can tablets replace notebooks?

no. imho most tablets are just “big mobile phones” (no matter ipad or android based) or very slow downsized notebooks (windows 10 based), but having a full speed of AMD or Intel CPUs at 16GB of RAM and a keyboard will still be the more productive machine. (if it was mine it was LineageOS flashed already X-D)

so why do tablets exist then?

someone wanted “a bigger screen to view fotos”, so it’s several months now, that Galaxy Tab S7 is “in da house” and thought give some feedback:

“Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 11.0″ LTE – Tablet 128GB, 6GB RAM, Black”

first pitfall: there are LTE and non-LTE versions! (mobile data connection with sim card) imho if the user plans to use it to make calls (it is basically just a mobile phone with a large screen), than the +100€ bucks is probably wells spend on the LTE version.

neat: phone companies such as Drillisch / SimDiscount offer “dual sim” so both devices ring, if the number is called.

the protection case (first one was crap) is from “‎Fintie” and for a device in this price range, would definately get as much protection as possible.

the specs:

DisplayTypeTFT, 120Hz, HDR10+Size11.0 inches, 350.9 cm2 (~83.6% screen-to-body ratio)Resolution1600 x 2560 pixels, 16:10 ratio (~274 ppi density)PlatformOSAndroid 10, upgradable to Android 12, One UI 4ChipsetQualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 5G+ (7 nm+)CPUOcta-core (1×3.09 GHz Kryo 585 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 585GPUAdreno 650MemoryCard slot microSDXC (dedicated slot)Internal128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 8GB RAMUFS 3.0Main CameraDual13 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm, AF

5 MP, f/2.2, 12mm (ultrawide), 1.12µmFeaturesHDR, panoramaVideo4K@30fpsSelfie cameraSingle8 MP, f/2.0, 26mm (wide), 1/4″, 1.12µmVideo1080p@30fpsSoundLoudspeakerYes, with stereo speakers (4 speakers)3.5mm jackNoTuned by AKGCommsWLANWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspotBluetooth5.0, A2DP, LEGPSYes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEONFCNoRadioNoUSBUSB Type-C 3.2, magnetic connectorcreditz: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_tab_s7-10337.php

the good:

sync with other android based devices is a breeze (contacts, calendar, fotos, Google Clouds does it all, syncing with Apple (Apple iCloud photos can be done with a app, but the integration is not “seamless” (not smooth))
overall: high quality device with almost no suprises (as usual Samsung)
unlike iPhones and iPads, it has the universal standard for (hopefully the next 100 years) the USB-C port
decent speed, browsing via wifi goes very fluently
with 500g it is not too heavy nor too light

the bad:

are mainly software related

the 13MP main camera will make “okayish” pictures (colors nice) but it is not comparable to a S21 camera, so it is okay for occasional snapshots, but not for decent photography
now the software related “problems”
- ### no open source calendar sync? (Samsung A5 HAD IT!???)
  - older Samsung deviecs had calendar apps (such as Samsung A5) that had very good build-in support for webdav-caldav, why was that removed? Google Lobbyism?
  - neither the samsung calendar app nor the google calender app support “out of the box” webdav-webcal, the open source standard for syncing
  - THE USER WILL NEED EXPENSIVE ADDITIONAL 3rd PARTY APPS! (just as with Windows + Backups X-D) WHICH SUCKS!
  -
- imap mail accounts from open source mail servers sync flawlessly (it does not pre load all the folders? just the one the user opened? (wtf?) making searching mails …. tidious)
- screenshots are NOT (WHY CHANGE A WORKING STANDARD?) done as with other android devices: hold power + volume up or down, no, some “genius” came up with “swipe with side of the hand across the whole display”. you seriously must be kidding? how well does that work u can see here:
-
- OF COURSE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SWIPE THE WHOLE HAND ACCROSS THE DISPLAY, WITHOUT MOVING STUFF! X-D resulting in blury almost useless screenshots X-D (STUPID STUPID STUPID IDEA!) SAMSUNG PLEASE! STICK TO THE STANDARD: POWER BUTTON + VOLUME UP/DOWN, WTF?
- IT IS NOT EVEN POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THIS BEHAVIOUR IN THE SETTINGS! WHICH SIMPLY SUCKS!

overall:

it is a overall nice device for the occassional show friends something online quick “browse, browse, look here are the statistics that proof it”

but except from that, would not pay 800 bucks for a ipad nor any other tablet for that occasional usecase and rather stick to the (as open as possible) hard+software (LineageOS flashed smartphone) + lenovo notebooks with decent GNU Linux support 🙂

(2020: finally rooted, but still no official LineageOS support?)

#linux #gnu #gnulinux #opensource #administration #sysops #tablet #hardware #review #samsung #s7

Originally posted at: https://dwaves.de/2022/01/21/can-tablets-replace-notebooks-erfahrungen-galaxy-tab-s7-sm-t875-lte-review-its-not-mine/