Android Tablet Selection

Airmapper

Inactive Member
I've been looking at the current line of inexpensive Android tablets, and would like some real world feedback on how the more inexpensive units ($150-$250) handle running as navigation units.

I found a Tab E 9.5" on display and played with it some, the screen seemed good enough (although I can tell it's not as high resolution) and the touch interface seemed responsive, but what worries me is loading up a few apps running a moving map and displaying vehicle data over the OBD will ask too much of it.

I have been using an older (like first gen) iPad mini. While I don't have any complaints on the iPad hardware, it's inability to run apps I'd like to run has me wanting to ditch it for better compatibility of an Android device. It's also a 16gb model, which is somewhat limiting, although since I don't use it for much else I haven't run out of space yet. I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S7 as my smartphone, and using an Android device is ultimately what put me off of my Apple tablet once I realized things the Android platform can do that Apple can't. Also if I'm getting another device, a slightly larger screen would be acceptable, I'm liking the 9.5" size.

What I'd like to do is run mapping software and connect to my Bluetooth OBD reader. (as in Torque Pro widgets overlaid on the nav screen) Currently on my S7 I can run both nav and overlay OBD widgets and it's chugs along fine, but the S7 is far from a base line model, so it has ample processor speed and RAM to walk and chew gum at the same time. But it's screen is tiny and while it works great as a handheld device, not so much as a dash mounted option.

Things I might ask of it either by itself or several of these things at once...

Run moving map (Backcountry Navigator, Google Maps, GAIA, or the like...)
Read OBDII port via Bluetooth (Torque Pro)
Play music feeding head unit via headphone jack or maybe BT later.
Display a weather radar app.
Control GoPRO.
Run APRS via APRSdriod. Possibly connect via BT to a Mobilinkd.

Assume it will be running the first 3 simultaneously at least.

So has anyone used any of these units in this manner and how did they keep up?

Thanks! :sombrero:
 

tarditi

Explorer
I've used my Samsung Galaxy Tab with Backcountry Navigator Pro, but never all the apps you mention simultaneously. I reverted back to using my Garmin Nuvi with a bunch of topo maps loaded for dedicated navigation, and use my Samsung S7 for ICE.
I still haven't gotten around to running torque with it - ran it via BT with my old Xterra and it worked great, but was a lot of data I really didn't need all the time, so I stopped using it. Was nice for "batmobile effect"

If you clear off a lot of the extraneous junk and services, the tab may be performant enough - windowing would be useful, too.
 

spikemd

Explorer
I bought a new 8 inch Samsung Tab E from costco a few weeks ago and now is it as my dedicated GPS unit. In Death Valley last week, I ran Gaia GPS pro and Bluetooth to Delorme InReach for navigation control. I haven't played with OBD usage yet, but will soon on my current vehicle. The GPS on the tablet alone works very well but I had Delorme Bluetoothed most of the time. Great screen for my needs as the biggest usage of battery is the screen. While running Gaia, I opt to have the screen always on. I see the benefits of a bigger screen with overlay of OBDII but worry about charging and battery life not to mention more mass for mounting. Not sure of capability of using the tablet with 2 bluetooth devices. My next vehicle wont have OBD so it wont be an issue for me. The tablet worked well sending satellite messages thru the InReach.

For $160 for the tablet, it was a worthwhile investment and works great for me. I bought silicone cover and a simple cup holder mount off eBay which survived many miles of washboards.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
Thanks guys.

I still haven't gotten around to running torque with it - ran it via BT with my old Xterra and it worked great, but was a lot of data I really didn't need all the time, so I stopped using it. Was nice for "batmobile effect"

Same here to some extent. Only thing I wanted was the option to have Torque running in the background so it will audibly alert if something is amiss. The only data I'd likely overlay would be coolant temp and maybe voltage.

