- PPF Points
- 2,888
Honestly, you really don’t have to shell out Apple-level cash just to watch a movie or scroll through Instagram. Trust me, I’ve played around with quite a few cheap-ish tablets, and the tech’s actually not as terrible as I’d feared. The Amazon Fire HD 10? That thing’s basically a steal. The screen is way sharper than I expected, and for bingeing Netflix in bed or letting YouTube rot your brain, it totally does the trick. Now, yeah, you’re kinda locked into Amazon’s weird app playground, and Google Play stuff needs a bit of hackery—but if you just wanna veg out with some TV, who cares?
I keep nudging my not-so-techy friends toward the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. It costs a bit more than the Fire, but you get true Android, for starters. No Amazon flavor—just regular Google everything, right when you turn it on. I’ve gone from emails to four-hour Marvel movie marathons on that thing, and honestly, I’ve never had to sprint for a charger. Plus, it actually looks kinda slick. None of that plastic-from-the-90s vibe you sometimes get with cheap gadgets.
Oh, and if you just want something simple for reading or scrolling through TikTok before bed—or dragging around on trips—the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus is sneaky good. Super light, screen’s bright, and the speakers aren’t garbage, which shocked me at this price. Makes cooking way more fun (yes, I “watch” more than I cook, so sue me). Look, none of these are powerhouses—they won’t edit your vacation videos or run heavy apps—but for just chilling online or catching up on shows, they’re way more capable than the price tag would suggest. Got a favorite under-the-radar tablet that people keep sleeping on? I’m always up for a new excuse to add more screens to my life.
I keep nudging my not-so-techy friends toward the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. It costs a bit more than the Fire, but you get true Android, for starters. No Amazon flavor—just regular Google everything, right when you turn it on. I’ve gone from emails to four-hour Marvel movie marathons on that thing, and honestly, I’ve never had to sprint for a charger. Plus, it actually looks kinda slick. None of that plastic-from-the-90s vibe you sometimes get with cheap gadgets.
Oh, and if you just want something simple for reading or scrolling through TikTok before bed—or dragging around on trips—the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus is sneaky good. Super light, screen’s bright, and the speakers aren’t garbage, which shocked me at this price. Makes cooking way more fun (yes, I “watch” more than I cook, so sue me). Look, none of these are powerhouses—they won’t edit your vacation videos or run heavy apps—but for just chilling online or catching up on shows, they’re way more capable than the price tag would suggest. Got a favorite under-the-radar tablet that people keep sleeping on? I’m always up for a new excuse to add more screens to my life.
