The best cheap tablets perform smoothly and efficiently for daily use, at a price that won't break the bank. They also feature sleek, compact and lightweight chassis that are easy to stow inside a laptop backpack or messenger bag. Just remember that the best cheap tablets run on Android or FireOS. (In other words, don't look for Apple devices on the list below; even the entry-level iPad mini costs a pretty penny.)
Not to worry! For under $200, you can still snag some of the best tablets around, such as the Amazon Fire HD 8 and the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus. These are two heavy hitters if you're looking for some of the best cheap tablets on the market. Don't forget to check out our best kids tablets page, too, if you have little ones.
Note: CES 2024 and Mobile World Congress are coming up in January and February, relatively. That means we're excitedly anticipating new tablet announcements across a lot of price points. Stay tuned to this page for the latest news and reviews.
The Quick list
Best overall
At first glance, you’re enamored by this tablet’s slim bezels, colorful display and engaging interface. But the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus also supports Google Assistant Ambient Mode, which lets you use it as a smart display.
Best display
The Xiaomi Pad 5 comes with a host of improvements over the previous model, including an 11-inch, 120Hz display, an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 chip, and a refined Mobile Internet UI (MIUI).
Best kickstand tablet
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 has a pretty sweet design, from its half-fabric, half-aluminum chassis to its sleek, lightweight footprint. The kickstand even doubles as a hanger, allowing users to hang the slate on a wall for hands-free movie watching.
Best Amazon tablet
The Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 is the best cheap tablet you can buy in Amazon's FireOS portfolio. It's got a camera located on the side bezel for landscape-view photos and video calls for Zoom, Google Meet and other apps.
Best 10-inch tablet
The Tab 4 10 Plus is a solid media tablet for the price, especially since you get a nice pair of cameras and decent built-in speakers. This 10.1-inch tablet features an eye-catching display, a comfortable design and superb battery life.
Best for kids
If you want to get your kid something a little bigger, we recommend the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition. Its battery lasted an epic 13 hours and 29 minutes in our testing, and it's packed with a ton of parental controls to boot.
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Best Samsung tablet
If you're already a Samsung fan, you'll likely be impressed with the Galaxy Tab A7 tablet. This slate can receive your phone's notifications and texts; you can even make calls and send messages with it.
Best tablet overall
The Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus is the best cheap tablet you can get. It's the most fun and engaging tablet I've ever had the experience of reviewing. It doubles as a smart display, which means you can turn on Google Assistant Ambient Mode. This means you can pop it up on a surface to display your favorite photos, upcoming calendar events, weather information and news updates. You can even control smart-home devices from the tablet.
Another reason why the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus is the best cheap tablet around is because it ships with a Lenovo Charging Dock, so you can prop it up on the Charging Dock for a hands-free experience, and your tablet is getting charged up along the way.
The Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus is the best cheap tablet because of its vivid, colorful display. It also has a nice variety of ports for a cheap tablet, including USB Type-C, a microSD card slot and a headset jack. You'll also find yourself playing a lot of fun games on this tablet, whether it's PUBG Mobile or Fortnite.
The Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus has a starting price of $169.99, and the unit I reviewed cost $229.99 as it has more RAM and storage.
See our full Lenovo Smart Tab M10 Plus review.
Best tablet display
The Xiaomi Pad 5 is a significant upgrade from its 2018 predecessor: the Mi Pad 4. It comes with a host of improvements, including an 11-inch, 120Hz display, an upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 chip, and a refined Mobile Internet UI (MIUI). What's an MIUI, you ask? It's another variant of Android OS developed by Xiaomi, which we really enjoy on the Pad 5.
We loved its long battery life. It lasted a whopping 14 hours and 11 minutes before tapping out and giving up on us. We also gave the Xiaomi Pad 5 a thumbs up fro its brilliant display, excellent audio setup, and fluid, adaptable OS. The Pad 5 provides an even more seamless experience when paired with the Xiaomi Smart Pen and compatible keyboard, but unfortunately, those accessories are sold separately (hey, it's one way Xiaomi helps to keep the Pad 5's cost down).
Overall, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is a fantastic option for those in need of a quality (but affordable) tablet.
See our full Xiaomi Pad 5 review.
Best kickstand tablet
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 has a pretty sweet design, from its half-fabric, half-aluminum chassis to its sleek, lightweight footprint. We also can't forget its unique, built-in kickstand. The kickstand even doubles as a hanger, allowing users to hang the slate on a wall for hands-free movie watching.
