The best budget tablets you can buy right now

If you’re on a budget or just need a cheap tablet, there’s no better option than the Galaxy Tab A9.

It costs just £169 in the UK, yet offers everything most people need from a cheap slate. That includes solid everyday performance, an attractive 8.7-inch display and solid battery life. With a design that could easily pass for a device twice the price and Samsung’s intuitive One UI software over Android, there’s a lot to like here.

However, it’s not all good news. The charging speeds and cameras both need work, while scrolling can feel slow and produce a ghosting effect. There’s also no 5G support, but 4G will be absolutely fine for most people.

While not perfect, Samsung’s focus on getting the basics right means this is a tablet that’s easy to recommend. Provided you’re happy with Android, it’s the budget tablet to beat.

The 9th-gen regular iPad was released back in 2021, but it remains a great tablet. And with discounts often bringing it under £300/$300, it’s still the best affordable Apple tablet you can buy.

The iPad experience is a premium one no matter the model you opt for, with iPadOS offering a suite of tablet-focused features and functionality that make it easy to use, even if you’ve never used an iPad before. It also has the widest and most high-quality selection of tablet-optimised apps of all the devices here.

Even in 2024, Apple’s A13 Bionic is a capable chip that ensures the iPad can comfortably run the vast majority of apps on the App Store. The 10.2-inch display is a joy to use, especially with Apple’s TrueTone tech (for automatically adjusting colour balance based on your environment) and support for the first-gen Apple Pencil.

So, yes, while the iPad is a more premium entry-level tablet than those from Amazon and Android manufacturers, it still boasts the best all-around experience of them all.

For just £199, the Redmi Pad SE offers a very good all-round tablet experience.

That starts with the design, which looks the part and is clearly inspired by more expensive tablets. The 11-inch, Full HD LCD display also holds its own, especially with a 90Hz refresh rate.

Don’t expect amazing performance from the Snapdragon 680 chipset, but it is powerful enough to for day-to-day usage – even with just 4GB of RAM.

An already-generous 128GB of storage is expandable via microSD, while punchy audio and two-day battery life are both better than you might expect.

Inevitable compromises come in the form of slow charging, annoying additions to Xiaomi’s MIUI software and only two years of Android version updates. But with three years of security updates, it’s still easy to recommend.

Samsung’s 2023 budget tablets were so good that we had to include both models. At £239, the Tab A9+ is significantly more expensive than the regular model, but introduces several upgrades.

The big one is the larger 11-inch display, which delivers great visuals and a 90Hz refresh rate. Performance from the Snapdragon 695 is a noticeable improvement, and it introduces 5G support. You also get the same slick design, impressive speakers and Samsung’s intuitive One UI skin over Android.

You also get a much larger battery than the regular Tab A9, but overall battery life is a little disappointing. The charging speeds and cameras could also be improved.

At this higher price point, those shortcomings are more significant. But there’s no doubt that the Tab A9+ is a great tablet that compares favourably to most of the competition.

If you’re buying a budget tablet just for consuming content, as many people are, the Lenovo Tab Plus is a fine choice.

It excels at the fundamentals of a great video-watching experience, with a high-quality display (90H, FHD+, LCD) delivering rich colours and impressive brightness. It’s ably supported by eight JBL speakers, which deliver very solid audio across a range of scenarios.

Alongside a built-in kickstand for hands-free viewing and strong battery life, the appeal of the Tab Plus is there for all to see.

Unfortunately, the performance is compromised to the extent that it can’t go any higher in this list. And while general performance is good, software support is frustratingly limited.

Overall, the Lenovo Tab Plus is a compelling choice for entertainment, but best avoided if productivity or gaming are priorities for you.

The Oppo Pad Air isn’t a tablet that feels cheap in the hand, thanks to the combination of an all-metal body and angled edges reminiscent of premium models of iPad, though a textured plastic panel on the rear helps tell the two apart. It’s also lightweight as the Air branding suggests, weighing in at just 440g.

The 10.3-inch IPS LCD display sports an impressive 2000 x 1200 resolution, with vibrant colours and great viewing angles combined with quad-speakers making it ideal for watching content on the go. The only catch is that it’s capped at 60Hz. While that’s fairly regular for a budget tablet, it’s worth noting that many cheap slates now have high refresh rate screens.

Performance is in line with other budget options with a Snapdragon 680 processor, though it does perform well in benchmarks There’s also at least 64GB of storage to store your apps and games.

There are sacrifices to be made – the camera performance is middling, there’s no fingerprint reader and Oppo’s ColorOS isn’t the ideal UI for big-screen tablets – but if you’re looking at a decent all-rounder at an entry-level price, the Oppo Pad Air is a tempting option.

If you’re looking for a cheap tablet with simple software, the Nokia T21 is an excellent choice. It’s running essentially stock Android with some useful additions including the ability to use the tablet as a second screen with Windows devices. 

Once again, the 2K screen is impressive even if it is a little dimmer than the T20 and there’s a lot of good stuff for the asking price including solid battery life, a nice design and an LTE option for those that need data on the go. 

The main issue here is that the Oppo Pad Air is only slightly more expensive with superior design and performance. But if slick software is your number one priority, the T21 is the way to go.

The Fire HD 8 Kids Pro adds a few child-friendly features to the familiar Amazon Fire tablet experience.

These include a commitment to durability, with an included protective case (available in several designs) and a two-year replacement guarantee. On the device itself, you also get robust parental control features to keep an eye on what your child (it’s designed for ages 6-12) is up to and set limits.

However, to get the most out of it, you’ll need a subscription to Amazon Kids+, which offers access to a range of shows and games from the likes of Disney, Harry Potter, Marvel and Nickelodeon. After a free first year, it costs at least £4.99/$5.99 per month.

Elsewhere, all the usual Fire tablet limitations apply here, including a basic display, limited performance and a low-quality camera.

However, as you’re buying this for a young child, none of it matters too much. The Fire HD 8 Kids Pro performs well as a child-friendly tablet, which makes it easy to recommend.

When you buy a Fire tablet, you have to be aware of the compromises that come with it. When it comes to the latest Fire HD 8, that’s the basic performance and a rear camera you should pretty much never use, plus the usual limited app selection from the Amazon Appstore.

However, as a device for the basics, there are reasons to recommend it. The 8-inch display is decent for the price, battery life is strong, and the storage (starting at 32GB) can easily be expanded via a Micro-SD card.

It makes the Fire HD 8 an ideal device for watching TV and movies, casual gaming and reading e-books – especially via Amazon’s Kindle app. The software experience is also fairly user-friendly, though I’d highly recommend paying the extra £10/$15 to remove ads.

Another positive is the compact, lightweight design, which means you can take the Fire HD 8 almost anywhere with you.

It might be the most expensive tablet Amazon makes, but it’s still very affordable and within the price cap we set for budget tablets. Though that changes if you want to add the keyboard case that’s sold separately.

The stylus is also an extra purchase but delivers a realistic pen experience with very good handwriting recognition. You will have to deal with 64GB of storage unless you spend more and the usual caveat of not having access to the Google Play Store, though.

However, those primarily using Amazon services will get on just fine – the Max 11 offers a nice 2K screen, solid performance and decent battery life.