Samsung Tab A tablet

[mtntrogger]

I just picked up the Samsung Tab A 8inch tablet (2019) exclusively for flying my birds. I had read some decent reviews. I was between the Samsung and the Lenovo, which is cheaper. Everything I read said the Samsung had a better image quality. I uninstalled everything the device would let me, then installed the dji apps and litchi. I tried to fly with it yesterday and was very unimpressed with the video quality. It seemed pretty pixelated and out of focus. I am wondering if anyone else on here uses one of these. Perhaps @LarBear360 ?

Is there a setting or something I am missing or is it just not very powerful ? I figured with a 2 ghz quad core processor it should be plenty quick. I currently fly with my iphone 6 (1.4ghz) and so far the image quality on that blows away this tablet. I was trying to use the Samsung to fly my new used P3S, I was also attempting to use a otg cable between the p3s remote and the tablet. Any input regarding this tablet would be seriously appreciated. Thank you all

 

[KachemakDiver]

The information in this attachment should help you. It did help for my Tab E(2015)

 

[KachemakDiver]

I was trying to use the Samsung to fly my new used P3S

I use it strictly for flying P3P’s.

 

[LarBear360]

I just picked up the Samsung Tab A 8inch tablet (2019) exclusively for flying my birds. I had read some decent reviews. I was between the Samsung and the Lenovo, which is cheaper. Everything I read said the Samsung had a better image quality. I uninstalled everything the device would let me, then installed the dji apps and litchi. I tried to fly with it yesterday and was very unimpressed with the video quality. It seemed pretty pixelated and out of focus. I am wondering if anyone else on here uses one of these. Perhaps @LarBear360 ?

Is there a setting or something I am missing or is it just not very powerful ? I figured with a 2 ghz quad core processor it should be plenty quick. I currently fly with my iphone 6 (1.4ghz) and so far the image quality on that blows away this tablet. I was trying to use the Samsung to fly my new used P3S, I was also attempting to use a otg cable between the p3s remote and the tablet. Any input regarding this tablet would be seriously appreciated. Thank you all

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with the Samsung Tab A. I use the Nvidia K1 or the Huawei M5.

From the specs I've read I think you have sufficient fire power. With that in mind the first thing I would eliminate is the OTG (on the go) adapter and replace it with a dedicated cable capable of handling data transfer, not just power for charging.

Since the P3S doesn't require a cable, it's not apparent to me why you would need to connect the tablet to the controller. Did you mean to say the P3P? If so, you can try adjusting the transmission quality between the drone and the tablet. Here's a link to DJI that I bookmarked when I acquired my P3P. [DJI GO Tutorial] Video Downlink Settings. Note: This does not work on the P3S.

And if you haven't seen it, phantomhelp.com has a guide to maximizing your tablet settings. Walk through this and see if it helps.

Install DJI GO on an Android Tablet or Phone (Step-by-Step Guide) | Phantom Help

Phantom Help is a site for help with DJI Phantom drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Chrislaf]

I don’t think you can use any OTG cable with a P3S, only the WiFi.

I have been considering the purchase of a tablet too for both my P3S and my Spark and had been considering the Tab A too. I am also considering the Huawei MediaPad T3 or T5. I would be very interested in hearing whether you can get any improved video quality with the Tab A as I like the size better.

I have always flown my drones with my iPhones and currently uses my iPhone XR which works perfectly but I long for a bigger screen but don’t want to spend hundreds of $$$ on an iPad.

Chris

 

[LarBear360]

I don’t think you can use any OTG cable with a P3S, only the WiFi.

I have been considering the purchase of a tablet too for both my P3S and my Spark and had been considering the Tab A too. I am also considering the Huawei MediaPad T3 or T5. I would be very interested in hearing whether you can get any improved video quality with the Tab A as I like the size better.

I have always flown my drones with my iPhones and currently uses my iPhone XR which works perfectly but I long for a bigger screen but don’t want to spend hundreds of $$$ on an iPad.

Chris

Look for an M3 or M5 from Huawei.

 

[colo pilot]

I have always used my Samsung Tab a tablet when flying first my three standard and now my p4p. I have been using a 10 in Samsung a for the last 2 years, easier on the eyes. Only problem I ever had was when I had a bad SD card then it was a little shaky a little blurry, and new card took care of that.

 

[mtntrogger]

The information in this attachment should help you. It did help for my Tab E(2015)

This was super helpful, thank you. I havent tried flying with it yet since I went through the process in this doc, but I can already tell its gonna be much better now. Thanks again !

