Can Tablets Replace Laptops? I tried for 7 days
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra (affiliate)👉 https://mikeobrienmedia.com/TabS9Ultra
Follow me on social media! (it’s always just @mikeobrienn)
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikeobrienn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikeobrienn
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@mikeobrienn
About me: https://mikeobrienmedia.com
Tablets have come a really long way from the early days of the iPad and today’s powerful chips, compact batteries, and incredible screen technology, the line between laptop and tablet has really blurred. There are laptops with removable keyboards, tablets with attached keyboards, and even laptops with two screens where one acts like a digital keyboard. So this got me wondering. Are they actually interchangeable? Can I actually replace my laptop with a tablet? So I set out on a mission to answer this question and for the past 7 days used a tablet instead of my laptop. I still had to do all my usual tasks like managing emails, online shopping, budgeting, everything I would normally have done on my laptop, but I was forced to do it on my tablet.
Please comment below with any questions you might have. Thank you all for watching! I appreciate you!
Disclaimer: This video is purely based on my experiences, research, and opinions. You and only you are responsible for your actions. I made this channel to advise viewers and I truly hope to help you all out. I love making these videos and connecting with my viewers!
One or more of the products shown in this video may have been sent to me at no cost. This does not influence my opinions; I always cover both pros and cons.
This channel is monetized via YouTube ads as well as some affiliate links. If a purchase is made after clicking the link, I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to the buyer. Thank you all for watching!
ADDITIONAL REVIEW NOTES:
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
14.6” OLED display
Flagship Snapdragon Gen 2 for Samsung
Extremely slim with great screen to body ratio
1.6lb
In screen fingerprint sensor
Ultra low latency S-Pen
New keyboard cover design
Stacked specs
It’s the best android tablet on the market
This has Samsung Dex which feels like a cheat code.
So in the beginning, things were off to a rough start. It took time
Chrome and Brave are ok, Samsung Internet is ideal. Just make sure you switch to desktop mode
I found alternate apps to make things work and are optimized for tablets.
Hotkeys work! (takes a beat to learn the differences, but most are 1:1 with Windows
You can use Dex on the tablet or on a monitor
Wireless Dex
You can use dex on a monitor while using the tablet as a tablet, but not both
But you can flow pointer to tablet screen
Ports. USB-C plus You can technically insert an SD card (from a camera, etc) but you need a tool to do so
Still good for expanding storage though
But no HDMI, headphone, or USB-A
The Hub from Anker. (Anker 551)
Then things started to pick up and it felt more like a laptop but even better in some ways.
*Cameras on rear for scanning
Has a flash on the rear cameras
*Accurate pen with low latency for natural writing
No laptop pen even comes close
Probably better webcam quality
Two lenses to choose from – standard and ultrawide angle – 4K
Auto framing
Quicker startup
Biometric sign in
Biometrics to unlock lots of things
Smooth and intuitive touch gestures just like a phone
So I was really digging this
But once I really got in the zone, I was able to be productive in apps like
Until I ran into a few issues
My wired printer didn’t work
Strangely only the Tab S9+ offers cellular 5G
Dex is great but many apps are not optimized – Samsung forces though and it sort of works
Tons of apps are not optimized for tablets at all
Can use mobile apps (great!)
You can also get lots of Android widgets on your homescreen
Cannot use work horse apps like Adobe Permiere Pro, Creo, etc.
ALSO BETTER FOR WORKING ON THE GO
Has GPS
Sort of has 5G
Pretty solid battery life
Lighter and thinner than most laptops
This has IP68 Water Resistance!!!
Durable Gorilla Glass Victus+ display
If you are traveling, you could always run remote desktop via the tablet and use a big machine back home
Keyboard case is nice but has no trackpad. Also feels more sturdy on my lap
Daily Board = a better version of screen saver (when charging)
Two different UIs – one dedicated to tablet use, which is easier
COMPARE TO Yoga 9i
Dex feels like a linux OS but with more limitations
A watered down Windows 11
Limited to one external display
If you mostly just browse the web, review PDFs, take handwritten notes, and work with common programs like google docs, excel, powerpoint, or email, this is ideal
If you need any heavy lifting or high output productivity
The device seems capable but the software is not
SUVs analogy
i stopped gaming on pc/Laptop a wile ago and only used my laptop as a typewriter/movie device. going to get me a cheap a9 tab and see if i can use it for all i need. i already have bluetooth keyboards (mainly for my phone) so i guess it should be pretty painless.
