Article Note: This article “18 Reasons Why Tablets are Better than Your Smartphones” was first published on 14th June 2016. We last updated this article on 4th January 2023 with fresh information.
In recent years, Tablets have emerged as devices that chalk out the perfect balance between smartphones and laptops. A tablet can be defined as a portable notebook that is built on a mobile operating system platform. Variably different from smartphones in terms of looks, overall feel, and benefits, tablets essay the role of mini-laptops and the upgraded version of smartphones that can accompany you anywhere, anytime. In the coming years, if technology evolves at the same pace, tablets will sideline laptops to a great extent.
However, there is a raging debate that is doing the rounds on many internet discussion forums as to which is better, a Tablet or a Smartphone. We thought that the time is ripe to settle it once and for all. So, here you go:
1. Tablets are Less Expensive than Smartphones
Besides being thin and lightweight, tablets have the significant advantage of being less expensive than smartphones which are packed with the same features. In fact, tablets are known to be considerably less expensive than flagship smartphones of most brands. Moreover, tablets are a smart way to cut smartphone costs. Most of the time, expensive smartphones cost perhaps twice as much as a typical budget tablet, rendering tablets the power to be fully worthy of their cost.
2. Better Gaming Experience
Wanted to play the Walking Dead episodic adventure game on a small screened device? You are best advised to grab a tablet. With its relatively small display, a smartphone won’t complement the incredible acting, gorgeous graphics, and tense atmosphere of the game. So, if you want a supremely immersive gaming experience you need to know which tablet is best for gaming, you ought to put down your old rusty phone and pick up a brand new tablet.
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3. Tablets have Better Battery Life than Smartphones
Most tablets outshine smartphones when it boils down to battery life. In fact, their battery life is far better than laptops, too! While smartphones are facing the heat when it comes to delivering on the battery front, tablets, on the other hand, appear to last forever even when pushed beyond their limits. For instance, when you use a few battery-hogging apps on your smartphone, it seems to dwindle within a few hours.
4. Tablets are Less Cumbersome than Smartphones
You can’t possibly lug around your laptops while you are on the go, riding in a taxi, or going to catch a flight. Let’s face it- it is not at all fun. Because, with laptops, you have to find a relatively stable and flat surface for setting it up. And more importantly, it has to be flipped open to view the screen or type on the keyboard. Whereas, with a tablet, you can walk around anywhere in peace as it is plain easy to turn it on in any environment.
5. Better at Composing Music
Audiophiles rejoice! Another great aspect of tablets’ lies in the fact that they can be used to compose/write and read sheet music. Besides, you can get the feel of a proper DAW or audio editing interface with apps like Cadenza Live in iOS that let you both write and read sheet music. And, the best part is that you can even edit, save, transfer files to the laptop, and even share your next ‘big tune’ with the world. As for the smartphone, you can only listen to some songs that were perhaps created by err, someone on a tablet.
6. Better at Watching Online Videos
Tablets are your best bet when you are lying on the couch and want to peruse apps like Vimeo or YouTube for accessing your favorite online video channels. Thanks to massive display size, tablets rule the roost and edge out smartphones by a huge margin. When it comes to consuming media on different platforms, tablets make things more enjoyable and hassle-free affair when compared with smartphones.
7. Better at Reading books & news
The biggest draw for tablets is their ability to entice people into reading full-fledged articles, e-books, novels et al. in a comfy and relaxed manner. There are a plethora of news apps available for smartphones. But, they are not immersive enough partly due to their screen size and other constraints such as battery issues.
8. Tablets are Better than Smartphones in Actual Work
Fair enough, apps such as Google Sheets, Microsoft Office, and Google Docs are available as smartphone-only variants too, but spreadsheets, presentations, and documents are very difficult to view properly, let alone edit, on your expensive smartphone. Whereas, on a tablet, you can not only reduce work to mere play but also edit all these apps just like one would do on a laptop.
9. Better in Display
For entertainment and gaming purposes, larger screen size is always a plus point, and Tablets are known exactly for that. Well, larger displays give you more real estate and leeway to get any work done. Many large tablets boast of a display that is on par with smaller laptops. They beat smartphones when it comes to being productive and not just a gaming device.
