The budget friendly android tablet fever is on with prices crashing below the $200. Hell, some even cost below $100. Leader International Inc has introduced the $179.00 Impression 7 which goes on sale in November 2011 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi is about to drop for just $199 come November 15, 2011.
Some folks have expressed fears that these cheap android tablets might not be of top quality like their expensive counterparts but that ain’t true.
Just like you have expensive android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S II, cheaper quality alternatives are readily available for those who want to get a feel of the android environment.
Now before you rush out to purchase one of them, here are a few features you have to get right to enjoy your android tablet experience without frustration.
TOP FEATURES OF A CHEAP ANDROID TABLET
- Battery Life: Tablets are just not fun with less durable batteries. Stick with tablets that promise at least 7 hours work time.
- Speed: As it is with computers, a slow system can dampen your productivity thus be sure to stick with tablets with a minimum of 1GHZ processor and 512 RAM.
- Upgradeable Android OS: most cheap tablets ship with Android 2.0 and don’t offer possible upgrades to newest versions of this OS. Inability to upgrade your OS equals inability to get the best of android. Always make sure your device allows for OS upgrades.
- Android Marketplace Access: just because your tablet runs on Android doesn’t mean you get automatic access to download and install apps seamlessly from the android marketplace. Your device MUST HAVE free access to the android marketplace.
- Screen size: the industry standard for cheap tabs seems to be 7 inches so if you’re able to get a tablet with a 10 inch screen for under $200, you’re lucky ;)
- 3G/Wi-Fi Support: most tablets come with the ability to surf the internet BUT only via Wi-Fi. In countries like Nigeria, where wi-fi is not popular, you’d probably be stuck with an e-reader tablet without internet access. Be sure to get a 3G enabled android tablet and get the chance to enjoy the amazing speed offered by Glo Nigeria’s data plans ;-).
- USB port and microSD card slot: cheap tablets generally come with 4GB of internal memory. Having usb/microSD support means this memory can be expanded up to 32GB and if you’re lucky enough and your 3G less tablet supports it, you could use a 3G/4G dongle for internet connectivity.
What other features do you feel an android tablet under $200 must have? Feel free to share with us.
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