Budget vanilla Android tablet

paultr

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Hi
My faithful old Hudl2 tablet is starting to drive me crazy. It regularly goes offline and requires a reboot. I have done a full factory reset once but rather than do another one I want to call time on it and get a replacement.

I use it almost exclusively for surfing the web and it lives in my workshop/mancave so the replacement only needs to be cheap and cheerful. My main requirement is that I want one with a clean, as vanilla as possible, version of Android ie no clunky front end. Also preferably no bloatware. Screen size 7-10".

Lastly, a low price (older models would be fine).

Anyone got any recommendations please ?
 
Thanks Depot :) I maybe should have mentioned I also want this to use with my Mavic Pro drone so the Android has to be close to stock to run the app reliably and unfortunately some of the Huawei ones use a lot of their own code. I will paste a copy of a post I have just made on a drone forum in case anyone finds this thread .....

For the benefit of anyone finding this thread and also as a bit of choice-supportive bias, I will update with my thoughts.

Spent ages looking for this new tablet and posted on various other specialist Android forums.

There is nothing at the moment with a nice clean Android like the old Nexus range (and my Hudl2) in the budget market. In fact the range of tablets is tiny compared to the phone market. I would love a Google pixel but it is just too expensive to use just for surfing.

I first discounted all the unheard of generic types as although there will undoubtedly be some crackers out there that are as cheap as chips, it is just too high risk to find one. Some of the smaller builders will switch components if there are any shortages/price rises in China making reviews hard to trust. That just leaves the big names.

Next to go was the biggest maker, Samsung. They have a model at lots of price points but they are all overpriced imo. Also, although apparently they work closely with Google, they have a reputation for including big chunks of their own code so they can offer extra functions. Some of this functionality can be implemented in future versions of 'official' Android but at first you don't know how this will fit in with the version that is on the tablet.

Next was Huawei who have been aggressively attacking the UK market. Judging by the number of reviews on Amazon they must have done very well which I find a bit surprising. They are very clever with their pricing but if you look closely, their models are not the bargains they appear to be. The specs are just a bit inferior to their competitors in various areas - slightly slower processor, cheaper screen, smaller battery etc, even in subtle areas like their GPS chip not supporting A-GPS. All this trimming costs cents but is loved by accountants. Then the main problem, their Android implementation which is very poor. Some of their models say they are Android but large chunks are actually run as an emulation. However, they are such a big player, especially in China, that Google gives them near full access to the Play Store, so if you are thinking of getting one, there is nothing to worry about there. There is also the old chestnut of the spyware.

That left Asus & Lenovo as active in the budget space. I quickly narrowed it down to the Lenovo Tab 4 HD 8 which is about the same price as I paid for my Hudl2 3+ years ago. The Android geeks say that Lenovo have a used a light touch implementing it on this tablet and there is little bloatware. I think when I have put a launcher on like Nova it should behave exactly as I want. The only problem was then reading an article on a tech/gadget blog I follow. This guy also said how good this tablet is but emphasised that the Plus version is so much better in so many ways that getting it is a no brainer. So, I am sitting here now waiting for Amazon to arrive with a Tab 4 8 plus !

As a final inevitability, my Hudl2 which had been going offline every 10 or 15 minutes has remained rock steady ever since I made the first post in this thread a couple of days ago - grrr
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I would be interested to hear anyone's view on the Lenovo or any budget tablet. All the above is just my opinion and some of it is based on what I have read written by people I don't know. I would take all of it with a pinch of salt
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Got it :)

The Lenovo is amazingly uncluttered with bloatware or crap. The only thing I have noticed is an Alexa button on the On Screen Buttons bar at the bottom. Haven't tried to get rid of it yet but will do. It is only 16 GB but it will take an SD card and I have a NAS on our home network which I use as a personal cloud so keep most stuff there.

As I said earlier, it is easy to forget how fast things move on. This tablet is amazingly fast compared to my old one and for browsing it gives my Microsoft Surface Pro a run for it's money and that was 6 x the price !

It has also got USB-C which is the same as the Surface so that is good also. It is about the only thing that gets a lot of criticism on the Amazon reviews. A lot of people complaining that it does not have a standard USB socket and the majority think it is a non-standard Lenovo design. A bit like the bad old days when every phone had their own type of charging plug. I started commenting on the reviews and pointing out that it was actually an advantage to have USB-C as that was the new standard that would become normal and it had the advantage of being reversible so kinder to sockets. There were so many people moaning that I quickly gave up .

I have found some rubbish. It is some kind of weird keyboard developed in China and which is suspected of containing some sneaky adware. It is called Touchpal and also the tablet is loaded with dozens - maybe more that 100 language packs associated with it. These can be deleted but I might just have to disable the keyboard itself.

All in all though and I am very pleased. It is a great little tablet and although I did not really need the Plus version it is nice to have such a good screen.
 

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Thanks Depot :) I maybe should have mentioned I also want this to use with my Mavic Pro drone so the Android has to be close to stock to run the app reliably.......

How are you finding the Lenovo with your Mavic? I have an old ipad Air2 but the screen is an aftermarket repair job and part of it is unresponsive so I am looking for a new tablet for my Mavic Air. The obvious choice would be another ipad or ipad mini but even refurbished are going to cost me 260-320 pounds.
 

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