SAMSUNG Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 10.4" 128GB WiFi Android Tablet w (Open Box)

I'll preface this review by saying:(1) I strongly prefer Android to iOS as an environment(2) This review may not be entirely "fair" to Samsung, but it's fair to users/would-be buyersI own an iPad Pro already, but there are some significant things that I wanted from this tablet:- Something more "holdable" with a large screen, which you can't get with Apple's 4:3 screen shape- The ability to access and cary files from my "main" computer far more easily than is possible with iOS- The ability to run Termux for Linux access- The ability to use a mouse with my tablet at times on the go, with a *pointer*All of those things meant that I needed an Android tablet. In the past I'd have gone with Huawei but now they're not a good bet due to all the geopolitical intrigue and software limitations. I didn't pick up the Tab A because it doesn't have a light sensor (no screen auto-brightness) or a full S6 because the price was just too high. So the S6 Lite seemed like the right bet.PROS:- Thin, light, well-built, with slim bezels- Far more responsive to touch than the Tab A series of tablets- Plenty fast enough for most uses- Far better screen color than the Tab A series of tablets- TFT (rather than AMOLED) screen tech means far less degradation over time- All the flexibility and power of the latest Android versionsCONS:- TFT (rather than AMOLED) means that brightness and color still are uneven across the screen- Bad edge lighting issues (bright halo at screen edge) and poor viewing angles for the modern era- Brightness and color of course not as good as AMOLED- Default icon set and Samsung UI feels clunky (fix with alternative launcher and icon set)- APPS. APPS, APPS, APPSPowering up a large Android tablet again for the first time in a few years, it's obvious that Android tablet apps have gone nowhere since the last time I experienced them. There are serious problems:(1) 95% of Android apps just show a single column of full-screen-width content, just like they do on a phone. That layout is fine for a phone, or a 7" tablet, but on a large tablet like this, it makes apps hard to use. You have all this screen real estate, but no columns. Effectively zero layout. Most iPad apps have two or three columns—navigation and controls on the left edge, content in the larger right panel. iPad apps use the screen real estate in sections, like a desktop application does, because you have all that space to work with. The Android apps on tablets? They treat the tablet screen like a giant phone screen. Twitter on iPad OS? Multiple columns, nice layout. But on Android? One full-width column, like a phone, all those tweets ending up as wide one-liners and limited navigation in a single line across the bottom of the screen. Evernote on iPad OS? Three columns, one navigation/options, one for list, and one for note content. Evernote on Android? One full-width column, like a phone, making it far slower and more difficult to sort through notes. Same for Reddit. Same for just about everything. Serious usability hit.(2) Most of the *best* apps still don't exist on Android. Ulysses or Scrivener for writers? Nope. Bear for note organizing? Nope. Sente or Papers for research? Nope. Adobe creativity apps? Nope. There are very few *serious* applications on Android. Yes, you may dislike the way that iPad OS handles multi-window and mouse (I dislike it!) BUT the range and weight of the iPad OS applications means that it can stake a legitimate claim to being a laptop replacement for many people. Android? No. It's a giant-screened phone.Now, that said—there are a few heavy-hitters that are well done on Android. Google Docs/Slides/Sheets and Microsoft Word/Excel/Powerpoint/office on Android are full-featured, serious apps (though the iPad OS versions still have key features and usability improvements missing from the Android versions, for example non-Page-veiw editing, rather than having to do initial drafting on distinct "pages" in Word). But that's about the whole list.App for app, between the two platforms, when apps exist on both, the iPad OS version feels like the "full" application, and the Android version feels like the "lite version—for phones" of the same application.And, beyond that, there really isn't much of an app for app comparison to be made, as there are *so many* heavy-hitter apps absolutely worth paying for on iOS, and only as many as you can count on your fingers on Android.It's an ironic twist that while Samsung's S-Pen is great and works very well on the tablet, there's precious little you can do with it in a serious way. There are *so many* serious productivity and creativity apps on iPad OS to use with Apple Pencil (my favorite being Notability) compared to... Samsung Notes (not *nearly* as powerful) and that's basically it on Android. So they've gone to all the trouble to make great hardware—but there's just not much in the way of software.If you just need Office (either Google or Microsoft) and Netflix on your tablet, and you can't afford an iPad, then an Android tablet like this one makes sense. If you need to run Termux and also move files on and off the tablet filesystem with ease, accessing them directly, then an Android tablet like this one makes sense.But for everyone else, it's hard to say that iPad OS isn't a far better tablet environment at this point. As a user, I seriously prefer Android vs. iPad OS by far, as least as far as the UI and user experience of the OS goes. But also as a user, there's no denying that while an iPad edges ever closer to a legitimate laptop replacement (albeit with restrictions I struggle to live with—hence buying this), an Android tablet is still just a giant Android phone—with mostly phone-like apps, and far fewer of them, than iPad OS with its increasingly serious productivity ecosystem.It's a shame, because for the price, the hardware is great, the screen shape makes a lot more sense, and the openness of Android means that many more power user things are possible. But there just aren't many power user apps to go along with that ethos.So—would I recommend? If you know you need an Android tablet and are willing to put up with the compromises, yes. The hardware here is very reasonable, esp. for the price, and there's very little adware. I'll use it for the things I need it for, and for everything else, use my iPad Pro when a tablet is needed.But for regular users? Take this money and spend it on the lowest-priced iPad, and take advantage of what the iPad OS and its ecosystem offer, which will—for most users—be far more appropriate.