Don't waste your money on an awful Android tablet on Black Friday

It's not only with Black Friday. The Android tablets market is flooded with absolute expensive stinkers for devices. You will notice this in any physical electronic store.

Not to mention fakes. I bought and Android 12 tablet on Amazon as new not long ago, the version string said 12, but the actual API level was 24 (Android 7) and the UI wasn't android 12.

If you don't think that's a big deal on a cheap tablet then you're not considering what else could have been done to it that you can't see. They're already lying after all.
And even apparently from name brands.

My sister bought a low-end Samsung tablet (some years ago admittedly), and it NEVER received a software update in the 3 years she owned it. Not a major update, not a security patch, nothing.

I'd hope they've gotten better about that, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
- Probably that was before Samsung offered 5 years of updates. And if the tablet was a bit outdated, it would have easily been outside of the software EOL date.
  
  That's why you should always go for phones/tablets that have been released this year and not take an outdated one. Not for the specs, but for the software support duration.
  
  Over here there is a food discounter that also has a tiny electronics corner, where they have "great" deals. You can often get phones and tablets for less than half of the MSRP. The issue is, that all of them are either out of software support or close to it. A while ago they sold a cheap iPhone that had one month of software support left. And on iPhone, most apps only run on the currently newest iOS version. So a month after buying that iPhone, the user would lose access to most of their apps.
- my s7 is on the latest android and still gets patches samsung is so much better these days

Isn't not buying anything on Black Friday generally a good advice?

Some of the crap being pushed out cheap is made just for Black Friday. Weird TVs with one HDMI port, or the guts of it are leftovers from three years ago, stuff like that.

I mean sure, buy a PS5 or whatever because there's no cheapo version of that with a PS4 Pro in it, but for things like TVs, tablets, or things with a million different model numbers? Buyer beware.
- They've already been shamelessly doing the exact same thing with outlet malls for ages: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/outlet-stores-quality-1.3392279 / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cyvpJYZlk
  
  So we really shouldn't be surprised, unfortunately.
Yeah, title should just be:

Don't waste your money ~~on an awful Android tablet~~ on Black Friday
I bought two 4TB USB SSDs half price, they seem well built and were brand new. I think I did pretty well.
- Broke my phone 2 days ago. Samsung S23 has a black Friday promotion on its official website, the 256gb model is cheaper priced than the 128gb model. I think it's a good deal. Buy things you really need, and you might save some money. But of course don't buy stuff you don't need just for the sake of discount.
- Online? Because I've been looking for some good external data storage solutions today if you've got a link lol.
  
  I'm also considering springing for a Synology NAS if I can find a good deal, but I've already dropped a lot on a laptop.
- Hope they weren’t WDs. Those aren’t even worth 1/10th their price.
When is a good time to buy then?
- Whenever there’s a real sale on them and not just marking them up to MSRP then back down again. Aka any time before November or after December.
  
  Use websites like camel camel camel to track prices on something you want and see if it’s actually a good deal.
- I'm not sure if there is a "good time" to buy - not as a blanket timeframe for all things. If you want to save money, use camel camel camel and patience.
  
  However - it all depends on how much you're talking about trying to save, how substantial that amount is to you, and how much your time is worth - because if you make $20/hour and you spend 16 hours in order to save $5, that's not a great investment.
  
  Black Friday is almost always a scam. Maybe once upon a time it wasn't, but, capitalists gotta capitalize.

Even better tip : Don't waste your money ~~on an awful Android tablet on Black Friday~~

And enjoy the moment

It gets worse. Visiting a friend recently, they tried to give me an old Kindle, (which I politely declined). They have a drawer of about 6 old ones because they can't help buying the latest every sale. They don't even read that much!!

That's so wasteful. And I dragged my old Sony reader for like 7 years and then even handed it down until the battery just wouldn't hold a charge anymore. In 14 years I'm my second reader and feel the Kobo I've got is perfectly fine.
- Battery replacement on the old Sony readers is trivial.
  
  I relatively recently checked out some other ebook readers, mainly as the Sony isn't too responsive with a big library on it, and I prefer just having everything on there - but turns out neither Kindle nor Kobo perform that well with a big library either. The UI of the old Sony reader is still way better than any of the other ebook readers I've tried.
  