Great work, this is a solid review. Many of the smaller tech channels I watched just ramble and don’t provide actual reviews or put things through real world testing. You did and made it concise and yet exhaustive and had solid footage as well.
My first Windows 10 laptop decided to update without so much as telling me. Five hours later, and my urgent report still not done, I threw the lump of junk across the room and bought a Samsung Tab S5. I poped that into a large monitor and off I went.
Office was replaced by Google’s versions that are better and free.
I added a Bluetooth mouse, and that was that for a few years.
I’m in an odd position where I must deliver presentations with audio and video components offline, and Google slides can’t handle that, so I was forced to buy a small PC. I build the presentations on Slides, download as a Ppt, add audio and video, and deliver from an S21 phone.
The tablet’s other restrictions are the PC is far better for video editing and audio recording.
Apart from a very few things, my Tab S8 (I updated) is my machine of choice.
By the way, the mouse can be set to work over 2 displays.
The Tab with keyboard is very portable, and I bought a small USB C monitor so I have a twin screen setup I can use anywhere – that really bugs Apple-fanbois in coffee shops.
Yeah printing using cables is kinda weird 😅 but dope video and very insightful.
Jesus people, we know that an Android tablet or iPad will not replace a full-fledged laptop, whether on Windows or MacOS. A tablet is made for browsing the internet, multimedia, watching e.g. titok, messenger, facebook, mail, or watching movies, games that are in the google play store and so on, everything that you can do on an Android smartphone is better on a tablet, because you have a larger screen, that’s what a tablet is made for.
tablets are garbage gimmicks and completely worthless; get an apple M1 air
Imagine a tablet being in tablet mode and when a button is pressed it switches to chromeOS mode . Google is really missing out
How is it "charging all the time" (min 4:34)? The only port is plugged to the anker hub???
I wish iPad could run macOS
i have only had my S9 ultra for about 3 weeks now i originally had an ipad pro 11 inch so now having a 14 inch screen and having an S pen included and not having to buy it separatly is even better i cant say i have any issues with it so far
You’re selling Samsun not comparing anything, You are Bad Person…
iPads: Nah.
Tablets: Nah, I watched this on my phone.
For work, get a capable 16” laptop over a worse 14”.
what does it need? it needs a browser that acts like a normal web browser on a windows PC with tabs, normal version of sites and a mouse and keyboard. thats all i am asking(no idea if it does or doesn’t). having apps for stuff that i would use a browser for might be ok on a phone but
Tablet
Great video thank you.
i love that they started off like ipads were the first tablets it’s such a pathetically hilarious take. Tablets are not an apple invention
How long do you think a 750 dollar tablet will last !
The 5g reasoning isn’t valid because most laptop don’t come with 5g capabilities
I can’t buy both a laptop and a tablet, my budget won’t allow it. to buy a tablet for me it must have windows in it, or get all windows apps compatible.
I gotta to say for the mouse part you need ti try a mouse with multiple buttons you will thank me later then go set those to what you want
So, How do you use Windows on the S9?…no???
This tablet is clearly better than an iPad. The only alternative to this is the latest Huawei MediaPad.
I am into Apple ecosystem, but definitely if Samsung DEX was more advanced, I would get phone or tablet and use it for my work. I don’t use any specific applications, except citrix which so far is a kinda of a problem for Apple eco system. I have no idea how good/bad is on android.
I truly cannot deside between the silver and grey color of the new samsung tab s10 ultra. I love your opinion! What do you think?
I always had the darker one and love it. Thought to change this time to the ligther but afraid that the frame with the light color will be too noticable combonrd with the keyboard and I prefer When it loojs like computer with the same color.. Will be happy to hear your honest thought/) ❤
I love this idea in theory, and it’s why i bought a surface pro 7 several years ago. I now own a Tab S9 Ultra, a regular laptop, and a PC and it’s just so much better leaning into the strengths of each device, as nice as it’d be to have a device that does it all..
The surface pro, the "laptop" of the tablet world, is just sort bad at everything, honestly. I wouldn’t use my Tab ultra for serious editing or coding, but its fantastic for mind mapping, handwritten notes, and use as a second monitor. I barely use my traditional laptop now honestly.
