Using Samsung Galaxy Tab A as a Primary Computer and Phone

Samsung Galaxy Tab A is a SIM Card Enabled Tablet PC with some nice features,  sleek design, and a great battery. I bought the device because I wanted a portable device that,  I can take with me everywhere I go to and get my stuff done, things that doesn’t really require much computing power but can’t be done on the phone either. So I’ve been using it since last few months and here is my review.

The Specs of Galaxy Tab A

Galaxy Tab A is an 8 inch tablet PC, which is pretty much the size of iPad mini but it’s much, much better than the iPad mini at least for me, I can say that because I’ve used iPad Mini as a primary computing device before this tablet, it just couldn’t get my stuff done, partly because of the limitations of the OS.  And it was damn slow.

I know it doesn’t make sense to compare these devices as the iPad mini is actually a tablet PC from 2012 and This tablet PC is from 2015.

I agree that the iPad mini is a much superior built device than Samsung Tablets and people have been actually using the iPad Air as their primary computer device, but my requirements are little different than others, which I’ll talk about in this article in some time.  In this section, we talk about the specs.

[su_table]

[/su_table]

Screen and Display

Though the screen is not the best part of this tablet PC, I don’t find any problems with this, it is clearly not a luxury device and I don’t use it to read magazines or play games. I find the display satisfactory for my use case.

Turning Auto Brightness makes the screen viewable in the bight light as it brightens but gets too dim indoors.

Processor  

The Samsung Galaxy Tab A has a Quad-core  processor clocked at 1.2 GHz, truly not the powerful thing available right now butt then again, it is decent enough to let me run multiple apps simultaneously and truly multi-task.  A couple of tabs opened in Google Chrome, and other apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Writebox and Google Docs, and even YouTube app. I keep switching between these apps and have never faced any type of lag.

I keep reading other people’s experiences where they say Android isn’t smooth but I have never faced any app crash since I have been using this device.

Camera and Sound

Samsung Galaxy Tab A has  a primary camera of 5MP and front Camera of 2M, definitely not a selfie camera, but it’s an 8-inch Tablet PC and you are very unlikely to hold it for taking a selfie. But I’ve found it quite usable for Skype sessions I do with friends and family. Apart from that, I don’t use it ever.

This Tablet PC is also my phone and I do find myself using the primary camera at times, like  taking a group photo, or a photo of something for Instagram or Twitter or scanning a document in Evernote.

I do miss the Flashlight, but not for taking photos, though. I used the flashlight as a torch a lot. I miss it, but it’s not the use case for everybody.

I am attaching sample photos taken using this Table PC in different conditions.  

If we talk about sound, it has only one speaker grill at the bottom, but the sound it audible, I’ve enjoyed a couple of YouTube videos along with friends, they said the sound is impressive.  

Memory

It comes with 16GB of inbuilt memory, which can be less when you are using the Tablet PC as your primary device and want to keep all your important files handy, or you want to take your music collection with you, you will run out of space very quickly.

Thankfully it supports external storage up to 64GB. I’ve currently got 100 songs, three HD movies and there are 88 apps installed on it. And have 1GB of free memory. So I am still not using a memory Card.

I usually delete the movies and add the ones I want to see, and also carry a 16GB USB flash drive which is loaded with files. And then there is obviously Google Drive where I’ve got 1TB storage that I got when I bought HP Chromebook 14.

Using Samsung Galaxy Tab A as My Primary Computer and Phone

I was once out with family and had just my phone with me, I had to do some work which consisted of creating a graphic using some data I had kept in the Evernote and sharing it across social networks.

Though it isn’t impossible to get this done on a phone, it took my over 30 minutes to do what could have been done in less than 10 minutes if I had my PC with me, or maybe, 15 minutes of the Tablet PC.

And this didn’t happen just once that changed my mind and convinced me to go for a tablet PC.

I wanted a device that I would take with me all the time, I had a tablet PC before, but I never carried it because I believed I had my phone with me, which (almost) does everything I want to do when I am away from the PC.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A is a suitable choice for me as I had to take it with me because it I my also my phone, and the bigger screen made me get my work done faster.

The bigger battery is another thing that is making me happy, it lasts for a day and a half if I use it for longer writing sessions on the device. Like this article, which is solely written on the tablet PC.  

Before using this device as my primary computer, I always believed that tablet pcs are just mobile phones with bigger screens, but I didn’t know how much of a difference it can make in productivity and getting things done on the move.

I am using a Bluetooth Headset for taking calls and listening to the music. The Tablet PC is in my bag when I’m not surfing the web or reading my books in the amazon Kindle app and I can still answer calls or listen to music using the Bluetooth Headset.

I’m not using a physical keyboard, but I’m still able to write 800-1000 word articles using thumb typing. Holding it for the longer sessions isn’t an issue either, it is lightweight even with the leather cover I purchased for it.

Recommended: Best Android Apps for Writers 

Reading is also a nice experience on this device because of its size of a regular book. As I said, holding it in hands isn’t tiring. In fact, this device has a  reading mode which is one of many features in Samsung Android Skin.

Samsung has implemented features like Popup Windows and Split Screen which makes It a truly multi-tasking device. Though I don’t find myself using it much apart from entertaining myself with a YouTube video in one-half of the screen and browsing Facebook, Twitter or Instagram in the other half.

I am satisfied and happy with Samsung Galaxy Tab A as my portable computer and a mobile phone. Hopefully, I’ll keep it like this until I get bored or I need to experiment some other device like this. 

[su_table]

Rs 17,999/-

[su_button url=”http://tippr.in/SamsungGalaxy_Tab_A” target=”blank” style=”soft” background=”#0095DA”]Buy Now[/su_button]

[/su_table]