8" tablets, Samsung Galaxy S2 vs LG gpad III vs iPad mini 4

[fox]

I thought I would post about this because of all the research and testing I have been doing. My iPad mini 2 was starting to give me minor problems with age, so I decided to replace it. Being a Linux convert from the Mac OS and already having an iPhone, an Apple tablet is no longer as desirable as it once was, though it does integrate with the iPhone in ways that an Android tablet can't. After some internet research on quality, performance and cost, I narrowed down my choices to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0, the LG gpad III and the iPad mini 4. I found reasonably good deals for all three locally so that that I could get the Samsung for $400, the LG for $240 and the mini 4 (32 gb version) for $390 with cellular. (All Canadian dollars.) The LG also comes with cellular, locked to Fido or Rogers. I pretty much know what I would be getting with an iPad, so I didn't bother testing it or trying it out. This would be the default if I could not be happy with one of the two Android selections.

The Samsung and LG have octa-core processors, with the Samsung having a faster processor on paper. Pixel density on the Samsung is higher than the LG, but both give good resolution and high pixel densities. The Samsung is an amoled display; the display is the nicest I have ever seen on any tablet. Noticeably lighter and thinner than the LG and even the iPad minii 4, it is a real pleasure to use and the easiest to hold with one handl. In all other ways but one, this is the nicest small tablet I've ever seen or tried. But the one is a big one: battery life. Its battery is small (4,000 mAh); probably to fit it in the ultra thin body. My tests showed that it consumed as much as 15% of its full charge per hour; this doing routine things like reading internet articles and books, and playing youtube videos. A battery app showed that the high rate of depletion was largely due to use by the display, and of course because of the small battery. But it also depleted the battery at a noticeably faster rate than the other two when it was sleeping.  I'm a battery fanatic and I couldn't live with that - watching it drop battery time every few minutes would drive me nuts. l really hated to return it, but I did for this reason.

The LG tablet is very nice too, but not in the same league as the Samsung. It shouldn't be; it costs only 60% as much and it actually comes with cellular capability, which the Tab 2 I bought does not. It's not as thin or light, but it's lighter than my old iPad mini 2 and it has a comfortable, stippled backing, so better for gripping than either the Samsung or the iPad mini. It also has a full sized usb port, which allows you to plug in a usb stick and even run movies from it. One flaw it does have is it will not connect to the 5g signal in many routers when running Nougat. This is a known flaw, and seems to be specific to this tablet and Nougat. It doesn't really affect me because I only have 40 mbps service at home, so download speeds don't seem to be limited on the non-5g signal.

Battery tests showed the LG to be far superior to the Tab 2 in that category, with rates of depletion typically 8-10% per hour for browsing, youtube videos, e-reading. Its battery (4,800 mAh) is 20% larger than the Samsung, and that alone would explain most of the difference.  Since running the battery consumption tests, I don't pay as much attention to the battery percentage on the LG (which still drops faster than the old mini) . While its battery life is also noticeably lower than that of the mini 2 I previously owned, the depletion rate is low enough to suggest that I would have 4 or more days between charges with my normal usage pattern.  I'm sitting with the LG at the moment, and I have another 8 days to decide whether to keep it or not.

The LG comes with Android Nougat (the Samsung had it too), and I like the ability to customize it more than iOS. If I keep it, I have the option of adding a Rogers cellular plan, which costs $5/month for a very small amount of data. The plan adjusts automatically to your usage. If you use more than the lowest tier in a month, you pay more in $5 increments for just that month. I would rarely use any data, only in emergency. If I really needed data on a tablet, I could get the Fido unshared data plan for $15/month, which is for 2 gb data/month. Great deal if you need it, but I don't.

Then there is the iPad mini 4. It would cost $150 more than the LG, but you buy it in 24 monthly installments when you get it with the $5 Rogers tablet plan. In size, the mini has the same 4:3 dimensions as the Samsung, but it isn't quite as thin and it weighs about 10% more. (The gpad III has a 16:10 screen dimension.)  iOS does have some advantages for an iPhone user in that messaging from either device shows up on the other. (Bill and I couldn't get this to work on the gpad III, at least not without cellular working.) The mini 4 is a premium tablet as is the Samsung, and it really holds its value over the years. The gpad III would not, as many people have bought it for the cheap 3 gb shared data plan from Fido; they use the data on their phone and sell the tablet. As a result, I have seen nearly new gpad III's selling for anywhere from $150-200.

