10 inch Samsung Tablet - which to buy

[whs]

A friend asked me to scout for a 10" Samsung tablet on Black Friday. She does not really know which one to buy and I know little about those devices.

Who can recommend one which is best price/performance. She has a 2 year old 7" now and uses it mainly to play these games from the Playstore.

 

[Wishmaster]

Well, I have 2 Kindles and LOVE them. But it wont be for everyone.

Does your friend use Amazon often, or more specifically a Amazon Prime member?
If so, look into Kindle HDX.
They are excellent tablets hardware-wise no their own, but if invested into Amazons eco system or a Prime member, you can't go wrong.

As a standalone, they don't have as many apps as they do on Google Play though, but what they do have are optimized for the High rez screen.
In fact, the entire UI is geared towards Amazon. Though you can side load apps from the4 google store using a smartphone, they do not look very good and are pixilated often.

So for someone thats wants to rely on Google Play, and have more customization options, its not a good choice.
Other tablets like the Nexus or any other Android based tablet, will offer more freedom in that regard.


Thats the route I went, but Im pretty invested into Amazons eco system, and a Prime member so its a no brainer for me.


Beyond that, the Google Nexus and Samsung Galaxy tab are pretty good.

I would say for Android: Galaxy Tab, Kindle, & Nexus are the top contenders ATM.
Then there are Apples offerings.

 

[whs]

She wants a Samsung 10". I saw the Galaxy series. Problem is, there are so many different ones.

 

[Jesse Williams]

My sister has a Galaxy Tab 3. It's a tad bit smaller than an iPad Mini. Runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat right now. It's similar to the Galaxy phones. Seems to be a good little personal tablet.

 

[whs]

Thanks for the input. But that does not sound like a 10" model - right ?

 

[Jesse Williams]

Nope, it's a 7". Almost, a 10".

 

[whs]

She has a 7" now.

 

[shadow2201]

How much is she willing to spend? The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 tablet seems to be the cream of the crop when it comes to Samsung tablets, but they can run kind of high in price.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Review
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 Review

 

[whs]

There was no set price. Just best bang for the buck. From a member of the Android forums, I got this useful input:

Well, basically, this year's devices are the Tab 4 series, the Pro series, and the Tab S series. Last year was the Tab 3 series and the Note 10.1 (2014 edition) and the Note 8.0.

The Tab 3 series are the least capable of these devices, having specs similar to a Galaxy S2 from 4 years ago. Basically very low end nowadays.

The Tab 4 has better specs. They have budget quad core processors, and aren't exactly top of the line models. At best they're better than the Tab 3, but not by much.

The Tab Pro series is cheaper and more powerful than the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition, but you lose the S Pen, which is very useful on a 10 inch tablet if you plan to do a lot of drawing or annotating on documents/ebooks. No third party stylus can even hope to match the S Pen for accuracy since it's using WACOM technology. And an S Pen won't work on any non-note device so you can't just buy one.

The Tab S is the most expensive and most powerful of the Samsung tabs. The screen is gorgeous as well, if you like AMOLEDs. However, IMO the Tab Pro series has the best bang for buck.