When purchasing a tablet at the mark of $300, people often lower their expectations. However, you don't need to feel low. The market is progressing fast and there are tons of players. Which has led to the availability of lots of budget tablets in the market that offer good usability and performance overall in price segments as low as $300?
These tablets will help you keep you entertained, and get your work done without hassle.
With a large number of tablets available in the market, it gets really hard to figure out which one is the right fit for you.
I've researched and reviewed more than 50 tablets based on average rating, reviews, performance, and hardware specification to save time on your end in order to curate the list of best tablets under $300 mark.
Other Buying Guides : Best Tablets under $200 | Best Tablets Under $100
Best Tablets Under $300 – Staff Pick
Apple iPad 9.7 inch (2017)
- 2GB DDR4 RAM
- Internal Storage: 32GB
- Removable Storage: None
- Cameras: Front 1.2MP, Rear 8MP
- 9.70 inches, 2048 x 1536 pixels pixels (IPS)
- Apple iOS 10
- 1 lbs
First released in 2014, the iPad Air 2 was discontinued by Apple to be replaced by all the all-new iPad 2017 or simply referred to as "iPad". One of the features that received a lot of praise was the retina display ( 2048 x 1536 ). Although, the screen isn't anti-reflective, thereby, making outdoor usage sometimes irritating. Although, the screen very well retains the level of detail and responsiveness.
The iPad is geared towards for watching movies, reading and web browsing. The 2gb Ram and 64-bit architecture drives a solid performance and ensures no glitches while multi-tasking.
Weighing just 469 grams, it's 7.5mm thick making it very lightweight. The inbuilt 32 GB storage space should be enough for the majority of the people. Although you can go for the 128gb variant which is priced at $100 more. The battery life according to trusted reviews and Amazon is 11 hours and a full charge takes 4 hours.
Needles to mention, it comes with iOS which makes it easy to navigate and operate. The camera on the front is 1.2mp while the one at back is 8mp and can shoot in 1080p.
- 2048 x 1536 Retina display
- Great value
- Solid performance
- Responsive
- Battery life
Summary : Thanks to the A9 chipset, the iPad 2017 performs well, and the Retina display adds 5th star on to the product. The only downside is the absence of anti-reflective glass.
Best Tablets Under 300$ – Runners-Up
Samsung Galaxy Tab A – T580
Specs
- 2GB DDR3L RAM
- Internal Storage: 16GB
- Removable Storage: microSDXC Card
- ReaderCameras: Front 2MP, Rear 8MP
10.1 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels pixels (TN) - Android OS 6.0 Marshmallow
1.16 lbs
The Galaxy Tab A is a combination of impressive performance, sturdy build, great battery life, and a sharp display, all packed under $ 200! Samsung seems to have really worked hard with their new Galaxy Tab A T580. Since aluminum cases usually are in high-end devices, I wasn't shocked to discover that Samsung Galaxy Tab A comes with a plastic body.
Regardless of this, it has excellent finishes and ergonomics. The resolution is crisp and watching movies or songs would be a worthwhile experience. The tab although doesn't have a retina display but has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Speakers are placed at the bottom edge of the device and deliver sufficient video, games, and music.
Unlike many manufacturers, Samsung didn't flood their device with a dozen apps and have chosen to go with the light version of TouchWiz which focuses on keeping things neat and performance high. Speaking more about the performance, the tab packs 1.6GHz Exynos 7870 Octa which is powered by 2GB of RAM which results in fast and fluid performance. Even high-end games are handled fairly. The storage (16gb ) is neither too much nor too less but okay at this price point, while a micro sd slot is offered to ensure you can store everything you need.
The back camera is 8mp, while the front fitting is 2MP. Another feature which speaks quality is the 18 hours of continuous video playback.
- Sturdy design
- Bright Full-HD display
- Great performance
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- MicroSD slot with App2SD
- Decent cameras
- Long battery life
Summary : The tab is the right balance in everything.