10. Tablets are more Flexible than Smartphones
Over a period of time tablets have evolved as devices that can fill the role of a laptop and perform most of its similar functions. At the same time, tablets are like the more evolved and versatile counterparts of smartphones. Almost all tablets can shoot videos, take photos, as well as facilitate conferencing or video chats. Additionally, they are now being termed as the E-readers that store an entire library of books on the go.
Tablet is a combination of both laptops and smartphones. No wonder, you are getting the best of what Smartphone offers and what laptops deliver. You can access some of the key features of smartphones through tablets and whenever needed, you can switch to even laptop mode.
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11. Access to Multiple Applications
Tablets offer you access to multiple applications which are difficult to run on smartphones. Through tablets, you can read reviews, browse news, compose music, and search for unlimited content. Though smartphones are quite portable, they have limitations when it comes to screen size. So rather than opting for a smartphone having maximum dimensions, you can switch to a tablet to do the reading, enjoy gaming and access some valuable online content.
12. Low Possibility of Getting Misplaced
A recent study has revealed that Tablets have a low possibility of getting misplaced when compared with smartphones. As they are big in size and less cumbersome than laptops, you can carry them anywhere without feeling the risk of losing them. They are easy to get noticed which offers them a slight advantage over other portable devices such as Smartphones.
13. Tablets have Better Specs than Smartphones
Tablets can be used for all the tasks that users tend to do on smartphones and laptops. From web browsing to playing games, you can use it to push all the limits. If you are willing to get a better user experience while doing multiple activities, tablets definitely prevail over Smartphones. Those are awesome for lengthy sessions and you can enjoy an incredible multimedia experience without putting stress on your eyes. This is one of the key reasons why most gamers choose tablets over smartphones for playing highly graphics-oriented games.
14. Act as a Learning Device
Tablet is an ideal device for kids who want to do their educational projects on high-end gadgets. Most schools even prefer to give learning sessions to their kids through tablets thereby making it one of the most sought-after devices in the education industry. Children can complete their assignments and homework on a tablet with total ease thereby saving their valuable time in the long term.
15. Achieve High Productivity
Though Smartphone gives you the option of a split-screen while running multiple apps, there is very little that you can do with a screen of 5 inches. When you pull out a keyboard, your one app disappears. It is also not practical to open multiple apps on such a small display. Tablets make better sense with their large displays. Similar to the computer, you can run multiple applications on tablets and also drag or drop windows whenever required. When it comes to productivity, you will find tablets are offering you a helping hand over smartphones. In the long term, you can achieve so many things with tablets that you can’t think of doing over smartphones.
16. Peerless Multimedia Experience
The high screen size of a tablet means you can enjoy multimedia in a bigger format which is missing in Smartphones. Whether it is online gaming, social networking, chatting, or watching movies, tablets will definitely impress you with their high-end computational abilities. Unless you are looking to make a phone call, there is hardly any reason why you shouldn’t pick a tablet over a smartphone.
17. For Awesome Art Designing
When it comes to creating incredible art, the days of paper have gone and digital is the way of the future. Transforming your imagination into creative work has become easy now, courtesy of tablets. Whether you are a videographer, comic artist, or graphic designer, you can think of going any extreme with a tablet. You may do similar things with smartphones. But, it is hard to achieve the level of creativity and efficiency that tablets offer you.
18. Managing Things while Traveling
Tablets are an invaluable asset for those who journey often, providing a convenient way to access laptops on planes and trains. YouTubers making travel vlogs can rely on tablets when uploading their content from remote places such as cafes or hotels – seamlessly editing videos and holding live sessions with followers no matter where they are in the world!
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Conclusion:
Tablets have always held a peculiar charm that is hard to resist. Albeit, some of their features might be there (sometimes) on some smartphones. But it would be ridiculous to equate smartphones with tablets.
Web Developer & SEO Specialist with 15+ years of experience in Open Source Web Development specialized in Joomla & WordPress development. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions".
Hello Souvik,
I really liked this article, it has opened up a whole new world in using my tablet!
