Worth decisions ranked (beneath £350/$400)


Our workforce of knowledgeable tech reviewers have totally examined a spread of budget-friendly tablets, checking essential components like battery life, processing energy, digital camera efficiency and extra to give you an knowledgeable suggestion that you just’ll be proud of.

Under you’ll discover a thorough round-up of all the very best budget-focused tablets beneath £350/$400. The checklist features a vary of choices to select from. Some favour value, whereas others give attention to different components like an important show, lengthy battery life or highly effective processing energy, and we’ve highlighted the main target of every the place attainable to make your shopping for choice even simpler.

Whereas we’ve given every pill a shortened model of the evaluate beneath, you possibly can at all times comply with the hyperlinks to learn our full in-depth opinions of every product included on this checklist.

We use every pill we evaluate as a fundamental machine for no less than every week, transferring all our apps and different knowledge to get essentially the most out of the {hardware} throughout testing. This helps us see past the advertising messages and specs, to how the machine

For those who’re searching for a extra specialised pill, be sure you additionally try our greatest lists on the finest pill for teenagers, the finest Android pill, the finest iPad and the finest pill, to present you an excellent broader view of what’s in the marketplace.

Finest low-cost tablets at a look

How we take a look at

Discover out extra about how we take a look at tablets

Each pill on this checklist has been correctly examined and used for an prolonged time period by one among our product specialists. We categorically don’t suggest a product until it has been put by means of our lab assessments and utilized by the reviewer as their fundamental pill for no less than 5 days.

Lab testing contains colorimeter checks to gauge display accuracy and max brightness ranges, artificial benchmarks to judge graphics and normal efficiency, and battery drains to evaluate common discharge charges for primary workplace duties, streaming video and gaming.

Our reviewer will then transfer on to contemplate the pill’s efficiency for on a regular basis use. It will see them use it as their main pill and enact widespread duties akin to film streaming, gaming, internet looking and video calling. If the machine is focused at a selected market akin to digital artists, they’ll additionally think about areas akin to digital stylus assist and whether or not it will probably successfully run related functions.

When a tool is shipped in for evaluate with optionally available extras, akin to a stylus and keyboard cowl, we’ll assess its efficiency each as a standalone product in addition to with any accompanying peripherals.

Honor Pad X9

The most effective low-cost pill

Professionals

  • Quick 120Hz display
  • Nice minimalist design
  • Stable efficiency

Cons

  • Not the sharpest show
  • Pushy bloatware
  • Audio system distort at increased volumes

For those who’re on the hunt for an important worth Android pill, the Honor Pad X9 must be of great consideration. Regardless of its sub-£200 price ticket, the pill boasts a premium feel and appear and a critically spectacular show that blows the equally priced competitors out of the water.

The Honor Pad X9 sports activities a big 11.5-inch show and a 2000 x 1200 decision that will’ve already been sufficient to compete with a lot of the price range competitors, however the inclusion of a 120Hz refresh price actually units it aside. The super-smooth refresh price helps the pill really feel responsive, with {smooth} animations and higher response time when gaming on the pill.

Regardless of the middling Snapdragon 685 chipset and 4GB of RAM, the Honor X9 can deal with on a regular basis duties like looking the online, split-screen multitasking and even gaming at medium graphics ranges. 

Throw in nice battery life, a landscape-mounted selfie digital camera for video chats and surprisingly loud audio system, and it turns into a straightforward suggestion for any pill purchaser on a price range. 

Reviewer: Josh Brown
Full evaluate: Honor Pad X9 evaluate

Apple iPad tenth gen

The most effective worth iPad

Professionals

  • The design is a large improve
  • USB-C is much extra handy than Lightning
  • Sensible entrance digital camera placement
  • Unbeatable pill apps and software program

Cons

  • Large value bounce, particularly in Europe makes its place in Apple’s iPad vary complicated
  • Odd Apple Pencil integration
  • 64GB isn’t sufficient (256GB most likely an excessive amount of)

The iPad 10 represents the improve that the entry-level pill desperately wanted, bringing it into line with the up to date look of the remainder of Apple’s iPad assortment. In essence, it’s related in appears to the iPad Air, full with flat again and sides, the removing of the Residence button and a much-reduced bezel that makes it look far more fashionable.

