Best tablet for small business use

[DawnRising86]

Hello all!

I'm looking for suggestions as to what tablet would be best for small business use but hopefully wont break the bank. 

 

Im not only looking for something with decent battery life but also works well with addons like square pos. But Having a decent camera would be a bonus as well for taking inventory. 

 

I have no preference for operating systems but i am more familiar with android then ios. 

 

With all the choices out there its a crazy market to navigate and i could use all the help i can get. 

[johnt]

I wish I was fanboying. I know other companies make products that smell like and quack like tablets. But only one company makes tablets worth purchasing.

 

If you don't need anything fancy, the previous generation starter 10 inch Apple tablets are selling for $250 at Costco and sometimes Amazon, and the modern generation sells for $400 on sale. The iPad Air or iPad mini are better products for mobile use. And they are all guaranteed to work with Square POS and have cameras. You probably don't need the Pro models unless you plan to use them outdoors, in which case, the 12.9 inch is your only option for the bright screen.

 

It is also the only product with a reputation of long-term support. The M version CPUs are probably going to fare better than A version CPUs. Also you are more likely to find third party accessories for business needs... like if you need to flip the screen at the check out line for signatures and the dreaded tipping.

 

No tablet has good battery life. It's a subjective thing, but they all suck in my opinion. Any of the iPads should last 4 to 6 hours of continuous use though... at least when they are new.

[DawnRising86]

33 minutes ago, johnt said:

I wish I was fanboying. I know other companies make products that smell like and quack like tablets. But only one company makes tablets worth purchasing.

 

If you don't need anything fancy, the previous generation starter 10 inch Apple tablets are selling for $250 at Costco and sometimes Amazon, and the modern generation sells for $400 on sale. The iPad Air or iPad mini are better products for mobile use. And they are all guaranteed to work with Square POS and have cameras. You probably don't need the Pro models unless you plan to use them outdoors, in which case, the 12.9 inch is your only option for the bright screen.

 

It is also the only product with a reputation of long-term support. The M version CPUs are probably going to fare better than A version CPUs. Also you are more likely to find third party accessories for business needs... like if you need to flip the screen at the check out line for signatures and the dreaded tipping.

 

No tablet has good battery life. It's a subjective thing, but they all suck in my opinion. Any of the iPads should last 4 to 6 hours of continuous use though... at least when they are new.

Thanks for the input. I had a feeling apple was the go to choice but hadn't considered looking at the air or mini models.

[johnt]

1 hour ago, DawnRising86 said:

Thanks for the input. I had a feeling apple was the go to choice but hadn't considered looking at the air or mini models.

Good luck. I wish it wasn't such a monopoly. I am not sure who to blame though... there is nothing preventing other companies from making a good or better tablet.

 

Just curious.. how many tablets are you planning to purchase?

[DawnRising86]

15 minutes ago, johnt said:

Good luck. I wish it wasn't such a monopoly. I am not sure who to blame though... there is nothing preventing other companies from making a good or better tablet.

 

Just curious.. how many tablets are you planning to purchase?

Honestly just one. Its a small two person business selling hand crafted materials. The tablet is ment to not only help with photo taking and point of sale transactions for in person buying but also to hopefully help me manage other parts of my business like keeping inventory. I do have access to my pc to cover things like website management but the tablet just helps with on the go functionality. 

[johnno23]

Ipads are in general the easiest for a situation as you speak of. Plus they are quite intuitive so if you need you can hand over an ipad to a customer and let them browse thru the items.

I have seen ipads plenty of times in eateries etc where you can browse the menus and make you selections and the orders are sent automatically to the kitchen etc.

Never seen an android tablet in such a place ?

I have also seen them used a lot in the real esate businesses where the agent can just hand over the pad and let you browse the phots of the apartments houses etc.

Android can do all of the above but never see them......

[Commodus]

11 hours ago, DawnRising86 said:

Hello all!

I'm looking for suggestions as to what tablet would be best for small business use but hopefully wont break the bank. 

 

Im not only looking for something with decent battery life but also works well with addons like square pos. But Having a decent camera would be a bonus as well for taking inventory. 

 

I have no preference for operating systems but i am more familiar with android then ios. 

 

With all the choices out there its a crazy market to navigate and i could use all the help i can get. 

Probably an iPad, as others have suggested; either the base model or the latest iPad Air. Look at refurbs on Apple's site if you want to save a bit of money. They're good tablets, but they're also the "default" tablets in that you can assume many accessories and apps are built for them.

