Android Tablet

You can use any Android tablet, but it’s important to consider your expected workload before choosing one. If your project involves many participants and many images, lower-end tablets may become slow or lag during use. Camera quality also matters. If you plan to take clear identification photos or detailed house pictures, you should select a tablet with a reliable built-in camera. For reference, in each of our field sites we registered 300–1,000 individuals, and because we also track interactions across sites, our tablets ultimately needed to manage data for over 2,000 individuals and more than 500 households.

Power access is another key consideration. Some field sites may have reliable electricity, but many do not. In our case, none of our sites have direct electrical access, so we rely on external battery packs, solar panels, or car chargers to keep tablets powered throughout fieldwork.

You can find below pictures of the two tablet models we have been using:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 4 Pro 5G: These tablets are not inexpensive, but they have proven to be extremely reliable in the field. Just make sure to pair them with a sturdy protective case to keep them safe during everyday use and transport.
• Blackview Active 8 Pro: These tablets are more affordable yet still demonstrate very good performance. They are rugged enough that they do not require a protective case. However, we have not tested them as extensively as the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active models, so long-term durability is still less well known.