  I'm currently carrying a kindle in flight mode, filled via calibre - in the night the backlight is nicer than the clip on light I've been using with the Sony, but I still keep the Sony charged and use now and then.
I've been using old kindles for homeassistant interfaces for across the house.
- Are they wall mounted? If so, how do you hide the power cables?
- That's a good idea, but you can buy e-ink screens made specifically for that purpose, they use them in retail stores. Buying Kindles for that is expensive.
- Eink ones?
I would have personally accepted. More devices for modding and tinkering with! 🔥
- A fellow SBCgamer perhaps?
Crazy. I still have an old Kobo ereader which is a bit slow and has a low res screen but it's fine for just reading (the slowness is almost a benefit since it's less likely to be a distraction). I can't imagine buying a new model every year.
Kobo is better and locked into amazon bullshit.
They should stick them on swappa. Kindles hold value fairly well, and they're great gifts to kids, as they can often encourage reading

When it comes to tablets, if it is not an iPad, Galaxy Tab S, or Pixel tablet don’t waste the money period. Everything else is pushed out the door and forgotten about by the OEM before the delivery truck leaves the warehouse.

This is literally terrible advice and incorrect. Lenovo and Xiaomi are at just 2 examples of brands whose midrange and high end tablets get supported with updates for years.
- Proud owner of a Xiaomi Pad 5, still works like the day I got it. Also got my oldest child (who, like me, is into emulation) a Pad 6.
I have a Lenovo tablet, bar being useless to me as piece of tech it is very functional and continues to get updates.
What about Lenovo tablets?
Pixel

After getting burnt by both the Google endorsed Xoom and the Google branded Nexus 10, I don't trust them at all when it comes to tablets.

With both, Google released good products, and then proceeded to ruin them with abhorrent changes to the software. They made the Nexus 10 dump it's tablet interface in favor of a big phone UI ffs.
- Still waiting for something that uses those pogo pins or the removable backplate...
  
  And this also reminds me I have to check the battery in the one I have in storage. The Nexus 4 I had swelled up and pushed off its glass back while charging.
No matter how much Lemmy hates Apple, iPads are by and large the best tablets out there for the money, especially for art. The fact that I can use “Apple” and “best for the money” in the same sentence is funny. I don’t hate apple, I love iOS, but ya usually really do pay for it.

Don't buy cheap tablets, they're never worth your time. Shop fleaBay for a Samsung Tab S6, S7 or S8 depending on your budget instead - you'll be much happier with the outcome.

I'm still using my 2019 Tab S6 for Netflix, Reddit, PDF reading and annotation, comics and occasionally ebooks via KOReader. Great device, absolutely worth the ~$400 I spent on it on fleaBay ~3-4y ago.

If AMOLED is a must for you the Tab S6, Tab S7 Plus, Tab S8 Plus or Ultra and any Tab S9 model are where you want to start. I'll replace my Tab S6 when the 11in Tab S9 drops below ~$400 secondhand.

In 2017 I got myself a lenovo tab 8", Android 6, 3GB of RAM for less than 120€. Thanks to AOSP, I got it on Android 10, and it's still kicking 6 years later. Get tablets that you can own! (ie Unlock bootloader).
- I wish LineageOS would support more tablets. I've got it running on an old OnePlus 6 I use as a Plex client and not much more and it just works, and I get all of the latest security updates etc. I know there are other ROMs out there, but none of the big ones support semi-modern tablets.
- I have the same as a secondary device. It's getting slow tho. :)
I needed a "tv" for my camper van. Cheap Lenovo M10 works fine in that role, mostly as a Plex client. The big complaint is I can't get rid of their stupid app bar and can't find a custom ROM. But for what it does and what I paid, it's fine.

Just avoid any no name 16core 12gb ram 512gb rom device that's a £100 it's all junk and most likely loaded with malware

Half a terabyte of read-only memory would be pretty useless anyway
- Yet that's what the scsmmy tablets call storage for some reason maybe a bad translation or something
Can't we load a lineageos gsi in these tablets?
- In theory yeah but many of so shite why bother

This whole thread smells like a Samsung ad...

s/Samsung//

This is SEO foam of the sea of e-commerce.
- No mention of Lineage OS or Replicant. This article is definitely some commercialized trash. An "awful Android tablet" is any tablet that runs its stock operating system.

On that note, what are GOOD android tablets for different price ranges?

Samsung still makes great ones. Some of them are even compatible with Wacom pens.

Once I helped to set up a Lenovo Android tablet, that too was stellar compared to the cheap junk you can meet with easily.
Samsung's are generally regarded as pretty good. There's also that OnePlus tablet that MKBHD liked because it has features similar to iPads
samsung s series is top tier

dare i say better than the ipad
I picked up a xiaomi Redmi Pad earlier this year. Seems pretty decent. Runs games like Nikke pretty well.
I don't know about tablets, but if you want to go big on general purpose android smartphone:

Samsung flagships for the best hardware and Google flagships for the best software.

I assume the same rule might still hold for android tablets.

I just need a cheap tablet that can be rooted (hopefully) with an FHD+ display to watch a few episodes on. Which one do you recommend?

