I'd rather watch movies, read, play certain games, etc. on my tablet than on a phone. (Obviously there are also specific use cases like digital art.) That said, I mostly use my tablet when traveling and it's a distant third in necessity compared to either a laptop or a phone--and only somewhat more useful than a smartwatch.

Watching movies on a tablet is terrible, though. All methods for propping the device up so you can watch the movie are inferior to the way a laptop screen props itself up via hinges and a base.

On a plane I'd rather use the tablet in my lap than have to put the tray table down. And in a hotel room I'm watching on the couch if there is one. (I do also have an attachment for my tablet that will let you prop it up on a table but I mostly don't use it because it adds weight.)

For reading, I'm probably bringing my Kindle along if I don't bring my tablet.

I bought a surface for that reason. I like the portability, and it is just a normal PC with a pretty bad keyboard.

If you do not have one, buy a dock! I have a sp6 and 4 , and having the dock makes it quite the device. Speakers, multiple external monitors, keyboard, mouse -- a full desktop setup, I can grab and either stick a keyboard cover on or just use as a reading device on the couch.

Back to work? Sit on table, one cable and it's back to a desktop and charging up again.

Makes the whole thing make far more sense.

How old are you? Because larger screens become really nice as your eyes go bad. And I don't need the full size of a laptop for things I'd want to do on a tablet.