I’m a 65-year-old Respiratory Therapist that can add another advantage of tablets over smartphones. Viewing chest x-rays for clinicians is of prime importance and needs to be done quickly and accurately. Tablets have saved us so much time in making life-and-death decisions at the patient’s bedside! Small smartphone screens just can’t compete, when it comes to images generated and available to us in the healthcare arena!!!
Yes, this is really an excellent use-case for Tablets! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
You stated many beautiful qualities. A tablet versus a mobile phone, but you left out the obvious and probably most crucial function of a tablet vs. a cell phone, and that’s the funtionality of the tablet being an actual mobile device other than that it was a fabulous presentation, Thanks for the read.
I have an Obama Government Free Phone with Free Data. I get a new phone every yr since 2016 due to upgrades with hardware. However, I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4(2020). I pay $40/mo. For 30GB of data for my device. I Absolutely Love this tablet.
My issue is, for some reason even though I have an actual phone number directly associated with this tablet/account as well as all the necessary icons and software necessary (pre-installed by the factory) to make phone calls with this device, I’m still unable. This makes me both angry and very frustrated.
I absolutely REFUSE to have 2 separate monthly bills; One for cellular service and the other one for data. I also do NOT want to be responsible for 2 different devices. What I ultimately seek is a tablet with the largest display possible (12-17+ inches) with full cellular capabilities = 1 cellular/data contract/monthly bill. Is this request of mine even remotely possible or is this just a pipedream?
They simply don’t make a phone anywhere near the size I seek. I’m 54 yrs old, a Published Author with very large fingers. I utilize my tablet primarily for Research of which I use an average of 28-30+GB/mo data but I’ve also begun using it for writing as opposed to my laptop. It’s my hope that perhaps you can offer some suggestions and help to point me in the right direction.
Tablet all the way!
I would like a tablet that can also make a call and text.
Thanks for this review of the comparison between tablets and Smartphones. It has given me the energy to explore more on what I can do with the recently acquired Hope 10 Pro X-Tigi Tablet, 4GB RAM-64GB ROM.
How I wish to also know more about other Tablet utilities as apps, that can improve my productivity as regards books, video, and audio editing apps.
Thanks in advance for the informative and helpful tips.
Mr. Leonard Simiyu Leonard,
Eldoret, Kenya.
Wow! This has encouraged me into loving tablets more.
In the age of COVID 19 and spending more time at home it may be wiser to hold off on a new phone. I was planning on upgrading my older Sony Xperia Xa2 for the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 but opted to get a Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite tablet instead. Also, I want to wait for the second and third generation 5G phones to allow that technology to become more mature.
Agree here but one major disadvantage is its bulk size. We can’t carry it in the pocket just as like smartphone. I often confused why people prefer Tablets now you clear all my doubts by sharing details here.
I would say that point 1 isn’t a very valid point. Tablets aren’t meant to replace your phone, you’d still need one to make calls and that means you don’t save money buying a tablet, it’s just an additional cost on top of your smartphone.
I have both an 8-inch tablet and 4.5-inch smartphone. It’s great to have a secondary device while the other one is charging. Not to mention, they are useful in different ways.
Guess I will love to own one to play my favorite game.
Hi Souvik,
Great to read the lovely post. But not agree with the number 1, because A tablet with high performance, High RAM, and Good Storage are not less-expensive.
And the another point is, As a tablet is larger in size, so sometimes it also not possible to carry it anywhere.
However, Thanks for the awesome post.
Yes, That is true that Tablets are larger in size, so sometimes it also not possible to carry it anywhere.
My daughter asked me to buy a tab rather than a phone. I doubted that she comes after a few days with a demand to buy a phone (telling phone is superior to Tab in certain features).
Now I am clear. Going for a Tab. Thanks a lot.
Good choice! :-)
1. Smartphones are personal; tablets may not be.
2. Smartphones are taken everywhere.
3. Users expect to be treated differently
4. Two distinct marketing opportunities.
Of course, smartphones are more convenient than tablets. That’s why, if you check the market share, there is no competition on both and smartphones will beat tablets any day. Here in this article, we have just tried to find out why you may consider to buy a tablet and is tablets has any goodness over smartphones.