A lot of people these days are using tablets, whether they use them while on the go, just to read eBooks, as a gaming system, or if they’ve used it to completely replace their other computers with. And it’s no wonder, with their huge variety of different apps tablets can come in handy.
However, many tablets can cost upwards of $500 or more. Not everyone can afford such a price tag, but they still want a tablet. Luckily, there are quite a few budget Android tablets that are much more affordable, and can usually do just as much as the more expensive tablets.
In this article I will list what I believe are the top 5 best Android tablets for under $300.
#5: Pipo S1
Don’t let the fact that it’s a Chinese tablet fool you, the Pipo S1 is an amazingly fast, high-quality tablet. With its dual-core 1.6 GHz CPU and quad-core Mali 400 GPU it is very quick and snappy and has no issues keeping up with any game you throw at it.
It also has 1GB of RAM for better multitasking and 8GB of hard drive space and supports up to 32GB of extra space using a microSD card.
The Pipo S1 can be had for around $120.
#4: Kindle Fire HD
Although the Kindle is not a “pure” Android device as it uses an Amazon skin, it is based on Android so I put it in the list.
At $199 the Kindle Fire HD is the perfect tablet for anyone who reads a lot of eBooks. It has access to the Amazon market and is optimized for reading eBooks.
Along with eBooks the Kindle Fire HD is also capable of playing games such as Angry Birds and using apps such as Facebook and Netflix. However, it doesn’t have access to the Google Play Store so it won’t have as many options to it as other Android devices.
#3: Nook HD
Some may disagree with the Nook HD being above the Kindle Fire HD on this list, but I put it here primarily because of its higher screen resolution and ability to increase it’s hard drive space using microSD cards.
Just like the Kindle Fire HD, the Nook HD is perfect for reading eBooks, which it was originally designed for. The Nook HD has access to Barnes & Noble’s huge selection of eBooks and apps.
At $199 the Nook HD is perfect if you want something similar to the Kindle Fire HD but with a better screen and expansive memory.
#2: Samsung Tab 2
At around $200 the Samsung Tab 2 is one of the top of the line 7″ Android tablets. It’s fast, light-weight, durable and has complete access to the Google Play app store.
With both a rear and a front-facing camera the Samsung Tab 2 is also really good if you enjoy taking pictures with your tablet.
The one downside to the Samsung Tab 2 is its screen resolution. At 1024×600 it leaves much to be desired.
#1: Google Nexus 7
The tablet straight from Google themselves, the Nexus 7 is remarkably fast and has a beautiful LED touch screen that is incredibly responsive.
The Nexus 7 comes in several different models, the $199 16GB Wi-Fi, the $249 32GB Wi-Fi and the $299 32GB Wi-Fi + mobile data from AT&T; or T-Mobile. Each model comes with a micro USB input, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU and 1GB of RAM.
One of the biggest advantages the Nexus 7 has is that since it’s from Google it will always have the latest Android updates as soon as they come out.
