In recent years, affordable tablets are in high demand due to their compact nature and affordable price. The best tablet under $100 are best recommended for students, kids, casual users, beginners in digital art.
This post includes the different tablet brands available such as Android, Samsung, Fire OS and Windows OS tablets. For 100$, there is an option for you from all the brands mentioned but iPads.
Apple devices are always not cheap.iPad lovers will have to choose refurbished or used tablets to get such a deal.
Despite the low budget range, these tablets will offer excellent value for students, parents who need a tablet for their kids and any casual users whether for drawing or gaming.
Most of the tablets in this price range are not too powerful and you might notice lags if you run complex tasks or play complex games.
What is the Best Tablet Under $100?
- Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet – $69.99
- Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet – $99.99
- Amazon Fire 7 tablet (2022) – $59.99
- Samsung Tab A9+ – $169.00
- DOOGEE U10 2025 10 inch Tablet – $79.00
- ONN 10.1″ Tablet, 32GB, (2024 Model) – 118$
- Apple IPad Air 2 WI-FI 64GB Space Gray (Renewed) – 99$
- Lenovo Tab M9-2023 – 79$
Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet: Best Overall
- Operating System: Amazon Fire OS
- Dimensions: 9.69 x 6.49 x 0.34 inches
- Weight: 434 g
- Screen Size: 10.1 inches
- Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1200 pixels
- CPU: MediaTek
- Storage Capacity: 32 GB
- Battery Life: 10 hours, 18 minutes
The Amazon Fire HD 10 was released after the Fire HD 8 as an upgrade but came before the Fire 11 Max. The Fire HD 10 features a large 10.1 inch screen with a full HD resolution at 1920 x 1200 pixels.
In addition to the high resolution screen, it also features a powerful octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM for multitasking. For storage, the table is small with 32 and 64 GB storage space.
Luckily you can upgrade using a MicroSD card slot up to 1 B. Although the tablet is cheap at around $69, you will have to buy the MicroSD card separately.
This tablet is ideal for streamers who watch content on the screen for long hours with up to 10 hours of battery life. We tested the battery by streaming a 1080 p video and were impressed it held up for that long.
The long battery life and light weight 434 g body makes this small tablet easily portable. One down side is its thick bezels that neither look sleek nor modern.
For $69, the Fire 10 HD offers great value for the money and even beats the iPad’s overall battery life. It is also a tad smaller for portability.
Pros
- Good Display
- Affordable Price
- Long battery life
- Expandable storage up to 1TB
- Features Alexa Echo Show mode as an extra
Cons
- Works with Fire OS resulting to compatibility issues to with Google Play apps.
- Old body design
Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet 2024
- Operating System: Amazon Fire OS
- Dimensions: 7.94 x 5.40 x 0.37 inches
- Weight: 337 g
- Screen Size: 8 inches
- Resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels
- CPU: Hexa-core 2.0 GHz
- Storage Capacity: 32 GB
- Battery Life: 13 hours
The Fire HD 2023 has not changed a lot compared to the Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet 2022 model. It comes in 2 price options at 99$ for 32 GB storage and 129$ for 64 GB.
They both feature a small 8 inch screen but with high HD resolution, it still looks clean and clear for streaming work.
Compared to the older Fire 7 tablet, the 2024 version is faster and offers better display clarity. You will run basic streaming applications for long hours thanks to the 13 hours battery life.
It will not be as powerful as high end tablets but will still run basic games. We noticed lags when used with complex applications and games. Consider this tablet as a sure upgrade to the Fire 7, offering an overall better entertainment.
Pros
- Affordable Price
- Light weight body
- Long battery life
Cons
- Small screen size
- Poor accessories
- App compatibility issues
Amazon Fire 7 tablet (2022) – $59.99
- Screen Size: 7 inches
- Resolution: 1024 x 600 pixels
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- Processor: quad-core processor
- Battery: 10 hours
If you are looking for the cheapest tablet, the Amazon Fire 7 tablet is the best available. You will, however, compromise a lot of the functionality on the more expensive options.
At around $59 price, it is one of the cheapest in this list. First, the overall look is not very impressive with a thick build of 9.7 mm and a weight of 282 grams. The thick plastic bezels are not classy and make it seem cluttered.
