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acorntoy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,013
2,244
Looking for something I can supplement my massive 12.9 pro with. I’d like a smaller tablet to be read with, and I want the second tablet to be android so I can have expandable storage and also install many emulators as I had to sell most of my physical gaming collection because of the pandemic.

my requirements:
#1.Display above 260ppi. Apple has spoiled me, reading on the 210-230ppi tablets annoys me. I have -severe- ocd (diagnosed)I notice everything. Ie a pixel which I haven’t seen since the iPhone 3GS. The iPad mini has 326ppi at 8.3’, is there really no small android tab that competes?
#2. Geekbench 5 performance not worse than the Apple A11 (OLD chip, why are androids scores so awful?!)
#3. under $500 (I could stretch maybe another 100-200 for a perfect device that can hit all 3*)


Does this exist? Does anybody have one they could recommend?

it looks like Samsungs small tablets top out around 218PPI while being as fast as the original 2017 iPad Air, Lenovos are even worse. I found a 2020 Samsung tablet with 260ppi at 8.7 but it would be slower than the A8 then paired with 3gb of ram which will provide a horrible android experience, and wouldn’t be able to emulate past GameCube/original Xbox. Is there a brand making a top shelf small android tablet?

just returned an A8 tab and have a s8 tab (11’) for 549.99 ($50 over budget and $300 more than the A8) on order as it’s the only tablet ive found that might be acceptable and met my needs (Tab A8 4GB wasn’t horribly slow, but the constant there lag along with the ppi of the screen meant I couldn’t keep it) I think it’s horrid single core score really drowned it , I would love to have an as powerful device with the newer android chips in a smaller form though as the smallest 11’ screen on the S8 doesn’t seem small enough.

iPad mini with A15 and a 8.3‘ 326 ppi is $499, there must be ONE android tablet that tries to compete with it for that segment and price.Again I sadly am forced to Android/tablet windows as the emulators will be much much easier.
 
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acorntoy

macrumors 68020
Original poster
May 25, 2010
2,013
2,244
Not even in an ultra high end range? Im hoping the S8 will be acceptable ( I really don’t want a screen that big as as second option) but from a brand where variety is the hot factor there’s almost no variety in android tabs. The A8 at 10.5 felt really small however so Im hoping the s8 11’ will atleast be better for reading.


People scream about the base iPad‘s Unlamented display but it doesn’t seem like any android device has anything nearly comparable for $329 (especially with the processor). I thought there would be tons of options. Definitely disappointing, android is supposed to be the land of options.

im wondering if a jailbroken mini 5 instead of 6 would suffice. Has a better screen and power than android, I just gotta make sure I can jailbreak for the emulators.

I really want an android tab. Why do they suck so damn much?!
 
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SteveJUAE

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2015
4,442
4,644
Land of Smiles
Welcome to the real world where Android OEM's have largely moved on and only Apple can get away with their customer base on regurgitating many of these devices

There are a few low price offerings or the higher spec top end, but middle ground has largely gone. You are just entering the far more capable Win11 2 in 1 range than these toy small tablet offerings just for multimedia tinkering that only make sense if you are in the Apple eco world.
 
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