Best Android based tablet for travel and light photo editing?

[Jonathan F/2]

Okay I'm chiming back in after picking up the Huawei Mediapad M3 with 32GB and 4GB of RAM currently selling for $219 on Amazon. It terms of build quality, it's very comparable to any Apple device. Nice finish, metal back and quality screen with vivid colors and excellent contrast. Sound quality is actually pretty darn good for a tablet and one of the standout features. Also the tablet is optimized to be a 16:9 ratio screen and I thought I'd be bummed by the smaller surface area, but I actually like it because I can hold the tablet easily with one hand, unlike my iPad Mini.

Regarding the OS, it's running Huawei's Emotion UI 4.1. It's basically a cross between stock Android and Apple's iOS. Probably the first thing you'll want to do is install Android 7.0 Nougat and the EMUI 5.0. Unfortunately Huawei based updates on region and I was not able to auto update in my area, though I read that people in other parts of the US were able to do so. If you have this problem you'll have to install the updates manually. Instructions on how to do so are found here. Installation Method 3 is the one that worked for me which requires you to install the update software on a Micro SD card and then restart the tablet while holding the volume/power buttons.

Though the instructions on that site are poorly worded, it's pretty simple to perform. Unfortunately it'll take too long for me to write everything step-by-step, so if you buy this tablet and are unable to upgrade the OS (it will just say up-to-date, but stay at Android 6.0), feel free to PM me for instructions!

Also if you prefer Android's app launcher versus the iOS style of app placement, I just went with the stock Google Launcher and downloaded it from the Play Store. It basically brings it back to near stock Android form.

Lastly, the main reason you want to update the tablet is for the optimized battery life. Other users have claimed to gain several extra hours in real world use. I've also noticed better power management with the short time I've had it.

So after two days of tweaking the tablet, I have it exactly the way I want it with all my apps. For the price I can't really complain and actually like this tablet a lot!

 

[davidzvi]

The XDA Developers site has some stuff on the Huawei as well.

Sorry I'm late to the party, but if I were looking for a tablet to process images I probably would have looked at one of the MS Surf or other Windows based units.

A few reasons:

• Software - there are just better options, I ran LR5 on a Think Tab a few years back.
  
• Backup and storage - some have SD card readers almost all the rest will have micro SD (I'd shoot with mSD and adapters in this case) AND USD ports that can power portable drives.
  
• I've used a few and they just seem better for "work". The Surf units with the keyboards especially. The on screen keyboards on Apple and Android tabs are fine for some stuff, but I can't use them for long. - IMHO / YMMD

My wife has a iPad mini Retina. I've owned a Think Tab / Samsung Note 10.1 2014 Edition with the S Pen / Samsung Tabs2 (current). And one of my kids works for MS and has had 3 (4?) Surf units, he currently still has two. So I've had the chance to play with a few.

 

[barry]

@davidzvi, I like the Surface Pro tablets, but I think they're far too expensive for casual use.
I have a older non-pro ARM model and it is, IMO, unusably slow. Probably the new ones are much better, but I am not familiar with the pricing.

 

[barry]

My friend just got a new Kindle Fire 10...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J6RPGKG

It's currently $99 ad-supported, or $115 not. I'm not sure if these are normal or Black Friday prices; my friend thought BF.

Note these use the Amazon app store, not the usual Google one, although most apps are available and sideloading _might_ be an option.

I saw it briefly today and was surprised how light it is for the size.

 

[pcr1040]

Hi Jonathan, you asked about an Android tablet which I used to have a couple but here's alternative. I picked up a refurbished Acer Switch 12" Windows 10 tablet with a 256GG SSD and 8GB ram plus a USB2 and USB-C port and a 2160 x 1440 display through Best Buy for $400 - couldn't be happier. Add a 1TB WD (or whatever brand you like) external HD and your all set. I run DXO, ACDSee Ultimate, Capture One, and Affinity on it without any issues at all.

I know the original question was about a Tablet for travel and for photography. I went through this issue as well and eventually wound up getting a Samsung Net Book with a HD an junking windows for Linux Lubuntu 16.04 that runs nicely on it. I also carry a separate portable HD that I can downward to. On the Samsung I run Darktable for Linux if i want edit any thing and a simple image viewer. Its more weight than a tablet but it has lots of storage and all of the ports I need to move images around. Finally, given the low price I paid for the Netbook, if it is lost while in transit, its no big deal because I can replace it, and I make sure when I travel it's a "sterile" machine with nothing on it that I would want to protect. Finally, like a Tablet, it allows me to do email and brows the internet. The portable HD is just an added protection for saving my images on a second device to protect against corruption and image loss. Just a thought.....

 

[Jonathan F/2]

The XDA Developers site has some stuff on the Huawei as well.

