Phones on Budget

If you are looking for tablets with huge storage expansion, bigger displays, and larger RAM than the previous budget category, you may want to take a look at our list below of the Top 5 best tablets under $200.

These tablets were handpicked from almost 100 tablets from the best brands that were released in the past three years based on the latest price information. As expected, most of them were released only a few months ago and pack the latest mobile technology.

One was released in 2013, and as time goes by, it became cheaper, but the specs can still compete with the recent devices. So, with that said, let’s now look at the list and see more of what these tablets can offer.

#1 – Asus ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580C) (32 GB)

Release Date: August 2015
Display: 8.0 inches (1536 x 2048 pixels)
Camera: 8MP (1080p)
Hardware: Intel Atom, Quad-core 1330 MHz, 2GB RAM
Battery: 4000 mAh
LTE/3G: No
See Full Technical Specifications

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com

One of the best features of this tablet is its display quality which is the highest in the list. At an awesome 320 ppi pixel density, it is as sharp and crisp as Apple’s famous retina display (326 ppi) in its iPad mini 4 released last September 2015.

In terms of performance, it is also the best in the list. I personally like to play music while browsing the web, and then I switch to online games every now and then.

With its quad-core processor and 2GB RAM, you can even multitask more games and apps without lag. This very convenient for my style because I don’t have to close one application before I run my games. How about you? What applications do you run at the same time?

Carrying your tablet anywhere you go is already a habit of many people. At 298 g in weight, this tablet is very convenient to carry. It is as light as the iPad Mini 4 (298.8 g) and the lightest tablet in the list.

The battery life is still pretty decent. It can run up to 8 hours of multimedia use. Other awesome features include a 128GB microSD storage expansion card slot, scratch-resistant display, Full HD video recorder, stereo speakers, Wi-Fi, and GPS technology.

#2 – LG G Pad II 8.0 (32 GB)

Release Date: October 2015
Display: 8.0 inches (800 x 1280 pixels)
Camera: 5MP (1080p)
Hardware: Snapdragon 400, Quad-core 1200 MHz, 1.5GB RAM
Battery: 4200 mAh
LTE/3G: No
See Full Technical Specifications

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com

The best feature that most people love about this tablet is its capability to use a full-size USB flash drive. You can transfer files from and to your computer with ease. It can even read a 500GB NTFS external hard disk.

Aside from the use of USB flash drive, it also has a dedicated slot for microSD card up to 128GB. It also comes with pre-installed Microsoft Office applications for productivity. You can use a Bluetooth keyboard and a mouse and you already have an office on the go.

The processing power is also pretty decent. The RAM is a little lower than the previous tablet, so you may have to close the open but unused applications to avoid slowing down the performance.

When it comes to weight, at 347 g, it is close to the weight of the iPad mini 2 LTE (341 g), so it is not too heavy to carry around. The HD display is 16% sharper than the display of the iPad mini 1st gen and the second best display quality on the list.

Other cool features include Full HD video recorder, Wi-Fi, and GPS technology. There is no disclosure of the number of hours of battery life, but based on its battery capacity, it may run up to 9 hours with multimedia use.

#3 – Samsung Galaxy Tab E (9.6-inch) (8GB) Wi-Fi Only)

Release Date: July 2015
Display: 9.6 inches (800 x 1280 pixels)
Camera: 5MP (720p)
Hardware: Quad-core 1300 MHz, 1.5GB RAM
Battery: 5000 mAh
LTE/3G: No
See Full Technical Specifications

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com

One of the best features of this tablet is its sleek and stylish design. It looks a lot better than the other tablets. It is only just 8.5 millimeter thin, which is only 1 millimeter more than Apple’s iPad Air. You should see more pictures in the full technical specifications page.

Another cool feature of this tablet is its large display size. At 9.6 inches, you can really enjoy watching movies, playing games, and reading. This is also perfect for productivity use because it also comes with pre-installed Microsoft Office applications.

The speed is not what you will expect from a low price tablet. It can run smoothly and you can even multitask between two applications without a change in the level of performance.

The battery life can last up to 7.5 hours of multimedia use. When it comes to display quality, the resolution and 175 ppi pixel density is close to the iPad mini 1st gen. The downside of this tablet is the loudspeaker, which is not of good quality. You will have to use earphones if you are going to watch movies or get a separate Bluetooth speaker.

But I still consider this the best value considering its low and affordable price. At 9.6 inches display size, it only weighs 490 g. It is almost as light as iPad Air which is at 9.7 inches and 478 g (LTE version). The iPad Air is Apple’s first extremely light iPad before it released iPad Air 2.

Other awesome features include the 128GB microSD card expansion slot, 5MP camera for HD video recording, Wi-Fi, and GPS technology.

#4 – Samsung Galaxy Tab A (8.0-inch) (16 GB) (Wi-Fi Only)

Release Date: May 2015
Display: 8.0 inches (768 x 1024 pixels)
Camera: 5MP (720p)
Hardware: Snapdragon 410, Quad-core 1200 MHz, 1.5GB RAM
Battery: 4200 mAh
LTE/3G: No
See Full Technical Specifications

Cheapest Place to Buy: Amazon.com

This tablet also packs a stylish and slim design. At 8 inches display, it is 7.4 mm thin and 313 g in weight. It is as thin and light as the iPad mini 1st gen (7.9 inches) which is 7.2 mm thin and weighs 308 g.

Another cool feature of this tablet is the longer battery life which can last up to 11 hours of use with various multimedia, up to 10 hours of video, and up to 120 hours of music.

Unlike the iPads, this table can use a microSD card up to 128GB to store huge files such as movies and music. Combined with its longer battery life, this is a good tablet to carry during travels.

The display quality is also the same with the iPad mini 1st gen. The processing speed is fast enough to handle two apps at the same time, but you should run power hungry apps only one at a time to maintain the level of performance.

Other cool features include HD video recording, Wi-Fi, and GPS technology.

#5 – Asus Memo Pad 10 (ME102A) (16 GB)

Release Date: November 2013
Display: 10.1 inches (1280 x 800 pixels)
Camera: 2MP
Hardware: Quad-core, 1600 MHz, 1GB RAM
Battery: 5070 mAh
LTE/3G: No
See Full Technical Specifications

If you really like tablets with huge displays, this tablet has the largest display in the list. The quality of its HD display very close to the iPad mini 1st gen.

Unlike the previous tablets, this one excels in the sound quality of the speakers. It received an award for an incredible sound quality from a tablet.

You can save more of your movies using a microSD card up to 64GB. The processor is fast but the RAM is only at 1GB, so you can run apps individually and smoothly. But you should monitor the RAM consumption when running multiple apps, or close power hungry apps during multitasking to maintain the same level of performance.

At 525 g in weight, I think it is not too heavy considering its display size of 10.1 inches. This is because the iPad 4 which is only at 9.7 inches is at 652g which is much heavier.

The battery life is also pretty decent and can run up to 9.5 hours of multimedia use. Other cool features include HD video recording, Wi-Fi, and GPS technology.

So, that’s out top 5 under this price category. I hope you were able to obtain more information with this post.

What do you think of these tablets? I would love to hear from you. Just leave your comment in the comments section below. ?