Is this a good tablet deal?

Grumpy_chap

I have been mulling over the idea for a tablet device but never really sure what I would use it for.

Last week I was at a workshop event and everyone was there with their laptops for when they needed to present plus a device for taking notes.
My device for taking notes was a pad and pencil.  I felt like a bit of a dinosaur compared to everyone else who had a tablet device with a handwriting note pad.  At one point, someone even linked their tablet to the screen and it was used as a modern version of a flip-chart.  It seemed very flexible, when they had not left space, they simply drew around the lower text and dragged it down so another line could be inserted.  
I even wonder whether these hand-notes also allow the text to be converted into typed content for building into minutes, reports etc?

So, I re-visited this thread ( https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6615666/looking-for-a-budget-android-tablet/p1 ) and the latest prices for the Samsung Galaxy Tab A-series but think the following Samsung S-series might be a better option.

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S-10 lite
• Includes the pen (extra cost with the Tab A-series)
• Bigger memory and RAM version (256 GB / 8 GB)

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/samsung-galaxy-tab-s10-lite-10.9-tablet-256-gb-grey-10289585.html

That is £259 but the offers allow me to get a £50 discount for trading in old electrical "any electrical item working or non-working" so I think I can give them our old iron?
(The offer dates says it has expired but it accepted the code when I ran a dummy order yesterday evening.)

Part of me says that I should not buy before Christmas as conventional wisdom would suggest that the best deals will be in the Boxing Day or New Year sales.  Will I realistically get a reasonable tablet with pen included at much less than £209 (plus a broken iron)?

This device is an end-of life model, but would have been at a premium price point not that long ago.  Is it really that bad? 
What more would I really be getting if I went up to the Tab S-10 FE?  That is £400 after trade in old electrical and includes a case.
For the "non-lite" or later Tab S-11 series the prices ramp up quickly.

I can buy a case for around £15 online.  Not sure whether the basic case or a keyboard case is required.

I am tempted by the iPAD (simply because of the "market leading" brand position), but these seem to start from £300 ( https://www.costco.co.uk/Computers/iPad-Tablets/Apple-iPad-A16-11-Inch-WiFi-128GB/p/iPadA16128GB ) which is less storage and no pen accessory.

I have also considered whether the 5G option is worth having.  Initially, it sounds useful, but then I'd need a data SIM and incur monthly fees so not that MSE and I can, presumably, use the hotspot from the phone?

Can anyone share any thoughts?

MyRealNameToo

Im a Mac user in all areas, before the accusations start. 

From what I understand the iPad software options etc are much better than for android tablets but then most tablets sold each year globally run apple software whereas for smartphone Android dominates the market even if Apple is in the top few brands of phones. 

In the UK where you can use tethered data at no additional cost the idea of built in cellular connectivity isnt worth it in my mind, there are few times when I will have a tablet but no phone and outside of anywhere with wifi. 

iPad is compatible with the Apple Pencil from 10th generation, the higher models like the iPad Air are compatible with it from earlier generations (4th). The one you link to is the 11th generation so would work with the appropriate Apple Pencil. 

Keyboards are only really needed if you want to try and use it as a laptop substitute or envisage trying to write documents on it. For web browsing or such the on screen keyboard is fine. 

twopenny

Thoughts.
I have a handwritten notes on my Honor £65 tablet but not sure if it's as fancy as yours.
Latest Android gismo.
Not sure it would take a keyboard 
It does have a SIM/memory card slot. I'll find out which this afternoon.

My findings on iPhones/tablets is that you have to do everything through Apple which annoys me and causes more tech work and knowledge when I'd rather do something real. It also takes earphones so I don't have to charge Bluetooth.
Fortunately I was able to give it back and bought an Honour phone which is easy to use.
So far, so good.

Grumpy_chap

Thanks both.

As far as I can tell, the Apple Pencil is from £80 extra on top of the iPAD.  So that makes the iPAD from £380 for the package.
I assume the Apple Pencil has to be an original and not any compatible tool.

The writing app that was shared as the virtual flip-chart las week does seem to have been the Apple but I am assuming that the Android equivalent would be virtually indistinguishable.

With regard to keyboard, I am minded to go for a low cost generic case initially.  I do have a foldable bluetooth keyboard I can use and if I find a need to add the keyboard cover can do so later, again using a generic product.

I understand from others also that the Apple device forces you to go everything Apple.  What if I fancy an orange?

Exodi

GSMArena is a good resource for comparing specs of tablets, but you should keep in mind that some tablets offer multiple RAM/storage options so you should always check the specs of the specific model you intend to buy.