I have the s8 plus with 5g and it has basically replaced both my phone and laptop at this point. If I can do everything I really need with one device, why shouldn’t I?
Stupid experiment. By the time that you have to add so many accessories, just buy a laptop.
Tablet is basically a computer with phone software
to me the most important criteria here is the antivirus or antimalware.. On windows you need to pay or subsribe for antivirus.. compared to android which is automatically updated the system
4:34 Hi! Where is possible to buy that support/docking station? Thanks!
For me…I totally replaced a traditional laptop with the Tab Ultra.
Is the following "cheating"…maybe, but what I do is use Sunshine/Moonlight to remote to my primary PC at home and something called Tailscale to remote into my work PC (I work I.T., BTW).
As others have pointed out…you can always get a Surface Pro for that tablet/Windows experience.
Personally, my use case is that I already have a really powerful desktop but I work from a co-working office once a week. From here I remote into my machine at home using Moonlight or Parsec. Yes a laptop would make sense to use but I would literally only use it in this scenario. When I’m home it sits in my bad waiting for me to go back to the office.
A tablet with keyboard can be a tablet while at home, or even a second monitor for my PC using SuperDisplay. It even doubles as a Cintiq in this case since I can still use the S Pen. I can even attach a GameSir G8+ to turn the tablet into a ridiculous Switch-like experience to stream games from the PC or PS5.
Honestly, I don’t think this aspect gets talked about enough. If you have decent internet at home you can stream your desktop to your tablet from anywhere. I was able to work very easily from the other side of the country using this method. Within the same city it’s almost unnoticeable that you are streaming. I even could work from Japan to Canada (it wasn’t perfect but it was absolutely workable – but I wouldnt play games this way).
Any kind of Android apps I think are more icing on the cake when you think about it with this in mind.
UTM would be great with this, gives you access to a full desktop environment like Linux while having the benefits of web rushing else that it includes
Laptops and macbook don’t propose 5g. So…..
File management!
Specially with large files. When I tried to manage thousands of photos and videos it was a heavy and very resource demanding task to achieve in a phone or tablet, but when I tried the same at my laptop, same files and Everything, I was able to get it done easily in one night. 36 GB of storage sorted inside an SD card and the android environment was not able of achieving 10% of that in three weeks of attempts
Best review ever!
The operation system means a lot, even Android being a great system, it depends what are you going to do…
That´s why a Laptop is a Laptop and a Tablet is a Tablet.
Does anyone know if I can run .exe files on this.
I want to buy it to stop carrying my laptop everywhere, but I really need one program that is .exe
I would appreciate the help, thanks.
Almost stopped listening when I heard Apple. Luckily the video kept playing when I went back to look for another one.
We need windows on tablets asap!
So I bought the S9 FE, because I had always wanted to have a tablet, and also to complement my laptop, a few months later my laptop broke off and there was no way to fix it. So I decided I was going to use my tablet as a laptop, I have been getting used to it, it takes times specially because most of us are used to use the interface of a computer with Windows, but so far all good
just use a real DESKTOP pc. problem solved.
7:41 These tablets are also available in 5g variants, you’re using WiFi variants only
I been thru this journey 3 times in the last 10 years, non of them succeeded. My conclusion is as long it’s on Android, I wouldn’t be as productive (even half of) as I am on my Desktop, laptop, Surface Pro, and surprisingly my current casual non working daily driver: Chromebook. So my tablets now is purely on .. tablet purpose. There’s only one reason of these unsuccessful journey: Android Eco system
Apple fanboi
I would much prefer a tablet form factor from my workload but I need a legitimate windows x86_64 device. I don’t need windows 11 or even a lot of compute power because the programs I need t o run will run fine on a potato. I just need windows 7 or better.
For some , Yes but for me, definitely a big No
The only thing that should run on any android tablet is chrome OS. Android tablet OS is useless😊
Perfect summation. Start by evaluating your software needs, that will drive the OS and available hardware. So many people start by looks/hardware or budget and find themselves hitting limitations that are software related.
Eveery murican apologizes himself of using anything else than apple. You guys are having kinda Stockholm syndrom with the fruit. And like, you complain not to have enough plugs. After apple. After apple. You pathetic.