Recommend android tablet for Garmin Pilot?

deyoung

deyoung

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Chris
What android tablets have people had good luck flying with, with Garmin Pilot (or Foreflight, if there's an android version---I'm not sure about that)?

I'm looking at a new one; I've been using a Nexus 9, but I find it surprisingly slow, both within the app and switching apps, and Pilot has crashed on it a couple of times (rarely, but I'd rather see never). The tablet itself also crashed once while flying, possibly due to overheating, but all in all I'm looking for something better.

I'm looking at the Samsung tab S3, among some others, but wondering if there are any favorites?

Thanks!
 
I'm using a Samsung Tab A with an extra memory card. Works fine for me.
 
Yup, I've run it on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S and haven't had any issues, but it's not running GP that often.


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Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus (make sure it's the Plus and not the regular).
 
I upgraded a month or so ago from a Nexus 7 to a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. Bought it re-furbed for $240. 32g of internal storage, and I added a 64g card. Sweet unit with an absolutely gorgeous display.

Jim
 
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I've been debating this too. My iPad mini is very long in the tooth so I'm looking at similar sized options. The Mini4 is still a fantastic tablet but if Apple is not going to run out the Mini5, I'll be looking hard at Android (preferably Samsung) tabs.
 
Samsung Tab S2. Plenty fast, plenty bright, though watch the battery draw if the brightness is set at max (which it doesn't need to be, most of the time).
 
For those of you using Samsung Galaxy Tab with a supplemental memory card, is there any way to access charts, etc. that are on the card without manually moving them to the internal storage, after first moving something to the SD card to make space? I have 32 GB of internal storage and that isn't enough.
 
DoubleD said:
For those of you using Samsung Galaxy Tab with a supplemental memory card, is there any way to access charts, etc. that are on the card without manually moving them to the internal storage, after first moving something to the SD card to make space? I have 32 GB of internal storage and that isn't enough.
Click to expand...

Garmin Pilot has a setting, which they've claimed for quite some time is a Beta feature, that allows it to keep all the files on the external memory card. Works fine. Now and then you have to try a couple times to get the app running, but once running it works well.
 
I have a Nexus 9. It worked great for GP until about a year ago, when it started falling over on its face randomly. It works great most of the time... but I do not recommend a Nexus 9 anymore. It's a bit older than the rest now, too.

I went and bought an iPad mini that I run GP on now without any complaints.
 
Ghery said:
Garmin Pilot has a setting, which they've claimed for quite some time is a Beta feature, that allows it to keep all the files on the external memory card. Works fine. Now and then you have to try a couple times to get the app running, but once running it works well.
Click to expand...

I only fly 40-60 hrs/yr so like the fact that FlightPln Go is free. Any ideas how to have that access the SD card directly?
 
DoubleD said:
I only fly 40-60 hrs/yr so like the fact that FlightPln Go is free. Any ideas how to have that access the SD card directly?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no. I'm not familiar with FlightPln Go. And I wish I flew as much as you do. :D
 
Another Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 user here and works great. There were a couple of versions of Pilot right around the Synthetic Vision upgrade that would crash...especially when obstacle alerts would activate.

I don't even use a external card yet and have just about every map loaded which is around 13GB and still have another 12GB to go on internal flash.

On my longest solo cross country I left it on from 20min before engine startup to final engine shutdown back at home and including two full stops for bathroom breaks. Outside air temp in the high 80's. About 4h:45min total on time and screen locked at around 90%. When i got back it was down to less than 10% battery. We now have 75 flights of 1hr (or more) on this setup. Everything from longer family flights to my CFI trying to teach me to land over and over again :) I have never used a charger in flight. We do use a Garmin GLO for GPS but on every occasion that I forgot it or forgot to turn it on we had 100% GPS connectivity via the tablet. Always mounted in a RAM tablet holder (solid back) and never overheated. Clearly no complaints.
 
DoubleD said:
I only fly 40-60 hrs/yr so like the fact that FlightPln Go is free. Any ideas how to have that access the SD card directly?
Click to expand...

Tap the folder in the upper right on the downloads screen. Tap 'Use external storage'. Done.
 
DoubleD said:
I only fly 40-60 hrs/yr so like the fact that FlightPln Go is free. Any ideas how to have that access the SD card directly?
Click to expand...

Android Nougat (7.1) has a feature called "adoptable storage" where you can re-format the SD card in such a way to make it look like a part of internal storage.
 
I've been very pleased with my Asus Zenpad Z580CA. It is an 8" tablet that's the size of most 7" tablets, because it has thin side margins. It's also very light and thin. It has 64gb of ram, which is all you'd need for anything you'd want to do with Garmin Pilot, plus plenty of room for mp3s, pdfs, etc. If you want, you can add another 128gb with an SD card. It has never crashed or overheated. The intenal GPS/antenna is sensitive and will get a fix even inside my metal hangar. The tablet has no problems connecting to any WIFI or Bluetooth device, and casts videos reliably to TVs.

It is fast, very smooth, and easy to look at with great resolution. Bright enough for the cockpit. Specs below as listed on Amazon, accurate except Android 6 is now available for it:
  • 8" IPS Display (2048 x 1536) with Corning® Gorilla® Glass3 and ASUS True2Life+ technology for premium visual experience
  • intel Atom Z3580 Super Quad-Core, 64bit, 2.3GHz
  • Intel Quad Core, Bay Trail Z3735G, 1.33GHz
  • 8M/5M Dual Camera; 1 x microSD Card slot, support up to 128GB SDHC
  • Android 5.0 Lollipop,Dual band wireless 802.11 ac; USB type C connector. Please refer the User Manual before use.
 
