Deth

So, after who knows how long, my old Samsung tablet seemed to be acting up and Molly’s just went into a boot loop, so I figured it was time to upgrade anyway. I would have liked another Samsung, but I didn’t like the ones I could check out, and they were pricier than I wanted it to be. I also didn’t need or want a pen. I don’t care about it having a camera either, my phone does a fine job at that, and it’s much handier.

Amazon had the ASUS ZenPad 3S for a decent price. Molly got one too. Her Wi-Fi didn’t work right, but after months of procrastinating she contacted them, and they fixed it with no problems. Mine has had no issues accept a couple of freezes which forcing it to reboot resolved.

The other issue I’ve had is the fingerprint sensor stopped working, but that was my fault. I knocked it off the couch, and it landed on something right at the sensor. Could it have been made tougher to withstand that? Probably, but it expected that something may break if you drop it. It still works by entering the pin to unlock it, so it’s an inconvenience but tolerable. I miss its being able to unlock just by touching the home button.

They don’t update the software that often and that’s a disappointment for sure, but it’s no different from the old Samsung note in that respect. The only reasons I want updates is for bug fixes and especially security fixes. I really wish that they’d pass a law that requires security fixes on connected devices for a reasonable length of time. Another option would be they allow you to unlock it, so you can install your own updated android version. That’s why I held on to the Samsung so long. That has nothing to do with this tablet, though. It’s just the way things seem to be with Android, or anything for that matter.

The tablet itself has been more than fast enough for my needs. I don’t use it for gaming, accept a rare occasional one I find. Mostly it’s used for browsing the web or Reddit or hacker news. There’s no hang when opening apps like the older one had, and it doesn’t choke on YouTube like the old Samsung did once in a while. Battery life isn’t great, but it’s not bad either. It does seem to charge pretty quickly.

It doesn’t seem to have nearly the bloat that the Samsung had. There aren’t a million apps installed that you don’t want but can’t easily get rid of to that had. The GUI seems fast without all the fancy shit too. I don’t want the user interface to be “pretty.” I want it to be fast and functional. Samsung at least in the past had a problem with bloating their devices up with tones of Samsung versions of regular apps that added nothing of value but just took up space even if you disabled them.

It seems to be well-made and other than breaking the fingerprint sensor it’s handed the normal abuse well. I’ve even sat on it (PS, don’t put blanket over top of tablet on couch when you get up.) I know all the rage is to have as thin as possible of a bezel on tablets, but to me, that is annoying. My fingers tend to touch spots on the screen accidentally when I don’t intend it to happen. Maybe it’s because of the way I hold it so close to my face. Stupid visual impairment problems!

I love that it uses USB-C for the charging port. If for any other reason, it doesn’t matter which way it’s plugged in. I go by feel, so there’s no chance of fucking something up by plugging it in backwards.