I’ve been thinking a lot about tablets this month. In a way, that’s to be expected. After all, I’ve been using Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab S10+ for a few weeks now, and I’m coming back from thinking about how a $1,000 Android tablet fits into the current competitive laptop landscape. This week also saw the launch of an entirely different tablet, as Apple finally decided it was worth bringing back the three-year-old iPad Mini. Despite being on opposite ends of the size spectrum, both of these devices are pretty accurate depictions of the tablet situation, and we’re not sure if it’s a particularly pretty one.
First, let’s take a look at the Galaxy Tab S10+. Samsung’s latest default flagship tablet — the Galaxy Tab S9 has stepped back as the 11-inch model to buy — offers a very impressive experience. It has a great display, great speakers, and feels as fast as ever, no matter how many apps you leave running in the background or open in Windows within Windows. But at a price of $1,000, it faces stiff competition and not just from rival tablets.
You can buy some great tablets for the same price, from the latest Surface Laptop to the MacBook Air, and they should outperform their Galaxy Tab counterparts. This is strictly an Android limitation. No matter how powerful the processor is, some of the apps I (and many others) rely on every day for work cannot be converted to this platform. No matter how good this movie may seem, it remains best at consumption, not creation.
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The Galaxy Tab S series is in its 10th year — with incremental improvements.
It’s the software that makes these Samsung tablets feel like the mature products they are today.
So what happens to the iPad Mini? Almost a year ago, I expressed my desire for a small, modern 8-inch tablet, and technically speaking, Apple has delivered. The new iPad Mini combines an upgraded A17 Pro chipset (the one found in the iPhone 15 Pro Max) with additional RAM, presumably for Apple’s (yet) upcoming suite of AI features. And frankly, that’s it. A closer look at the two spec sheets might highlight some additional changes (Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6e support), but it’s unclear how much time the company takes between updates. When I think about it, I can’t imagine anyone rushing to buy this when it goes on sale.
All of this adds up to outdated tablet hardware upgrades. The last time I saw a truly new concept in this space was the Pixel Tablet to my eyes. Google’s concept of a smart display that combined something like a tablet and dock was pretty original in theory, but some serious limitations and a predictably high price prevented it from becoming a reality. These days, most people probably choose to buy a Pixel Tablet without the (now optional) dock, and without updating, Google’s latest features are wasted on the Tensor G2 SoC. .
I wonder how many people still use tablets in their daily lives. Have you found the space and the right model to store your tablet as the infamous “third device”? Or do today’s super-sized smartphones feel big enough to skip the big screen slab? If so, tell us about your tablet using the survey below. If you want to see something like an upgraded and improved Pixel Tablet, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section. I think that’s certainly true.