 

[LarBear360]

This was super helpful, thank you. I havent tried flying with it yet since I went through the process in this doc, but I can already tell its gonna be much better now. Thanks again !

Perfect. I just opened that file and it's the same document I linked earlier from Phantomhelp. There's a gold mine of other resources on his site.

 

[mtntrogger]

Perfect. I just opened that file and it's the same document I linked earlier from Phantomhelp. There's a gold mine of other resources on his site.

Thanks boss ! I will dig into his site.

 

[Jorge Vergara L]

I just picked up the Samsung Tab A 8inch tablet (2019) exclusively for flying my birds. I had read some decent reviews. I was between the Samsung and the Lenovo, which is cheaper. Everything I read said the Samsung had a better image quality. I uninstalled everything the device would let me, then installed the dji apps and litchi. I tried to fly with it yesterday and was very unimpressed with the video quality. It seemed pretty pixelated and out of focus. I am wondering if anyone else on here uses one of these. Perhaps @LarBear360 ?

Is there a setting or something I am missing or is it just not very powerful ? I figured with a 2 ghz quad core processor it should be plenty quick. I currently fly with my iphone 6 (1.4ghz) and so far the image quality on that blows away this tablet. I was trying to use the Samsung to fly my new used P3S, I was also attempting to use a otg cable between the p3s remote and the tablet. Any input regarding this tablet would be seriously appreciated. Thank you all

Hello dear ... I have experience with the 9.7-inch Tab A ... and I tell you that the image is excellent ... without latency problems, image freezing or the image getting pixelated, the detail that it does detect In this Tablet it is that it does not have a compass sensor or a magnetic field sensor, which implies that the Radar in the application is not exact between the orientation of the location of the RC with respect to the tip of the drone ... that is, it is not aligned or parallel between the two, they are not oriented in the same direction, which causes orientation errors in the event that you do not have direct vision with the drone due to the distance or when you have image loss in the DJI Go4 App ... and you have to bring return the drone manually and the RTH does not work well ... I do not know if the version of Tablet you have You have these sensors ... I suggest you install the GPS Status App and check the status of the sensors .. .There the App will locate and give you relevant information about each sensor that and you have the tablet installed .... I hope this information will help you ... If the image becomes pixelated I suggest you reinstall the App on the Tablet, also try another usb cable, the one you use may have low transmission data, this can also cause a bad image and I also suggest that you clean the connectors of both the USB port of the RC and the Tablet with compressed air .... Good luck ..!

 

[baddogtwo]

I just picked up the Samsung Tab A 8inch tablet (2019) exclusively for flying my birds. I had read some decent reviews. I was between the Samsung and the Lenovo, which is cheaper. Everything I read said the Samsung had a better image quality. I uninstalled everything the device would let me, then installed the dji apps and litchi. I tried to fly with it yesterday and was very unimpressed with the video quality. It seemed pretty pixelated and out of focus. I am wondering if anyone else on here uses one of these. Perhaps @LarBear360 ?

Is there a setting or something I am missing or is it just not very powerful ? I figured with a 2 ghz quad core processor it should be plenty quick. I currently fly with my iphone 6 (1.4ghz) and so far the image quality on that blows away this tablet. I was trying to use the Samsung to fly my new used P3S, I was also attempting to use a otg cable between the p3s remote and the tablet. Any input regarding this tablet would be seriously appreciated. Thank you all

I fly all my drones with this exact tablet with no issues as you described. MP, M2P, M2P Enterprise, P4p V2.0, never any issue. I use DJI Go 4, Litchi, DroneDeploy, Pix4D Capture, and sometimes DJI Pilot

 

[mtntrogger]

Thank you for the replys, I appreciate the help. I did manage to take the p3s for a flight with the tablet since I made the changes that document recommends. There was definitely less latency, and the image quality was a bit better. But still nothing compared to the image I get using a otg cable with my spark. The problem Im having is that all though this tablet seems to fly the phantom 3 fairly well it doesnt recognize the otg cable with either the spark or the phantom. I dont believe the phantom 3 std is compatible with the otg cable, which is really not a big deal since I bought the p3s mostly for waypoint flights with litchi. But not having the tablet recognize the otg cable with the spark is bit of a bummer, but I could fix it. I think the issue is because I have my spark modded with no limit drones firmware. The fw you use is specific to the os that you are using to operate. I think the fw I am using isnt compatible with otg on android but it is with apple. At least thats what I presume. So if I want to regularly fly my spark with this tablet I will need to reflash with a different fw. It still works decent, I am just spoiled by the quality of the image with the otg cable. Was a game changer when I first got one, now I cant live without it. lol

