Ranking: Best tablets for under 300 dollars/euros

Its high display brightness of over 800 cd/m², as well as 144-Hz refresh rate really help the Pad 7 stand out. Despite the great display, its real-world battery life leaves little to be desired at around 18 to 20 hours. The SoC (Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3) is super-fast for the price range.

Its build quality and speakers are very decent and for those who need it, stylus input is supported. A first-party keyboard case is available for this tablet, too. Please note that 4G LTE as well as GPS are not onboard, there is no fingerprint sensor, and the base warranty is quite short [in Germany]. We don't expect this product to get many years of software updates, either.

Xiaomi's Pad 7 is an overall good offering thanks to its fast SoC, very good display with stylus support, and long battery life.

In Germany, the tablet can be had for around 279 euros from Kaufland, among other options.

For the first time, the Pad X1 is available for less than 300 euros, helping it land on the second spot, only 0.1 percentage points behind the Xiaomi Pad 7. Its Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 is very fast, pen input is supported and, in addition to the robust metal casing, you get enough memory and storage with 8 GB and 512 GB, respectively.

An audio jack or fingerprint sensor are nowhere to be found, but Wi-Fi 6E and NFC are, as well as a very bright, brilliant 3.2K 144-Hz IPS display. Cameras are rather mediocre here, but battery life of around 14 hours should be more than sufficient.

The Poco Pad X1 scores well in terms of performance and display - the rest is a little mediocre.

The Xiaomi Poco Pad X1 is available for ~297 euros free of shipping and import costs, or for 286 euros at Kaufland.

Alldocube's iPlay 70 mini Ultra is an affordable 8.8-inch tablet with decent performance and a 144-Hz QHD+ display delivering high contrast, as well as brightness of over 500 cd/m². The display's color accuracy isn't as good as we hoped, though. The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3's performance is more than double of the Helios G99 found in many cheaper tablets. You also get a micro-SD slot and 5 years of security updates.

The tablet's real-life battery life of 16 hours is also impressive. Less ideal are heat development under longer loads, mediocre speakers and camera, and the lack of biometric unlocking options.

With the iPlay 70 mini Pro, Alldocube finally offers an affordable 8-inch tablet with a decent feature set.

Despite an RRP of 400 euros, you can get the iPlay 70 mini Ultra from Alldocube for less than 300 euros on Amazon.de. (Try the code "JMPLNUZZ".)

The Idea Tab Pro is a 12.7-inch tablet and a great deal given its price: high-quality casing, stylus, fast Dimensity 8300, powerful sound, fast Wi-Fi, expandable and fast storage, and long runtimes. Its 3K IPS display offers 144 Hz, but is not very bright at just under 400 cd/m².

Its cameras are usable at best and the SoC throttles under load.

The IdeaTab Pro from Lenovo offers many advantages, but its display's brightness limits mobile use.

The Pro costs a little over 300 euros at Amazon.de.

The Pad 10 sports a 12.1-inch QHD IPS display with 120 Hz, brightness of up to 500 cd/m² and pen support. A Bluetooth Smart Keyboard is also available for the tablet for 60 euros. The Snapdragon 7 G3 offers decent mid-range performance, while battery life is quite long at over 14.5 hours.

Honor's Pad 10 has a robust metal casing, but lacks IP certification as well as cellular connectivity. GPS or a fingerprint sensor are not offered, either.

The Pad is available on Amazon.de for 269 euros. If you want to save almost 100 euros, go for the largely similar predecessor model, the Pad 9.

A 12.1-inch tablet, Xiaomi's Redmi Pad 2 Pro comes with a QHD+ 120-Hz IPS display with 550 nits, as well as 8-GB RAM and 256 GB of storage. Hidden inside the stylish and high-quality metal casing is a fairly fast mid-range SoC, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4.

Storage can be expanded with a micro-SD card. Sound quality is very good and updates are promised for 7 years. However, there is no fingerprint reader and the product's IP53 certification only offers rudimentary protection against dust and liquids. The affordable tablet's Wi-Fi-only version comes without GPS, and the display's viewing angles could be better.

A stylus and Type Cover are sold separately. Its cameras are not impressive.

Charging is supported at 33 watts, with a fast 27-W wired reverse charging feature also present. Its battery life of 17.5 hours is rather impressive.

The Redmi Pad Pro 2 12-inch tablet, while not very lightweight, is guaranteed to get updates for a long time. GPS is a cellular model-exclusive feature, and protection against dust and liquids is only rudimentary.

In Germany, the Pad 2 Pro is available from Amazon.de for 269 euros (8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage model).

The MatePad 11.5 S features an 11.5-inch 2.8K 144-Hz matte display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, pen support, and a fast Kirin 9000WL SoC.

Its premium metal case is just 6-mm-thick and 510-gram-heavy, complemented by quality speakers and nearly 14-hour battery life. However, it lacks cellular connectivity and GPS, and its 450-nit brightness is lower than some competitors.

The MatePad impresses with its work-friendly matte display which could, however, have better contrasts and brightness. Saturn.de offers the product for 269 euros, with Amazon.de asking for a slightly larger sum.

The Idea Tab Plus is a solid 12-inch tablet with a stylus included, QHD+ resolution, 90 Hz and 600-nit brightness. It also has a robust metal casing, long battery life, good speakers, 45-W charging, precise GPS and a micro-SD card slot for up to two 2 TB of extra space. A fingerprint sensor is missing, as are Wi-Fi 6 and LTE. Updates are available for four years and the Mediatek Dimensity 6400 offers mediocre performance.

The Lenovo Idea Tab Plus is ideal as a larger tablet with a stylus. It otherwise offers mid-range features.

The Idea Tab Plus, including a stylus, 8-GB RAM and 256 GB of storage is available for 279 euros in Germany.

The new Galaxy Tab A11 Plus from Samsung leaves hardly anything to be desired: 90 Hz, 5G and Samsung DeX are just a few of its many features. In addition, updates are set to come for a long time, while the Dimensity 7300 is very fast for the device class.

The base version comes with 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM, the former expandable with up to a 2-TB micro-SD card, which cannot be formatted as internal storage, though. A robust aluminum housing is also used. Four speakers provide a decent sound, while the battery lasts around 15 hours. Charging now takes place with 25 watts.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab A11+ offers almost everything important at a low price: A bright 90-Hz display, DeX, optional 5G and solid performance. Shortcomings are all in the details.

However, the 515-nit-bright FHD+ IPS panel is slightly bluish, and a fingerprint sensor is lacking. The base version can be had for 195 euros in Germany.

An almost 24-hour battery life is what the Pad SE can pull off when Web-surfing. Also included are a 500-nit-bright 11-inch display with FHD+ resolution and 90 Hz, very good quad speakers, and a generous 8 GB of RAM. There is also 4G LTE and a good build quality. On the downside, its cameras are below average, there is no fingerprint sensor, and the display has a blue tint. The MediaTek Helio G100 offers good performance, but is almost 20 percent below the Helio G99 as found in many budget tablets.

With the Pad SE, Oppo offers a solid 11-inch tablet with a good display, impressive battery life and decent performance. It's smaller details where the savings are found.

In Germany, the Oppo Pad SE costs ~250 euros at Galaxus.