Why I picked up the Samsung Galaxy Tab A over my iPad for my trip to the UK

I’ll be very honest with you guys that I’m not really a tablet person until I’m travelling. I’m always using my desktop, laptop and smartphone when in town. But when I’m travelling the list of gadgets that I take along is endless. I’m very specific of each device and its purpose for my trip. Like for my trip to the Great Britain I took the following devices with me:

1. Of course smartphone(s) – Indian Sim, UK Sim
2. e-Book reader – I read one ebook in 6 months but I do it the way it is supposed to be
3. Action camera – For all the fun activities
4. DSLR – You have to carry one with a zoom lens
5. Laptop – Goes without saying
6. Chromecast – Chromecast games are fun, have you tried them?
7. Teewe – To catch all the Indian tele serials in the UK
8. PSP – Cos PS3/4 are too bulky to take along
9. Wearables – To keep a track of my sleep, steps taken and other physical activities
10. Tablet – Ditched the iPad for the Samsung Galaxy Tab A and here’s why –

I was a bit apprehensive about taking a new box packed tablet which I’d have to setup from start instead of my regular use iPad. But then there were far too many reasons for me to take it along and after using it the reasons quadrupled. To elaborate, my reason for carrying the Tab A even without trying it were:

1. The ease of sharing and putting content on an Android tablet is much more than an iPad
2. Much better chromecast experience than on the iPad
3. After reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, I never wanted to return to the iPad

These are just a few reasons why I opted for the Tab A, but as I mentioned earlier that my reasons bettered with the use of the tablet. You might not want to see another list but here is another one (promise this is the last one):

1. The setup of tablet was precisely 30 seconds. Now that’s a giant leap by any standards, specially after going through endless steps to setup other devices I’ve reviewed in the past
2. Touchwiz UI on Android 5.0 has looks and feels lighter, cleaner and easier
3. Pre-installed Microsoft office suite – You have no idea, how much work it helped me do on the tube where I couldn’t have thought of using my laptop and the smartphone screen is too small to make presentations etc. No surprise for guessing that this blog was typed on the Tab A, undoubtedly a bluetooth keyboard would have been appreciated but nevertheless it was great.
4. Galaxy Gifts – Starting with the OneDrive 100 GB reward to apps like:

• Kindle for Samsung
• The Guardian
• Audiobooks by Audible
• Deezr
• The Economist
• New York Times
• VidZone
• Blinklist
• LeKiosk
• Audibles
• Evernote Premium

These are the kind of apps that one uses the most when travelling and with the Tab A they came as a blessing in disguise. Apart from all the apps and the experience the Tab A offered, it helped me click really good pictures too,  here are a few samples:

In a nutshell, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A is thin in size and price but not on value it offers. There are a few things that could have made it better such as better build quality, dual speakers and a 16:9 aspect ratio for the screen. If you are curious about the specs  of the device and how the device looks and feels, then here you go: