Recommendation for appropriate tablet for Field Maps

[NigelGriffiths]

Hello, just a simple query. What recommendations do people have for future proofing our tablet fleet for ArcGIS Field Maps use, in terms of hardware performance but also potentially other factors such as robustness, GPS accuracy etc.

We would be steering towards Samsung devices which run on android. I have heard good things about the Samsung Active 4 Pro but wanted to check if there were any other recommendations people had over this model. Cost effectiveness is also major factor as we would be looking to acquire a large number of these devices.

Any advice would be appreciated, cheers.

[RonaldHaug]

Hi Nigel,

I have used both Samsung Tab Active 2 and 3 with Field Maps. I must say Field Maps worked better with the 2 than the 3. I have had instances of Field Maps crashing while I am collecting lines and polygons. I'm not sure if it's the Tablet or Field Maps, but I've taken to using Avenza for collecting this kind of data. Frustrating. Esri are you listening?

One very odd thing about this (particular?) Tab Active 3 is sometimes these little 3 mm bubbles float around on the screen accompanied by a temporary freeze up of whatever program is active.  It's almost as if there is some kind of virus in the Tablet.  Not happy about that. Very weird when one has been out in the field all day and it's now 3 pm in the afternoon, this kind of voodoo is going on, and you've still got ground to cover.

As far as the internal GPS goes you get 10-30 ft accuracy. With a Juniper Geode external antenna in the top of your pack you get 1 ft accuracy in the open and 6 ft accuracy in canopy.

A rubber case with a strap to hang around your neck and a glass screen cover are a must. An Otterbox battery backup power supply is also necessary, especially in winter.

Since I'm here in the confessional, has anyone else experienced this with the Tab Active 3?

[DougBrowning]

Samsung is really the only game in town.  No other big manufacturer even makes them (and none with a GPS on it).  The new Active 4 have a dual band GPS chip in them now so sub meter right out of the box.  No need for an external GPS anymore.  New 4 has hot swappable batteries and all of that.  I think they do balk buys call their biz division. 

iPads get expensive since you must but the LTE ones to get a GPS chip.

[Y_Chau]

@DougBrowning I have a Active4. Nowhere it mentions a dual band GPS. Do you have any information / link about the brand or make of the GNSS inside? I have this one with 5G, Samsung Tab Active4 Pro.

Sincerely

[RonaldHaug]

Hi Y_Chau,

Easy to miss. It's under specifications from your link.

[Y_Chau]

This is great to know. I never tested my Samsung for accuracy. I normally use a BT receiver like Emlid RX to get below 1m. I personally like the performance of Ublox ZF9P. Any tablet or BT receiver with this module performs great with CORS or submeter without CORS.

Sincerely

[SteveOwens]

We use an iPad with a pretty beefy case for protection, can't over estimate the importance of a solid field case. The iPad's built in GPS is accurate enough for what we need and we also have LTE for field connectivity. We run Survey123 and FieldMaps along with any other non-ESRI apps we want. Battery life has not been an issue. If your organization uses MS products, know that it will behave differently on iOS apps or using Office 360.

All of our staff have an iPhone so the learning curve on how to use the device was flattened a bit.

Screen visibility in the field can be an issue, though I don't believe it's a brand specific problem.