Why tablets suck right now!

published: May 8, 2026
reading time: 9 minutes

I want a tablet. I already have a tablet. But it’s cheap, slow and can’t run smoothly at even 60fps.

But the tech industry doesn’t have a answer. Let me explain.

Since I already have a tablet, and I know how useful it is to me. I want a premium one. One that can multi-task, handle 4k movies etc.

The top contenders are Apple Ipad Pro, Samsung Tab S11, OnePlus Pad 3/4. Others were eliminated due to the following reasons:

I don’t want to deal with bloatware, I know everthing has bloatware (including Apple), but I really don’t want games, social media or even worse, gambling apps pre-installed.
I don’t want to create a log-in for your account, just because you made the device doesn’t mean I give you my info. Apple and Google accounts are exceptions as they go beyond just the device.
I don’t want ads or such bullshit, while using the device.
I want to be able to buy the device easily and obviously contact somebody if something goes wrong. Niche devices found on Alibaba don’t qualify. Nor does imports.
I don’t want to send my data to China, atleast not willingly.
I want a good screen, atleast 120Hz and if possible OLED.

Most of these eliminate Xiaomi, Lenovo, RedMagic and few others.

Where did it start ?

Laptop

I only use my laptop when I am travelling. It’s a cheap chromebook.

My actual work happens on remote servers, nothing locally. Any hobbies like gaming, game developement, video editing happens on my gaming pc which is a beast.

Thus I don’t have to buy a crazy expensive laptop, it just has be powerful enough to access everything remotely.

But it should have good battery life, that eliminates every cheap Windows laptop, even if I install Linux on them. They all have stupid chips with bullshit build quality.

That’s the whole reason I bought a chromebook. It has very good battery life. It starts up very quickly, no Windows Updates nonsense. It always works, no downtime ever.

It doesn’t have the best build quality, but its dirt cheap so that offsets everything.

Tablet

I use my tablet almost hourly. It’s what I listen to music on, it’s what I use to watch Youtube, Movies and any other kind of multimedia.

It’s large and easy to use, it has great speakers just in case (Although I use speakers rarely). I am loving the tablet lifestyle since I bought one 6 months ago.

It’s a cheap Oneplus tablet (OnePlus Tab Go).

I only keep the essential security apps on my phone. Everything else lives on the tablet.

I don’t care for the stylus and writing/drawing experience. I take my notes physically, I tried the software-thing, but no I can’t do it.

By that logic, I need the best tablet on earth. Cause I use it everything for everything. Since I watch a lot of movies, might as well spend extra and get a OLED tablet, right ?

My Idea

What if I had a device which acts as a tablet for 99% of the time, but for those rare times I need a laptop, it becomes that. I don’t have to buy, maintain and charge 2 different devices. That’s where the tablet-as-a-laptop idea comes from.

But that’s where the industry lets me down.

The investigation

Let me tell you where each device fails.

Apple

I have been used to 120hz everywhere in my life, from my ROG ally, Pixel 8 to my gaming PC everything runs at 120hz. And I can’t help but notice anything that’s not running at buttery smooth 120hz.

But for some reason, Apple doesn’t have 120hz on a 60k INR tablet ($600), like WTF! I don’t need crazy power of the M5 on my tablet, but what’s the use of putting a M5 and using it to drive a 60hz screen. It’s like buying a 1000cc motorcycle to use it as a e-bike limited to 10kmph.

So okay, we goto the IPad Pro series, which also means I get a OLED screen.

Some of the good reasons to choose Apple

I get best of the best software, I don’t have to worry if Netflix, Prime and others support something. Everything is supported.
I get a very good keyboard-focused operating system (atleast that is evolving to be)
I don’t have to worry about software support, Apple would be there 10 years later providing backwards compatibility
Really good integrated keyboard/mouse attachment. It’s expensive, but it’s good.

