GSMArena tablet buyer's guide: November 2014

Compact tablets

Starting from the ground up we'll be focusing first on the smallest of tablets and will run through them from the lowest price up. This is the segment that has the cheapest slates out there and in this November issue they are even cheaper than in the August one.

Compact tablets are mostly made to fit a budget bill and not for performance but near the end of the list you'll see a couple that are made for performance and not just affordability.

The first tablet in our list is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite 7.0. It's already an aging hardware rig by now but it already has Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and has its positives. Its main advantage is the below €100 price tag which allows it to qualify as the most affordable tablet in our list.

It packs a 7" display of the unimaginative 600 x 1024px resolution but has a microSD card to complement its 8GB of onboard storage, a dual-core processor that will push task along and a 2MP camera should you need one. Sadly, it comes without a front-facing camera.

For a little extra the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite 7.0 offers 3G connectivity through a SIM slot.

The next slate on our list is the Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176CX. It commands a higher price but is still quite affordable. The display diagonal is the same 7" but the resolution is increased to 800 x 1280px and the screen is an IPS unit. On the back there's a more serious 5MP shooter and Asus has included a 2MP front-facing camera for video conferencing - neat.

The Memo Pad 7 also has a microSD card, stereo speakers and great battery life - all the makings of a competent small slate for a good price.

It doesn't carry a 3G option, though so if that's a must for you then move along to our next candidate.

The next listing is the Asus Fonepad 7, which has as the name suggests, built in 3G connectivity. It costs around the same as the Memo Pad 7 and matches it spec for spec although it has a dual-core Intel Atom chip and not the quad-core found in the Memo Pad 7.

Mind you, this is the older Fonepad 7 and not the latest one as it has much better specifications. The newer model does offer dual-SIM functionality so if you're in need of a small slate running two SIMs it may be worth to look into.

The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX is a very tempting offer at this point in time. Currently, its price is reduced and it will probably stay this way until the end of the holiday shopping season. The Kindle Fire HDX packs a 7" 1200 x 1920px FullHD IPS display, a Snapdragon 800 chipset and stereo speakers.

It doesn't have the most amazing camera and the base 16GB non-expandable storage is a little limiting. Amazon's Fire OS is based on Android but sticks closely to the company's ecosystem and has its own app store with no access to the Google Play store.

If you like Amazon services and want a small tablet the Kindle Fire HDX is a superb choice. It also comes with an LTE option.

Another great choice is the Google Nexus 7 (2013). It's built to showcase the latest Android has to offer and comes with timely updates (currently freshly running 5.0 Lollipop). Its chipset is showing its age but remains good.

The Nexus 7 (2013) has good stereo speakers, a great FullHD 7" display but its storage is limited to either 16GB or 32GB. There is an LTE variant available for an extra charge.

The price of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) has been back and forth - sometimes the slate is a steal and others it's not the best deal around. Currently, the tablet sits in the middle but might be worth waiting a little bit more for.

The Huawei MediaPad X1 makes it once more into our tablet buyer's guide. That's because it has a good hardware foundation of a large battery, metal body, expandable storage, high-res camera and LTE built right in.

The Huawei MediaPad X1 comes with the company's own HiSilicon Kirin 910 chipset, which performance-wise matches what the Snapdragon 600 can do. The 7" FullHD display was a joy to gaze at when we encountered the MediaPad X1 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this past February. The bezels around the display are very slim and the metal-clad body follows suit.

It is a little expensive but might be worth it if you're looking for a device that can make and receive calls and take advantage of LTE connectivity.