The 3 Best Budget-Friendly Tablets

Last week Apple announced a press conference for the 23^rd of October with the expectation being that they are about to unveil the iPad Mini. Whilst the iPad is still ‘the’ tablet to buy for those of us who have deep pockets, it’s not the most affordable tablet on the market. However, there are tablets out there that are very good value for money and are worth considering. With this in mind, here are three you may want to consider if you’re dipping your toe into this exciting market and want something a little more affordable.

• Google Nexus 7: With a super quad core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 Operating System, the Nexus 7 is a serious player in the budget priced tablet market. With prices starting at £159 for the 8GB model, you won’t get better value for money. With the 7” screen, it’s the optimum size for comfortable gaming on a tablet. It has a 1200 x 800 backlit display and with corning glass it’s sturdy too. As well as being sleek and stylish to behold the Nexus 7 from Google has a battery life of around 8 hours of active use and a 1.2pm front facing camera, so plenty to keep you occupied during a long journey.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9: The weight and feel or the Galaxy Tab are the first two aspects that draw you towards this little beauty. At 454g and 8.6mm thick it’s light, portable and looks the part. However, there’s more to this tablet than just aesthetics and when you see what’s under the hood, for less than £300 it’s worth serious consideration. The operating system is the 3.2 Honeycomb which although not a match for the Nexus, is still a good OS. It has a 1GHZ dual-core Nvidia Tegra processor which, although not quite a match for the Nexus, is still none too shabby. However, unlike the Nexus, the Samsung has both a front and rear facing camera with 2 megapixels and 3 megapixels respectively.
• iPad Mini: “We’ve got a little more to show you” was the announcement from Apple this week. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the iPad Mini will fall into the budget bracket. After all, what would be the point in releasing an iPad that’s between the size of the latest iPad and the iPhone 5 if it isn’t more affordable? The smart money is on an iPad around 7” to 8” and at a much smaller cost and if this is the case then Google and Samsung will likely be left scratching their heads again. After all, the latest iPad has the best screen on the market, iOS is the most secure operating system and with Apple’s army of loyal fans, they will make a serious dent in a market where their competitors are just starting to get their foot in the door.

One way or another, if you’re looking for a new tablet or a gift for a loved one this Christmas, then it looks like you are going to be spoilt for choice in the budget priced market. The question is, which one of these three little beauties will you opt for?

About the author: Kerry Butters contributed this post for www.broadbandgenie.co.uk, the online comparison site for mobile broadband and tablet deals. You can find out more about upcoming iPad mini deals here.