Here’s why everyone should own a cheap Android tablet

Here, at Android AuthorityWe tend to focus heavily on the high profile releases of the year. Most of them are all premium devices – – the best offer at any time. Just because something is objectively “the best” doesn’t always mean it’s the most useful. A Galaxy Note 20 Ultra may be one of the best phones you can buy, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best phone for your teenage child.

With that in mind, I’d like to draw your attention to an often overlooked segment of the technology world: cheap Android tablets.

The tablet market has generally fallen out of favor for the past five years, at least in the Android world. While Apple’s various iPad product lines are still doing reasonably well, only a handful of OEMs make Android tablets at all. Even then, the main focus of marketing is on the high-end competitors of iPad Pro.

As with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, however, a Galaxy Tab S7 Plus isn’t always the best tool for the job. In fact, I’d argue that most people should skip the high-end tablets and go straight to the budget models. Here’s why.

Inexpensive Android tablets: the workhorses

In my house, one of the screens I touch the most is what I call my kitchen tray. It’s a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 that sits on a stand on my kitchen counter. I use it to access recipes in my OneDrive storage, watch videos with instructions on YouTube, search the web for new recipes, and do simple actions like measurement conversions.

Since this is a lower-priced device – the MSRP is only $ 230 and I paid a lot less during a Black Friday sale – I don’t have to worry much about it. If melted butter is splattered on it, it’s no big deal. If I grab it with my hands covered with flour, I don’t have to worry about cleaning it right away. And if I accidentally drop it on the floor, some cosmetic damage won’t destroy me.

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Despite the price and poor handling, the tablet does everything it takes. The web search is fast and the LCD display is fine for my needs. Even the battery lasts over a week (depending on how busy I am in the kitchen, of course). If you’re running low on juice, it won’t take long to refill the 15W USB-C charger.

My “kitchen tray” is an integral part of my life and is used every day.

The cameras are bad, yes, but who cares? I don’t use it to take pictures. The Snapdragon 662 chipset isn’t powerful enough for high-end gaming, but I don’t need that either. The lack of an NFC chip and the small amount of RAM and internal storage also doesn’t matter. It does what it does and that’s it.

As I said, I use this cheap Android tablet almost every day. I own a lot of devices that cost a lot, way more than $ 230, that I hardly ever use. It’s pretty remarkable when you think about it.

The kitchen isn’t the only useful place

I use my tablet for kitchen chores because that’s where it makes the most sense for me. However, you might be the type of person who orders takeout orders every night and doesn’t know a spatula from a baking dish. That’s fine, but there is likely an area where a cheap Android tablet would be useful to you.

If you are frequently in the garage, a “garage tray” might be a good investment. You can use it for tutorial YouTube videos just like I do in the kitchen. You can also use it to find manuals and circuit diagrams, or even quickly order replacement parts for whatever you’re working on.

Connected: The best cheap Android tablets on the market

Maybe you have a studio where you get creative with arts and crafts. A tablet there would be a great way to get inspiration online on Pinterest. You also don’t have to worry about getting glue or paint on it. Do you have a room that you train in? You can have a tablet there for fitness instructions or just use it as a giant stopwatch. Musicians, designers, modelers, hobbyists, PC makers – any activity that gets your hands dirty or messy can benefit from a special cheap Android tablet.

The point is that sometimes it is completely unnecessary to spend $ 300 or more on a tablet. Indeed, sometimes getting the “best” is worse than getting as cheap as possible. And when things are the way they are, there are tons of discounts out there.

Yesterday’s flagship is today’s budget model

The Galaxy Tab A7 was great for my needs. However, it is far from your only choice. Not only are there many different budget tablets from Samsung, LG, Amazon, and others, but there is also a huge second-hand market for tablets.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4, for example, is almost two years old. You can easily find this in great used condition for around $ 200, and that was a flagship tablet when it hit the market.

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Plus, you get great discounts on newer flagships with cosmetic issues. A 2019 Galaxy Tab S6 with a cracked back panel would be cheap. If you’re only using it in your garage anyway, who cares if it’s not in tip-top shape? Likewise for cosmetically damaged iPads.

Don’t forget the Amazon tablets either. With these you don’t want to get too low or you will face performance issues. However, a brand new Fire HD 10 will likely meet your needs and only get you around $ 150. Obviously, removing the ads and getting the quick charger add quite a bit to that price, but what you do there will depend on your budget.

The key to success is that a cheap Android tablet might not be the sexiest technology you own, but it could be one of the most useful. Sometimes the value trumps the specifications.