HOLIDAY LIST: Top 5 tablets you should check out within your budget

With all the premium tablets in the world being priced USD$300 and above, it would be quite stressful to think about what tablet to purchase this holiday season that will do the job you require a tablet to do AND be with your budget. Fortunately enough for you, we got you in mind with this next holiday list – the best Android tablets you can find that will be worth your hard-earned cash. Ready?

#1 – Nexus 7 (2013)

Topping our list is not a new tablet for the year, but is still widely available online. Despite being almost two years old, the Nexus 7 (2013) – made by ASUS – is still one of the best-performing tablets you can buy. And with newer tablets padding up their pricing, the price tag of the Nexus 7 (2013) is bound to get better. It’s available online at around USD$125. The specs aren’t new, but they will do the job – with the Nexus 7’s quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, clocked at 1.5 GHz, backed up by an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB RAM. The tablet’s 7-inch 1920x 200 will give you a great visual experience to boot, and add to that, it will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This is why the Nexus 7 is still our top budget tablet for the year.

#2 – NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1

Next up is NVIDIA’s rebranded SHIELD Tablet K1. This used to be the tablet that ruled the industry in performance, with its Tegra K1 processor and a 192-core Kepler GPU. This new version, priced very affordably at USD$199, is slightly refreshed, but is still the same powerful 8-inch tablet in every way. In order to adjust the price tag to such an affordable level, NVIDIA ships this with less accessories than expected. Gone is the Stylus, slot for the stylus, a handful of pre-installed apps and the charger. Yes, you’ll need to supply your own USB brick and cable for this one, but that doesn’t mean this is not a great tablet to buy. On the contrary, this is one of the best performing tablets around.

#3 – Dell Venue 8

The Dell Venue 8 was already budget-friendly when it came out, but the launch of newer Dell tablets has made this tablet one of the cheapest Android tablets currently available – that will do what you want it to do. The Dell Venue 8 is powered by an Intel processor and backstopped by 1 GB RAM. The 8-inch 1920×1200 resolution is great for media consumption and casual gaming, although the specifications of this tablet may not be as impressive as some of the others on this list. The kicker is, of course, the unbeatable USD$129 price point, making the Dell Venue 8 a great choice for those on a budget.

#4 – Acer Iconia Tab 8

The Acer Iconia Tab 8 is another great option for those who need a tablet on the lower-cost niche. The 8-inch tablet offers solid specifications and performance for your money, and the device comes with a premium build quality that goes beyond what you expect at this price point. You get a high resolution display, dual rear speakers, and a large 4,600mAh battery that will keep your tablet on for a good while. At USD$159, the Acer Iconia Tab 8 is certainly one of the best options for low-cost Android tablets.

#5 – Xiaomi Mi Pad

We admit that the Xiaomi Mi Pad may not be available in some parts of the world, but if you can get your hands on one, then the value for your money is guaranteed. This is probably the only other tablet you can get that features the powerful NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor and Kepler GPU under USD$200, with 2GB RAM and a FullHD 7.9-inch screen to boot. Yes, Xiaomi puts in a skinned version of Android that you probably won’t fully appreciate. And yes, it will be a bit of a drag to order one from the Xiaomi store. But when you look at the specs, and that you’ll be getting one this holiday season, it will probably be worth the hassle.