You don’t need to spend a fortune to get a good Android tablet any more.
You’ll always have the high end, the high asking prices and the people who are willing to pay for them. But for many, just getting good hardware, a great experience and not emptying your wallet is the most important set of factors in buying a tablet.
The Android tablet space has exploded in recent years and there are now some great choices to be made around the $200 price point and below. Here we’ve rounded up some of the best choices you can make.
NVIDIA Shield Tablet K1
Not just cheap, but the best you can buy. Period.
Pros
- Powerful internals
- Near stock software
- Great for gamers
Cons
- No charger included
- Gaming experience requires an extra spend to get the best out of it
The Shield Tablet is a gaming powerhouse featuring NVIDIA’s cutting edge 2.2 GHz Tegra K1 processor. Forward-facing stereo speakers offer quality sound, and the now optional stylus opens up helpful functionality for day-to-day usage. But the Shield Tablet’s software is what really sets it apart. Built right into the notification tray, for example, is the ability to stream what’s on your screen to Twitch. Remote access software combined with the optional hardware gamepad allow you to play games that are running on your PC.
Alternatively, the Geforce Now cloud gaming service lets you do the same with games and computers hosted by NVIDIA. The Shield Tablet K1 recently received a mild refresh over the original, changing the exterior styling a little but more importantly reducing the price by $100. You no longer get a charger or the stylus included in the box, but the savings do give you enough extra cash to pick up the cover and controller. Which you really want if you’re going to use the Shield to its fullest.
Even for those that aren’t hardcore gamers, the NVIDIA Shield Tablet is a powerful tablet and is priced extremely competitively. And the recent update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow is excellent, and the Shield Tablet K1 is now the best Android tablet you can buy at any price point.
Read our NVIDIA Shield Tablet K1 review
See at Amazon
ASUS Zenpad S 8.0
High-end hardware and style without high-end price
Pros
- It’s lightweight
- Packs fantastic speakers
- Impressive display
Cons
- Zen UI is bloated and unwieldy
- At this price you only get the 32GB/2GB option
- Mediocre battery life
In our sub-$200 category you’re only getting the lower spec, 32GB storage and 2GB RAM option of the Zenpad S 8.0 from ASUS, but that’s not necessarily a deal breaker. You’re also getting a gorgeous 2048 x 1536 resolution display inside a light, well built Android tablet.
The Zenpad S 8.0 is perfect for one of the big uses of tablets: Media consumption. Besides the top notch display it also packs some powerful, quality sounding speakers that make watching videos or listening to music on the go a pleasurable experience.
There are a few areas to be aware of, notably the software which may not suit all tastes. Zen UI is fairly heavy and bloated, but performance of the tablet is thankfully very good. Overall it leaves you questioning why you might spend a good amount more on some other Android tablets.
Read our ASUS Zenpad S 8.0 review
See at Amazon
Amazon Fire 7-inch
Redefines the ultra-cheap tablet
Pros
- It’s $50
- Access to Amazon’s vast content and store ecosystems
- Seriously, it’s $50
Cons
- Fire OS takes a little getting used to
- No Google apps
- Mediocre battery life
In days past we would categorically steer people away from buying the super cheap Android tablets. There was little good about any of them. Amazon, however, has redefined what it means to have a super cheap tablet.
The 7-inch Fire is $50. And it’s worth every cent and probably more. Amazon ultimately wants to sell its store and its ecosystem, but what you get it a great tablet for an insanely low price.
The display is plenty good enough and while internal storage is low, Amazon allows you to use a microSD card to store anything. Including offline Prime Video. It’s fairly tough, so great for the kids, at least now runs on Android Lollipop and has access to Amazon’s App Store which isn’t as poor as it once was. With Underground you even get a bunch of paid apps for free.
It’s a perfect tablet for consuming media and letting the kids play around with. It won’t set the world on fire but there’s no shame in buying this $50 tablet.
Read our Amazon Fire 7 review
See at Amazon
Lenovo Yoga Tablet 3 8-inch
Have it your way
Pros
- Well priced
- Great battery life
- Great front facing speakers
Cons
- Camera still in an odd place
- Software will split opinions
- Design makes it difficult to hold in landscape
Now in its third generation, Lenovo’s Yoga tablet remains one of the most distinctive offerings around. The design is unusual but it also makes it one of the best tablets money can buy for consuming media since you don’t need to invest in a case with a kickstand.
You also get some great sounding front facing speakers with excellent volume, so you can just pop it down and kick back and watch a movie wherever you are.
The software experience won’t suit everyone, but it’s mostly inoffensive, and Lenovo adds a few useful apps and features instead of cramming it with bloat. But while the design is excellent in some regards, it does make it awkward to hold in landscape.
You do get superb battery life though. That bulge is full of battery, which means you get more life from a Yoga than a lot of other Android tablets.
See at Amazon
Amazon Fire HD 8
An all round media champ
Pros
- Very well prices
- Access to Amazon’s vast content and store ecosystems
- Great looking display
Cons
- Fire OS takes a little getting used to
- No Google apps
- Cheapest options still have lockscreen ads
While the 8-inch version of Amazon’s Fire tablet may not represent the ultimate value, it is an extremely attractive option in its own right. While the price isn’t the bargain basement, at $150 it’s still very affordable.
You get a larger, better built tablet over the smaller model with, importantly, a full HD display. That could be the kicker in deciding if its the tablet you want to consume on. Videos will be sharper, text will be crisper.
It’s also fairly powerful for a tablet in this price range, and while it won’t play games to the same standard as a Shield Tablet, it should be plenty good enough for most things inside Amazon’s App Store. And as with Amazon’s other tablets, you can offline Prime Video to an SD card, which is a frequent travellers dream.
See at Amazon
