Love the idea of owning a tablet, but not in love with the concept of spending lots of money for one? Well, this collection of the best tablets that cost less than $ 250 may be just what you’re looking for.
Let’s be honest, in general, there’s a clear price threshold for tablet quality. By and large, you’ll want to avoid anything under $ 100, as the problems you’ll run into with a sub-$ 100 tablet aren’t worth what relatively little money you’ll save.
Like with most products, in general there’s long-term benefit to paying a little bit extra if it means you’ll get a better product. Luckily, when it comes to tablets, you don’t have to look too high above $ 100 — actually, quality starts at about $ 139 thanks to Amazon — to get something that won’t give you buyer’s remorse. At least hopefully not for the first few months or so.
To that end, here are the best tablets currently available with prices under $ 250. If any of the products here interest you, be sure to read the full reviews for details on the quirks and idiosyncrasies of each. Also, check out our Tablets Buying Guide for an overview on tablet-buying best practices.
If your needs are modest, there’s a good chance the Venue 8 will meet them.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Dell Venue 8
The Dell Venue 8 won’t set your world afire, but if you have modest needs you…won’t need it to. It’s a comfortable tablet with an always-appreciated microSD card slot and includes 16GB of storage for $ 179.99. If an 8-inch tablet is a bit larger than what you had in mind, there’s the 7-inch $ 149.99 Dell Venue 7 as well. It too meets modest needs for a reasonable price. Read the full review of the Dell Venue 8.
A 9-inch tablet for $ 149. Yep, that’s pretty much why the Nook HD+ made the list.
(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)
Barnes & Noble Nook HD+
The Nook HD+ was released in 2012 and honestly it wouldn’t be on this list, but for its recent inclusion of the full Google Play Store and a price drop to $ 149. Its performance is no longer impressive, but it’s still a well-designed tablet with a sharp screen, a storage expansion slot, and a great magazine feature. There’s also the 7-inch version with a much lighter, more e-book-friendly design. Read the full review of the Barnes & Noble Nook HD+.
Impressive gaming performance and stylus functionality in one.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
EVGA Tegra Note 7
The Samsung Galaxy Note line is the only line of stylus-based tablets you should care about. Or at least it was until now. Besides Samsung’s Notes, the EVGA Tegra Note 7 is the first tablet to offer stylus integration at a level even approaching what Samsung has accomplished. It doesn’t wholly succeed, but at $ 199 it’s also nearly half the price of its closet stylus competitor. Gamers looking for a cheap but capable entry point into Android gaming will appreciate the Tegra Note 7′s inclusion of a 1.8GHz Tegra 4 processor, which catapults it to fantastic graphical heights. Read the full review of the EVGA Tegra Note 7.
Thanks to a current deal at Amazon, the Galaxy Tab 3 (8-inch) is just cheap enough to make the list.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (8-inch)
The 8-inch Galaxy Tab 3 is one of the best Samsung tablets around. It combines a bright colorful screen, a comfortable design, plentiful of useful features, and a reasonable price. Actually, the usual price is $ 299.99, which is a tad high, but right now Amazon has the 8-incher for $ 249. That’s a fantastic deal for an 8-inch tablet with as many features as this one offers. Make sure it’s the 8-incher though. Neither the 10.1-inch Tab 3 nor the 7-inch version is nearly as compelling. Read the full review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab (8-inch).
The Kindle Fire HDX 7 is one of the best tablets of the year.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7
Not only is the Kindle Fire HDX 7 one of the fastest gaming tablets on the market; not only does it serve as one of the two best ways to take advantage of your Amazon Prime account. But thanks to its Mayday service, if you ever have trouble with any aspect of the tablet, live video-based customer service is only 15 seconds away. That’s something no other product — tablet or otherwise — can boast. However, if its $ 229 price sounds like a bit too much, the $ 139 Fire HD (2013) is available as well. It’s not as pretty and doesn’t offer the same customer service features, but it’s the cheapest way to access Amazon’s well-groomed tablet world. Read the full review of the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7.
The Grand Pooh-Bah of small cheap tablets.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Google Nexus 7 (2013)
OK, so what makes the $ 229 Nexus 7 better than the Kindle Fire HDX 7? A few things: full support for the latest version of Android, including access to the entire Google Play store; its buttons are on the side instead of, annoyingly, its back, as they are on the Fire HDX; and its screen is brighter and its colors more accurate. Either tablet is a worthwhile buy, so no matter which you choose, you’re getting a satisfying tablet experience. Read the full review.
Looking for specs and pricing? Compare these tablets head-to-head.
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