fee on your bill. Remove the $240 over 2 years connectivity surcharge and let me tap my normal data pool, and I could see paying a little extra up front just for a bit of extra flexibility; but probably no more than $25-50 (and if it got cheap enough eventually economies of scale would erode the extra cost for the LTE variant and narrow the gap even more).
icrf - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
I use my phone when I'm out and about, but when I'm at home on the couch or in the kitchen or in a meeting, it's my Nexus 7 (2013). Incidentally, I spent more time on the tablet than my phone by a pretty wide margin. You can do more on a larger device than a smaller one, but I only use it in places where the larger device's diminished portability isn't such a factor.I've never understood all the hate on Android tablets. It has all the apps my phone does but is generally far easier to use because of the increased size. If you're in the Android ecosystem, why not? I spend 90% of my non-video time in a browser, so the state of android tablet apps doesn't really bother me.
Spectrophobic - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
Not exactly sure either, but one annoyance would be the consistent use of inferior SoCs.There's also the whole OS argument. Everyone in this site seems to believe that any other OS besides Windows renders any tablet unusable.
BrokenCrayons - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
"Everyone in this site seems to believe that any other OS besides Windows renders any tablet unusable."I don't feel that way at all. In a tablet form factor, I don't think Microsoft is offering a superior computing experience with Windows for non-business use cases. Apple products and Android-based tablets are reasonable alternatives for in-home media consumption. As Androids are less expensive, they're not a bad alternative.
Had this been a couple years ago, I would have sided with Microsoft based on the fact that MS didn't appear to gather as much user data for marketing and mining purposes. However Windows 10 has certainly changed that perspective. With all devices being equally invasive and Linux not being particularly viable on a tablet device, my personal opinion has changed with regards to Microsoft offering a compelling alternative.
peterfares - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
But why use a tablet for in-home media consumption when a laptop (with a touch screen) is just better? Do you enjoy holding your tablet up for 30 minutes to two hours while watching a TV show or a movie? That gets tiring, a laptop has a built in base that holds itself up. Portability doesn't matter in-home, and when portability matters, why not just use your phone?Spectrophobic - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
Nope.eek2121 - Saturday, June 18, 2016 - link
When i fly southwest, I use my tablet (nexus 7 2013) to watch TV via their free cable offering.I also use my tablet when travelling in cases where i don't need to bring my laptop. Casual internet browsing, etc. I can also put on a kids show and set it on the stand for the kids to watch.
I can cast shows and apps to my tv for easier viewing. I also have a controller to play games with.
pashhtk27 - Sunday, June 19, 2016 - link
I like to watch anime episodes while lying down on my bed. Tablet is the only solution :)Diogenes5 - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
App support isn't the greatest even though Google pushed the Nexus 7 hard back in the day. Many apps are basically blown up phone apps. The biggest android tablet-maker also has a strategy where they throw everything against the wall and sees what sticks. Samsung has literally made like 20 different tablets in the last 2 or 3 years. I love my 12.2" Pro Note but sadly it didn't see a successor or updates past a year or so. And even so they don't have good vision on their products. The Tab S2 is inferior in battery life and pixel density to the S1; and the S1 is the better media consumption device with a 16:10 aspect ratio.That being said, I'm in the ecosystem for life. Android Tablets are still hugely versatile machines that can do more than an Ipad; you just have to tinker a lot with it to get there because of the huge fragmentation of devices.
TheinsanegamerN - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
It's still very disappointing there is no 128GB or LTE option for the pixel C. Especially for the price.mr_tawan - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
Well I suppose if you do things right, and is not very crazy, fragmentation problem is almost non-existent. Once you out of the comfort zone (eg. use native code), then it will be quite a nightmare.I used to do a couple of apps on Android, but right now I only do apps for my own uses (not even publish it to the store). I think I ran into problem once or twice at the time ActionBar was new and no support library provide that. After that it's pretty much a smooth sail. Of cause I don't use cutting edge things anymore....
Oh well my ex-boss said he ran into Galaxy s7-specific problems. Poor you Samsung ....
Also People don't like the 'enlarged phone apps' kind of thing. In contrast many developer just refuses to create separated layout for individual screens size for whatever reason I wish I can understand. I think if the app still looks good, and usable, then it's still a good tablet. If the app has 60% of waste space, then they should re-layout the app quite a bit. My app mostly have two layouts for small and large screens (regardless of resolution), and in worse case I'd have orientation-specific layout. That should cover most of the use-case out there.
PS. Android version of Youtube does not play well with keyboard/remote style of input. It's almost unusable on settop-box devices. My conspiracy theory says Google wants us to buy Android TV instead ...
