Screen size and resolution are two factors that need to be considered.
I use a couple of Guition ESP32-S3-4848S040 displays. At 4" and a 480x480 resolution, they are adequate for displaying basic text. Having onboard relays & mains power supply also means they can double up as a smart light switch.
You can’t compete price-wise against a general purpose mass-produced consumer device, especially when they are on holiday sale for half price like they are right now. Stock up and save…
Does it have to be new? I have a couple of reconditioned Nexus 9 tablets (Android 7, I think) running Fully Kiosk. They cost about 20 GBP on Ebay. At that price you can throw them away when the battery bloats.
Seems that nexus 9 might be the best in size/price
Two things to watch out for: excessive battery bloat (there’s nearly always some, but usually not too bad) and peeling of the laminate on the screen. This sometimes starts to go round the edges, giving a bubbling effect.
Not apples and apples comparison. Amazon subsidizes the cost of the tablet because of that you don’t have full control of it.
I started with two Amazon fire tabs for displays and I only ever got one deployed because of the royal pain I had trying to get it to behave as I want and I didn’t feel like doing it twice.
So when you’re thinking of cost. That MUST be factored in. I will tel you for a fact I will never deploy another fire tab for this case. Way too much work to keep Amazon from jacking it up.
The other tablet SEEMS more expensive now but your time is valuable…
I ended up using a similar setup with some additional software to make the experience more user friendly:
@leukipp do you mean that one?
https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-touch-display/
i found waveshare which is chaper but not idea regarding the quality?
thanks!
Thats the older version. Touch Display 2 is fully compatible and tested:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/touch-display-2/
and is there some mayor benefit via old one?
Yes, Resolution: v1 has only 800 x 480, v2 has 720 x 1280.
Compared to the Waveshare product the official screens use a single DSI (flat cable) connector instead of HDMI + USB.
It still may partially work. Have a look into the hardware compatibility list, where another HDMI display has already been tested: touchkio/HARDWARE.md at cfbc391a52785593204dd76bde96114a7fc9018e · leukipp/touchkio · GitHub
@leukipp i believe you meant https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0BWJ8YP7S?th=1
LAFVIN 5 Inch IPS LCD Touch Screen Display Panel 800 x 480 Capacitive
Yes, but feel free to order any other touch display with HDMI. It will most likely behave similar to the tested LAFVIN.
So for full support (display power and brightness control via MQTT use the official screens), if you can live without brightness control (only display on/off) use some cheaper alternatives.
got it, is the brightness control useful? maybe in the main room, during the night?
Yes, night time or some fancy transitions (dimming effect) may be some use cases. But it’s not that important. You can also just ignore the MQTT integration and use the RPI built-in screen on/off features as described here:
The device from this thread Is this the perfect standalone tablet for HA? looks pretty good as well. Way cheaper than a Pi plus display.
I don’t know how the second hand market is where you live, but I can get refurbished 10" Android tablets with warranty for around 100 euros. Those aren’t the most fancy ones but plenty good enough for display/control of HA.
I seem to have accidentally linked to a reply deep in the thread. I updated it to link to the top post now.
(or you can type" Lenovo ThinkSmart View" into your favorite search engine)
Short answer: No, "new is always better”.
Long answer: Maybe if you run into limited availability (v2) and need it right now, or if you are lucky and get the hands on a cheap used one (v1).