Ask HN: How come no one makes 7“ Android tablets anymore?

AMZN still makes the Fire 7.

I think HN readers aren't aware of the success AMZN has had with Fire tablet, but if you go visit someone who lives in a trailer you might find they have a Fire tablet, have never heard of "Android" and are unaware the tablet has anything to do with AMZN, but it is the only device they use to access the internet.

AMZN's willingness to sell Fire tablets at cost is one of the reasons why people think Android tablets are dead -- it means value-oriented tablets are completely DOA. When you consider what you get for the price these are an astonishing value.

It was only in the past year that I discovered that my 2017 Fire 7 can run LineageOS. For the first time ever, it was fast enough to be a pleasure to use, particularly when I flashed it a second time without Google play services. I put a new battery in it a month ago, and a 256GB sd card a few months before. I'm excited to find out how long it stays useful.

That's awesome. Wish the screens on these things were better, though.

For sure. It's good enough to read text and watch video, but I try not to look too close.

It’s a shame there’s no gps in fire tablets. Would’ve been perfect.

Aside from Amazon, Lenovo also still makes a 7" Android tablet.[1]

The 2013 Nexus 7 had a 16:10 ratio 7.02" screen in a 7.83" x 4.72" x 0.41" form factor.

Its bezels were large (62.3% screen-to-body ratio) even for its time. So the next size up isn't 10-11", it's usually 8-9" in a form factor closer to the 2013 Nexus 7's, just with more screen-to-body ratio.

- Samsung's A7 Lite has a 5:3 ratio 8.7" screen in a 8.37" x 4.91" x 0.31" (+0.54" x +0.19" x -0.1") form factor.[2]

- Lenovo's Tab M8 has a 16:10 ratio 8.0" screen in a 7.80" x 4.83" x 0.32" (-0.03" x +0.09" x -0.09") form factor.[3]

- Amazon's 2020 Fire HD 8 has a 16:10 ratio 8.0" screen in an 8.43" x 5.04" x 0.3" (+0.60" x +0.32" x -0.11") form factor.[4]

> Did the rise of big phones kill the market for the paperback-book form factor of tablet? Does nobody want a modern Nexus 7 anymore, like they used to?

There are arguably more flagship and mid-range phones with 6.5" or larger screens than there are smaller phones in that spec range. The Galaxy Note 10+ has a 16:9 ratio 6.8" screen in a 6.39" x 3.04" x 0.31" (-1.5" x -1.7" x -0.1") form factor.[5]

1: Tab M7; 7.0", 1024x600, Android Go 11 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/tablets/android-tablets/lenov...

2: https://www.gsmarena.com/lenovo_tab_m8_(fhd)-9826.php

3: https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/tablets/buy/?modelCode=SM-...

4: https://www.gsmarena.com/amazon_fire_hd_8-7610.php

5: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note10+-9732.php

A search on gsmarena gives more than 100 phones [1] larger that 6.7" for less than ∼250$ and in the last 2 years only.

So I guess you could just buy a “phone”. is 6.7 vs 7 much ?

[1] https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?nYearMin=2021&nPriceMax...

Yeah 7” tablet seems to be covered by “large phone.”

Most phones' aspect ratio is very narrow compared to 16:10.

Height-wise, a 6.7 inch phone is similar to a 7 inch tablet. But the tablet offers far more viewing surface area:

http://www.displaywars.com/7-inch-16x10-vs-6,7-inch-d%7B19x9...

It felt like there was a big wave of cheap Android tablets a few years back. Usually with sketchy brands (either no brand, brand not known for mobile devices, or resuscitated "Grandma's TV" brands), no long-term support, and terrible build quality. The few serious attempts that hit the market-- the Galaxy Tabs and the like-- were as costly as a laptop for a product that was far less compelling than one.

I suspect that soured the market on them-- the immediate assumption is that they're trash or toys at best.

My perspective as an Android dev, is that Android tablets are basically dead because of the old view system. Creating individual layouts wasn't that difficult, but creating layouts that looked good in landscape, tablets, and various sizes was time consuming. Plus changing orientations would cause data loss with out a lot of boiler plate.

So it really wasn't worth the effort to do anything besides lock portrait mode for most developers. 7 inches is a particularly annoying size to adjust layouts for.

This made the tablet experience kinda crappy in most apps. Which helped create lower tablet sales. Which further disincentivized the creation of tablet UIs. Everyone buying a tablet then started getting iPads. Repeat for many years.

Jetpack Compose makes adaptable layouts much easier to create, there's a big push with documentation showing how to create layouts for tablets, foldables, and other unusual form factors, and Google is starting to warn that locking to portrait mode will stop working eventually.

There's no guarantee Android tablets will sell again, but you're currently too late or too early.

I still like the idea of 7" tablet, but limited to reading comics/books, because doing that on phone isn't particularly comfortable.

For browsing, watching movie, typing etc, obviously I prefer 11".

Which means for travelling, I need to carry at least 4 devices: a phone, a 7" tablet, a 11" tablet, and laptop. Ouch :/

Personally, I prefer at least an 8 inch screen. 7 is just slightly too uncomfortable for my eyesight.

Posted on a Fire 8.

How do you use a phone then?

I can use a phone but the fact it is not very comfortable is why I also have a tablet.

I use my rooted 7" Amazon Fire daily! Typing this reply on it right now! :-)

Ipad mini 6.8" is my favorite, but the modern 6 is 8.2" if I am right, its too big for light usage.

6.7-7" is just the size of large phones now.