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OK, so I have a kindle fire hd which is great except that amazon won't let me use software of my choice as they understandably want to make money on content having sold me the hardware at cost price. I have decided to get a new android tablet, but don't want to make a similar mistake again. Ruled out the fantastic looking sony tablet as it has a skinned version of android almost as bad as the fire and don't want to go down the apple route thanks.
So choice is between nexus 7 and the recently announced samsung note 8; veering towards the samsung, but conscious that they also run impure android - can any users confirm whether the skinning just adds features or whether it restricts use of flash, full google play apps etc?
Thanks,
Skinned android generally adds featueres, the pure Android is good but doesn't have some of the little things that the others add. On a Samsung S3 here and it's great looks the same as the note etc.
But a 'pure' android device will always allow you to add or delete the features you want.
Skinned android is not usually like the Kindle android - so say a Samsung android is just a bit more whizzy but it doesn't restrict what you can do.
FWIW, I marginally prefer the android of my Nexus 7 to my wife's Samsung tab but it wouldn't stop me being happy to use a Samsung.
there is not much I can't add (not found anything at all yet) on my S3.
Only thing I've seen on my Samsung tab that could be a problem is you can't get rid of Samsung software without rooting it.
If your Fire is still fast enough, you could always root it or even install pure Android.
Can you not jailbreak your Fire? (apologies if I'm talking a load of rubbish, but I presume that ought to get around Amazon's restrictions).
As an owner of the Nexus 7 and a Note 10.1...
The Nexus will be better if you want something slick and simple that gets updated regularly with the latest version of Android.
The Samsung will have some extra bells and whistles (the pen is lovely to use and very handy for everyday use and writing notes/drawing). The only drawback is that Samsung will update Android less often, so any new features might be slow to appear.
In conclusion, I don't think that there is a bad choice between the 2, but I'd probably go for the Samsung for the pen.
like the idea of rooting the fire as the hardware is first rate, but wouldn't know where to start
samsung note 8 not on sale in uk yet anyway, so may look at fire again before having to make a decision. if not it sounds like the samsung...
Can you not jailbreak your Fire?
You can, never done it so no idea how risky it is (risk being the chance of you ending up with an expensive paperweight at the end....)
The Nexus will be better if you want something slick and simple that gets updated regularly with the latest version of Android.
For a while, my Nexus One phone no longer receives updates.