Do not serve with Android tablets

When it comes to gadgets, I’m looking for the right tool for the job. My household includes Android phones, iPhones, MacBooks, a Chromebook and a few Windows PCs. I ran an old Android tablet, but it is now relegated to a glorious weather station. It happens to be the second generation Google Nexus 7 of 2013. Back when I bought it, I thought, “Great, Google is behind this! This is going to be a device that gets the best of Google for as long as possible.”

It turns out that “as long as possible” means two years; it’s stuck on Android 6. If I want Android 10, the latest version, I should start messing with Lineage OS, a custom ROM for older Android devices. That means I need to unlock the Nexus 7 bootloader and install a new ROM. While that may be a fun project that I might want to try in the future, it’s an example of why Android tablets just do not make much sense as a long term investment.

Android is a great mobile operating system and I love it on mine Note 20 Ultra. I get to adapt it like crazy. I also know that this phone will get updates for the next few years. Generally, I use the phone I have for two to three years. Tablets tend to be physically longer, but it is difficult to know when and when updates will be received. Samsung announced it that several of their latest Android tablets would receive guaranteed updates for several years. That’s great, but it’s far from the norm.

If I’m looking to buy a tablet or laptop, I’m looking to buy a device that should leave my phone. I want these devices to have a lifecycle of probably around five years or so. Lucky to find an Android tablet that gets five years of OS updates. That does not mean that the tablet will simply stop working when the updates stop. This means you will not get the latest features unless you opt for new hardware or start messing with other ROMs. It also means you do not receive security updates, so that it becomes a risk at some point.

If you look at tablet competition from Apple or Microsoft, you probably get five years of updates easily. Apple’s latest iPadOS 13 works on the iPad Air 2, a device that was released in October 2014. Then there’s Microsoft. It is a company famous for providing years and years and years of updates (sometimes to its own detriment). While the tablet applications on Windows tablets may not be as polished iOS or Android apps, you get the ability to run full programs without compromise. And Microsoft has brought this whole multitasking thing down to a science with a window operating system.

I could go on and on about why Android tablets just don’t cut it. And I did in the video above. I’m sure you’ve let me know what you think in the comments.