Looking for advice on avoiding Android obsolescence

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Stewart
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I have a nifty Android tablet with a detachable keyboard. Unfortunately the manufacturer stopped supporting it a few years ago and the version of Android which it's running is really quite ancient. So ancient that some new apps - including one new app that I really, really want to use - just won't work with it.

So I'm prepared to bite the bullet and buy a new tablet. I guess my question is, should I be worried about Android upgrades? Is there a minimum Android version which I should insist on? Is it worth buying from a name brand who you might expect will support it for a few years, or should I just by a cheap no-name tablet (assuming the specs are otherwise OK) - like this £85 one from Amazon, say - and accept the fact that after 2-3 years it will need to be replaced again?

(If anybody has any recommendations for specific tablets, I'm all ears. I want a 10" screen or bigger, with decent resolution, and I need a decent amount of storage - which could be via an SD card - but otherwise I'm not looking for a high spec and I don't need a keyboard. My new tablet has a hopefully long but not particularly demanding life ahead of it.)
 
I always check the reviews on Amazon but in a slightly different way to some people - I look at the ratio of positive reviews to negative reviews.

That way you have 670 positive reviews and 214 critical reviews - so approx 33% of people were unhappy with it for various reasons.

Of course you could get a good one and be very happy with it, or it could be a case of keep looking.
 
Unless you want to spend silly Ipad money I would look at either the Samsung Galaxy Tab at aound £200 or the Huawei Media Tab at around £150.
I have the Galaxy 32 gb with an SD card and its fine,the Android version is 9 as against the Huawei at 8 and it supports bigger SD cards.
I use a Huawei phone and thats fine as well so really you pays your money and takes your choice.
Have a look on Currys web site.
 
I always check the reviews on Amazon but in a slightly different way to some people - I look at the ratio of positive reviews to negative reviews.

That way you have 670 positive reviews and 214 critical reviews - so approx 33% of people were unhappy with it for various reasons.

Of course you could get a good one and be very happy with it, or it could be a case of keep looking.
Plus many of the positive ones could be fake
 
Plus many of the positive ones could be fake

And a lot of the critical ones could be people not reading the adverts or specs correctly or complaining about the service rather than the actual product not to mention User Interface Error!
 
I would say the best you can do to keep an android tablet updated and usable for as long as possible is to buy one of the more recent models from one of the big names that has a reputation for long term support of their products.

I don't know who would be best for that, Samsung I guess?
Are google still selling nexus tablets or do they only sell phones now?
 
Google Android devices are usually supported up to 3 years guaranteed. So best case scenario. Other brands are questionable, but a good bet is also Samsung. Smaller brands have less longevity. Apple also provides excellent tablet support and its the only tablet I'll buy, but our household has a variety of OS's across devices.

You could look into rooting then installing a newer version of android, called a rom. Check out xda forum.
 
There is a 10 inch amazon fire just gone up for sale in the misc section it says mint condition £135
 
I would look at the Samsung Tab A, I'm looking at replacing mine with one.
They certainly seem decent for the price.
 
There is a 10 inch amazon fire just gone up for sale in the misc section it says mint condition £135
Unless I am mistaken, do they still use a crippled version of Android?
I remember a whole ago you couldn't use play store on the Fire tablets.
 
This is one of those areas where - to an extent - the more you spend the longer it *should* last. The cheap tablet you linked is already out of date, and likely barely fit for purpose new, though you can probably still watch a movie on it.

See who maintains good support for their products - google may be useful here.
 
Are google still selling nexus tablets or do they only sell phones now?

Google now only sell 1 tablet called the pixel Slate. As nice as it is with its 12.3 inch screen the price starts at £749 so you are getting into Ipad Pro and Microsoft Surface territory there.
It also runs Chrome OS only
 
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You can only delay it more by getting the more expensive and newest models from big brands.

There is no other way around it because the devices are constantly changing and improving.
 
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