Keeping up to date with the latest gadgets is an expensive hobby, but if you’re after a new tablet, it doesn’t have to break the bank. Forget iPads, Surface RTs and the latest bend-over-backwards Lenovos, here CBR has collated five of the best budget tablets you can get right now.

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX

With a fast quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and the much advertised Mayday feature, the Kindle Fire HDX is an absolute bargain. For £199 off Amazon, you can get the 16GB model, which boasts the 7 inch 1920×1200 323 PPI HDX display, and up to 11 hours battery life.

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Nexus 7 2013

Some herald Google’s Nexus 7 as the best tablet ever, let alone best budget tablet. The 16GB model is currently at £159 on Amazon, and you get a premium, sleek, fast tablet with the latest version of Android and wireless charging capability. The Nexus 7 really gives the iPad Mini a run for its money, especially weighing just 290 grams. A 1.5GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM top off this Google gem.

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Tesco Hudl

Tesco’s homegrown tablet took the market by storm last year, selling out nationwide. Undercutting the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD by quite a few pounds, the Hudl runs on a budget Android 4.2.2, but at just £119, who can complain? It also has a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, a 7-inch HD display. 16GB of internal storage allows for plenty of room, and it works well with Tesco’s Blinkbox streaming service.

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Nook HD+

Thought Barnes & Nobles just did ereaders? Think again. With the Nook HD+, now competitively priced at £175 on Amazon, you get a spectacular HD 1080p 9 inch display, extremely light weight, and a dual-core processor that manages the job better than it should on paper. 16GB of storage comes as standard.

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Asus Fonepad 7

A tablet and a phone…a phablet! With a 3G sim-card, you can use this as your standard run of the mill smartphone, but because of its 7-inch screen, it’s perfect as a tablet on the go as well. Just £165 on Amazon, with the FOnepad 7 you get a 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 16GB of memory. It is slightly let down by its 3MP camera, but when it acts as both a phone and a tablet on a budget, something has to give.

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