 

[Chrislaf]

Thank you for the replys, I appreciate the help. I did manage to take the p3s for a flight with the tablet since I made the changes that document recommends. There was definitely less latency, and the image quality was a bit better. But still nothing compared to the image I get using a otg cable with my spark. The problem Im having is that all though this tablet seems to fly the phantom 3 fairly well it doesnt recognize the otg cable with either the spark or the phantom. I dont believe the phantom 3 std is compatible with the otg cable, which is really not a big deal since I bought the p3s mostly for waypoint flights with litchi. But not having the tablet recognize the otg cable with the spark is bit of a bummer, but I could fix it. I think the issue is because I have my spark modded with no limit drones firmware. The fw you use is specific to the os that you are using to operate. I think the fw I am using isnt compatible with otg on android but it is with apple. At least thats what I presume. So if I want to regularly fly my spark with this tablet I will need to reflash with a different fw. It still works decent, I am just spoiled by the quality of the image with the otg cable. Was a game changer when I first got one, now I cant live without it. lol

Thanks for the feedback on the Tab A. I still haven't decided whether or not I am going to go for it yet. My iPhone XR works perfectly on both my P3S and my Spark and the image quality is perfect other than the small screen size like I said above.

With regard to using the OTG cable with the Spark, I actually do not find that I get any improvement in image quality feed with my Spark, just a more stable feed when I am flying in an environment with a high WiFi interference. I only fly within VLOS though so that probably has a lot to do with it. I actually like the ability to just mount my phone in the holder and and fly and not have to worry about connecting any cables. When I want to get in the air quickly or in cold winter conditions not having to connect the OTG cable is convenient.

Chris

 

[Chrislaf]

Bestbuy had the Lenovo Tab M8 HD on sale for just over $100CDN so decided to pick one up and give it a try knowing full well that it may not work well. I figured if it didn't work I could use it to watch Netflix or Prime as it is much larger than my iPhone screen. The M8 has 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. Don't need lots of storage since I will only use it to run flight apps and if I need more space there is always the SD card slot.

I used @msinger excellent guide linked above to maximize the tablet settings and downloaded DJI GO, GO4 and Dronelink from the Play store. So far I have tried a flight with GO and Dronelink on my P3S and have been pleased with the results. The video is not as smooth as it is on my iPhone XR but I never expected it to be. The video on the Lenovo has been clear and smoother than I thought. The differences between the iPhone and the tablet appear to be mostly in refresh rates where the iPhone screen refreshes much quicker resulting in a smoother looking video feed. I did not have any app crashes or video freezes in my limited testing yet but I have been careful to make sure that the only app running is the flight app.

Other flight apps that I frequently use like Hammer and Litchi can't be loaded onto the Tablet because they are iOS only or I only have an iOS licence (Litchi) which is not a problem since I can just use my iPhone.

I haven't tried the Tablet with my Spark yet as it will not fit in the controller arms. I have ordered a table holder and OTG cable to use with it so hopefully both DJI GO4 and Dronelink which requires an OTG for the Spark will work with the M8.

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised that a $100CDN tablet has worked so well with my two older drones.

Chris

 

[Phill2]

I just picked up the Samsung Tab A 8inch tablet (2019) exclusively for flying my birds. I had read some decent reviews. I was between the Samsung and the Lenovo, which is cheaper. Everything I read said the Samsung had a better image quality. I uninstalled everything the device would let me, then installed the dji apps and litchi. I tried to fly with it yesterday and was very unimpressed with the video quality. It seemed pretty pixelated and out of focus. I am wondering if anyone else on here uses one of these. Perhaps @LarBear360 ?

Is there a setting or something I am missing or is it just not very powerful ? I figured with a 2 ghz quad core processor it should be plenty quick. I currently fly with my iphone 6 (1.4ghz) and so far the image quality on that blows away this tablet. I was trying to use the Samsung to fly my new used P3S, I was also attempting to use a otg cable between the p3s remote and the tablet. Any input regarding this tablet would be seriously appreciated. Thank you all

I use the 8" Tab A with my P3P with no probs.
I use it for flying only usually with Litchi.