I finally ordered the Huawei M5 8.4", it has amazing specs, gets good reviews, has been upgraded to Android 9, and sells for below $300. Seems like a good deal and will let me do everything I want to do with a small Android tablet shy of using my laptop. And finding this tablet, now I can stay "all Android" for my small devices and will not need to delve into the Apple ecosystem and add the complexity of dealing with another devices, OS, and set of apps.