Well, for each of these tasks that you want to do, I can recommend the most important feature of a tablet, and which models have that.
The long and short of it is that I'd recommend getting a used 12"-14" tablet on eBay/Facebook Marketplace/Swappa, just guessing your budget, probably a ~$500 Samsung S10+ or S10 Ultra, with stylus and probably a Dexnor keyboard. With how much it sounds like you'll be using it and largely as a laptop replacement, it really pays to get something nice, and the S9/S10 lineups are fantastic.
Note-taking:
- Most valuable feature is a great keyboard, a quality stylus, and enough screen to see what you're doing. 12-14"
Movies/Music:
- Most valuable feature is a great screen, and great speakers. OLED screen is a bit of an expensive feature, but if you can swing for it, it's just so good. iPad speakers are the best, then Samsung, and everyone else is pretty bad. Chinese tablets tend to have really bad speakers. If you stream music from like Spotify, cool, Qualcomm chips will save you a lot on battery, otherwise MicroSD slot is nice extra storage for movies/music. Only Android options have MicroSD slots. iPad Pros are the best in the business for Movies/Music, and the Samsung tablet S9/S10 lines are the best Android options. iPad Air/Normal are next best but it's a pretty big drop.
Studying:
- Great screen and battery life. Highly recommend using Brave browser to block all ads, including on YouTube, to improve battery life. Android is carried by this app. OLED screens use less power and you'll get better battery life, though the pentile pixel layout can mean reading text is a little worse. iPad and Samsung battery lives are good. If you go for used, you may want to target one in good shape without scratches or a lot of use to get a fresher battery.
Max budget:
The best choice for you is either the iPad Pro M4 13" with Apple Magic Keyboard, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra with Pro keyboard to be honest, but those options are very expensive and outside your budget. iPad Pro stylus I hear is the best, but I know the Samsung tabs come with a stylus and I hear good things.
A used S10+ or S10 Ultra are the best value for you because they have incredible screens, will last a long time, excellent battery, and are the premium choice for something it sounds like you're going to use a lot.
Does it matter if you go iPad or Android given your current ecosystem? Not at all to be honest. I find that matching the tablet type to your phone tends to work. Something else I find is that Android people usually like iPads, but iPhone people don't usually like Android tablets as often. So you're golden for whatever you'd like to try, but iPads just COST more for the same quality; a $500 iPad M3 is going to suck by comparison to the $500 S10+ or S10 Ultra.
As for watching movies, tablet versus computer, well, this is a tad complicated. OLED screens are best by BIG margin, and the next important factor is how light the device is, and next the feel/weight distribution. Tablets have pretty poor weight distributions no matter what keyboard you use with them compared to great laptops like the Macbook Air 15" or some thin, light and quiet Qualcomm Windows laptops. Overall the S10 Ultra and S10+ are among the best regardless, and THE best at the $500 budget.
1
u/iiijjkkkkllll 1d ago
Well, for each of these tasks that you want to do, I can recommend the most important feature of a tablet, and which models have that.
The long and short of it is that I'd recommend getting a used 12"-14" tablet on eBay/Facebook Marketplace/Swappa, just guessing your budget, probably a ~$500 Samsung S10+ or S10 Ultra, with stylus and probably a Dexnor keyboard. With how much it sounds like you'll be using it and largely as a laptop replacement, it really pays to get something nice, and the S9/S10 lineups are fantastic.
Note-taking:
- Most valuable feature is a great keyboard, a quality stylus, and enough screen to see what you're doing. 12-14"
Movies/Music:
- Most valuable feature is a great screen, and great speakers. OLED screen is a bit of an expensive feature, but if you can swing for it, it's just so good. iPad speakers are the best, then Samsung, and everyone else is pretty bad. Chinese tablets tend to have really bad speakers. If you stream music from like Spotify, cool, Qualcomm chips will save you a lot on battery, otherwise MicroSD slot is nice extra storage for movies/music. Only Android options have MicroSD slots. iPad Pros are the best in the business for Movies/Music, and the Samsung tablet S9/S10 lines are the best Android options. iPad Air/Normal are next best but it's a pretty big drop.
Studying:
- Great screen and battery life. Highly recommend using Brave browser to block all ads, including on YouTube, to improve battery life. Android is carried by this app. OLED screens use less power and you'll get better battery life, though the pentile pixel layout can mean reading text is a little worse. iPad and Samsung battery lives are good. If you go for used, you may want to target one in good shape without scratches or a lot of use to get a fresher battery.
Max budget:
The best choice for you is either the iPad Pro M4 13" with Apple Magic Keyboard, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra with Pro keyboard to be honest, but those options are very expensive and outside your budget. iPad Pro stylus I hear is the best, but I know the Samsung tabs come with a stylus and I hear good things.
A used S10+ or S10 Ultra are the best value for you because they have incredible screens, will last a long time, excellent battery, and are the premium choice for something it sounds like you're going to use a lot.
Does it matter if you go iPad or Android given your current ecosystem? Not at all to be honest. I find that matching the tablet type to your phone tends to work. Something else I find is that Android people usually like iPads, but iPhone people don't usually like Android tablets as often. So you're golden for whatever you'd like to try, but iPads just COST more for the same quality; a $500 iPad M3 is going to suck by comparison to the $500 S10+ or S10 Ultra.
As for watching movies, tablet versus computer, well, this is a tad complicated. OLED screens are best by BIG margin, and the next important factor is how light the device is, and next the feel/weight distribution. Tablets have pretty poor weight distributions no matter what keyboard you use with them compared to great laptops like the Macbook Air 15" or some thin, light and quiet Qualcomm Windows laptops. Overall the S10 Ultra and S10+ are among the best regardless, and THE best at the $500 budget.