The Best Tablets 2020: An Ever Evolving and Affordable Form of Computing

[Julio Franco]

Tablets may not be as hot as they once were, but the form factor is still popular and a very useful form of computing. Case in point, when millions were forced into working and studying from home, tablets nearly became a necessity for teleconferencing, or if you needed a second screen to be more productive, all while being less expensive than a full blown laptop.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/bestof/tablets/

 

[pyron83]

Da fuq, 336 dollars tablet is "budget"? O_o

 

[AnilD]

Da fuq, 336 dollars tablet is "budget"? O_o

Looks like it's down to $250 on Amazon for the holidays. It's not "cheap" but it is affordable. Having spent less money on a tablet like the Amazon Fire, a few months/year later, it never saw use because of its limitations. An older iPad (we're talking 4+ years of use) still entertains kids and has loads of apps, so for $250 I think it's a good investment and yes, budget.

 

[pyron83]

Well even at 250$ would be beyond what I could ever afford. Recently I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab A and it fits my needs perfectly (around 170€, special offer though).

 

[redhat]

Xiaomi mi 4 pad plus has good spec too with 280 $ price range

 

[pyron83]

Xiaomi mi 4 pad plus has good spec too with 280 $ price range

I gave a look at that and was interested, but not easily available in my country.

 

[DelJo63]

The mobile device market is very prolific and ubiquitous.

1. "workstation" has been relegated commercial business
2. "server class" systems will see growth as long as the Internet expands
3. "desktop" systems are declining
4. "portable computing" (aka laptops) are not in vogue
5. while advances come almost monthly, if not weekly in mobile handheld devices

Just look about when you're out at the "store" or restaurant -- two out of three are staring into a mobile device. I'm a portable computing user as I can't stand to write on a mobile device (of any kind).

 

[johnofo]

My Nvidia Shield K1 tablet is reaching the end of its life, battery drains in a few hours on standby these days. But for ~£150 4 years ago it was a great buy and has seen a huge amount of use. At that price it was great. Can't believe how much more expensive current devices are. Will have to spend some time researching before I replace it

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I find it so amazing how in the beginning of the tablet race, there were nothing but iPad-killers, but Apple played the long game with iPad and incrementally added features annually until they ended up taking over the tablet market while the opponents who offered "more than iPad" all fizzled out because they ran out of additions to add and didn't have as coherent an ecosystem.

 

[Sir Alex Ice]

The M5 series from Huawei is quite good, I have the 10" (Pro version) and I like it a lot.

 

[lazer]

I had a Samsung and it was very good, but after many years the battery is weak. I bought an Asus and it was ok until I uploaded a new OS on their recommendation. It refused to work and their help (?) desk did not seem to understand English well enough. After some 10-20 calls and emails, I finally gave up on it.

I bought a 7" Lenovo and it was very nice. Price affordable, nice screen, works well, holds charge. So I decided to buy a larger 10" Lenovo and I am very happy with it.

I recommend Lenovo and Samsung to all for nice middle class usage and price; but warn people against Asus, too many problems to recommend.....

 

[Sam63h]

My Nvidia Shield K1 tablet is reaching the end of its life, battery drains in a few hours on standby these days. But for ~£150 4 years ago it was a great buy and has seen a huge amount of use. At that price it was great. Can't believe how much more expensive current devices are. Will have to spend some time researching before I replace it

Mine died too. What did you get in the end?

 

[johnofo]

Mine died too. What did you get in the end?

Its still going but has to be constantly plugged in. I have it hooked up to the TV so its no longer a portable device...

 

[Nobina]

I thought about buying one but since phones became so big it's not really necessary.

 

[MaxSmarties]

As far as I know there is just one tablet : the iPad (and its variations).
The surface Pro is a viable alternative for people more looking for a notebook than just a tablet.
Every Android tablet is a waste of money.

 

[Aryassen]

What I find amusing is that when Apple first came out with their "retina" screen iPads (3rd gen, I think), it was considered a premium device, at a premium price (being at around 300 quid, that is). Many years later, with current pricing, their tablet counts as the "reasonably priced one", and not any weaker than before (on the contrary). It hurts me to say this because I really do not like iOS (yes I have tried, on phone, on tablet, on laptop...), so iPad is still not a viable option to me (though I admire the "pro" versions as a piece of kit, I think engineering-wise they are fantastic, and felt good in hand too).

I really don't know what the main competitors think, with their pricing? Of course iPad is dominating the tablet market: they have an incredibly polished and good quality mainstream product, for a lot less than the competition (the last truly worthy opponent in that regard was the Nexus 10, which is still in use by the missus). I gave up paying for big brand (last attempt was a Surface Pro, and hated it: workmanship was good, but using it was not...sold it a few months later), and ended up using a cheap(ish) 10-incher from China (Teclast T10) as my daily driver.

If the time comes to replacement, and the market is the same, I still will think twice if I would go and buy something like Huawei or Samsung for 400+, or just buy the successor of my current one at less than half of that price (God forbid, I might even try again liking iOS, and give the iPad a go...brrrr... )

 

[MaxSmarties]

IPad aren’t using iOS any more.
They were somewhat limited using iOS, an operative system for smartphone, but iPadOS is much better for a tablet. It still is not perfect, far from that, but they are moving in the right direction.
On the other side, Android on a tablet is awful, and Windows 10 is not meant to be used on a tablet. Yes, there is “a layer” good for touch UI, but under the layer there still is Windows, an operative system for big screen computers with a mouse and a keyboard.

 

[m-tec]

Mine died too. What did you get in the end?

I'm still using the original shield tablet, hdmi out is such a good feature ?

 

[Jerry in WA]

I decided to stop buying tablets and started buying 2-in-1, ultralight 12"-14" windows based laptops instead. I find they fill the tablet "need" well enough and are a far more versatile device overall.

 

[Edster]

I decided to stop buying tablets and started buying 2-in-1, ultralight 12"-14" windows based laptops instead. I find they fill the tablet "need" well enough and are a far more versatile device overall.

Yes indeed, I bought a 2-in-1 for bringing to work and wouldn't be able to use iPads or Android for the work that I do mainly because of specialized programs. But I found the more mobile OS are a lot snappier to start up and the layout I found more intuitive for just quickly open an app. I have a 2-in-1 windows, my parents uses a Samsung Glaaxy Tab A, if both is on a coffee table and I want to watch something, I choose to Tab A just because is faster to start up. And Android tablets has better idling and battery life in the same class from my experience. And it cost like nothing if you are not buying the premium Samsung ones (I still haven't figured out who are those for).

I guess is the different use cases for different people.

 

[Rjmachine]

Personally I don't need a tablet.

If I did, I would be using an iPad for sure.

 

[lazer]

I have two lenovo tablets, a 7" and a 10". Both are really good for me for browsing the news, email, and games. I had a Samsung, but it broke, it was good, but Lenovo is great for the price: under $150
But for work, I use my Toshiba laptop with win7.
Why spend more to get a slight bit better.

 

[sophiakaile49]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S5e with "10" and the other is Lenovo M10 same "10"' but Samsung is quite better than Lenovo according to me

 

[LuckyMenace]

Using an android “budget” tablet is like using 1-ply toilet paper. It gets the job done but it always leaves you with a gross feeling.

 

[pyron83]

Using an android “budget” tablet is like using 1-ply toilet paper. It gets the job done but it always leaves you with a gross feeling.

I'm not sure, it's almost a year I've my Samsung Tab A and I'm pretty satisfied. It fits perfectly my needs, and it costed around 170€.
The only flaw I can think of, is the missing ambient light sensor, but I use it 99% of the time indoors, so I don't really care.