I’m using the Roon control app – that is “Roon Remote”? – on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 with 32 Gb of RAM and Android 7 (I think). As I’ve posted before, I have intermittent problems with slow operation and album art not showing. I am considering a new tablet.
I want to keep the price down. My existing tablet is 3.5 yrs old, and it irks me to replace it. (How wasteful tech is, with phones and tablets more powerful than mainframes of my youth discarded every 2-4 years!) I use the tablet only for Roon Remote, BubbleUPnP, and a few other things ancillary to my audio system. In other words, it’s a glorified remote control.
My two ideas are
Lenovo Tab M Plus (2 gen.) with 4 Gb RAM,128 Gb internal storage, and Android “P” for $250
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 with 3 Gb RAM, 64 Gb storage, and Android “Q” for $280
I have no idea how to compare the processors.
I know there are better tablets for $600-$700, but I can’t make myself do it – especially since vendors stop providing software updates after a couple of years.
Anyone here tried either of those tablets and have good or bad impressions? Other suggestions in the same range would be welcome.
AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
2
Hate to answer a question with a question but…
Does it have to be android tablet?
I have it on very good authority that the Kindle Fire 10" HD makes for a superb Roon Remote.
It runs Amazons Fire OS which is basically a stripped down android OS.
Apps are more limited but the price of these things is quite amazing.
Mike I was using a Google pixel C tablet until recently that was about 6 years old.
It actually worked very well (Roon wise) but was just too old to function properly as it had Android 8 on it and didn’t have the graphics horse power.
Both tablets you mentioned should be fine along with the Amazon tablet that @AceRimmer mentioned.
It seems that a fair number of users, have them as dedicated Roon remotes and artwork stand’s for now playing.
I have never used one myself, but imagine it would work well, especially if everything is stripped off and is just used for Roon.
As a long time Android user I have used a Samsung Galaxy Tab A and a Fire HD8 as a remote. I use a Pixel phone for the pure Android experience and have rolled a few custom Android ROM’s in my time.
I then did something I thought I would never do, I tried the basic iPad. Cost was in the region of the tablets you picked out. I felt dirty, like I was cheating.
Runs faultlessly with Roon and once you get used to the OS it is great. If the primary function is for Roon, you can’t beat it. Like me, you might actually adapt to it and prefer it to an Android tablet.
It will also be supported far behind an Android tablet.
Larger tablets work more like iPad (though not quite as good for all features), though I can imagine the 7" low resolution just acting as a big phone.
But as mainly a frustrated iPad user (for tablets), my Android tablet didn’t not get kicked out of memory like my 11" iPad Pro every time it is left off for more than 2 minutes.
I really wish that could be improved.
Another vote for the latest Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet. When running Roon Remote on the Fire HD 10 one gets exactly the same controls, bells and whistles as Roon Remote running on an iPad and yes I have and use both. The biggest difference is the speed/responsiveness, with the iPad being slightly snappier.
However the iPad costs a good deal than the Fire HD 10 and like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Nonetheless if the tablet is ONLY going to used as a controller for Roon then save some money and goes with the Fire HD 10 (latest/current model).
1 Like
AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
10
Well I put my money where my mouth is… Lol.
$100 shipped from Amazon for the latest 2021 model with 32gb is crazy cheap.
If you think you need the 64gb that’s $160 right now.
Hard to go wrong I think.
That’s not necessarily the case, if you buy an older iPad you can still run out of update road fairly quickly. Here’s a list of models that no longer receive update support:
At $100 he can buy 4 or 5 of them at least and Amazon tend to support them for 3 or 4 years.
I have an iPad Pro 11" and then cost £799, thankfully it was for work so I never bought it, but it’s reassuringly expensive as the old lager advert used to say.
Maybe the iPad Mini or Air is the sweet spot in the Apple world but start at £479 and £579 in the UK for the 64GB model so that is not in the same ball park. The basic iPad only £399 but nowhere near as nice as the others, but will do a decent job
To those who recommended Apple: The new iPad looks great. I wonder, though, if the added memory isn’t a necessity for long-term use. (It pushes the price a lot higher.) What do you think?
To those who recommended Amazon: Do the Fire devices track you? Will they run apps from the Google Play App Store?
Mike if you only want it for Roon the 64GB iPad is fine, if you want to download videos and music it will quickly run out.
Amazon do track you some, but if you don’t use it for anything but Roon then there is nothing to track.
You can install Play store on them but it is not standard and has to be side loaded.
1 Like
AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
16
Amazon fire OS store does offer a lot more “playstore” apps than it used too.
Now at least you can dl Roon direct rather than sideloading the apk.
I purchased a brand new Samsung 10.1" Android tablet a year ago specifically and only for use with Roon. Not sure the model, its not nearby me now, but it was mid-line at $400 CAD.
Roon is as flakey and unstable as I can stand without actually triggering me to send the tablet out through our picture window. The tablet has been rock solid, never loses WiFi and I’m happy with battery life, image quality etc. But Roon crashes constantly, sometime while browsing, but 75% guarenteed to crash if I try to use it after the tablet has turned off the display after 90 seconds of inactivity.
I’ve reinstalled etc ad naseum. In my limited view Roon is simply not stable on Android and every version increase the situation has gotten worse.
I love Roon but honestly can’t wait for a viable competitor to jump ship for.
EDIT: Home now and the tablet is a Samsung Galaxy Tab A model SM-T510 for what it’s worth.
Cheers,
Robert
AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
18
I’m afraid I would have to disagree with the blanket statement that Roon is not stable on Android.
Now I don’t have an Android tablet but I actually prefer using my Android phone for Roon than my iPad mini4.
Rock steady, no issues that I can recall ever, does not eat up memory unlike the iPad and well…it just plain works 100% of the time.
Not sure what is going on with that Samsung tablet exactly but I don’t believe it’s just a Roon and Android “thing”.
I’ll admit that Roon on my Android phone has never crashed. But I’ve used it only for brief moments in the last year, mostly to look up an album in my collection to see if I have it or details on the performer etc. So hardly “using” it and for just a few seconds.
The Android area here is full of unresolved issues with Roon on that platform, many quite old and not addressed by support. Of course, people are fickle and some are due to the users disappearing or not providing the information requested. Nevertheless, I’m not an isolated incident by far.
