Hi, I’ve been searching for a Linux tablet/convertible to use at school and university for quite a while and would like to hear your recommendations, if you have any.
I have a pretty strict set of requirements, those are:
- 6GB RAM
- 4 core CPU
- stylus support
- magnetic keyboard with German layout
- somewhat reasonable battery life (6h of note taking would be great)
I will mostly use the device for coding, taking notes, web browsing, document editing and watching stuff online. I am not afraid to do some work to get my device to be usable (e.g. port an Android driver if really necessary), but would prefer to be able to use the device as fast as possible (as one can probably imagine). I do not expect a perfectly usable out-of-the-box experience, as I know that’s not to be expected with mobile Linux. My maximum budget is 700€, but that does not mean I necessarily want to spend that much.
Some devices I’ve found specifically made to run Linux: PineTab 2: No stylus support, not for me. FydeTab Duo: No German layout, not being shipped yet (and kind of unclear when it will) Starlite Mk 5: Really cool device imo, but there are no reviews as it hasn’t been shipped yet
I’ve also been exploring the PostmarketOS devices page a bit, but only found the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 Pro which looks good so far, but I might have to reach out to the device maintainer to find out more about the bluetooth status.
Edit: You’ve all recommended x86 devices/convertibles (which kind of makes sense) and I also found some of them:
- Surface devices: seem to work pretty well, although I would prefer not to support Microsoft
- IdeaPad Flex and Duet: Both seem like good deals, the Duet 5i looks especially interesting to me as it’s more of a “true tablet”
Are some of you daily driving Linux tablets? Do you recommend doing this at all? Do you have device recommendations? Thank you all a lot for your time and effort!
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If you can find something not made by Microsoft, go for it, but I actually picked up a surface go 3 and installed fedora on it. As long as you install the Linux surface kernel it’s actually a really good experience. The only thing that doesn’t completely work are the cameras, but there are workarounds (and anything using libcamera works).
Thank you for your comment! I’ve seen other people mention Microsoft Surfaces too, but would obviously like to not use a device made by one of the very company whose operating systems I want to avoid. Another thing that kind of scared me are the 2 core CPUs in some of them (even the “higher” priced ones like the surface go 3), so how’s your performance with Fedora?
I got the i3 version and performance is great for what I use it for (notes, programming, and web browsing). Gnome runs really smooth.
How is the battery life and suspend?
Pretty good, although I never used it with windows so I don’t have a comparison. But it easily survives a day of notetaking and some coding, it usually gets down to 20% by the end of the day. Suspend works great, I’ve had it last for multiple days without losing much battery at all.
Cool, thanks for the info!
Running a Surface Go 1 with Fedora and really happy with it. No cameras and small screen are the only downsides.
I’m really tempted to order a StarLite, and I feel like that would be the best fit for you, but understand the hesitance to be an early adopter. Maybe you can pick up a used device to tick the boxes and order one later.
Yeah, I’ve also had that thought at some point. I would also like to first read/watch some reviews before buying, so I guess it’s best to wait a few more weeks or even months.
You might be able to find a discounted ThinkPad X12 detachable with an i5. It does not officially support Linux, but most features work, except for the volume rocker. It’s become my daily driver – really won me over. The keyboard is great btw.
Thank you for your recommendation! I’ve already found a used one roughly in my price range and will happily add this to my list of options.
The only thing that continues to bug me about this particular device is why they included a slot for a cellular card but not microSD
Thanks for this, I have been looking for a Linux friendly detachable for a while. Having it be a ThinkPad is a bonus.
I think most folks touched on the main ones as well as what you posted. The Librem 11 could potentially be something else to look at, but not sure about the German layout and price is above budget. Theoretically you could also look at doing a Steam Deck with a bluetooth keyboard, although the screen may be a bit on the small side, but would be well within budget even with buying a separate keyboard.
Personally I haven’t had much experience with Linux based tablets. I would say the guy who mentioned converting the surface 3 to a Linux tablet would probably be the best bet for the set of requirements you’re looking at
I’d be very sceptical about the Librem 11 just because it’s created by the same company as the “Liberty Phone” which is a complete scam
The Starlite certainly looks like it would fit the best for you, but like you said, it hasn’t shipped yet.