DoubleD said:
I only fly 40-60 hrs/yr so like the fact that FlightPln Go is free. Any ideas how to have that access the SD card directly?
Click to expand...
It's in the docs. I can look it up again if you can't figure it out. It was pretty simple.
 
DoubleD said:
I only fly 40-60 hrs/yr so like the fact that FlightPln Go is free. Any ideas how to have that access the SD card directly?
Click to expand...

Are you using FltPlan Go on Android? I'm a FltPlan Go user but it has all sorts of problems on my Android phone. What tablet are you using?
 
Matt Brasher said:
Go with an iPad. Garmin Pilot on Android is terrible.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say terrible, but certainly not as good. The animations aren't as pretty and you're missing several features, but I used GP on Android for a few years before buying an iPad.
 
Matt Brasher said:
Go with an iPad. Garmin Pilot on Android is terrible.
Click to expand...
From a VFR only point of view...I'll disagree. We tried GP on iPad and Android. Unless you really want glide rings, W&B and having it count your touch and go's: we did not see anywhere near enough difference to warrant one over the other - especially given the lower cost of the tablet and not needing a 3G/4G based iPad. If you're going to run GP on Android it will probably forever be behind in features...which is probably actually good thing.
 
Matt Brasher said:
Go with an iPad. Garmin Pilot on Android is terrible.
Click to expand...
Disagree, you sound like an apple fanboi. I've used GP and FltPlnGO on my Android tablet, albeit not relying on it for navigation, and haven't had a hiccup with it. I'm sure there are some additional features/support for the iThings, but it seems to run just fine on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, as well as the Galaxy S4 phone I've tried it on. I will say that if all charts are up to date and you let it establish GPS position before you take off, it seems to work seamlessly. However, without using an external GPS, I've had it take a bit longer to identify position once airborne.
 
labbadabba said:
Are you using FltPlan Go on Android? I'm a FltPlan Go user but it has all sorts of problems on my Android phone. What tablet are you using?
Click to expand...

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 with 32 GB of memory, which is not enough. The tablet handles FlightPln Go just fine.
 
chartbundle said:
Tap the folder in the upper right on the downloads screen. Tap 'Use external storage'. Done.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, but I'm not finding that.

asicer said:
Android Nougat (7.1) has a feature called "adoptable storage" where you can re-format the SD card in such a way to make it look like a part of internal storage.
Click to expand...

I have 7.0 and my software is supposedly up to date.
 
DoubleD said:
I have 7.0 and my software is supposedly up to date.
Click to expand...

Up to Samsung date. Not up to Google date. It takes a looong time, oftentimes never, for manufacturers to take Google's Android code and lobotomize customize it for their devices. That's one thing that Steve Jobs always chided about Android while pimping promoting Apple and iOS.
 
So here we are a year later, and this question is again on my mind... I have an older Samsung tablet, do not remember the model but it is 3 to 4 years old.. and GP is running slower and slower. on My phone, a Samsung 8s+ is runs great but I really want a tablet on the yoke to fly with. What Android based tablet would be best??.. current offerings considered. having the 9 inch being the largest size considered...
 
If its running slower with the same software, you could try factory resetting the tablet. I am using Galaxy Tab A8 and it runs ok. But it is true that GP runs better in iOS, although I am not convinced this is intrinsic to Android. My bet is that this is because Garmin writes their code on iOS and then ports is over to Android after the fact. You can also check out droidEFB. It runs extremely well, although lacking a lot of features compared to GP. I am waiting for that to improve, and I may make the switch over to droidEFB.
 
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I've been flying every flight with a Galaxy Tab S2 and it never lets me down. I am sure the newer S3 would be even faster. The only thing the S2 doesn't do "fast" is the Synthetic Vision view - to clunky. I also have a iPad Mini 4. The display on the Samsung is definitely nicer (shaper and brighter) but the iPad mini 4 battery lasts longer all things being equal. Right now the iPad mini 4 is my backup and a "Gee wiz look at the SynVis" option (looks cool on the go pro videos).
 
Has anyone tried using a Chromebook?

Tim

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
 
tspear said:
Has anyone tried using a Chromebook?

Tim

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Droid EFB reportedly runs on Chromebooks that support Android. Don't know about Garmin Pilot. Seems like a bit of a performance kludge, though, to run Android within or on top of Chrome. I don't think any(?) chromebooks have internal GPS chips, a possible negative if you want GPS redundancy.
 
chemgeek said:
Droid EFB reportedly runs on Chromebooks that support Android. Don't know about Garmin Pilot. Seems like a bit of a performance kludge, though, to run Android within or on top of Chrome. I don't think any(?) chromebooks have internal GPS chips, a possible negative if you want GPS redundancy.
Click to expand...
Chromebook is actually Android under the covers based on a few blogs. It used to be based on a Linux distro early on.

I never actually looked under the covers to see what is going on.

Tim


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Asus tf700
Very bright but getting to be an older model.

Try and find the nits rating oof the screen to compare brightness. The tf700 is around 600 nits if I recall.
 
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