Is a Giant Tablet Worth It? #Helpful Post

Hey guys, this is Austin!

With tablets getting bigger and bigger, is a giant tablet actually worth it?

Samsung is taking a gamble and the answer is yes, with the Galaxy View.

With an 18 inch screen this dwarfs even reasonably sized tablets like the iPad Air 2.

It looks more like a portable monitor than a tablet.

The size is immediately noticeable when you get to the box. Besides a few basic specs, it's all business.

Inside there's not a lot to it: you'll find the Quick Start Guide and a laptop style power adapter.

What I want to know is: what exactly can you do with it?

The general idea isn't too far off from the normal Galaxy Tabs.

It's running Android 5.1 Lollipop with a custom launcher, that's very video focused.

With that 18.4 inch 1080p screen watching video works well.

Apps like Netflix are going to give you a solid experience.

The display itself isn't anything all that special though.

It gets reasonably bright and colors are solid, but it's the size that's really the main draw.

If you get close, you'll see it's not the crispiest when it comes to detail, but for video it's fine.

One helpful thing is the built-in stand. It's useful for propping up the view to use it like a TV.

While it's not really meant to be used as a laptop, it's also sort of usable on a lap.

The stand will also double as a carrying handle, which is kind of nice.

You can use it as a portable device as the battery will last nearly all day, but it's pretty ridiculous.

This is a seriously heavy tablet

and the size means that you're basically forced to carry it around with a handle all day.

Good luck fitting this in a bag especially since the stand doesn't come off.

It's also not adjustable, which means you're basically either setting it on a table or carrying it.

It's a good idea in theory, but it's an annoyance in real-world use.

Something else that is a disappointment are the speakers.

Tucked behind the stand, you can see they're big but they sound really tinny.

They get reasonably loud, but for such a video focused device it's a bit of a surprise.

The ports are pretty straightforward.

There's a headphone jack, micro USB and power port,

but I can't help but wish it had an HDMI end so you could use it as a portable display.

As weird as the Galaxy View is, though, at the very least it's a decent Android tablet.

It's got an 8 core Exynos 7580, which has plenty of power for a 1080p display.

It's not the most powerful tablet out there but it can handle some gaming.

But you'll probably want a controller.

Holding such a huge tablet for more than a few minutes gets uncomfortable,

not to mention it looks absolutely ridiculous.

After a bit hit-and-miss, some scale fairly well to the 18 inch screen like Chrome

and most video apps like YouTube are decent but it's clear nothing is really meant for the View.

Other apps that are designed for phones look almost comically terrible.

Android doesn't have amazing support for tablets as is, much less enormous ones.

Well, the Galaxy View likes a rear facing camera and actually has a pretty decent 2.1 MP front-facing camera.

Totally fine for something like Skype, Google Hangouts, or making YouTube videos?

One of the things I've really appreciated about Samsung is their willingness to take risks.

Tech can really feel like it's all the same these days, but Samsung is always down to try something new.

That said, the Galaxy View might be an interesting idea in theory,

but in reality it's hard to see who exactly the View is for.

Pair that with a $500 price tag and it's a really hard sell.

So, would you guys want out of a giant tablet?

Let me know in the comments below and I will catch you in the next one.