53

Previously on Lemmy: Asus

Android tablets are devices that I don't know a lot about. I've seen plenty of them around, but I haven't seen many people actually use them, but I've seen plenty of iPads and sometimes Surfaces out in the wild. Many large Android manufacturers have tried, like Samsung and Huawei, but reception to them seems lurkwarm at best.

Tablets, to me, are more of media consumption devices than productivity devices. So, I guess the questions of the week would be, what is your experiences with Android tablets, and what are some features you are looking for in an Android tablet to make it worth buying?

Past Discussions:

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] hersh@literature.cafe 14 points 11 months ago

These are not "normal" tablets, but Boox's line of ePaper-based readers are the only Android tablets that distinguish themselves sufficiently in my already-large family of devices. I've used "normal" tablets with full-color LCD/OLED displays, on both the Android and iPadOS side, but I rarely find a good use for them. I've found them to sit in an awkward space with neither the convenience of my phone, nor the utility of my laptop.

The ePaper-based tablets are ideal for reading, but I do not relegate them merely to the "e-reader" category because they allow you to install Google Play and run basically any Android app. This makes them more flexible and powerful than most e-readers.

It comes with a built-in browser optimized for monochrome, and you can also install third-party alternatives like EinkBro.

That said, it's only for advanced users, and it's not a perfectly smooth experience. Just getting Google Play running on it requires jumping through some hoops, and you will find that most Android apps simply don't work well on a monochrome display (though Boox does offer color models, I have not used them myself).

I was hoping, for example, to use my Boox tablet to play Go, but despite the fact that Go is very much a "black and white" game, most of the apps use shading and colors that look like absolute ass on a black and white display. Some of them do not properly support the 4:3 aspect ratio either. So I don't want to set unreasonable expectations here. These are niche devices.

Despite these drawbacks, I really appreciate having an ePaper device. It complements my device family (phone, laptop, etc.) in a way other tablets do not.

[-] WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

I'm glad to have read this. I've been really curious about that line of readers.

[-] the16bitgamer@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

I have a Boox Nova 3 Color. What its good for is 3 things.

  1. reading books

  2. taking notes with its included stylus

  3. Good enough software to run normal apps well enough.

But what it is not is a Good Android Tablet. Its a typical 1 Android update Chinese tablet. Forever stuck on Android 10 (I think), with no expansion.

And for an E-Reader that's more than enough, but if you want to watch video? Its bad. Read a webpage that's scrolls? Be prepare to manually refresh a lot to read what's there. Install Google Play? Good luck (it's doable just annoying).

However compared with a Kobo or a Samsung and my most used Android Tablet I ever owned. I even made an e-reader case for it since the original disintegrated on me.

[-] zourn@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

As an avid reader of comics in digital form, I would love to try one of the color e-ink displays. But with the Boox Note Air3 C starting at $500 it is nowhere near what I would consider worth it just yet.

this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2023
53 points (98.2% liked)

Android

27940 readers
85 users here now

DROID DOES

Welcome to the droidymcdroidface-iest, Lemmyest (Lemmiest), test, bestest, phoniest, pluckiest, snarkiest, and spiciest Android community on Lemmy (Do not respond)! Here you can participate in amazing discussions and events relating to all things Android.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules


1. All posts must be relevant to Android devices/operating system.


2. Posts cannot be illegal or NSFW material.


3. No spam, self promotion, or upvote farming. Sources engaging in these behavior will be added to the Blacklist.


4. Non-whitelisted bots will be banned.


5. Engage respectfully: Harassment, flamebaiting, bad faith engagement, or agenda posting will result in your posts being removed. Excessive violations will result in temporary or permanent ban, depending on severity.


6. Memes are not allowed to be posts, but are allowed in the comments.


7. Posts from clickbait sources are heavily discouraged. Please de-clickbait titles if it needs to be submitted.


8. Submission statements of any length composed of your own thoughts inside the post text field are mandatory for any microblog posts, and are optional but recommended for article/image/video posts.


Community Resources:


We are Android girls*,

In our Lemmy.world.

The back is plastic,

It's fantastic.

*Well, not just girls: people of all gender identities are welcomed here.


Our Partner Communities:

!android@lemmy.ml


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS