How to choose a budget tablet for gaming
Sure Amazon Fire tablets are kings of budget tablets as described in the article here:
https://steemit.com/hardware/@hwtrendsetter/some-really-cheap-android-tablets-are-better-than-you-think
But what if you want a proper gaming device? That can handle all the latest and greatest mobile titles including Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and Apex Legends. Is it even possible to get a decent gaming tablet for just 699 PLN (149€)?
I would base my search for a gaming tablet on these 4 pillars:
UFS storage
Just like in computers, there are very slow mechanical HDDs and fast SSDs - in tablets (and phones) there is very slow eMMC memory and very fast UFS memory. So this is the first condition that needs to be met if you want any comfort in basic day-to-day tasks.
The tablet doesn't freeze when switching between apps, photos load immediately (and 4K videos load at all), applications start almost instantly (and not after 3 minutes), and there is no need to wait 5 minutes to load a map in a video game - it's all thanks to the UFS memory.
And even if a no-name Chinese tablet had 16 GB of RAM and a 5 GHz processor - without UFS memory, using it will feel slow.Decent graphics processing
It is clear that for the games to work, there must be a good graphics card (in phones and tablets it is always integrated with the processor, so you can also say that it is about a good processor).
A good budget example is Adreno 610. It can be found even in slightly more expensive phones such as Redmi Note 11 or Realme 9. Maybe not the kings of gaming, but there is no risk that modern games such as Genshin Impact won't run well on low-medium settings.
And sure enough, there are no-name tablets with faster Unisoc processors. They are OK, but we don't want to use Excel, we want to play graphically-intensive video games. And the Adreno 610 easily outperforms the integrated graphics of those Unisocs.Android version which is not completely garbage
If you want to play the latest games, it is essential that the tablet supports Google Play Services. Therefore all new Huawei and Honor tablets, Amazon's Fire Tablets, and also many Chinese no-name tablets have to be excluded.
But this is not enough. The Android version also needs to be reasonably up-to-date. I'm not saying Android 13 from December 2022, because only the latest Samsungs have it. But at least Android 11 - should be enough for a few more years.
Unfortunately, they are some new tablets available on the store shelves (also from well-known brands such as Lenovo), that come with older Androids, such as Android 8.0 (released 6 years ago).
Sure, this is not the world of Apple, you can live with an "outdated" version of Android for years and still get the latest applications. And on Android 8.0 everything seems to work at the moment. But on Android 7.1, for example, Star Wars Galaxy Heroes will not run. So there is a huge risk that on Android 8 in a few months some games will stop working.
Oh, and if it's a gaming tablet, perhaps it's a gift for a child. In that case, it would be great if that Android distribution supported your native language (which is not always a given)Decent screen
And I'm not talking about the resolution here. Even on large tablets, you can usually get away with low resolutions - this is not the biggest problem because at least you can see SOMETHING.
But maybe you remember when really old smartphones used to have screens where absolutely nothing could be seen at an angle. And either nothing or your own reflection in direct sunlight. These were TN screens. Unfortunately, they still sell new tablets with such terrible screens.
And since the tablet is not always perfectly placed on the desk at one angle - it is held in hands that are sometimes closer and sometimes farther from the eyes. Maybe it is also used in the car where everything shakes all the time - so you definitely need decent viewing angles, i.e. the IPS screen.
Someone will say but for games maybe you also need 120 Hz or 240 Hz instead of 60 Hz. And preferably OLED, because it's 2023, and OLED screens don't burn out that much anymore, and they can help preserve battery life, and they are simply the best.
Sure, they are pretty good, but unfortunately unavailable at this price point. There is absolutely no chance for either 120/240 Hz or OLED (especially paired with decent components) for 699 PLN (149€). But you can live without those. But life with a TN screen - would prove very difficult.
And finally, I will add one more thing. Maybe not as a pillar per se, because many demanding games can still be played with a 3/32 GB configuration. But the very popular Fortnite requires a minimum of 4GB of RAM, and the very popular Genshin Impact also requires 64GB of memory. Therefore I wouldn't go below such configuration.
And it seems to me that the only tablet around 699 PLN (149€) that meets all these requirements is the Lenovo XiaoXin Pad 11.
See the link below, discounted with coupon code TT8OFF23
https://www.tomtop.com/p-pt0095gy-eu.html