Tell me about your experience with cheap Android tablets - Page 2

leebase · 04-08-2020, 04:49 PM

I’m a fan of both Amazon Fire HD 8 and Walmart ONN 8”. The Walmart is near stock Android 9. The Amazon tablet is Amazon skinned.

They are both great for reading, and watching streaming media....or downloading and watching media off line.

Whenever I might want to acquire a file from the inter webs from a less savory source, I do so on one of these android tablets. Something I can’t even do on an iPad.

Some people may find them just fine for browsing the web. I’m not a big fan of 16x19 screens for that. I also don’t think typing on them is nearly as responsive as an iPad which makes it difficult to, for example, participate on this forum with one.

Neither one has great battery life. Long enough for most reading sessions....but you have to turn them off or the battery drains even when you aren’t actively using them.

leebase · 04-08-2020, 04:52 PM

Tip - get as much storage as you can. 32gb not 16 and definitely not 8. Not everything can be stored on an SD card. Everything that is stored there is slow. Fine for media files and ebooks. Not great for running an app off of

4691mls · 04-09-2020, 09:49 AM

Thanks, Lee. I was actually planning to come back and update this to report that I recently bought a Lenovo Tab M7 running Android 9 Go for $59.00.

Yes, it's kinda slow, not good for multitasking, and the screen quality is poorer than my phone, but it works OK for the activities I listed in my original post. It's a portable screen larger than my phone for viewing snapshots, Youtube, etc. It's slower than my phone to load things like Youtube or Pluto TV but once it gets going it plays just fine.

It has only 16 mb memory but does have a card slot so if I wanted to store photos or movies offline they could go on the card. I prefer to do my reading on e-ink so not having a great quality screen on this device wasn't important to me.

I just didn't see the point in spending a lot of money on a better-quality Android tablet because no matter how expensive it is it's going to be outdated in a few years, and I wasn't going to fork over Ipad big bucks for something I will use only occasionally.

timebug · 04-11-2020, 05:08 AM

One of my tablets is a 'Hudl' put out by the supermarket chain Tesco a few years back. They later brought out a bigger 'improved' version as Hudl2 but mine is one of the first generation Hudls. Seven inch screen, not huge memory but a fast and efficient little beast! I still use it to this day,although I have moved on to a bigger screen for most purposes, being elderly and my eyesight not being what it once was. These Hudls retailed for between £100 and £120 at the time, depending where you got it and what offers were available. Good basic little tablet, it has never failed me!

leebase · 04-13-2020, 11:58 AM

I love my iPad mini and have been an iPad user since the first. However...for a certain subset of use cases, I think the cheap Android tablets can fit the bill. And it doesn’t hurt as much when you drop or lose them.

I give out FireTabs as gifts all the time. Not rich enough to give out iPads as gifts.

ratinox · 04-14-2020, 10:10 AM

From the lower end Kindle Fires down to the ultracheap ($25 refurbs from Woot)...

... they're all multiple kinds of horrible. Anything in this class is at least two generations obsolete which means they're slow, they have little storage, they have exploitable firmware and won't get patches (Kindle is something of an exception here), the display panels tend to be crap, batteries tend to be worse. The list goes on.

The best thing I can say about them is that they are cheap which makes them more easily discarded and replaced than premium devices.

04-09-2020, 09:49 AM	#18
4691mls Wizard Posts: 2,776 Karma: 30081762 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: US Device: ALL DEVICES ARE STOCK: Kobo Clara, Tolino Shine 2, Sony PRS-T3, T1	Thanks, Lee. I was actually planning to come back and update this to report that I recently bought a Lenovo Tab M7 running Android 9 Go for $59.00. Yes, it's kinda slow, not good for multitasking, and the screen quality is poorer than my phone, but it works OK for the activities I listed in my original post. It's a portable screen larger than my phone for viewing snapshots, Youtube, etc. It's slower than my phone to load things like Youtube or Pluto TV but once it gets going it plays just fine. It has only 16 mb memory but does have a card slot so if I wanted to store photos or movies offline they could go on the card. I prefer to do my reading on e-ink so not having a great quality screen on this device wasn't important to me. I just didn't see the point in spending a lot of money on a better-quality Android tablet because no matter how expensive it is it's going to be outdated in a few years, and I wasn't going to fork over Ipad big bucks for something I will use only occasionally. Last edited by 4691mls; 04-09-2020 at 09:53 AM.

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04-08-2020, 04:49 PM	#16
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,934 Karma: 26616647 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	I’m a fan of both Amazon Fire HD 8 and Walmart ONN 8”. The Walmart is near stock Android 9. The Amazon tablet is Amazon skinned. They are both great for reading, and watching streaming media....or downloading and watching media off line. Whenever I might want to acquire a file from the inter webs from a less savory source, I do so on one of these android tablets. Something I can’t even do on an iPad. Some people may find them just fine for browsing the web. I’m not a big fan of 16x19 screens for that. I also don’t think typing on them is nearly as responsive as an iPad which makes it difficult to, for example, participate on this forum with one. Neither one has great battery life. Long enough for most reading sessions....but you have to turn them off or the battery drains even when you aren’t actively using them.

04-08-2020, 04:52 PM	#17
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,934 Karma: 26616647 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	Tip - get as much storage as you can. 32gb not 16 and definitely not 8. Not everything can be stored on an SD card. Everything that is stored there is slow. Fine for media files and ebooks. Not great for running an app off of

04-11-2020, 05:08 AM	#19
timebug Ancient Sage Posts: 14,585 Karma: 15493448 Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Derby U.K. Device: Kobo Reader	One of my tablets is a 'Hudl' put out by the supermarket chain Tesco a few years back. They later brought out a bigger 'improved' version as Hudl2 but mine is one of the first generation Hudls. Seven inch screen, not huge memory but a fast and efficient little beast! I still use it to this day,although I have moved on to a bigger screen for most purposes, being elderly and my eyesight not being what it once was. These Hudls retailed for between £100 and £120 at the time, depending where you got it and what offers were available. Good basic little tablet, it has never failed me!

04-13-2020, 11:58 AM	#20
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,934 Karma: 26616647 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	I love my iPad mini and have been an iPad user since the first. However...for a certain subset of use cases, I think the cheap Android tablets can fit the bill. And it doesn’t hurt as much when you drop or lose them. I give out FireTabs as gifts all the time. Not rich enough to give out iPads as gifts.

04-14-2020, 10:10 AM	#21
ratinox Fanatic Posts: 531 Karma: 5060708 Join Date: Oct 2016 Device: Forma, iPad Air 4	From the lower end Kindle Fires down to the ultracheap ($25 refurbs from Woot)... ... they're all multiple kinds of horrible. Anything in this class is at least two generations obsolete which means they're slow, they have little storage, they have exploitable firmware and won't get patches (Kindle is something of an exception here), the display panels tend to be crap, batteries tend to be worse. The list goes on. The best thing I can say about them is that they are cheap which makes them more easily discarded and replaced than premium devices.