That's where I am now, deciding whether to keep the LG or return it for an iPad mini 4. Any thoughts would be appreciated, and I hope this thread helps readers also thinking about which 8" tablet to buy.

[ssfc72]

Nicely done write up, Mike!  Thanks for posting your findings and observations.
Foe anyone interested in getting a tablet, this sure does help.

Bill

[fox]

Incidentally, Jason and I have been having a lot of email discussions about battery use in Android vs iOS. He pointed me to this article on why Apple devices use less power. It notes that because Apple controls the hardware as well as software, this allows it to maximize power efficiency for the limited number of devices it manufactures. Because Android is mostly open source, phone or tablet manufacturers can modify Android in ways that might make it less efficient. But I suspect it's more than just what phone and tablet makers do because stock Android devices that Google makes don't necessarily have good battery life either.

[fox]

After two weeks of use of the gpad III, I finally decided to keep it. While not as premium as either the iPad mini 4 or the Samsung Galaxy S2 8.0, it is almost as good, and much better when price is taken into account. Also, it has at least three advantages over the other two. The first is the stippled back - while not as fancy as the others, it grips better and makes it much less likely to slip from your hand or a sloped surface. The second is the glass. I'm not sure if it is less glare-resistant than the iPad mini or the Samsung (probably is), it doesn't seem to show fingerprints like the other two, so I rarely feel the need to clean the glass. The third is the usb port, which the other two don't have. This is particularly useful for transferring media files, but you can run the files from a usb stick as well.

One use for the tablet that I didn't expect to work out so well is as an e-reader. I have an app that allows me to borrow and download the epub version of library books, and the quality of the text from these is excellent. As a result, I've been using this function more than I ever did in the past, which does mean I have to recharge the gpad more frequently. The one big way that I do lose by buying this tablet is that iOS-specific apps (like iMessage) don't work on it, and the Android equivalents are rarely as good. Still, I'm very happy with my purchase, and would highly recommend the gpad III 8.0 (or its U.S. equivalent, the 8x) to anyone not needing to be in the Apple ecosystem.

[ssfc72]

Congrats on finding an Android tablet that does most of what you were looking for, Mike!

There is a neat app for copying Clipboard text, between devices.
The app is called ClipSync,  http://bdwm.be/cs/

This app was originally brought to my attention, about a year or so ago, by another PLUG user.

The developer of the app sent me the code, to make ClipSync work on Linux Distros as well as desktop Windows PC's

Bill 

[Jason]

Thanks for the info you've provided us, Mike, and glad you're enjoying your new purchase. I recently picked up a new phone and I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it after returning the first one. But we'll probably talk about that after the PLUG Meeting or a future MUG

[fox]

What did you get for the new phone? Wasn't an LG by chance?

[Jason]

Nope. Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra. It's a mid-range phone. Loving it so far! I might post sometime on the forums what I had to choose from and why I chose it if anybody is interested.

But my choice was a little limited to phones that work on Freedom Mobile's new LTE band which was just activated today! I now have unlimited calling in Canada, unlimited messaging worldwide and unlimited data though after 4 GB it's severely throttled.

I am now paying $40/month for the plan plus $5/month for the phone and $20 down, taxes excluded. Up til now, I was paying $12/month to pay off the tablet, $25/month for data for my tablet and $10/month for my phone (with 40 minutes and 50 text messages), so I will have $2 more a month after this month and the tablet is paid for.

[fox]

I hope you will do a review of your Xperia phone, including which others you considered and why you selected it. Very helpful for others who have similar needs and constraints.

[buster]

Mike you wrote, "One use for the tablet that I didn't expect to work out so well is as an e-reader. I have an app that allows me to borrow and download the epub version of library books, and the quality of the text from these is excellent."

Are you by any chance using Overdrive? I use it a lot, and the selection of books in Ontario is huge. Just curious because this seems to be the favourite for libraries.

[Jason]

I hope you will do a review of your Xperia phone, including which others you considered and why you selected it. Very helpful for others who have similar needs and constraints.

Okay, will do. Sorry for the thread-bomb Like a photo-bomb but for threads.

[fox]

Mike you wrote, "One use for the tablet that I didn't expect to work out so well is as an e-reader. I have an app that allows me to borrow and download the epub version of library books, and the quality of the text from these is excellent."

Are you by any chance using Overdrive? I use it a lot, and the selection of books in Ontario is huge. Just curious because this seems to be the favourite for libraries.

Yep; that's the app. It's great, not only for finding and downloading books, but also for reading them on the tablet.