I need to replace my 5 year old laptop this summer for the fall semester and I’ve decided that instead of a new computer I should just upgrade to a tablet. I’ve always loved the iPad mini for its size. It’d be extremely portable and I would honestly get a lot more use out of it other than just school work, but I’m nervous about having to type notes or papers with it for how small it is. I’ve considered the Air because it’d be easier to use it as a computer, I know I could write papers and type/write notes easily with an Apple Pencil. It would be a great school computer, but I don’t know if I would use it casually like the mini. I’d love to buy both but can’t afford that. Which one would be better?
My wife has an ipad with the apple pencil. She bought it as she saw how incredible the pen experience is on my Samsung galaxy Tab s8 plus.
She was devastated at how poor the overall pen experience is on the ipad vs the Samsung.
I can’t recommend enough to do some serious testing of both Apple and Samsung pen input before buying.
It was a harsh reality to see how far behind the apple pen system is vs the Samsung pen experience. Especially considering the price and having to pay extra for the apple pen.
Don’t take my word. Go and actually use both in store. Properly. You’ll soon see what I mean.
In what ways is the S8 pen better?
The main difference is the softer tip on the end of the pencil right? Apple’s one is harder, which makes it slide more easily on the screen. The harder tip means the Apple Pencil tip lasts longer… and most people already feel like Apple’s pencil tip wears out too fast.
I would think with time, you’d get used to whichever one you have. And if you’re accustomed to one then the other would definitely be hard to use for the first few months. You can buy third party tips for Apple Pencil and some of them are softer — they cost a few dollars each. Buy those and try them out?
Ultimately the Samsung and iPad should be compared based on the software, not the hardware. They’re pretty similar hardware wise but run completely different software.