It’s additionally 10g lighter than the outgoing iPad 9, whereas additionally providing USB-C connectivity rather than the older Lightning port. There’s additionally upgraded accent assist with a devoted Magic Keyboard that turns the pill into one thing resembling a laptop computer, full with trackpad, though the halfway-house Apple Pencil assist is somewhat odd.

Efficiency can also be top-notch in comparison with the remainder of the price range pill competitors, sporting Apple’s A14 Bionic chipset – the chipset of selection of the iPhone 12 – that makes apps and video games run tremendous easily, and it ought to proceed to take action for fairly a while. The one actual disappointment is the 64GB of base storage, which we really feel isn’t fairly sufficient for extra demanding customers.

It was a bit of too costly for this checklist when it first launched again in 2022, however Apple dropped the worth right down to the identical £349/$349 because the outgoing iPad 9 in Could 2024, making it a budget-friendly cut price for these on the hunt for an iPad.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full Assessment: Apple iPad 10 evaluate

Teclast T40S

The most effective low-cost Android pill

Professionals

  • Out of doors-capable show
  • Dependable looking expertise
  • Beneficiant UI concerns

Cons

  • Plastic construct
  • Primary sound
  • Panorama-focused design

Teclast won’t be a family identify within the tech market, however the plucky Teclast T40S manages to ship a stable Android pill expertise at simply £170, and it’s usually discovered cheaper over at Amazon too, additional solidifying its worth for cash. 

The star of the present is processing energy as, regardless of its low-cost value level, it will probably compete with extra established tablets just like the Honor Pad X9 and Oppo Pad Air by way of efficiency. There’s additionally a shocking 8GB of RAM on supply to assist multitasking and assist chew by means of ad-laden web sites, with a further 8GB of your 128GB storage additionally capable of be allotted to RAM when performing notably power-intensive duties.

That powers a reasonably sized 10.4-inch show that we discovered completely usable indoors, although with a most brightness of simply 350 nits, it’s not a pill suited to out of doors scrolling. 

There are just a few oddities concerning the pill – it runs a stripped-back model of Android 12 with larger buttons and boasts pretty random options like FM Radio assist – and it’s not precisely the best-looking pill round, however for the worth, you’ll be onerous pressed to search out one thing extra succesful. 

Reviewer: Josh Brown
Full evaluate: Teclast T40S evaluate

OnePlus Pad Go

The most effective low-cost pill with mobile connectivity

Professionals

  • Premium feel and appear
  • LTE connectivity on a price range
  • Easy 90Hz refresh price

Cons

  • Occasional stutter usually use
  • Solely two OS upgrades
  • No anti-reflective coating on the display

The OnePlus Pad Go is the little brother to the corporate’s full-fat OnePlus Pad, providing a barely extra budget-friendly pill expertise. Nonetheless, the Pad Go has a trick up its sleeve; LTE connectivity as customary.

Meaning you not have to pay further for a mobile pill (Apple, we’re you!), permitting you to pop a SIM card into the included SIM tray and use the pill away from your property Wi-Fi. It’s an actual boon for many who work and play on the go, even when you nonetheless need to pay for the information contract your self.

Elsewhere, the OnePlus Pad Go stays a tempting price range pill with a big 11.3-inch, high-res display that’s excellent for watching films and taking part in video games, particularly when paired with the graceful 90Hz refresh price. The display may be very reflective, nevertheless, which may make it awkward to make use of in brighter environments when paired with a reasonably common 400 nits display brightness.