E.g. https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=14059&idPhone2=13761

They are very similar, with the FE having a slightly better screen (IPS and higher pixel density) - though you likely couldn't tell the difference.

You are looking at both variants being 8GB ram (though the FE also offers 12GB, undoubtedly at higher price).

The chipset (CPU & GPU) looks to be much better on the FE (50%, though depends on what you prioritise).

https://nanoreview.net/en/soc-compare/samsung-exynos-1580-vs-samsung-exynos-1380

Camera is better on the FE (but does anyone seriously use tablet cameras for anything)?

So it would appear to be mainly a faster chipset and a slightly better screen, for 40% more money.

Considering the price, I think the S10 Lite is an easy pick out the two, especially for your use case.

Expectably someone recommends Apple (at likely double the price). It's surprising to me that people are loyal to a brand like that on this type of forum, but each to their own. I do find it amusing when my older colleague (who is an apple fan) gets stuck and asks me every month or so on how to do what should be a simple function (like transfer pictures to his laptop or bluetooth a file to my phone) and it turns into a whole ordeal requiring specific apple software.

What budget did you have? Unfortunately some of the bargains have gone since that previous thread you linked was made (the budget was £150 and at the time I think there was Tab A9+ with 8GB ram going for £129 (unfortunately you can't see it as a lot of posts got deleted from that thread because some guy just continually s**t on peoples recommendations, while not acknowledging the budget of the OP or offering any alternative suggestions and the mods just culled all comments discussing it)).

Considering the one you linked is 8GB ram (compared to the Argos, Amazon, John Lewis, etc listings having 6GB ram and being same price or more, it makes you wonder if it's a mistake by Currys? JL also lists the 8GB version for £319) - all in all it seems like a solid deal IMO. It's hysterical they sell the tablet for £259, then sell the keyboard cover case for £199! I doubt it'll go lower than that after Christmas, it's still a new tablet released only a few months ago and the current price is surprising, but of course, anything can happen.

In fact, for those following the tech sector, they may expect consumer electronics that require memory (particularly RAM but also SSD's) to notably increase in price in the coming months. There's a serious RAM shortage due to RAM manufacturers focusing supply to very lucrative AI data centres. This has caused the price of RAM to more than double over the last year. While this impact is already a massive problem for people buying RAM directly (e.g. those building PC's or upgrading laptops), it has yet to filter through to pre-assembled devices. Though some electronic manufacturers have already warned of 15-20% increases as soon as the end of this month (of course this depends on the companies stockholding and ability to procure components). 

Since you are considering ordering a Samsung device, and to highlight the craziness of the situation, a funny read:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2998935/ram-is-so-expensive-samsung-wont-even-sell-it-to-samsung.html

Grumpy_chap

Exodi said:

Considering the one you linked is 8GB ram (compared to the Argos, Amazon, John Lewis, etc listings having 6GB ram and being same price or more, it makes you wonder if it's a mistake by Currys? JL also lists the 8GB version for £319) - all in all it seems like a solid deal IMO. It's hysterical they sell the tablet for £259, then sell the keyboard cover case for £199! I doubt it'll go lower than that after Christmas, it's still a relatively new tablet released in 2025 and the current price is surprising, but of course, anything can happen.

I did look at the FE option, but it seems to be a large jump in cost for not much that really bothers me - as you mentioned the camera seems to be better.  The faster chipset would be nice.
I guess the clue is in the name that the "lite" is, well, the "lighter-powered" version of the same thing.

With regard to the references to an iPAD, I have commented on that as an option myself, but also don't think the price is worth the increased spend.

You are correct about the price for the "lite" version that Argos, JL have the 128GB / 6GB version at the same price as Curry's have the 256 GB / 8GB version.  
The price point is structured cleverly or confusingly (depending on your perspective).  I actually started at the Samsung website where the "landing page" for the S10 lite is the 128GB version at £259, but click the square to "choose your storage" and the 256 GB version is also £259.  
I guess it means they can sell the lower spec machine as many people will not click for the better option assuming it will be too expensive.

https://www.samsung.com/uk/tablets/galaxy-tab-s/galaxy-tab-s10-lite-grey-128gb-wi-fi-sm-x400nzareub/buy/

https://www.samsung.com/uk/tablets/galaxy-tab-s/galaxy-tab-s10-lite-grey-256gb-wi-fi-sm-x400nzapeub/buy/

It is just with the Curry's trade in option for any old electrical, I can save another £50 in return for our broken iron.  That makes Curry's preferable.

I still challenged by the deal being apparently good on this side of Christmas and whether I should hold off until the post-Christmas sales.
Then again, the price trackers indicate that the current price is as low as it has been previously.

https://pricespy.co.uk/product.php?p=15265798

https://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/product/B0FL2LPQJJ?active=price_amazon

MyRealNameToo

Apple doesn't force you to use Apple however for some things Apple products are more deeply integrated than others. 