It comes with a 2 MP front and a similar 2 MP rear camera. The front camera can be used for basic webcam and video conferencing, but the rear camera is too low resolution for any good use.
You will have a 7-inch non-laminated screen and 1024 x 600 pixels. The screen is not the best quality but will at least be good for reading and surfing the web.However some users play complex games with it which can be annoying because of lags.
Battery life is okay at 10 hours of continuous use, which is reasonable considering you will use it mostly for streaming and reading.
To save your files and install applications, you will have 16 GB of storage space with a 32 GB option. For processing power, you will have a 2 GHz MediaTek MT8168A quad-core processor and 2 GB RAM.
You will have a challenge installing Google Play applications because although the Fire OS is Android-based, it is not compatible with the Play Store. It, however, works perfectly with Amazon products such as Alexa.
The features are not the best, but for a tablet under $60, they offer good value for the price. It is good for streaming, YouTube, Netflix, and reading books.
Pros
- One of the cheapest alternative tablets
- Long battery life
- Expandable storage
Cons
- Limited App compatibility
- Small screen and low resolution
- Ads included on base model
Samsung Tab A9+ (2024) – $169.00
- Screen Size: Tablet 11”
- Resolution: 1900 x 1200 Pixels
- Storage: 64 GB
- OS: Android Tablet
- Audio: Quad Speakers
- Upgraded Chipset
- Multi Window Display
- Slim build
- Firm and Durable Design
For those who prefer a Samsung or Android tablet, the Samsung Tab A9+ is our best pick. It is priced slightly higher over the $100 versions at $169.00. This price is for the 64 GB storage space and 212$ for the 128 GB option.
In our research, we had considered the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 (2022) instead but it was more expensive at $212.
The Galaxy Tab A9+ (2024) features a larger 11 inch screen with 1900 x 1200 Pixels resolution. Although it has a powerful Android OS, the low 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage generally affects its overall performance.
Luckily, it has a new upgraded chipset and 4 GB RAM for multitasking. This is not as powerful as other 100$ tablets versions with double.
Pros
- Large screen with High resolution
- Android OS avaialable
- Upgraded RAM to 4GB
Cons
- Slightly more than 100$
Worthy Mentions
- DOOGEE U10 2025 10 inch Tablet – $79.00
- ONN 10.1″ Tablet, 32GB, (2024 Model) – 118$
- Apple IPad Air 2 WI-FI 64GB Space Gray (Renewed) – 99$
- Lenovo Tab M9-2023 – 79$
How to choose the best Tablet Under $100
From our research, we noticed that tablets in this price range do not feature complex specifications. When choosing the tablets in this review, we considered these specifications.
- Display Quality
- Performance
- Storage Capacity
- Battery Life
- Operating System Compatibility
- Price
Display Quality and Size
The screen is one of the most important aspects of a tablet. When choosing tablets under $100, you will notice screen sizes ranging between 7 and 10 inches in size. They have a minimum of 1024 x 600 pixels resolution, which is low but good enough for basic tasks like browsing.
Performance
The tablets in this price range are not very fast, especially if you use them for complex tasks. For simple tasks like streaming, emailing, and browsing, it is possible to multitask on these tablets. For the best performance, consider tablets with a quad-core processor and above plus 2 GB of RAM and above.
Storage Capacity
Some tablets feature expandable storage using a microSD slot, which is bought separately. This is because most options in this price range only feature low storage between 16 and 32 GB. Expandable storage is an added advantage despite costing extra.
Portability
Most tablets are lightweight and easy to carry around. You want a tablet that is not only light but also does not require constant recharging. Tablets under $100 usually offer 4-8 hours of battery life. The more the hours, the better the tablet. 8 hours is the optimal performance and is enough for browsing and casual use throughout a working day.
Operating System Compatibility
As mentioned earlier, you will not be able to get iPadOS tablets in this price range unless you consider refurbished options. Android, Amazon Fire, and Windows OS are the dominant options in this price range.
User preference
For a regular browsing or streaming tablet, all the above specifications apply. A cheap drawing tablet, on the other hand, does not come with a screen. You need to consider some additional specifications like the active drawing area and pen pressure sensitivity.