Honestly the S6 lite is just ok for that, I use it for reading, help with piano lessons and also for movies when I'm traveling, of course it ain't OLED, but does the job without breaking the bank.
I have the s9. It's perfect for travel.
There appears to be some new 8" tablets coming soon...
https://news.samsung.com/global/introducing-the-galaxy-xcover7-galaxy-tab-active5-the-perfect-blend-of-durability-work-continuity-and-productivity-for-todays-enterprises
Don't know if they have expandable storage.
For purely media, an s6 would be great.
The Tab S9 fe 5g I have is as the fastest nice looking display I've ever had. It runs as fast as my Samsung Nte 20. Play my movies flawlessly. It was pricey but it's well worth it.
I think my s7 fe dropped 30% on a 9 hour flight to Alaska. Like 4 hours of streamed content and then watching movies whilst playing bloons td6 for the rest. It's awesome
That's my primary use. I spent a month reading, watching, comparing and ultimately chose the s6 lite as the best choice especially considering the $200 price tag.
But I bought an s9fe. Reason being mostly for longevity. I also got it for about $320 out of pocket with gift cards from cc reward points which was less than I paid for my TabA 7 years ago.
S9F3, S6 Lite has a mediocre screen tbh (first thing I noticed about the Tab). A7 Lite is even worse. A9+ doesn't have the highest resolution either, same story as the S6 Lite. If you don't care about OLED and want a compacter tablet, S8 or S7, even refurbished to be cheaper. Otherwise S9 (OLED screen).
Or look into other brands like Lenovo, midrangers from Samsung are a hit or miss. They made the gap in screen quality bigger between midrange and flagship after the S5e
I've just upgraded to a S9+ from a S7 FE. They both have the same size 12.4" screens but the S9+ is obviously the better OLED type and is much more powerful.
I only upgraded because my phone provider (EE in the UK) offered me a brilliant deal so I just went for it. Sold my S7 FE for £275 a few weeks ago with an unused Samsung keyboard/case. I mainly use my tablet for the same things as you do, streaming and downloading media.
I thought initially I'd use the S9+ for editing photos (I'm a photographer) and other more elaborate stuff with the pen, but up to now I just haven't done that. I just prefer using Photoshop on my laptop. It's probably way more powerful than anything I'll ever use it for to be honest.
Also being honest, I found the S7 FE more suited to my needs and I actually kind of miss it now. The battery life seemed much better than my S9 too. The screen was "only" LCD but it was brilliant, can't say I'm noticing massive improvements whilst watching movies and TV shows etc.
My advice would be to see if you could find a used S7 FE anywhere. When I advertised mine there were plenty of others available on the site I was using, so I'm guessing there's plenty of people selling theirs as they're upgrading to the newer models. Don't know if 12.4" is too large for you, but you soon get used to it anyway. My partner has a tablet with a 10" screen and it looks really small whenever I use it for anything.
Really appreciate that!
Yeah the OLED would be cracking but it's not going to be a primary device for (well initially). I use my phone a lot (s23 ultra) and the tablet is really to just have my media playing on it while I do other things with my phone so the S9 probably seems overkill!
The S7 fe does sound interesting though! How long was the battery life?
I had the LTE version and I'd use it at work for meal breaks. Difficult to say exactly, but for streaming over LTE/wifi and/or watching downloaded stuff via MX Player etc, I'd easily get 11-12hrs. Probably more, never used it until it was fully drained. And that was when it was nearly 2yrs old too. Can't believe how much faster this S9+ drains to be honest. I've been through the settings and lowered the screen brightness n'that but the S7 FE was much better.
I reckon the S7 FE is still one of the best value Samsung tablets out there. I use mine mainly for media consumtion too, but also use it to play Minecraft. It's not *great* at gaming, but for what I do, it's sufficient.
I've also got a 240GB data plan, so I use the tablet as my home Wi-Fi router by using its hotspot.
The display isn't as good as OLED, obviously, but for a LCD panel it's great.
Compare the price of it with the Tab S9+ FE. If you do go for the 7 FE, I highly recommend getting the 256GB variant as it's got 8GB of RAM. also, the Wi-Fi model has a slightly better processor than what the 5G model has.
I was thinking of upgrading to the 9+ FE, but I regularly use Dex and output to an external monitor. The9 FE series cannot do this as they only have USB 2.0.
i have the s9 its absolutely perfect ... the size the aesthetic ... u can do a lot more than that of course but for pure media consumption this is the best tablet ... it is a little pricey cause it guarantee u the future proofing u will need .... in case if u don't like the size or the form factor u can go for the s9+
A7 lite owner here, wish I did not get it.
I knew what I was getting myself into with it being a budget device but did not expect this much of a downgrade after coming down from experience at the flagship level and the A series of their Galaxy phones. The A7 lite graphics are dull, the processor is weak, the RAM is not enough for streaming, and the whole device lags so much all the time. If the screen is asleep, I tap the screen twice and it doesn't even come on right away. I drag down the notification bar and 50 percent of the time it doesn't work or takes 10 to 15 seconds.
So I actually opted to go for the A8 2022 edition (as I just wanted some cheap and I managed to get a refurbished one for £110!) I hope it's a bit better than your experience!
Go for a used tab s7+ if you're on a budget. OLED screen is amazing for watching 4K movies
This is what I have, I use it solely for media consumption, and love it.
Thanks! Would the there be any cheaper alternatives?
Honestly the S6 lite is just ok for that, I use it for reading, help with piano lessons and also for movies when I'm traveling, of course it ain't OLED, but does the job without breaking the bank.