I bought a new 8 inch Samsung Tab E from costco a few weeks ago and now is it as my dedicated GPS unit. In Death Valley last week, I ran Gaia GPS pro and Bluetooth to Delorme InReach for navigation control. I haven't played with OBD usage yet, but will soon on my current vehicle. The GPS on the tablet alone works very well but I had Delorme Bluetoothed most of the time. Great screen for my needs as the biggest usage of battery is the screen. While running Gaia, I opt to have the screen always on. I see the benefits of a bigger screen with overlay of OBDII but worry about charging and battery life not to mention more mass for mounting.

Good info. I'm not terribly concerned with battery draw as long as USB 2A can keep up. I intend to RAM mount it if I can.

My main concern is it bogging down and lagging if I ask it to run a few things at once. Currently the older iPad mini keeps up with all I use it for, it's older tech but more expensive tech.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
I ended up with a Tab A 10.1. Using BCN for now, liked it on my phone, but it's awesome on this huge screen. Torque overlays look good, seems to make up for BCN not having large data displays, Torque has nearly as many GPS displays as a navigation app.
 

BigSwede

The Credible Hulk
I just picked up an incredibly cheap Insignia 8" at Best Buy (it's their house brand) to use for GPS nav amongst other things. It is $59.99 right now. Been playing with Gaia and Avenza on it, does everything I want it to (I'm no gamer). 16GB and a microSD slot for 128 GB more if you want, Android 6.0. We'll see how long it lasts...
 

e60ral

2016 4Runner Trail w/KDSS

BigSwede

The Credible Hulk
Lol, well it seems fast to me, but then my old tablet was 8 years old, that's like 1000 in tablet years...
 

PaulyWalnuts

New member
I just bought a used Galaxy Tab S 10.5 from ebay for $175 and a full Ram Mount setup for it. I plan on using an OTG charging cable and a USB hub to charge and attach an external hard drive for storing all of my BCN maps (just downloaded the entire Baja's satellite/hybrid to the tune of 50GB for offline use), videos, music, Torque Pro, ect... Time will tell if this works out nicely but I used an old Nexus 7 for something similar and it worked surprisingly well. At a bit over $220 all in, it wasn't very expensive and very versatile.
 

akpostal

Adventurer
I have a Samsung 7" for Torque, an 8" for navigation, and use my Galaxy 5 Note as a dash cam. As long as I have a cell signal I can tether the phone to either tablet.

Ive had a few Acer tablets, pretty quick but not as tough as the Samsungs have been.

17807493_664417387089928_5365884533527400688_o.jpg
 

Kerensky97

Xterra101
I've always been disappointed with the performance of Tablets, if they're bigger than my phone they should pack better gear to run faster than my phone. But it seems like they just put in the same phone processors and because they have to power a 9in+ screen it causes them to chug when doing more than one thing at a time.

I have the Nvidia shield tablet now and finally have one I can run mapping, OBD, and a few other apps at the same time. Offloading the processing for that big screen seems to help the laggyness a lot. Plus the price was pretty similar to other Andriod tablets.
http://amzn.to/2pVF2oE
 

BigSwede

The Credible Hulk
I just picked up an incredibly cheap Insignia 8" at Best Buy (it's their house brand) to use for GPS nav amongst other things. It is $59.99 right now. Been playing with Gaia and Avenza on it, does everything I want it to (I'm no gamer). 16GB and a microSD slot for 128 GB more if you want, Android 6.0. We'll see how long it lasts...

Just got back from a Utah trip, and I was pleased with the Insignia. I was running Gaia and it seemed to work just fine. No trouble with GPS tracking at all, I was able to determine within a few feet if I was off track on some Moab trails.

Disclaimer: This was my first real experience with tablets and GPS nav, so I don't have much basis for comparison...I wasn't running multiple apps at the same time either.
 

dirtlimo

Observer
TAB S2 here with GAIA, and it would not keep up with me. Not on the highway and not off. No idea what deal is, but not happy with it. I tried to pair down the maps as much as I could, maybe 50% space taken on the main storage. I ended up using the the Iphone 6 and it did fine, although super hard to read while driving.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
weird, my little ole lepan mini works fine. I would figure that the galaxy tab would smoke right along. might want to try another app. BCN is a good one.
 

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