Amazon is the current king of cheap tablets. With its Fire and Fire HD slates costing between around $50/£50 and $150/£150 – sometimes even less, when offers are running – and their appeal doesn’t stop there.
Improved displays across the range, Alexa voice assistant support, microSD expandability and an easy-to-use operating system in Fire OS all help each and every Fire tablet serve as an instant recommendation.
It would be easy to say you’re a fool for buying anything different, but the Fire range has one sticking point: they’re not standard Android tablets and don’t support Google apps natively. That’s where brands like Samsung and Nokia come in.
With tablets, you really need to be careful buying cheap, generic devices, with names you’ve never heard of. These can suffer from poor screens, lacklustre performance and underwhelming battery life; always look at reviews before you buy, and if you can’t find any then we’d avoid the purchase altogether.
If you want a cheap tablet, you’ll be looking for either an Android tablet or Windows device (everything in this lineup comes in at under $250/£250), unless you’re prepared to go secondhand, with regards to Apple’s iPads.
1. Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 (2022)
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- High-quality design and build
- Quad-speakers
- Decent battery life
Cons
- Poor TFT screen
- Slow charging
- No fingerprint scanner
The Galaxy A8 represents Samsung’s return to the budget market following 2019’s Tab A 10.1, though it doesn’t quite look like it on the surface. It sports Samsung’s signature premium design and build alongside other standout qualities like loud, booming audio via Dolby Atmos-powered quad speakers and decent battery life.
Of course, something’s gotta give at the budget end and with the A8, that’s both the screen and internal storage. The display is a rather basic 8in TFT LCD panel that, while sufficiently sharp, isn’t particularly vibrant or colour-accurate. The entry-level 32GB of internal storage will likely leave some wanting more – and without a microSD slot, that simply isn’t possible. You can opt for a 64- or 128GB model at checkout though, something we’d recommend for longevity.
Still, it’s a great all-rounder that can already be found well below RRP despite its launch earlier this year.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 review
2. Nokia T20 (2021)
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- Impressive 2K display
- Great battery life
- Near-stock Android
Cons
- Basic cameras
- Middling performance
If you’re on the market for an Android experience that’s close to stock, the Nokia T20 is the best option right now. It comes running Android 11 out of the box, with no bloatware of UI changes to get used to. It’s also more capable than Amazon’s Fire OS, with full access to the library of apps and games available on Google Play.
Software aside, the premium build quality, impressive 2K display and decent battery life make the T20 a capable budget tablet – though don’t quite expect the same level of performance as Samsung’s A8, with the T20 trailing just behind in benchmarks.
Still, it’s a great alternative to the sea of (relatively unknown) manufacturers that currently tailor to the budget Android tablet space.
Read our full Nokia T20 review
3. Amazon Fire HD 8 (2020)
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- Compact form-factor
- Hands-free Alexa
- Improved battery life
Cons
- Entry-level performance
- Limited selection of apps
Amazon’s latest 8in Fire tablet refresh brought with it more memory, wireless charging, and a much-needed 30% boost to overall performance, making the entry-level tablet all the more tempting at its sub-$90/£90 price.
It comes with a few tricks up its sleeve too, including an Amazon Echo Show mode that lets you summon Alexa and check the weather with your voice. There are also new features like stereo speaker support, and you’ve got the ability to increase internal storage by up to a whopping 1TB via the microSD card slot.
While the overall design and build quality aren’t markedly different from the previous Fire HD 8, this model will last longer and we’d say the addition of the wireless charging dock is wholly worthwhile, if you’re considering picking one of these slates up.
Read our full Amazon Fire HD 8 (10th gen) review
4. Amazon Fire HD 10 (2021)
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- Stylish design
- Good performance
- Nice screen
Cons
- Limited apps
- Slow charging
- Basic cameras
Amazon refreshed its 10in Fire tablet once again for 2021, and while, as ever, there’s a model that’s tailor-made for kids, there’s also a bundle that places a focus on productivity; which includes a Bluetooth keyboard and year’s subscription to Microsoft Office 365.
Even without the extras, the HD 10 is still a great budget entertainment slate, also boasting better performance and better cameras to boot. It also features always-on Alexa support, so you can fire off queries, even when the HD 10’s display is off.
You have the option of a Plus model with wireless charging and it does better than expected as a productivity machine, but in every case, the tablet’s low price tag versus more conventional Android-based competition comes with the caveat that FireOS doesn’t support Google Play Store apps natively, so you won’t necessarily find all the experiences you’re looking for with this slate (i.e. check before you buy).
Read our full Amazon Fire HD 10 (2021) review
5. Amazon Fire 7 (2022)
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- Great battery life
- Affordable price tag
- USB-C connectivity
Cons
- Sluggish performance
- Poor cameras
- Low-res display
The Amazon Fire 7 is the smallest in Amazon’s current tablet line-up, making it the most portable of the Fire tablets we’ve listed here – and most other brands too. It’s also among the cheapest, but with that comes caveats.
The biggest caveat is performance, with a noticeable wait for apps to open – especially basic games. It should be fine for watching movies and light browsing, but don’t expect performance to match that of more premium tablets. The display’s sub-720p resolution isn’t great for detail, and the cameras are poor, but that’s a trend among Amazon tablets in general.
Essentially, it’s a handy portable tablet if you’re on a really strict budget, but if you can afford a little more, there are plenty of great alternatives in our chart.
Read our full Amazon Fire 7 (2022) review
6. Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021)
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- Stylish & lightweight
- Good warranty
- Well-designed case
Cons
- No Alexa in kids profiles
- Lacks Prime Video content
- Overpriced
Both a big tablet for kids and a tablet ideal for bigger kids, this is the first time Amazon has taken one of its child-centric slates ‘Pro’.
The HD 10 Kids Pro runs on the same underlying hardware as its general-purpose alter ego but comes with a protective case, one year’s access to Kids+ (which includes entertainment, apps, books etc.) and a two-year warranty that includes a no-questions-asked replacement if your little ones manage to decommission the slate the first time around.
The included case is a little more grown-up looking than the conventional Kids bumper, as is the UI that shows up on-screen. The user experience is closer to that of stock FireOS but makes for easy activity monitoring and leaves out access to certain age-gated content or apps (like Netflix), which have to be approved by a parent before being installed.
It’s a shame the kid-friendly version of Alexa isn’t supported – even though the tablet itself does facilitate such functionality – and certain kid-suitable Prime movies just don’t make an appearance without reason.
Read our full Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review
7. Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019)
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- Aluminium body
- Nice screen
- Good battery life
Cons
- Ageing hardware
- Underwhelming performance
A great Galaxy Tab offering for those on a budget, 2019’s Tab A 10.1 boasts a surprisingly premium design, a nice screen and impressive battery life at a competitive price point.
It lacks raw power when it comes to gaming and the hardware is getting on a bit compared to 2022 alternatives, but affordable Google Play-capable slates are still hard to come by; meaning this is still a viable buy if you can get it with a discount.
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