 

If it wasn't one of those, I'd point to a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. Just don't expect great performance or as broad tablet-native app support as the iPad. Maybe a Google Pixel Tablet if you're willing to spend extra for a speaker dock/stand. 

 

@johnt I'd blame Google, Android vendors and Apple for the iPad's sheer dominance, frankly. Google has long had trouble supporting Android on any device that isn't a phone. For the longest time, it thought that a few lines of code and the occasional Play Store highlight was all it would take for Android tablet apps to come flooding in. But they didn't, and even now many apps aren't tweaked at all.

 

 Android vendors, meanwhile, are guilty of following the same downward spiral that PC vendors did. Since they can't usually stand out in features, they have to compete on price... and that means a focus on ever cheaper, ever lousier hardware. There also tend to be inconsistent release schedules and strategies, so you may end up waiting ages for an update.

 

Apple happens to be very good at tablets, but I'd also say it wins simply by consistently showing up with hardware refreshes and software updates. If Google is the hotshot sports star that wastes their talent by skipping practice and simply assuming they'll win, Apple is the dependable player that leads the team to the championship by showing up for training and taking every game seriously.

[DawnRising86]

8 hours ago, johnno23 said:

Ipads are in general the easiest for a situation as you speak of. Plus they are quite intuitive so if you need you can hand over an ipad to a customer and let them browse thru the items.

I have seen ipads plenty of times in eateries etc where you can browse the menus and make you selections and the orders are sent automatically to the kitchen etc.

Never seen an android tablet in such a place ?

I have also seen them used a lot in the real esate businesses where the agent can just hand over the pad and let you browse the phots of the apartments houses etc.

Android can do all of the above but never see them......

Yeah..unfortunately it seems like Android is kind of dropping the ball in this area. I havent owned anything in the ios ecosphere in years just from an android preference. But in this case i may just have to bite the bullet.

[DawnRising86]

5 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Probably an iPad, as others have suggested; either the base model or the latest iPad Air. Look at refurbs on Apple's site if you want to save a bit of money. They're good tablets, but they're also the "default" tablets in that you can assume many accessories and apps are built for them.

 

If it wasn't one of those, I'd point to a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. Just don't expect great performance or as broad tablet-native app support as the iPad. Maybe a Google Pixel Tablet if you're willing to spend extra for a speaker dock/stand. 

 

@johnt I'd blame Google, Android vendors and Apple for the iPad's sheer dominance, frankly. Google has long had trouble supporting Android on any device that isn't a phone. For the longest time, it thought that a few lines of code and the occasional Play Store highlight was all it would take for Android tablet apps to come flooding in. But they didn't, and even now many apps aren't tweaked at all.

 

 Android vendors, meanwhile, are guilty of following the same downward spiral that PC vendors did. Since they can't usually stand out in features, they have to compete on price... and that means a focus on ever cheaper, ever lousier hardware. There also tend to be inconsistent release schedules and strategies, so you may end up waiting ages for an update.

 

Apple happens to be very good at tablets, but I'd also say it wins simply by consistently showing up with hardware refreshes and software updates. If Google is the hotshot sports star that wastes their talent by skipping practice and simply assuming they'll win, Apple is the dependable player that leads the team to the championship by showing up for training and taking every game seriously.

Agreed about google..i watches the latest review on the new pixel tablet and have to say i was underwhelmed...i mean sure its okay if all youre looking for is an updated google hub but in terms of serious competition in the tablet market i was disapointed..

[johnno23]

just as a point f reference i own an ipad air version purchased in 2013. it still works perfectly with reading time and can still shoot photos etc browse the web do emails etc etc. not really paid much attention for how long the battery stays powered under intense use but I can still watch a full movie lying in bed and not have to hunt for a power socket. 

I do hang it on charge most evenings before sleep and it lasts me thru the day without issues and that I use it predominately for reading books these days i have no complaints.

My only downside is that the newer ios software cannot be used as the product is now just shy of 10 years old. but for the price I paid I have gotten good use out of the product

 

[saintlouisbagels]

FYI

iPadOS 16 (current) is compatible with

• iPad Pro (all models)

• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)

• iPad (5th generation and later)

• iPad mini (5th generation and later)

iPadOS 17 (upcoming) is compatible with

• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation and later)

• iPad Pro 10.5-inch

• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)

• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)

• iPad (6th generation and later)

• iPad mini (5th generation and later)

If anything you should get either an iPad Air 4th gen or iPad 7th gen.

I like the iPad mini, but if we're talking about being customer-facing... well you want a decent device size if you're going to be showing off products and maybe dealing with people who don't have the greatest vision.