Some small issues

Not all apps are good on iOS/iPadOS. For example, there isn’t a good frontend for subsonic based music servers. Android has symfonium (so good I bought it after using it for a day) Everything else has tons of option, including Feishin (Which is one of the best apps I have ever used period)
I need a terminal for development, I prefer having a terminal for some native development if needed.. iPadOS doesn’t have a native terminal app (Cause it’s locked down). But I can live without it, I’ll use SSH apps for that. Like I said everything happens remotely. But why!!!!
IPad doesn’t have retro-emulation (it’s possible but it’s nothing compared to android) or even the newer PC-emulation (through GameNative and GameHub). Like M5 will kill itself after seeing it be used on Netflix and Swiggy. Like it has the power, just give me the software.
For some reason, Apple’s battery health doesn’t last consistenly. Meaning most people have poor battery health after a normal amount of cycles. The solution given by people online is “just buy Apple Care”, but then it means the product is incomplete, if you need to buy something extra, then that’s bad (not convenient). And obviously Apple Care’s not cheap, especially for what it provides.
IPadOS will never become MacOS, it has the power but Apple will never threaten the MacBook sales by beefing up IPadOS.
It’s not a real operating system, meaning if I want to flash a pendrive with Ubuntu at 3 in the morning, I can’t do that with a IPad.
For some reason, the atitude towards software is different. Like SSH apps have a subscription which are not cheap. Like what!!!
Pre-installed 42 Apple apps. Like I won’t be using anything. Not even the clock app for alarms. If I am not able to remove all of them then my OCD will get triggered! Plus I can’t simply hide them like on Android.
Heavy on the pocket.

Samsung

The only good option I would say is their Tab S series, which is at S11 for their latest generation.

The pros

Android, so all my software are the same, plus I feel at home for most part.
Really good screen, best in the business. Not calibrated like Apple’s but really good.
I get access to Termux (proper native terminal). I can develop native software, including run GUI (through VNC) and even run web servers and stuff! Which also means SSH and stuff is no issues.

Let us begin with the cons

Mediatek. Yes a $900 dollar tablet uses a MediaTek. Meaning ? I can’t have the best performance in the android world. Plus battery life is not that great. Plus the PC-emulation thing I was talking about, doesn’t work well on MediaTek, nor does power-hungry 3D retro-emulation.
The integrated keyboard/mouse attachment is for some reason more expensive than Apple’s and more-over, is not cantelevered, meaning you cannot use it as a laptop, unless it’s a flat surface And it doesn’t have a fucking touchpad!!!! Like what!!!!!
Pre-installed bloat, which I won’t be using.

OnePlus

They are releasing one of the best android tablets over the last few years. It is also the tablet I am using currently.

Plus from what I can see I don’t have to make a OnePlus account if I don’t need the exclusive features.

It doesn’t have a OLED screen, but the price is quite low accordingly!

The pros

A crazy fast Snapdragon chip, obviously not at the level of M-series but very good. It’s a snapdragon, meaning emulation performance is very good which includes both retro and pc emulation.
Cheaper than both Apple and Samsung by 50%.
Really good battery life (largest).

The cons

OnePlus never paid for all DRM certificates, meaning on Netflix and Prime it only supports 480p (SD) playback. Not even HD (720p). Like WTF!!!
Their keyboard/mouse attachment is not that good, like Samsung it can be only used on a table. A newer design is coming, but hasn’t been released yet! Although it’s very cheap compared to Samsung, Apple.
OnePlus just stopped their global operations, and their future doesn’t look good. They are merging everythign with Oppo, so no idea what will happen on the software front. Major bugs might not be fixed, future Android versions might never come.

The Results

Every tablet manufacturer has a serious flaw.

For Samsung that’s their use of MediaTek, expensive compared to Apple and the keyboard attachment being literal dogshit!. But it’s Android, has a really good screen.

For Apple that’s lack of native terminal, lack of emulation support, weird Apple quirks (like the battery issue). But has good software support and good screen.

For OnePlus it’s the shit keyboard, stupid software shenanigans that becomes a deal breaker. But is cheap

Conclusion

Ultimately I decided none of these run a proper operating system, thus I dropped the idea of the keyboard attachment for all them. I would rather save up and buy a proper laptop. Luckily Macbook Neo just dropped. It’s cheap, with a good battery life. It’s not powerful, but who cares. It’s really good value for money.

Thus now the comparison is only for media consumption. And that’s where Apple wins, sure I can’t run emulation on it, but everything else should work perfectly well. But it doesn’t win cause it’s good. It wins because everything else is shit.

Apple doesn’t want to beef up IPad cause it will hurt the Macbook sales, there isn’t much use for powerful Android tablets as the apps can’t take use of it.

Most powerful apps (Adobe Suite, video-editing, 3d-modeling software etc) doesn’t work on Android and it will never work unless a lot of users start using the platform. But users will never use the apps, unless the apps exist and run well on the platform. It’s a classic chicken-and-egg problem.

What a stupid industry! Only 2 major players (Samsung and Apple) and others are playing catch up. One thing you realize, nothing in the tech industry is perfect for your needs. Something will always be compromized.

You never buy a product, you always settle for one.