It’s powered by the Helio G99 and a wholesome dose of 8GB of RAM, a combo that received’t precisely win awards for processing energy any time quickly, nevertheless it nonetheless gives a largely {smooth} expertise. There may be the occasional little bit of lag, however nothing that’ll put an actual dampener in your expertise, particularly when the low-powered chipset interprets to lengthy battery life and even longer standby occasions of as much as a month.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full evaluate: OnePlus Pad Go evaluate

Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (third Gen)

The most effective low-cost pill for leisure

Professionals

  • Panorama selfie digital camera
  • Stylus assist
  • Punchy widescreen show

Cons

  • Solely 60Hz
  • No included case or stylus
  • Sluggish charging speeds

The Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (third Gen) is a price range pill with a premium feel and appear, sporting an aluminium unibody with a stone-textured strip alongside one aspect of the rear to additional elevate its design standing. It truly is a handsome pill, full with a thickness of simply 7.5mm and rounded edges that sit comfortably within the palm. 

The ten.61-inch 2000 x 1200 show sports activities a 16:10 side ratio that retains black bars to a minimal when watching video content material from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and when coupled with Dolby Atmos-enabled audio system, the watching expertise is sort of nice. The 400nits of brightness isn’t sufficient for HDR playback, nevertheless it’s nearly sufficient to be used outside. 

It’s only a disgrace that the MediaTek MT6769V chipset isn’t a bit of extra highly effective, with our reviewer noting unpredictable stuttering that will sometimes plague the pill, and it wasn’t fairly sufficient to run demanding 3D gaming titles both.

It does have a appropriate stylus accent that would make it a tempting choice for note-taking college students, although it’ll set you again a further £45. 

Reviewer: Josh Brown
Full evaluate: Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (third Gen) evaluate

Amazon Hearth Max 11

The most effective Amazon Hearth pill

Professionals

  • Way more premium design than different Hearth tablets
  • Nice all-day battery life
  • Stable 11-inch 2K show

Cons

  • Restricted app availability
  • Very sluggish to cost

The Amazon Hearth Max 11 is the most recent in an extended line of Amazon Hearth-branded tablets from the retail large, although this one appears and feels completely different

Sporting a extra mature design that’s greater than a bit of bit harking back to Apple’s iPad Air, full with rounded edges and a barely raised single digital camera bump on the rear, the pill feels way more premium than its price ticket suggests it ought to.

The 11-inch 2000 x 1200 IPS LCD show won’t boast OLED tech of extra premium tablets, however what it does have is a totally laminated display. It won’t sound like a lot, nevertheless it means there’s no air hole between the entrance glass and LCD panel like Apple’s cheaper iPads, eradicating that low-cost hole feeling while you faucet and swipe on the show. 

The large show is designed for productiveness in line with Amazon, and even sells devoted stylus and keyboard case equipment for the pill individually, additional separating itself from the remainder of the price range Hearth assortment. 

However for all Amazon’s efforts to place it as a productiveness workhorse, the dearth of pro-level apps on Amazon’s restricted Hearth OS and Appstore cease it from reaching its purpose. Even the built-in phrase processing app doesn’t match the pill’s show correctly.

That’s an actual disgrace too, because the chipset inside simply beats nearly all the pieces else in our charts, and by fairly a method too. Nonetheless, it does imply it’s nice for gaming and normal day-to-day use, so long as the apps and video games you get pleasure from can be found on the Hearth OS platform. 

Battery life can also be stable with distinctive standby occasions that permit it to final over every week when not in use, although charging will be sluggish with solely a 9W charging brick within the field. 

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full evaluate: Amazon Hearth Max 11 evaluate

Oppo Pad Air

The most effective light-weight low-cost pill

Professionals

  • microSD card assist
  • Little in the best way of bloatware
  • Stable battery life

Cons

  • Can’t deal with as we speak’s video games
  • So-so normal efficiency
  • Poor viewing angles

If portability is without doubt one of the key components in your shopping for choice, the Oppo Pad Air must be of great consideration. At 440g and 6.9mm thick, the ten.36-inch pill is lighter than Apple’s iPad 10 and even the light-weight iPad Air whereas nonetheless delivering that large-screen expertise.

