Huawei’s new MatePad has got me thinking: where are all the good cheap tablets?
I’ll tell you a secret: I hate having to update our best cheap tablets guide. Not because I’m against the idea of affordable tech slates, but because I feel bad about the state of the cheap tablet market in 2025.
There are really only a handful of lower-end tablets worth considering at the time of writing, and it’s a challenge to recommend anything other than Apple’s latest entry-level iPad, which, I acknowledge, stretches the definition of ‘affordable’ for most people.
I’m mildly relieved, then, that Huawei has announced a refreshed version of its impressive MatePad 11.5 tablet, which is coming to the UK and Europe later this month. This 11.5-inch slate will boast a 120Hz LCD display with a 2.5k resolution, 8GB of RAM, a sizeable 10,100mAh battery, and optional PaperMatte technology – all decent specs, if Huawei gets the price right.
Of course, if you’re living in the US, this is useless information. The MatePad 11.5 won’t be getting a truly global release, just as the OnePlus Pad Go and all of Xiaomi and Honor’s budget-friendly tabs are confined to British, European, and Asian markets.
For our friends across the pond (I’m writing this from London), the cheap tablet situation boils down to three, maybe four options. If you’re willing to stretch your budget a little further, the iPad 11-inch (2025) is, hands-down, one of the best tablets you can buy, while Android fans should consider the Lenovo Tab or Lenovo Idea Tab Pro. For a truly affordable option, I’d recommend one of Amazon’s cheap and cheerful Fire tablets.
That’s pretty much it. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 never came to the US, and while US folks can buy the larger Galaxy Tab A9 Plus, that device launched almost two years ago, meaning it’s hard to recommend in 2025. There’s still no sign of the Galaxy Tab A10 series.
Similarly, the Google Pixel Tablet debuted in May 2023, and we haven’t heard a peep about a potential second-generation model (August’s Made by Google showcase will almost certainly be reserved for the Pixel 10 series and Pixel Watch 4).
It’s nothing new for US buyers to have access to a smaller pool of products than those in other regions – good luck getting one of the best Xiaomi phones or best Oppo phones in the US – but the affordable tablet situation feels particularly dire.
There are, of course, various strategic, economic, and even political factors at play here, and I’m not going to weigh in on whether those factors are right or wrong. Rather, I’m just drawing attention to a problem I keep encountering when updating our best cheap tablets guide each month: there are very few options worth recommending to a global audience.
Apple’s entry-level iPad is an excellent device, but I’d like to see Google and Samsung have another proper crack at the lower end of the tablet market.
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