Spec me a tablet for my son?

Footyslayer · 27 Oct 2019 at 20:06

Hi all, looking for some knowledge on a recommended tablet for my sons needs.

We need to upgrade him from an old ipad mini 2. The home button is broken and although we have a work around it is is birthday/Christmas soon so an upgrade would be good.

I am leaning towards android over apple because of the price point, also the fact we can buy a lower storage device and add our own SD card, we probably need around 128gb or more. He watches youtube and plays mobile games and that is about it (he has disabilities) the games he plays are not exactly demanding but occasionally he does like a new game like the new mario kart app and football games / first person shooters etc.

I am happy to move to android or even stay with apple at the right price point but I think android is the better move for us. Probably looking at a 10" screen roughly.

Budget around £300, a refurbished tablet is also acceptable, as long as it is a good upgrade over an ipad mini 2. Probably not looking at another mini though as I would like a larger screen.

thanks for any advice

Squink · 27 Oct 2019 at 20:16

I know you’re talking Android, but Apple really do tablets better than even the best that Android can offer to the extent that I’d get a second hand iPad over most new Android tablets.

£300 should get you last year’s 9.7” iPad.

If you’re determined to move from Apple, make sure you ignore the competitively priced Amazon devices. Last I heard (it may have changed and I haven’t researched specifically for this response), it takes some fiddling to get YouTube working on a Fire device owing to Amazon and Google refusing to support each other.

Footyslayer · 27 Oct 2019 at 20:19

I don't mind staying with apple but my thought process was that just for youtube and gaming (non intense gaming) an ipad and its price point wasnt needed as android should cover those bases for cheaper. Also I am a bit of a fan of the play store and the available .apk files for android.

I dont suppose you have any links for last years ipad at around £300 do you? Must be at least 128gb mind.

Squink · 27 Oct 2019 at 20:32

There’s an 128gb model on the Apple refurb store for £319 at the moment. Apple refurbs are properly fixed up (google the process) rather than wiped over with a damp cloth.

Otherwise, the Huawei mediapad t5 10.1 is generally well reviewed and it takes a memory card. They cost much less than £300 and might get a decent price cut on Black Friday

kefan77 · 27 Oct 2019 at 21:07

340 gets you new 10.2 128gb. no reason to look further.

Footyslayer · 29 Oct 2019 at 14:45

kefan77 said:
340 gets you new 10.2 128gb. no reason to look further.

Any links at all? From a legit and trusted seller?

Im not seeing anything under £420, the few for £340 are from sellers with sketchy trust pilot reviews.

kefan77 · 29 Oct 2019 at 21:10

i don't want to link it here, but I've purchased several phones and other stuff from that place before and never had a problem.
it's up to you if you want to pay extra for reputable UK based seller. for me it was not worth it. they do provide warranty, but from what I know you might have to send back to HK, where they're based, so in some cases, that's as good as not having any.
anyway, most people with positive experience do not bother leaving good reviews, so what you see on trustpilot may sometimes not be the representation of what majority of customers experience.

Squink · 29 Oct 2019 at 21:31

Afaik, Apple’s warranty is worldwide, so wherever a device came from, they’ll deal with warranty claims in a UK Apple store.

I’d advise checking before purchasing from HK though

Scort · 30 Oct 2019 at 14:59

Footyslayer said:
Hi all, looking for some knowledge on a recommended tablet for my sons needs.

We need to upgrade him from an old ipad mini 2. The home button is broken and although we have a work around it is is birthday/Christmas soon so an upgrade would be good.

I am leaning towards android over apple because of the price point, also the fact we can buy a lower storage device and add our own SD card, we probably need around 128gb or more. He watches youtube and plays mobile games and that is about it (he has disabilities) the games he plays are not exactly demanding but occasionally he does like a new game like the new mario kart app and football games / first person shooters etc.

I am happy to move to android or even stay with apple at the right price point but I think android is the better move for us. Probably looking at a 10" screen roughly.

Budget around £300, a refurbished tablet is also acceptable, as long as it is a good upgrade over an ipad mini 2. Probably not looking at another mini though as I would like a larger screen.

thanks for any advice

I picked up a Galaxy Tab A 10.5 recently - £250 from Currys, 32 GB of storage but it'll take a 400 GB SD card - works perfectly fine, and quite a decent device imo.

Not too sure whether you can move apps/games onto the SD card, as Samsung has been a bit hit and miss with that in the past.

StevieP · 30 Oct 2019 at 15:27

Scort said:
I picked up a Galaxy Tab A 10.5 recently - £250 from Currys, 32 GB of storage but it'll take a 400 GB SD card - works perfectly fine, and quite a decent device imo.

Not too sure whether you can move apps/games onto the SD card, as Samsung has been a bit hit and miss with that in the past.

If it's the 2019 model then the answer is no - I bought a couple of the 8" Tab-A's for my kids and there is no way to install apps to the SD card without rooting and putting a custom ROM on it!

****-poor from Samsung IMO with apps and games just getting bigger and bigger!

Scort · 30 Oct 2019 at 15:28

StevieP said:
If it's the 2019 model then the answer is no - I bought a couple of the 8" Tab-A's for my kids and there is no way to install apps to the SD card without rooting and putting a custom ROM on it!

****-poor from Samsung IMO with apps and games just getting bigger and bigger!

I see that some things never change then

Dirk Diggler · 2 Mar 2020 at 12:59

Has anyone tried the Huawei MediaPad M5 lite 8" Tablet? I think that lets you use SD card? Are Google apps and family link compatible?

I need to pick something up for my daughter, and the Tab A looks under powered and restrictive.

It doesn't look like Samsung are planning an updated model this year.

DB_SamX · 4 Mar 2020 at 22:43

String said:
Has anyone tried the Huawei MediaPad M5 lite 8" Tablet? I think that lets you use SD card? Are Google apps and family link compatible?

I need to pick something up for my daughter, and the Tab A looks under powered and restrictive.

It doesn't look like Samsung are planning an updated model this year.

Can't comment on teh specific one, but I've got the 10" Mediapad M5 and it is superb!