After over a decade with Android tablets, I’ve left for the iPad

Whereas iPad is likely to be the plain chief within the pill area, I’ve by no means been an enormous fan. Whereas we did personal a second-gen iPad for a number of years, I ultimately switched completely to Android tablets. Going again so far as Android Honeycomb, I’ve skilled tablets from quite a few manufacturers, together with ASUS, NVIDIA, and Samsung.

I’ll admit that a lot of the draw has been worth proposition, however I additionally really benefit from the flexibility Android brings that you simply simply gained’t discover with iPad OS. Sadly, the vary of {hardware} is a complete different story. During the last a number of years, the Android pill market has shrunk significantly.

You’ll nonetheless discover a vary of tablets from Amazon, Lenovo, Samsung, and some others. The large change is that the majority producers have moved away from smaller, sleeker high-end tablets in favor of screens starting from 10 inches to the large 14.6-inch show on the Tab S10 Extremely.

Nowadays, if you wish to get a pill with an 8-inch or 9-inch show, you’ll discover your choices are restricted principally to funds gadgets. That is precisely the scenario my household bumped into round 2020, as we appeared to exchange our getting old Tab S2 8.0. We finally settled on the Galaxy A 8.4. As somebody accustomed to extra flagship-level experiences, I discovered it to be a bit too sluggish for my wants, but it surely served my children effectively.

Quick-forward to early 2026, and it was now not reducing it by any measure. My boys had been older and wanted extra. So I shopped round, hoping to search out one thing that was small, moderately inexpensive, and but at a extra flagship-level. Whereas we thought of shopping for a more recent Galaxy Tab A or going with a flagship Android pill with a bigger show, we in the end settled on the newest iPad Mini. This was an enormous change for us, however truthfully, it’s been principally a optimistic one.

The obvious factor that drew us to the iPad Mini was its dimension. You gained’t discover every other pill on this dimension vary that comes even near the extent of efficiency it presents.

You would possibly surprise why we had been so set on a smaller pill. One cause is that we’ve had fairly horrible luck with bigger tablets. They’re heavier, extra unwieldy, and extra more likely to get dropped. Our unique iPad met that destiny, and so did two different flagship-level Android tablets, each of which had at the very least 10-inch show sizes.  After that, I made a decision I’d by no means let my children deal with a much bigger pill once more till they had been youngsters.

After all, the display screen dimension isn’t the one factor that has impressed us. Whereas Google has made enhancements in optimizing its pill expertise lately, Apple remains to be within the lead right here. When you obtain an app for iPad OS, you don’t have to fret about apps that look overstretched, and also you’ll discover that the newest video games and experiences usually arrive on iPad lengthy earlier than they attain the Android platform.

Each of my children have additionally famous that the sport high quality and selection really feel nearer to a console-like expertise than what you’ll discover from a typical Android pill. I additionally personally love Apple’s accent assist. Whereas Samsung has its personal ecosystem and there are tons of generic pill equipment, Apple’s first and third-party choices usually really feel extra polished by comparability.

I completely love the Apple Pencil Professional particularly and have began utilizing the iPad as a drawing machine, which is a serious departure for me as somebody who has all the time most popular sketching on bodily paper.

Then there’s software program assist. Whereas it’s true that a few of Samsung’s finest tablets supply as much as seven years of OS and safety repair assist, this varies relying on the mannequin. Outdoors of Samsung, Android pill assist sometimes tends to be far more restricted by comparability.

With Apple, you’ll sometimes see OS updates for at the very least 5 to seven years. This isn’t a lot totally different than what Samsung presents, however the replace cadence is quicker since Apple controls each the OS and the {hardware}.

Whereas I admit I don’t customise my Android gadgets practically as a lot as I used to, I nonetheless like Android’s flexibility right here. Whereas my youngest son didn’t fiddle with the settings a lot anyhow, my older son favored to make use of customized skins and favored messing round with the look. He says he misses {that a} bit with the iPad, even when it’s not the tip of the world.

Android file administration can also be a lot simpler. Not solely do I discover Android simpler to navigate and handle, however many Android tablets have choices like microSD that allow me add a ton of additional area for when my children inevitably replenish the pill with junk apps as a result of they don’t take note of storage constraints. That’s very true for my nine-year-old.

Sideloading is one other factor I’ll miss. My son and I’ve been taking part in round with Android app growth utilizing instruments like Assemble 3. Creating unverified check apps is straightforward on our getting old Android pill. Whereas I notice newer variations of Android have made it a lot tougher to sideload, it’s just about unattainable to do the identical on the iPad Mini. Fortunately, I’ve sufficient previous Android gadgets round; it’s not an enormous downside, however nonetheless value highlighting.

All of this stuff are manageable sufficient, however there’s one facet that makes a single iPad a little bit of a dealbreaker for household use. Our Samsung pill had a profile for my spouse, me, and a joint account for my boys. With the iPad Mini, we’re simply utilizing my boy’s profile since there’s no assist for a number of customers.

This works okay for now, as a result of my spouse and I not often use tablets anyhow. We each want to make use of our telephones or laptops, aside from sure sorts of studying and media. Once we do wish to use a pill, the older Samsung remains to be there on standby. I do suppose it’s a bit irritating, although, as a result of the iPad is definitely a lot better suited as a laptop computer alternative for gentle work than my Android tablets ever had been, however the lack of profile assist limits it from this potential.

The even greater downside is that my eldest son is sort of a teen, and so he’s expressed curiosity in having his personal pill account. This implies we’ll inevitably want a second iPad Mini down the highway, which highlights simply how far more costly investing within the Apple ecosystem could be.

Whereas the iPad Mini has some limits that make it much less interesting to me personally, the expertise has been a internet optimistic for my children. Positive, I don’t love that I’ll should get them their very own gadgets finally, however the iPad is a little more kid-friendly. There’s sometimes much less malware and fewer upkeep wanted as effectively. Granted, these are normally simple sufficient points to unravel, however children aren’t all the time nice at displaying correct look after expertise. This makes the iPad a barely safer alternative.

I wish to make it clear that I don’t essentially suppose iPad is the higher platform, although. Simply higher for my children. In the end, it comes down to private expertise and tastes. As for my spouse and me? Actually, there’s likelihood we’ll finally find yourself with one other Android pill. Greater than possible, after we do make the transfer, will probably be to a much bigger Android pill that’s able to offering a laptop-like expertise that’s only for us.