I am telling you a secret: I hate having to update our best cheap tablets guide. Not because I’m against the idea of affordable tech slate, but because I’m feeling bad with the state of the cheap tablet market in 2025.
There are really only a handful of lower end tablets worth considering at the time of writing, and it is a challenge to recommend anything but Apple’s latest iPad on Endry-Level, which I recognize, stretches the definition of ‘affordable’ for most people.
I am easily relieved that Huawei has announced an updated version of its impressive MATEPAD 11.5 tablet coming to the UK and Europe later this month. This 11.5-inch slate boasts a 120Hz LCD screen with a 2.5K resolution, 8GB of RAM, a significant 10,100mAh battery and optional papermat technology-all-steady specifications if Huawei gets the price properly.
Of course, if you live in the US, this is useless information. MatePad 11.5 doesn’t get a real global release, just as OnePlus Pad goes and the whole Xiaomi and Honer’s budget -friendly tabs are limited to British, European and Asian markets.
For our friends across the pond (I write this from London), the cheap tablet situation is cooked down to three, maybe four options. If you are willing to stretch your budget a little longer, the iPad 11-inch (2025) is downwards, one of the best tablets you can buy while Android fans should consider the Lenovo fan or Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. For a really affordable option, I would recommend one of Amazon’s cheap and cheerful fire tablets.
That’s pretty much that. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 never came to the United States and while American people can Buy the larger Galaxy tab A9 Plus, the device launched almost two years ago, which means it is difficult to recommend in 2025. There is still no sign of the Galaxy Tab A10 series.
Similarly, the Google Pixel tablet debuted in May 2023, and we haven’t heard a look at a potential second generation model (August’s made by Google Showcase will almost certainly be reserved for the Pixel 10 Series and Pixel Watch 4).
It is nothing new for us buyers to have access to a smaller pool of products than those in other regions – good luck getting one of the best Xiaomi phones or best Oppo phones in the US – but the affordable tablet situation feels particularly deep.
Of course, there are different strategic, economic and even political factors that play here, and I will not weigh on whether these factors are right or wrong. Rather, I just draw attention to a problem, I continue to meet when updating our best cheap tablet guide every month: There are very few options worth recommending to a global audience.
Apple’s iPad on Entry-Level is an excellent device, but I would like to see Google and Samsung have another proper crack at the lower end of the tablet market.