Whatever you can get second hand
- What about battery life for used devices?
I think the Galaxy Tab A8 may be a good option. While I've only flashed a custom ROM, there are root guides at XDA.
- Unfortunately, Samsung devices in the US come with locked bootloaders that can't be unlocked (even if bought directly and not from a carrier)
You don't need to root a tablet to watch videos on it.
- You don't need to not do it either!
Yes

I have one of those Lenovos for reading comics, and they're great. Nothing amazing but you can't beat the bang for your buck.

I got the newer Lenovo M9 and it's great for the price. It can stutter at times, but comics, books, and stremio - no problems.

Pixel Tablet with GrapheneOS is the best choice

The thing holding me from GrapheneOS is mostly Hub Mode on my tablet.

rocky linux tablet when

Are there any of these cheapshit 7" tablets that will take something like LineageOS? Because that's the first thing I'd do before I put a spyware laden thing like that on my network.

Guest network only, bro 😁

Blackview tab 16 is the best "offbrand "tablet I have found.

Mega specs,huge storage but less than 200euro with accessories.

Battery life is great,but we will have to see how it is in 6 months....

Also have a blackview tablet but unfortunately they will never update the software and I can't find any tutorial on installing lineage os

NOTE: Lenovo Tab M10 Plus, the 32GB version has 3GB of ram. The 64GB version (which isn't much more, I got it for $150 the other day) has 4 GB ram.

I had bought a P11 Pro Gen 2 because I wanted an Oled tablet for reading, and outside of buying a very old Samsung S5e, it's basically the cheapest option for oled along with its Chinese counterpart (Xiaoxin Pad Pro). Samsung Oled tablets are all of the # Plus tablets, which usually retail for more than the p11 pro gen 2.

I actually use a Samsung tab S5e and am considering upgrading. How is the P11 Pro Gen 2?
- i bought it on wednesday, so I wouldn't even be able to give you a fair assessment. hasn't even arrived yet.

The article mentions tablets with resistive touch.

Is that really a thing? I thought, Android only supported capacitative touch.

Resistive touch would mean no multitouch and thus no two-finger gestures.

Cheap resistive touch tablets have been a thing for a while. Don't bother, they're awful compared to capacitive.
- resistive touch should never be used for phones, tablets, laptops, car entertainment systems and e-ink tablets
- Takes me back to the days of the Palm Pilot.
- Of course, I just didn't think Android would support them. Haven't seen a single resistive touch Android device before.

"They might not have the Google Play Store, or might be loaded up with bloatware apps that you can’t remove" That sounds pretty much like Google app's to me🤔

I mean, ipads are pretty bloated with shitty version of things on launch too. Basically my first week with them is always trying apples apps and then realizing they're awful and downloading something else.

I want to add that I bought the OnePlus Pad, which has been great for my use case of mainly reading epubs and PDFs. The aspect ratio is 7:5, which is much better for reading than many of the aspect ratios of other tablets I looked at. Also the battery life is pretty good, but I also don't use it for anything computationally intensive

Edit: It's not exactly cheap though, costing $480. But there's a sale right now for $400, which is still not exactly cheap. But I think it was worth the price for me

If you're just using it to read, I would highly recommend selling it and getting an e-ink display. I have both a Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle fire 8 plus. I just can't read books on the fire 8 anymore, the Paperwhite is so good. If you can't stand Amazon then rakuten makes a really good e-ink readers with their kobos.
- Yeah I really considered getting an e-ink display, but most of the ones that can handle PDFs well are in the $400-500 range anyways. Since I didn't have another tablet, I figured that getting the OnePlus Pad first and then buying another e-ink reader down the road would probably be the better option.
10” iPad is $250 at Best Buy right now. It’s the same one I have and it’s been brilliant for a very similar use case. I wish it were smaller though.
Genuinely curious, but for that use case and price, did you consider an eink tablet? I love my supernote for much the same use case.
- Yeah I did, but I didn't have another tablet, so I figured if I was going to spend $400-500, I might as well get a tablet first, and then branch out to e-ink displays if I feel that I want a more paper like display down the road. Thanks for the suggestion though! I'll have to check out Supernote if I'm in the market- seems like it has sync integration with Google Drive which is really nice

I now have an S6 Lite (keeping on One UI for an experiment)!

Yeah if I were to buy offbrand, it'd be a Windows tab. At least due to the driver standardization and everything, and near-endless updates, I got a good chance to be able to use that so long as the raw hardware is up to speed.

Or, don't waste your money on any kind of tablet ever. What do you actually need a tablet for?

So you can have a portable device with a larger screen than your phone? For general media consumption?
A cheap tablet makes for a cheap HMI display, literally a fraction of the cost of alternatives.

"MQTT Dash" makes a great interface to any protocol that you can translate into MQTT (i.e. almost anything at this point) and it's free and robust.
- This is true, it would make a great HMI. I just get my employer to buy all of our equipment though.