We also loved the 11-inch, 2K display's sharp, vivid, well-balanced colors. The Yoga Tab 11's loud, crisp speakers are also a big selling point for the Lenovo tablet. Its battery life is also pretty darn good, lasting nearly 12 hours.
Of course, because it's priced at around $200, the Yoga Tab 11 does cut some corners, and users may see that with its average, so-so cameras. Overall, the Yoga Tab 11 earned a 4.5-star review because it gives users a lot of bang for their buck.
See our full Lenovo Yoga Tab 11 review.
Best Amazon Fire tablet
The Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 is the best cheap tablet you can buy in Amazon's FireOS portfolio. It's got a camera located on the side bezel for landscape-view photos and video calls for Zoom, Google Meet and other apps. It also has Alexa integration for fun and engaging voice controls.
The Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 is best for those who have a Prime subscription since it is a tablet that is filled with the Amazon ecosystem, such as the Audible and Prime Video apps. The Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 tablet has its own Amazon-built app store, so don't expect to find the familiar Google App Store on this tablet.
And of course, the best part of the Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 tablet is that it's super, super cheap. It will only set you back $89.99.
See our full Amazon Fire HD 8 2020 review.
Best 10-inch tablet
The Lenovo Tab 4 Plus is the successor to the Lenovo Tab 4.
This 10.1-inch tablet provides an eye-catching, vivid display, features a comfortable design that is easy on your hands and has superb battery life. However, the downside is that you get an older version of Android. At the same time, the Tab 4 10 Plus is a highly rated media tablet for the price, especially since you also get a nice pair of cameras and solid speakers. No wonder it has 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.
See our review of the full 10-inch Lenovo Tab 4 Plus.
Best tablet for kids
If you want to get your kid something a little bigger and stay under $200, we recommend the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition. Its battery lasted an epic 13 hours and 29 minutes and it's packed with a ton of parental controls as well as a 2-year warranty, like its predecessor. Its 10-inch display is super bright, at 411 nits, and offers decent color, covering 103% of the sRGB color gamut. It's by far among the best cheap tablets for kids.
See our full Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition review.
Best Samsung tablet
If you're a Samsung fan, whether you enjoy their phones, TVs or monitors, you'll likely also be impressed with the Galaxy Tab A7 tablet. It's particularly ideal if you need a tablet that can be easily paired with a Galaxy device. The Galaxy Tab A7 can receive your phone's notifications and texts. You can even make calls and send messages with it.
If you have a Samsung TV, you can use the Galaxy Tab A7 to control and manage it.
The Galaxy Tab A7 also wow-ed us with its excellent battery life, lasting more than 13 hours. It also has sweet-sounding, Dolby Atmos quad-speaker system, and a colorful, vivid 10.4-inch, 2000 x 1200-pixel display.
One downside we discovered is that it doesn't have the brightest display. It also has middling performance, but to be fair, you can't expect too much from a sub-$250 tablet. Overall, it's a great buy.
See our full Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 review.
How to choose the best tablet for you
If you're a huge Amazon consumer, and perhaps you've got a Prime account, an Amazon tablet such as the Amazon Fire HD 10 is a perfect fit for you because you'll have easy access to all your favorite Amazon features, including Audible, Prime Video, Amazon Photos and more.
If you're not a big Amazon shopper, perhaps Amazon tablets aren't the best pick for you because you won't be utilizing many of the pre-installed apps on the tablet.
Perhaps you'll prefer having access to the Google Play store so that you can download all of your favorite Android apps and games. In that case, perhaps you'll want to opt for the 10-inch Lenovo Tab 4 Plus, which has an impressive 13 hours of battery life. You'll get all the features similar to any other Android-based phone, but on a bigger, more interactive screen.
How we test tablets
Our tablets go through rigorous benchmark testing before they even land in the hands of our reviewers. Our tests vary slightly based on which OS the tablet runs, but the overall performance and graphics of almost every tablet is measured by the Geekbench 5 benchmark.
We also use a fancy colorimeter to quantify display quality. The device can measure the sRGB color range a display captures and the average brightness across the panel.
Our battery test gives an accurate measure of everyday runtimes. To test the endurance of a tablet, we set the display to 150 nits then run a continuous loop consisting of web browsing and video playback until the device powers off.
After a thorough test drive, we also compare each tablet model with other competitors, such as MediaPad M5 Lite vs. iPad: Why Huawei Almost Beats Apple, to give our readers a better perspective on which tablet would best suit their needs.
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