ASUS ZenPad 3S Z500M
Specs
- 4GB LPDDR3 RAM
- Internal Storage: 64GB
- Removable Storage: microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot)
- Cameras: Front 5MP, Rear 8MP
- 9.70 inches, 2048 x 1536 pixels pixels (IPS)
- Android OS 6.0 Marshmallow
- 0.95 lbs
Considering the price point, ASUS has packed in some rather impressive hardware inside the Zenpad 3S Z500M. The manufacturer boasts its hexa-core MediaTek mt8176 chipset which clocks speed as high as 2.1 GHz. Powered by 4GB Ram, the performance is simply amazing. The display is 2048 x 1536 LCD display and looks very sharp as compared to deep black in Samsung displays. The design looks very identical to iPad Pro 9.7 mentioned above.
The diamond-cut edges combined with metal casing, the Zenpad feels like it belongs to Batman movie. It also has a fingerprint scanner, which also doubles as the home button and works very well. Capacitive buttons are placed on either side of the smartphone.
The speakers are placed on the screen edge, which makes it vulnerable to get blocked while the screen is being held, which pisses me off a bit. But they're otherwise impressive and loud. The speakers are driven by NXP Smart AMP. The Zenpad has a 5900 mAh battery which gets fully charged in 2.5 hours via USB-C. Battery life as claimed by ASUS is 10 hours which is sufficient for most users. The camera despite being 8MP and 5Mp ( back and front respectively ) don't perform that well. The absence of LED flash makes it night-blind in low light. You can shoot 1080p videos, but not as good as other tablets mentioned here.
Due to high-end hardware, it can run heavy games with ease. Some bloatware in the device can't be removed. If the 64 GB inbuilt storage wasn't enough, the device also has a micro SD slot.
- Beautiful design
- Sharp 2K display
- Well priced
- Good performance
- USB-C
- Quick charging
- Decent battery life
- Responsive fingerprint scanner
- Good speaker quality
Summary : If you have to do everything but snapping pictures, go with this tablet.
LG Gpad II
Specs
- Internal Storage : 16 GB
- RAM : 1 GB
- Primary Camera : 8 MP
- Secondary Camera : 1.2 MP
- Display Size : 8 inch
The tablet market is lucrative, and LG has been trying its hands but to no avail in past. Although, the LG Gpad II surely gave LG a lot of hope.
The LG Gpad is the combination of good hardware resulting in flawless performance. Gpad has IPS display with a max resolution of 1280x800 pixels, companies with 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor and powered by 1gb ram. The built-in memory is 16gb which you can expand with an "MMC Card". The camera resolution is 8mp and 2mp respectively.
- Value for money
- Great battery life
- Expandable storage
Huawei Mediapad M3
Specs
- Internal Storage : 32 GB
- RAM : 4 GB
- Primary Camera : 8 MP
- Secondary Camera : 2 MP
- Display Size : 8.4 inch
Huawei's media pad m3 resembles the company's flagship device Huawei p9. The Mediapad 3 comes strikes in with Hisillicon kirin 950 quad-core 2.3ghz cortex and quad-core 1.8ghz processor. This octa-core processor is in turn supported by 4GB ram. The tablet offers an impressive 32gb internal support which can be expanded via SD Card.
The IPS display features 2560 x 1600 screen resolution. The camera combination is 8mb + 2mb ( back and front ) like most of the tablets on this page.
- Sleek design
- Faster processor
- Awesome sound
Fire HD 8
Specs
- Internal Storage : 16 GB
- RAM : 2 GB
- Primary Camera : 5 MP
- Secondary Camera : 2 MP
- Display Size : 10.1 inch
Now comes Amazon's flagship tablet that has received a lot of praise for offering some of the finest software and hardware combination to provide a solid tablet. The Fire HD is powered by a quad-core processor - two 1.5 GHz core and 2 1.2 GHz core to ensure great resolution and display. The display resolution is 1280 x 900, but the display is surprisingly 149 PPI, which is quite high for a 10-inch tablet.
Amazon offers it in three variants, 64GB, 32GB and 16GB ( internal space ). You can always expand the storage via an SD card. The tablet can record in HD, the front camera which has a 2mp resolution can shoot at 720 p, while the back camera has a 5mp resolution which shoots 1080 p. Battery life averages for about 8 hours.
- Great display
- Good sound quality
- Ample storage space.