Which affordable Android tablet?

I’ve decided I need a tablet for general home use – watching YouTube, web browsing and a few apps.

Looking to spend £100-200. Would like it to last a long while.

Not very clued up on specs and whatnot, but have looked at the following devices:

Lenovo Tab Plus
Honor Pad X9
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+
A couple of others I’ve already forgotten

Currently leaning toward the Lenovo, for the extra RAM & speakers – and it seems generally well reviewed.

Any thoughts, feedback or killer deals pls?

I got a Galaxy Tab A9, not he +, cheap a few months back.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0CK7Z4TX4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’ve got nothing to compare it to, but bought the Honor X9 for my better half last Xmas, to replace her dying Surface Pro 4. She is happy with it.

~£134 at Argos before using Topcashback/Quidco etc.

We have a lenovo, might not be the most recent one but has been faultless for 3 years, runs fine, speakers work well for using as a mini TV in hotels etc. Would recommend

Also interested, but I would also like it to run Zwift. I’m a bit wary of the various cheap offerings on Amazon and the likes, so was thinking possibly Lenovo. If anyone has an actual, proven, working example of this then I’m all ears.

I got one of the Amazon tablets a couple of years ago or so and followed some online guide so I could install the main Google app store and other stuff on it instead of having to rely on Amazon’s poorly provisioned walled garden. It seems fine as a table for some web browsing, playing YouTube videos and stuff like that.

Nokia/HMD?

https://www.hmd.com/en_gb/hmd-t-21?sku=F20ENV1A007

I have one and its been great so far. My last couple of phones have also been Nokia and not had any issue with them.

If can stretch the honor pad 9 is really good at £200

scotroutes
Also interested, but I would also like it to run Zwift.

For this you need to check whether the specific tablet you are after will run Zwift. I think it is something to do with the processor chip fitted to the specific device.
I have got a Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite that must be 3 years old now. It runs Zwift without bother, but my Wife’s Galaxy A-something (maybe A7 or A8) won’t run it. You can’t even find the app in the Play Store.
Normally a quick google search along the lines of ‘will the Blah Blah tablet run Zwift’ will give you the answer as others will have already asked the same thing.

We’ve got 2 Samsung tablets & a Lenovo tablet in the house. For general usage, my S6 Lite is definitely better than the cheaper Samsung & the Lenovo, but then it was probably twice the price, so understandable. The A-series Samsung & the Lenovo are both fine though.

My dad’s Samsung tablet is beginning to struggle – baattery doesn;t last long and it’s quite slow, despite being only a few years old. I htikn he bought it in late 2020 so 4 years old. My Samsubg tablet of the same vintage (a lower specced model) is doing fine, but I suspect he uses his tablet a lot more than I use mine

Anyway he’s currently looking at replceing it with one of thee

NEOCORE E2s 10.1″ Android Tablet | Ultra Fast, 20GB RAM (8GB+12GB RAM Boost), CPU 8x2GHz | Mega Storage 128GB+ SD Slot up to 2TB | 15-Hours Battery | British Brand 2-Y Warranty | GPS

Currently £120 with a £25 voucher bringing it down to £95. Not a bad price, and reviews seem ok.

If can stretch the honor pad 9 is really good at £200

Looks a strong candidate, but reviews suggest it won’t get updates beyond Android 14.

I don’t really understand why they do this, or whether that matters very much?

My dad’s Samsung tablet is beginning to struggle – baattery doesn;t last long and it’s quite slow, despite being only a few years old.

I got a bit more life out of an old tablet after following a “trick” posted on here.

You need to access developer mode,

Open Settings
Tap About device or About phone
Tap Software information
Tap Build number seven times
Enter your pattern, PIN, or password to enable the menu

Then you need to find the option that limits the number concurrent operations and reduce this to 1 or 2. Can’t remember the exact name of the option.

For this you need to check whether the specific tablet you are after will run Zwift.

Yeah, hence me asking for proven examples. I was hoping some folk on here might chip in.

Just looking into thart Neocore in more detail, I’m now less convinced it’a a great deal. Resolution is 1200*800, compared to the 1900*1280 of the Samsubg Galaxy A9+

I got a bit more life out of an old tablet after following a “trick” posted on here.

thanks for that, will give it a try

I got a bit more life out of an old tablet after following a “trick” posted on here.

That would have been me. It’s “background process limit.” Renders a ten-year old Nexus 7 useable again.

Had a cheap Lenovo. It was absolute rubbish. Got a cheap Samsung, better but not great (get what you pay for). About to buy another cheap Samsung though and will avoid Lenovo.

I got a 10″ Amazon Fire HD tablet in a Prime Day sale a few weeks back for ~ £75 and hacked it as per @ChrisL to install Google Play Store and open it up to all sorts of non-Amazon approved apps.

I’m using it for YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, Prime streaming and general browsing and running Training Peaks Virtual (aka IndieVelo, a Zwift competitor).

The hack is simple (basically allow tablet to install files from non-Amazon sources and then download and install the relevant APK (program)  files for Google Play Services/Store from the APK Mirror website – just be VERY careful to make sure you choose the correct version – there’s various YouTube guides)

For £75 quid, I’m not complaining but I can’t comment on longevity yet. Its probably a similar price with Black Friday deals…