HideOut - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
It has no where near all the apps. Many arn't usable on the tabs, and others are usable but even instagram can't rotate to landscape even now. I hate my samsung 10.1". Was a waste of money.peterfares - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
The hate is because tablets are basically useless. If you are on the couch or in a meeting, why not just use a laptop? With a larger screen, a keyboard that you can type quickly and comfortably on, and a mouse to easily select small items?Tablets are pretty useless overall. I think they have more use cases in commercial applications such as POS terminals.
icrf - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
I have a laptop and prefer to use a tablet the vast majority of the time. The tablet sleeps and wakes instantly and has a vastly superior battery life with much easier recharging since the plug is ubiquitous.If I want to get work done, do something the tablet can't do or can't do well, I have a desktop, which is far superior to the laptop when it comes doing what I want. The laptop is the device I almost never use. I suppose one could spend enough money on one to be as fast as a decent desktop and it might work, but I want a real keyboard, real mouse, usefully sized display. I can hook all that up to my laptop, but then what's the point?
I guess the spectrum goes phone -> tablet -> laptop -> desktop, and in that range, tablet and desktop see the most use for me. The phone I keep around because the portability is unmatched. The laptop, I honestly wouldn't have spent money on, but it's a hand-me-down, so I have it in the stack. It's used mostly for travel when I need more than tablet power, which the desktop isn't suitable for. That could be connecting to the work VPN to write some code from a hotel, or troubleshoot a neighbor's router. It just keeps me from borrowing a device, which is what I did prior to having the laptop.
fanofanand - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
I think you misunderstand, I am not criticizing Android tablets, I am criticizing LTE Android Tablets.icrf - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
I did misunderstand the LTE part, and probably mostly agree with you with that considered.lmcd - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
Is this even on-contract? This is a well-priced tablet if it's unlocked and no-contract.Gunbuster - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
That seems to be the real price. I'm surprised too because AT usually puts only the contract price to help the carriers pretend phones don't have ludicrous $700 pricing.Turning over a new leaf AT?
DanNeely - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
The last two phone reviews on the site listed full retail prices; as did the Q1 2016 best android phones roundup. The same was true of a review I checked from a year ago.http://www.anandtech.com/show/10217/the-lg-g5-revi...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10285/the-iphone-se-...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9770/best-android-ph...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9525/the-moto-g-2015...
In contrast a pair of mid 2014 reviews didn't appear to mention price at all (on the first/last pages anyway).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8169/the-lg-g3-revie...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7903/samsung-galaxy-...
Calista - Thursday, June 16, 2016 - link
My friend as an instructor in the field is using a custom app running on an iPad Mini with LTE making notes and getting those instantly synced. Thinking about it it's really not that hard to find business cases for a tablet with cellular support.mr_tawan - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
In fact MS OneNote is a killer app for this purpose. I see some people buy a Surface just for taking notes.TheinsanegamerN - Friday, June 17, 2016 - link
I'd much rather be able to take the data from my phone plan and put it on a tablet instead. Better battery life, easier to read, ece.Problem is there are no good android LTE tablets. There is the ipad, and the surface 3 (oddly the surface pros dont have an LTE option) but the only real android options were the now discontinued nexus 9 and samsung's tablets. Since google didnt give the pixel C any LTE capabilities, and nvidia no longer sells the lte enabled shield tablet, we are stuck waiting to see if the new nexus tablet, or pixel refresh, brings back LTE. Or chromebook, even, biggest flaw with the chromebook pixel 2 IMO.
Echo5 - Sunday, June 19, 2016 - link
I've been using a Nexus 7 on Verizon's LTE network for 2 years now. After that the idea of a WiFi - only tablet has no appeal. It spends it's day on my dash mound on my work vehicle and most of the time is my navigator using Google maps. If the screen is a bright and view-able on sunny days, I'm getting one of these. Just wish it had more than 2 GB of RAM.DangItDave - Sunday, June 26, 2016 - link
With the growth of productivity apps for Android, there presently exists a growing nitch for Android tablet users in business. A sure sign of market share draw is Microsoft's release of it's Office 365 software suite for Android. This can't be called a consumption app suite. Further, the Asus ZenPad s 8 seeks in part to tap into the professional user market through inclusion of some if its "value added" features - including 2 years of 100GB worth of Google Drive storage free! Android devices are fast becoming the go to smart device platform of choice for a growing number of tech savvy business professionals and entrepreneurs. Windows is actually behind in the mobile market by a good bit.Surface Pro, huh? Why? Just buy an ultra slim laptop - way more power and functionality for the expense (which is another reason to choose Android based devices - builders are not shelling out millions for the OS and passing the cost on the the "consumer.")
blzd - Sunday, June 19, 2016 - link
Just based off the specs I think this is one of the better new tablet announcements I've seen in a while. I don't need the LTE personally though.