For example you can use the squishy nib style pencil on any iPad because the nib is replicating your finger and the iPad thinks it is your finger but that means it will also react to your hand being on the screen whereas with the Apple Pencil it will ignore that. There are some middle ground options like the Logitec Crayon which the iPad will recognise as a pencil so ignore your hand but for example it doesnt have pressure sensitivity so won't change the thickness/opacity of the line by pressing lighter/harder. 

Same with headphones, any bluetooth headphones will work with an iPhone/iPad but only certain Apple ones will do the hearing test and then adjust sound to compensate for any frequency loss you have . 

Exodi

You're right about Samsung's site - how strange. I guess just reinforces that the 8GB option is a good deal.

Yes I checked price history on Amazon before commenting, same thing. 

Did you see my paragraph about RAM prices (sorry I probably edited it before you saw it).

I wouldn't be too confident that prices would go down - I actually think the S10 Lite is already priced very keenly for a device only released a few months ago. I'd actually expect the opposite after Christmas considering the RAM shortage poised to hit consumer electronics pricing imminently. Plus with the trade in, seems like a good deal.

But of course that's easy for me to say when I'm not the one parting with the cash.

I guess as a compromise, you could buy now but not open it (and return or request the difference if the price goes down after Xmas).

Exodi

MyRealNameToo said:

Apple doesn't force you to use Apple

Oh come on.

It wasn't that long ago Apple was forced by EU courts to stop manufacturing proprietary chargers and adopt the USB C standard. It was a running joke for the longest time that each generation of device was made with a slightly different charging port.

Or again EU courts dragged Apple kicking and screaming to allow users to install apps from outside their official App Store, which had allowed them to operate a monopoly with high fees (such as a 30% app store cut).

Both of these Apple fiercely defended and looked at all sorts of loopholes to get around it.

Or their infamously walled ecosystem, which prevents even the most simple of functions across platforms, as I mentioned above. Or deliberate degradation of other platforms (e.g. blue/green message bubbles).

Or how much of their software makes it hard to switch platforms - e.g. iMessage, iCloud, etc.

I could go on forever. That's just an incredibly naive thing to say and devoid from reality. Sorry I don't want to turn this into Android vs Apple so feel free to counter, but I won't comment again on the subject.

Grumpy_chap

MyRealNameToo said:

Apple doesn't force you to use Apple however for some things Apple products are more deeply integrated than others. 

One very specific thing I have found annoying is the Apple HEIC photos which cannot be viewed on a non-Apple device. 

I am not that fussed about the accessories in general, headphones and the like, as I don't expect to use those.  With regard to the pencil, the squishy nib type seems to be a backward step.

I think it is £209 (plus broken iron) for the Samsung (including the pen) versus £380 for the iPAD plus pencil.  That extra £80 for the Apple Pencil seems to kill the iPAD option really.

Exodi said:

I guess as a compromise, you could buy now but not open it (and return or request the difference if the price goes down after Xmas).

That's an interesting thought.
I was going to order from Curry's for collection from store (to avoid any issues with "missing in transit" risk).
Order for home delivery would mean I am within 14 days if I don't open the package.
Trouble is, I always feel that checking prices after purchase is bad habit.

Exodi said:

I actually think the S10 Lite is already priced very keenly for a device only released a few months ago.

Yes, I originally thought it was a model from a few years back and end of line but it does seem to be a 2025 launched product.


The one Apple thing it would be nice to have is AirTag.

Exodi

Grumpy_chap said:

That's an interesting thought.
I was going to order from Curry's for collection from store (to avoid any issues with "missing in transit" risk).
Order for home delivery would mean I am within 14 days if I don't open the package.
Trouble is, I always feel that checking prices after purchase is bad habit.

I agree wholeheartedly - comparison is the thief of joy, they say. So if personally I commit to and buy a device I deliberately avoid disappointing myself from looking after purchase and potentially seeing "I could have got a slightly bigger screen" or "I could have paid £20 less" or whatever... however, since you're the one buying and I felt guilty encouraging you to buy if it does end up cheaper after Xmas (though I doubt it for reasons above)!

Grumpy_chap said:
Yes, I originally thought it was a model from a few years back and end of line but it does seem to be a 2025 launched product.

Potentially thinking of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite released in 2020, instead of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite released in 2025 - the former being a phone.

The naming team needs firing.

Grumpy_chap said:

The one Apple thing it would be nice to have is AirTag.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CG7JHFKY