Sorry I'm late to the party, but if I were looking for a tablet to process images I probably would have looked at one of the MS Surf or other Windows based units.

A few reasons:

• Software - there are just better options, I ran LR5 on a Think Tab a few years back.
  
• Backup and storage - some have SD card readers almost all the rest will have micro SD (I'd shoot with mSD and adapters in this case) AND USD ports that can power portable drives.
  
• I've used a few and they just seem better for "work". The Surf units with the keyboards especially. The on screen keyboards on Apple and Android tabs are fine for some stuff, but I can't use them for long. - IMHO / YMMD

My wife has a iPad mini Retina. I've owned a Think Tab / Samsung Note 10.1 2014 Edition with the S Pen / Samsung Tabs2 (current). And one of my kids works for MS and has had 3 (4?) Surf units, he currently still has two. So I've had the chance to play with a few.

I have no intention of doing any serious editing on the tablet! For a true portable work computer, I'd rather invest in a Macbook Pro and have a similar workflow with my desktop Mac.

Basically I just want to run VSCO (which can view and edit raw files) and Snapseed (which apparently runs better with iOS due to full raw support) and then upload to social media. That's about it!

 

[davidzvi]

@davidzvi, I like the Surface Pro tablets, but I think they're far too expensive for casual use.
I have a older non-pro ARM model and it is, IMO, unusably slow. Probably the new ones are much better, but I am not familiar with the pricing.

I have no intention of doing any serious editing on the tablet! For a true portable work computer, I'd rather invest in a Macbook Pro and have a similar workflow with my desktop Mac.

Basically I just want to run VSCO (which can view and edit raw files) and Snapseed (which apparently runs better with iOS due to full raw support) and then upload to social media. That's about it!

And that's the line you have to draw. What are you looking to do.

I started with the Think Tab. It was an Intel Atom Z2760 with Memory 2GB running Windows 8 Pro 32bit. It was slow but not bad for 2013. I moved to the Samsung 2014 thinking I would be able to do some work and have all the android things I like about my phone. Even though it was one of the top units at the time it just didn't "work" as well. For everything else it was great which is why I down sized to the 8" Tab S2. But after playing with the units my son has I wouldn't mind getting one of the Surface units, even an Atom. The Atom I used had a CPU passmark of 570, the current on is 1910, the Core M's are better and then there are good deals on refurb with i3s / i5s / i7s as well.

 

[nandystam]

I figured it was worth bumping this as a bit of time has passed and I have a similar question. What are the recommended choices in 2019?

 

[barry]

I figured it was worth bumping this as a bit of time has passed and I have a similar question. What are the recommended choices in 2019?

Dunno... my Asus Z580C is getting really slow and Chrome and Instagram are crashing frequently (too little RAM (2GB) most likely)... would like to find a new device in the same form factor, 8" 4:3 aspect ratio, but I suspect they don't exist anymore.

What size and price range are you looking at?

 

[barry]

Looks like the Nexus 9 has a 4:3 8.9" screen:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M6UC5B4/
It's a very old model (Android 5.0), so it's discounted to $199, prev $299.
But 2GB RAM could still be a huge problem.

 

[nandystam]

Ideally 10", and under AUD$300. USB OTG support is a must, USB-C would be nice but not essential.

The Fire HD 10 seems like a decent performer for the money? I don't mind doing the legwork to get the play store on, etc.

 

[retiredfromlife]

I have recently used my latest model Samsung tablet with snapseed. for me the results are only fair. I have my screen set to the photo mode but after posting some photos in the spider topic I have noticed some artifacts in the black areas that are not visible on the tablet. with these shots I tried to darken the background to give better separation possibly this may have caused the artifacts, don't know.

I really like using snapseed but now know the tablet does not show the final results as good as a PC.

Not sure if there are any better apps than Sanapseed, But it is free.

 

[nandystam]

I have recently used my latest model Samsung tablet with snapseed. for me the results are only fair. I have my screen set to the photo mode but after posting some photos in the spider topic I have noticed some artifacts in the black areas that are not visible on the tablet. with these shots I tried to darken the background to give better separation possibly this may have caused the artifacts, don't know.

I'd put that down to the display, or not being calibrated properly? There is an Android app which apparently does color calibration but I'm not sure how good it is.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

Ha, I can't believe this thread got bumped from 2017! Just to update everyone, I gave up on my tablet photo editing journey! The tablet now spends most it's days watching movies and surfing photography websites while in bed!

Saying that, Apple laptops must not be selling well, because there seems to be a large amount of Macbook Pro and Macbook Air computers selling for very decent prices. Not the latest and greatest, but still fast enough to handle most photo editing task. I just ordered an early 2014 Macbook Air i7 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB flash storage. Bottomline: I need a proper OS, ports and a real computer! I have another big trip coming up and I don't want to be without my computer this time around.