The software is the same on all of them. This page is about the class of device, what each one is good at, and where to buy them.
The same instrument in three bodies, and which one fits depends on how you use it.
You almost certainly own a phone already, but it takes some setting up to silence the notifications and keep it awake. Small keys, on the other hand, are quick, small, and can be found by feel in the dark. A touch screen is easy to hit and lights the dark itself. Which of those suits what you do on stage, you know better than we do.
The devices are stocked by several shops. Which ones is below.
Flashing means putting software onto the device. Connect it to your computer over USB, open the flash page, and click install.
Lay your sounds out on the pads in the editor. Make as many packs as you need and download them.
Plug the device in. It turns up as a drive, and you copy the folder across like any other file. Nothing is uploaded.
We have picked out a few shops that carry the devices. We have no preference and earn nothing from any of them.
They are listed alphabetically and without prices, because prices and stock have a habit of moving and a table of them can be wrong within weeks. BerryBase and Reichelt ship from Germany. OpenELAB has warehouses in Munich and in Arlington, Virginia, which makes it the address for orders from the United States. M5Stack is the manufacturer and ships worldwide; depending on where it is going, import duty and tax may be added.
Only one version, but check the name says Adv. M5Stack still list the older Cardputer beside it at about the same price, marked end of life, and the firmware is built for the Adv.
The NP-F550 is a camera battery: not exactly light, but the device then needs no cable. For a reading that is ideal, for a performance on stage less so. With the battery on the back the Tab5 does not sit flat without a stand. If it is going to hang off a cable to the mixer anyway, you need no battery, and then it is slim, light and lies flat. Ideally you buy it with the battery and take it out, which is very easy, when you do not need it. Both versions run the same software.
You need one and they are everywhere. 16 GB is ample, and a smaller card starts a little faster.