I use a Lenovo IdeaPad FLEX 14API with PopOS on it, it’s a flip over style covertible with stylus support and it’s working pretty well for me. The specific model I have is a few years old now, but there are certainly modern equivalents. The only hardware on it that doesn’t work out of the box with Linux is the fingerprint reader, but I don’t use that anyway.
Thank you for your recommendation, I will take a closer look at IdeaPad Flex devices, as they seem very promising. How is your battery life on Linux and what is stylus support like?
The battery life is not great but not terrible, it could do six hours on light use and low brightness after several years of normal battery degradation, and I would expect the equivalent model with a newer processor to last longer. The stylus support is proprietary, you need the Lenovo brand stylus, but it works as you’d expect with pressure sensitivity and all. I primarily use it for note taking in Xournal++.
I use a Lenovo IdeaPad flex 5 14" running Manjaro as my daily driver. Tablet with stylus works fine, and the fingerprint reader even works using some 3rs-party library for libfprintd. Only issue I have is sleep doesn’t always work, (though that’s a pretty standard problem for most Linux laptops) and I could never get it to rotate into portrait mode successfully (I tried tools to manually change the screen orientation but that makes the digitizer not line up properly with the new orientation.
Another small note is that the built in keyboard started failing on me, and it’s very difficult to replace, so I have to use an external keyboard now. This may be something you have to deal with but it didn’t seem to be a common issue online.
Arch wiki link: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Lenovo_IdeaPad_Flex_5_14ARE05
That sounds great! Could you tell me how you like the stylus and what’s battery life like? I’m also a bit curious of how big/clunky it feels compared to a real tablet, because the 14" screen is kind of keeping me away from it (I’m leaning towards the IdeaPad Duet 5 at the moment, which is comparably weak in performance for the same price, but has a detachable keyboard which would be more suited for school).
I’ve not had any issues with the stylus - it works flawlessly . It uses the Wacom drivers, I believe, and has all pressure sensitivity. Of course the drawback is that it’s a glass screen so it’s more slippery than a drawing tablet, but it’s still good imo.
I don’t have any issues with the bulkiness, but I use it primarily as a laptop for school and switch it to tablet mode if I need to draw or read PDFs, but besides that I usually just use it as a laptop. If you plan on spending most time with it as a tablet, you may want to go with that duet
Yeah, the problem there is that Lenovo seems to release new Duets without changing the name so it’s kind of difficult to choose a device.
I picked up a used HP Envy x360 with the ryzen processor and it’s been pretty good. The stylus is t a full digitizer like a Wacom, but it’s good enough for sketching
Wayy to thick and heavy. But yes, a very good machine.
Surface devices: seem to work pretty well, although I would prefer not to support Microsoft
I was suggesting you would get one of those second hand. There are good deals and they indeed work and are light. Personally I would love to see Linux on the iPad but that’s not going to happen. But we’ve to admit, that would’ve been the perfect Linux tablet because it is very light.
My daughter had exactly the same situation (just without serious coding) only few years ago. Her result was a Samsung Tab S6 lite. Their proprietary note taking app was the best with the stylus.
That’s kind of my fear, because I really want to not have to use proprietary apps or Android at all.
If stylus is a priority, there are not so many good “open” solutions
Yeah, that’s what makes it so difficult. Others have recommended the IdeaPad Flex series, but they don’t seem to have detachables
Asus flow z13 works with Manjaro and arch according to Reddit. I have one, but haven’t had time to replace windows yet.
Looks like a nice device, unfortunately not at all under 700€
Fwiw, some of the used ones are right around that price, but I understand wanting to buy new.
I just discover https://puri.sm/products/librem-11/ and it looks great !
Not sure if it feat every point, specially the german keyboard ?!
Battery: 7.6 V, 3500 mAh
Wow, even comes with an all-hour battery!
WTF?
Louis Rossmann recently made a video about their terrible customer support among other things.
As someone with an SP8 running Garuda, I would really recommend going with an Android tablet l with a keyboard ike a Lenovo P11 rather than a Linux device for your use case. The truth is that x86 devices just aren’t that great when it comes to power management, Linux is hit and miss when it comes to suspend functionality, and the stylus / handwriting implementation is typically pretty poor. You can make it work, but you’ll be compromising a lot of functionally.
