Amazon Fire HD 10 (2021)
£150
The Amazon Fire HD 10 has established itself as one of the very cheapest and best value 10in tablets that you can buy. It includes access to most major apps and services, a very powerful voice assistant and almost all of the content you could need. At less than half the cost of Apple’s cheapest ipad, but with just as big a screen, this 1080p tab has held its own as one of the few genuine tech bargains around. It has also recently shed about 40g and is 15mm shorter on its longest edge and 8mm thinner.
Amazon uses Fire OS for its tablet range. It’s based on Android, but Android it isn’t quite. That means that you don’t get out-of-the-box access to the usual Android apps from the Google Play Store. There are workarounds, but it doesn’t come with Android staples such as Google Maps, Gmail, Chrome, Docs and the other Drive apps. Other big utility apps such as Whatsapp don’t feature either, but there are third-party equivalents for most things.
A 2.0GHZ octa-core processor runs the show, and built-in storage is 32GB or 64GB. There’s a 10.1in screen and RAM is 3GB.
Most of the streaming services are there, along with all the UK catch-up apps, and the picture performance comfortably outstrips the tablet’s modest price. Sure, it can be outmanoeuvred by more expensive devices, but you’d have to pay twice as much to buy something significantly better.
Likewise, audio performance is good. Timing is a touch awry compared with premium tablets, but basslines have a nice solidity and treble frequencies push through cleanly.
If you’re looking for a low-cost 10-inch tablet you need look no further than this. Yes, the user interface will prompt you to buy Amazon products but, like the Fire HD 10 itself, that’s a small price to pay.