Time For A New Tablet - What To Buy?

[zom247]

I have a Samsung Tab S5e which is getting a bit slow now and no longer has any updates.

I'm looking for something around the same size 10/11" screen, I have looked at the Samsung S9 which I've seen for £650 with my blue light discount so that's the sort of price range. However, it's probably overkill for my needs as I'll only use it for browsing and reading comics. I doubt if I'll ever play games on it (got the PC for that) and apart from watching YT stuff I won't be using it to watch movies etc. I would like a tablet that's going to get regular updates for several years though and want to stick with Android (too long in the tooth to swap to the other side now!). Grateful if anyone could recommend something that would fit my needs.

 

[zom247]

Have you considered replacing the stock ROM with a custom one? S5e user here too, I only use it for media and reading, I have LineageOS installed since version 19/Android 12, updated to the very recent 21/Android 14 and it still runs very smoothly. I've been playing around with the idea of replacing it too but considering my needs there's not really any point.

Edit: Just remembered there's a 4GB and 6GB RAM variants of the tablet. I have the 6GB version so that could be one reason why my S5e is still smooth. However, I do remember a later OneUI update did feel more bloated and slower which was one reason why I moved to LineageOS.

I looked into doing this ages ago but couldn't be bothered! I also have the 6GB version so I might give it a shot and save myself some money.

 

[zom247]

After 2 attempts (no idea why first didn't work) I've put the latest lineages on. Looks nicer and put about half my apps back on, will do the rest tomorrow and see how it goes. WiFi on this tablet is not the fastest now but it might be worth keeping for what I'm using it for.