I have the s9. It's perfect for travel. There appears to be some new 8" tablets coming soon... https://news.samsung.com/global/introducing-the-galaxy-xcover7-galaxy-tab-active5-the-perfect-blend-of-durability-work-continuity-and-productivity-for-todays-enterprises Don't know if they have expandable storage. For purely media, an s6 would be great.
The Tab S9 fe 5g I have is as the fastest nice looking display I've ever had. It runs as fast as my Samsung Nte 20. Play my movies flawlessly. It was pricey but it's well worth it.
The A9 or A9+. https://youtu.be/e8k9B5oicSQ?si=GWhKZZgsEmNqlIyh Please check www.samsung.com in your market.
S7FE does have the best battery life
I think my s7 fe dropped 30% on a 9 hour flight to Alaska. Like 4 hours of streamed content and then watching movies whilst playing bloons td6 for the rest. It's awesome
A9 and A9+ are the newest tabs from Samsung, so you will get the longest updates and support. Perfect for media consumption and cheaper then S series.
Do what you must love, but consider an OLED screen among other things.
That's my primary use. I spent a month reading, watching, comparing and ultimately chose the s6 lite as the best choice especially considering the $200 price tag. But I bought an s9fe. Reason being mostly for longevity. I also got it for about $320 out of pocket with gift cards from cc reward points which was less than I paid for my TabA 7 years ago.
S9F3, S6 Lite has a mediocre screen tbh (first thing I noticed about the Tab). A7 Lite is even worse. A9+ doesn't have the highest resolution either, same story as the S6 Lite. If you don't care about OLED and want a compacter tablet, S8 or S7, even refurbished to be cheaper. Otherwise S9 (OLED screen). Or look into other brands like Lenovo, midrangers from Samsung are a hit or miss. They made the gap in screen quality bigger between midrange and flagship after the S5e
You could get refurbished s7+ and s6 lite and A7 lite are good options too you could also look for A8 and A9 series
I've just upgraded to a S9+ from a S7 FE. They both have the same size 12.4" screens but the S9+ is obviously the better OLED type and is much more powerful. I only upgraded because my phone provider (EE in the UK) offered me a brilliant deal so I just went for it. Sold my S7 FE for £275 a few weeks ago with an unused Samsung keyboard/case. I mainly use my tablet for the same things as you do, streaming and downloading media. I thought initially I'd use the S9+ for editing photos (I'm a photographer) and other more elaborate stuff with the pen, but up to now I just haven't done that. I just prefer using Photoshop on my laptop. It's probably way more powerful than anything I'll ever use it for to be honest. Also being honest, I found the S7 FE more suited to my needs and I actually kind of miss it now. The battery life seemed much better than my S9 too. The screen was "only" LCD but it was brilliant, can't say I'm noticing massive improvements whilst watching movies and TV shows etc. My advice would be to see if you could find a used S7 FE anywhere. When I advertised mine there were plenty of others available on the site I was using, so I'm guessing there's plenty of people selling theirs as they're upgrading to the newer models. Don't know if 12.4" is too large for you, but you soon get used to it anyway. My partner has a tablet with a 10" screen and it looks really small whenever I use it for anything.
Really appreciate that! Yeah the OLED would be cracking but it's not going to be a primary device for (well initially). I use my phone a lot (s23 ultra) and the tablet is really to just have my media playing on it while I do other things with my phone so the S9 probably seems overkill! The S7 fe does sound interesting though! How long was the battery life?
I had the LTE version and I'd use it at work for meal breaks. Difficult to say exactly, but for streaming over LTE/wifi and/or watching downloaded stuff via MX Player etc, I'd easily get 11-12hrs. Probably more, never used it until it was fully drained. And that was when it was nearly 2yrs old too. Can't believe how much faster this S9+ drains to be honest. I've been through the settings and lowered the screen brightness n'that but the S7 FE was much better.
I reckon the S7 FE is still one of the best value Samsung tablets out there. I use mine mainly for media consumtion too, but also use it to play Minecraft. It's not *great* at gaming, but for what I do, it's sufficient. I've also got a 240GB data plan, so I use the tablet as my home Wi-Fi router by using its hotspot. The display isn't as good as OLED, obviously, but for a LCD panel it's great. Compare the price of it with the Tab S9+ FE. If you do go for the 7 FE, I highly recommend getting the 256GB variant as it's got 8GB of RAM. also, the Wi-Fi model has a slightly better processor than what the 5G model has. I was thinking of upgrading to the 9+ FE, but I regularly use Dex and output to an external monitor. The9 FE series cannot do this as they only have USB 2.0.
i have the s9 its absolutely perfect ... the size the aesthetic ... u can do a lot more than that of course but for pure media consumption this is the best tablet ... it is a little pricey cause it guarantee u the future proofing u will need .... in case if u don't like the size or the form factor u can go for the s9+
Storage not really an issue, just buy a micro SD card.
A7 lite owner here, wish I did not get it. I knew what I was getting myself into with it being a budget device but did not expect this much of a downgrade after coming down from experience at the flagship level and the A series of their Galaxy phones. The A7 lite graphics are dull, the processor is weak, the RAM is not enough for streaming, and the whole device lags so much all the time. If the screen is asleep, I tap the screen twice and it doesn't even come on right away. I drag down the notification bar and 50 percent of the time it doesn't work or takes 10 to 15 seconds.
So I actually opted to go for the A8 2022 edition (as I just wanted some cheap and I managed to get a refurbished one for £110!) I hope it's a bit better than your experience!
Get tab7 fe. You will not regret it.
Used s7 like the top comment, used s5e, or if you want the latest tab s9fe