My 10 year old has asked for a new tablet... she currently has a Huawei MediaPad M5 lite 32GB, and is complaining that it is getting "glitchy" and she is running out of space. She used her tablet for games, watching movies and school work. I found myself considering multiple (and very different) paths forward and would appreciate some opinions. Potentially relevant to the thought process, she has two older siblings, and we have 2 desktops and a Chromebook in the house.
- Go full in with a new tablet... Samsung S8 tablet 128GB with slim book cover keyboard cover for £340. Honestly, this is more than I would like to spend, but a major influence is productivity and Dex - big question here... is Dex any good? During lock down my daughter did all of her home schooling on her Huawei tablet using Google Classrooms, including docs, ppt and annotating pdf docs, and didn't even use a mouse/kb. This made me realise that a good Android tablet can get close to a Chromebook, and Dex could really step this up... hence, is an S8 both and Android tablet and a Chromebook?
- Samsung S6 lite 128GB for £158. Much more palatable price, but no Dex. Some reviews say it's a bit gutless and doesn't run games well. Is it a significant upgrade from current Huawei tablet?
- Different tablet make/model? Redmi Pad, Xiaomi Pad 5, something else? I'm struggling to find an alternative that offers more than the Samsung S6 lite for <£250.
- Phone... OK, this is taking a tangent! We got the older kids a phone each when they got to the end of year 6, which is 18 months away for my youngest. Rather than spend on a new tablet now and then a phone in 18 months, do we get her a phone now (Xiaomi phone, budget £200) which will sort out her getting annoyed with glitchy tablet and can be used for games and offer better portability, and the Huawei pad continues as main media consumption device.
- Do nothing right now... we have a Chromebook and 2 desktops in the house, and her school work isn't going to significantly step up until Year 7, so either use what we have for wait for the S10 (or whatever) in 18 months, and try a reset on the Huawei tablet to get it running smoothly again? She won't like this solution, but it would mean whatever we buy (phone or tablet) in 2024 will be better than current models... notably, I have a pet peeve over the lack of HDR in current tablets, and I expect the next generation of the Samsung S line and Xiaomi tablets to all support HDR (and maybe all have AMOLED screens), which may justify waiting considering a 10 inch tablet is significantly used as a media consumption device.