What Happened to all the Good Tablets?

[cre8tivspirit]

So I have a Galaxy Tab 4 that was free when I bought my note 5. Never really saw a need for a tablet before, much less one with cellular ability but since it was free, I decided to give it a try. Wish that I hadn't. Not that there is anything wrong with the tablet and I've really enjoyed having the ability to use it everywhere, especially at work where there is no WiFi and running a hotspot from my phone is a firing offense. My problem is that now that I'm wanting to upgrade my tablet, I'm realizing that the options are weak. AT&T only offers a couple of tablets, with one of them having an 18" screen. That's not a tablet! All I want is a tablet that is cellular capable, has about 10" to 12" screen, and has s-pen abilities so I can actually write on it and it looks like real handwriting, like my Note 5 does.
Why is this so difficult? Are tablets, other than I-Pad, falling so far out of favor that no one is bothering to build decent ones anymore? Why won't Samsung or somebody build a decent Android tablet that is useful in today's world? I am so frustrated now that I wish I had never started using a tablet.

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Yep, tablets have truly fallen out of favour.

Unfortunately people simply do not replace tablets as quickly as they do phones e.g. yearly or even every 2years. I believe it's more like every 3-4years and so the market is very small.

Even iPads don't sell in large numbers the way they used to.

This is your best bet at a good Samsung tablet:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_tab_s2_9_7-7438.php

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet:
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z4_tablet_lte-7069.php


Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus
http://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_yoga_tab_3_plus-8311.php

 

[LeoRex]

Yeah, the bottom fell out of the tablet market. Phones got larger and more functional and needing a secondary device became less of a need... then less of a want. So OEMs stopped putting much effort into developing them, meaning fewer compelling options on the market, meaning fewer will be tempted to buy one, leading to fewer sales...

lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I think the sweet spot for tablets (roughly 7-8") phones aren't too far behind in size, to somewhat echo LeoRex's point. I have held devices larger than 9", and they felt heavy. So that alone reduces your use.

If you get fatigued in your hands and arms just holding the tablet, you won't consume as much media as you could otherwise. That then causes people to consider what they want to do, and make choices accordingly. If they want to watch a 20 minute YouTube video, but can't hold the tablet up longer than 10 minutes, they may change their mind and watch on a PC.

Rewind the clock back to say 2012. You had devices at roughly 4", and tablets at 7-8" for an entry size. This is where they actually filled a need. There was a distinct size difference and made consuming media a better choice for a tablet.

 

[Vyrlokar]

My nexus 7 (2013) screen broke, and I'm seriously in need of a replacement. However, it seems to me that tablets have barely improved since then. I have yet to find one that I like for a price that I feel it's worth paying.

 

[LeoRex]

Yeah... That's the rub. Tablets that have high end specs, no one is willing to pay that high a price.

But... Business... A ton of restaurants are going tablets. Factories, retail, hospitals, etc, are demanding software designed for tablet form factors. So there's a pretty big market there, just not one clearly visible to the consumer.

 

[treetopsranch]

I still use my 12.2 inch Samsung tablet every day. Absolutely love this thing. But post #2 is correct about not replacing it. Mine is several years old and still going strong with high specs, beautiful screen and a aftermarket keyboard/cover.

 

[nahoku]

The problem with tablets in the US is you can't call/text from them... using your cell line. The hardware is there (apparently) but the software is disabled. If I could answer calls and texts from my tablet, I'd carry it more often. As it is, it's mainly a media and game device for me, so it stays home unless I travel... works great in flight for watching movies! It's a Note 10.1 2014 (built 2013), so it's a few years old, works great, and not giving any problems so it's not getting replaced anytime soon. Battery life is still great at over 8 hours SOT average usage. Love the S Pen too!