Need suggestions inexpensive tablet for 10 year old?
1Two of us are pooling our money to buy a 10 year old a tablet for christmas. Neither of us know much about the inexpensive ones. Any suggestions for ones that don’t require a subscription to anything and that are easy to use? Also anything I need to know before we get this kid one would be appreciated. The odds of the screen eventually being broken are reasonably high so don’t want to spend a lot. Any advice appreciated. Thanks!
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I bought a really old Amazon fire tablet for my kids on Woot. They were 2017 models and I think I got them in early 2023. (I got two of them) because they are amazon fire tablets, they have limited ability to do much. Because they’re so old, they don’t support a lot of new apps. Basically they watch my subscription channels on it (hulu Kids and Paramount kids) and play some basic games. it works for us.
I’ve considered getting the next gen of out of date fire tablets for them again because one did break and the other looks like it’s been run over a few times yet still works somehow
It has parental controls on the tablet, but I also put extra restrictions on the wi-fi that is only accessible from my personal devices so that if they get smart enough to get around the device controls, there are secondary controls.
@mbersiam That family doesn’t have any subscription channels so that is out. It’s mostly going to be used for you tube, free online games… When I read about them it seems like they were pushing buying an Amazon subscription to kid stuff after the free 3 or 6 mo (I forget which) ran out. I didn’t want any added costs to make the thing functional. I appreciated the suggestion though as I know next to nothing about tablets.
Whatever you decide on make sure you can get a case/cover for it as that will help to protect the tablet itself.
I’m currently writing this on an old Galaxy tab 7. I have a new Lenovo at the house I’m going to swap it on to. Android will probably be cheaper than trying to find an Apple product.
I’ve used Chromebooks before but seem to end up drifting back to Android since that’s the architecture my phone runs on I’m more familiar with it. Also there seem to be more app options.
Today is a good day to be searching since it’s Black Friday there should be some pretty decent deals out there. A lot will just depend on how text savvy the 10 year old is in terms of how much of a power user they might be.
@chienfou The kid isn’t all that tech savvy. They do use tablets at school and during the pandemic but mostly I think it is going to be used for youtube videos, free online games, and stuff like that. As a result I don’t need to get a fancy one. Yes on the case and I added a screen protector too. This kid is responsible for two cracked phone screens of other people’s phones they were borrowing. I appreciate your suggestions.
I’d look at the ONN tablets from Walmart. They run full Android at prices similar to the Fire tablets. I’m using a refurb I bought on eBay last year for around $50 and it’s perfectly usable.
@devyanks90 Thanks for the suggestion. I had no idea that was Walmart’s house brand. This is what I bought as they were inexpensive. Well and a case and a screen protector.
Sorry I am part of the White side so I would say a used/refurb Apple iPad from a few years ago. They lowered prices on a “starter” iPad a few years ago, so used/refurb should be cheaper now.
EDIT BTW my experience with iPhones and iPads suggests that they survive drops really well. Though I am not a 10-year-Old (wife might disagree). I did have an iPad that developed a crack across the screen glass and I didn’t even know it for a while. You can only see from a certain angle. Otherwise display is still fine 2 years later.
If you are tech-minded, An old, used Amazon Fire tablet that can be flashed with a more modern Android version might be a decent option. Don’t recommend internet connected just yet; plenty of apps run w/o internet and have caching. Radio Paradise and PBS Kids for my 8yr old’s Samsung Galaxy S3.
@caffeineguy Can it? A quick perusal of XDA forums yields that it hasn’t been possible for a while already.