[Huawei MediaPad M5  Questions & Answers] B2WJ:
H

Oops. A well stated, well reasoned reply that matches exactly my own reasons for preferring Android tablets. But soured in the end by a reaction that arguably came near crossing this forum's line on decorum. I

could

consider conceding "obsolete" was rather over-the-top. But I won't. Because this is DopeFish1337's post and he began by relating his distrust and negative experience with Huawei Android updates. I related my own experiences with Android manufacturers' update failings. None should be better positioned to know this ongoing issue than XDA Developers. No less an authority than Computerworld said it ever so succinctly in February 2017: "Look, there's no sugar-coating it anymore: Android updates are a big, hot mess. And just when it seemed they were starting to get better, bam! They're suddenly worse than ever." And from Business Insider also last year: "That Android tablets tend to be quickly forgotten when it comes to software updates doesn't help its case."

Now arrival of the first Chrome OS tablets reveals notable public hostility. From Android Central:

From Chrome Unboxed:

Though not a developer I'm fairly capable handling software and electronics and joined XDA Developers as a way of possibly resurrecting my 2012 Android tablet. An OS fatality rendered the tablet not savable but my love of Android goes on with my smartphone. So full disclosure, despite my criticism of manufacturers' Android update practices I have no issues whatsoever with my 2015 Android 4.4.4 smartphone. As to the dead tablet, those few glitches I said emerged after ACER provided an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean were so minor as to subtract nothing from usability. So fellow Android fans, understand I would love to see Android the dominant Google OS. I like Android so much I'd even like seeing a true desktop version. But that's not where the market's heading. So like it or not, we have choices to make either now or in the future.

It’s no secret that Android tablets have died off over the last few years. We have been expecting to see the eventual move from Android to Chrome OS on tablets, and the initiative has gotten underway. -- Phandroid

No worries. Google has your back. I surmise Chrome OS is the future especially for mobile hybrid phone/tablets. -- Chrome Unboxed

While Android sales continue to trounce iOS in the U.S. and internationally and by an even wider margin as 2018 began, that is almost entirely smartphone. Anyone using an Android tablet should notice that when Internet advertisers detect an Android device, that majority unable to identify the specific device offer a generic reference to "your smartphone." While Google and the former Android Inc. were annihilating the competition on the phone side, customers wanting tablets were suckered by obscenely overpriced iOS offerings.

Many who like me once saw Chromebooks as a joke say Chrome OS is at least as good as Android devices now that Android applications are available. Plus I've learned you don't have to open any "apps" in the Chrome browser -- as long as you know the two easy steps to open any app in its own "window." So folks, let's not "shoot messengers" over this. I'm still not quite on board with it. But it's happening. And I get it.

Soon after my Android tablet failed ACER received FCC approval for the Hexa-core tablet. So I accepted the frustration of the tiny smartphone screen for months while awaiting the new device's unveiling. But when it became available instead of rushing my order in I questioned what the heck I was doing. Though no match for an Android 7.0 Nougat powered Hexa-core processor, my phone was giving me all the Android basics I needed, plus ability to talk and text. I saw the speedy tablet as a great deal at $299 or less where discounted. But in the final analysis I was about to spend around double my phone's retail price just to have a bigger screen.

So this is why the concept of Chrome OS tablets intrigues me. Instead of two largely redundant devices, you have the excellent Android OS for the phone and a tablet with a standard USB-C dock to enable external monitor, keyboard, and storage. So you have tablet with pen while mobile, and 4K monitor and keyboard while docked. Unlike anything else on the market, it can be a desktop disguised as a tablet.