It’s not simply light-weight both; the gunmetal aluminium shell is {smooth} and modern, serving to the pill really feel extra premium than it truly is, and it comes with helpful options like a microSD card slot to develop the 128GB of storage on supply.

The ten.36-inch IPS LCD is sufficiently sharp at 2000 x 1200 and is completely serviceable for scrolling by means of web sites and watching films on Netflix, although with simply 360 nits of brightness, it’s not the very best in vibrant out of doors circumstances.

It’s not a powerhouse of processing energy both, with the Snapdragon 680 delivering wonderful – however not speedy – on a regular basis efficiency, although it will probably’t fairly deal with high-end AAA video games so players could wish to look elsewhere. Even sure worlds in Roblox would sluggish the Pad proper down.

It’ll final round 15 hours on a cost with first rate standby occasions and though it takes over two hours to cost, that’s in keeping with the iPad 10 and Xiaomi Pad 5.

All this boils right down to a light-weight, moveable pill that’s nice for scrolling by means of TikTok, looking the online and watching films on Netflix, although it’ll most likely not suffice for almost all of players.

Reviewer: Josh Brown
Full evaluate: Oppo Pad Air evaluate

We additionally thought of…

FAQs

Are low-cost tablets any good?

The standard of low-cost tablets varies much more than what you’ll discover within the flagship finish of the market. However, based mostly on our expertise testing them, there are a selection of nice worth choices in the marketplace in the mean time. The primary factor is to be sure you’re making the suitable compromises. No matter value, you want a pill with first rate battery life. You additionally don’t wish to sacrifice on key issues, like display decision, when you plan to observe plenty of Netflix on it.

What’s the least you possibly can spend on a great pill?

The reply to this query hinges on what you wish to do with the pill. We are inclined to outline an affordable pill as something beneath £350/$400. However when you solely need one to maintain the youngsters entertained you will get one which’ll do the job for as little as £100/$100, based mostly on our expertise reviewing merchandise like Amazon’s Hearth HD Youngsters tablets.

Are low-cost Android tablets price it?

The reply to this query depends upon the pill you’re speaking about. Since Google launched the primary technology Nexus 7, we’ve seen a gentle stream of nice worth inexpensive Android tablets move by means of our labs. However for each good low-cost Android pill, we additionally get no less than three that aren’t price your cash. Frequent points are poor construct high quality, horrible efficiency and no assured updates to future variations of Android.

Trusted Critiques take a look at knowledge

You may see a full breakdown of the take a look at knowledge we collected reviewing all of the tablets on this information utilizing the desk beneath.

Geekbench 5 single core

Geekbench 5 multi core

Geekbench 6 single core

Geekbench 6 multi core

Max brightness

1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR)

30 minute gaming (intensive)

30 minute gaming (gentle)

1 hour music streaming (offline)

Time from 0-100% cost

Time from 0-50% cost

30-min recharge (included charger)

15-min recharge (included charger)

30-min recharge (no charger included)

15-min recharge (no charger included)

3D Mark – Wild Life

GFXBench – Aztec Ruins

GFXBench – Automotive Chase

Comparability specs

You may examine the specs of all a budget tablets included on this checklist utilizing the desk beneath.

UK RRP

USA RRP

EU RRP

CA RRP

AUD RRP

Producer

Quiet Mark Accredited

Display Dimension

Storage Capability

Rear Digital camera

Entrance Digital camera

Video Recording

IP ranking

Battery

Quick Charging

Dimension (Dimensions)

Weight

ASIN

Working System

Launch Date

First Reviewed Date

Decision

HDR

Refresh Charge

Ports

Chipset

RAM

Colors

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