Our pick: Best tablets under Rs 20,000

The tablet market in India has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last few years. Every where you look, Apple, Samsung and other international brands are bringing us new models every month for every price category. Local players like iBerry are also not far behind in the tablet arena, with a comparable list of offerings.

While the iPads of the segment may be a bit out of our budget, most users definitely want to kick off this festive season with a good mobile device sporting a larger screen. So how do we get our money’s worth? Which product should you pick? We come with a list of some really good tablets that you can get for under Rs 20,000.

Nexus 7 (2012)
The Nexus 7 (2012) is currently priced at Rs 18,999 for the 32GB Wi-Fi enabled model, and Rs 15,999 for the 16GB variant. While the company did roll out a new version of the Nexus 7, the 2012 model comes with a pretty decent set of features.

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The device comes with a 7-inch HD back-lit IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels and a pixel density of 216ppi. The tablet also comes with Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the screen. The tablet measures 198.5x120x10.45mm and weighs in at 340 grams. Internally, the model comes with a quad-core Cortex-A9 Nvidia Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.2GHz coupled with 1GB of RAM. The device also comes with a ULP GeForce GPU chipset packed in.

A strong contender in the Rs 20,000 market

The Nexus 7 runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) out-of-the-box, but can be upgraded to the latest Jelly Bean 4.3 as well. On the photography-front, the Nexus 7 comes with a 1.2-megapixel primary camera that can support video calling as well. On the audio-front, the model comes with stereo speakers as well as the standard 3.5mm audio jack.

In terms of connectivity, the tablet comes with most of the usual suspects like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC. The tablet also comes with the usual list of sensors you would expect, like an accelerometer, gyro, proximity sensor as well as a compass. Rounding up the package is a large 4325mAh battery, which the company has said will give up to 10 hours of performance. You can check out our review of the 3G version of the device to know more about the tablet.

Asus FonePad:
The FonePad will currently set prospective buyers back by around Rs 14,000 for the 8GB model, a refreshed price from the Rs 15, 999 price tag we saw back in May. The device is a bit larger than the Nexus 7, coming with a 7-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 800x1280 pixels and a pixel density of 216ppi. This tablet measures in at 196.4 x 120.1 x 10.4 mm and weighs 340g.

Internally, the product comes with an Intel Atom Z2420 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, coupled with 1GB of RAM. Also packed in is a PowerVR SGX540 GPU chipset. The device comes either with 8GB or 16GB of internal memory that can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD card slot. The tablet runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.1 out-of-the-box.

Asus’s tablet comes with a good set of specs

On the photography-front, the FonePad comes with a 3.14-megapixel camera, as well as a secondary 1.2-megapixel front shooter. You can also take 720p videos and geo-tag your photos with this tablet. On the connectivity front, you will get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS and EDGE, but no NFC, unfortunately. In terms of sensors, the tablet comes with accelerometer, proximity sensor as well as the standard compass. You also get  A-GPS support along with GLONASS.  Rounding up the offering is a non-removable 4270mAh battery that is said to give up to 9 hours of talk time. You can pick up the Asus FonePad in either titanium grey or champagne gold avatars. Check out our review of the device to know more.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9
Amazon’s Kindle series has become increasingly popular over the last few years, and this list would be lacking without mention of one of the models. We took a look at the specifications of the current top-end Kindle Fire HD, priced at Rs 17,999.

A quick look reveals that the tablet comes with an 8.9-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels and a pixel density of 254ppi. Internally, the product comes with a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, a PowerVR SGX544 GPU and 1GB of RAM.

In terms of audio, the tablet comes with Dolby Digital Plus sound enhancement, a 3.5mm audio jack and stereo speakers. The device comes with either 16GB or 32GB internal memory variants. In terms of photography, the tablet comes with a 1.3-megapixel camera, but does not have a secondary camera. The device also does not come with EDGE or GPRS.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9, quite a good tablet

Connectivity-wise, the Kindle Fire HD comes with support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The tablet runs on a customised version of the Android OS. Like the other tablets on this list, the Kindle Fire HD comes with an accelerometer and a gyro sensor. Users picking up this device can get free unlimited cloud storage for all their Amazon content. You can check out our review of the tablet to get a detailed look.

iBerry Auxus Core X4
While the company that makes this tablet is relatively unknown, the device itself is pretty solid. Priced at Rs 16,990, the Core X4 comes with a rather large 9.7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1024x768 pixels. Internally, the device comes with an Exynos 4412 quad-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM. One of the few drawbacks that we could see was the OS, as the tablet comes with the dated Ice Cream Sandwich.

In terms of photography, the tablet comes with a 2-megapixel rear camera as well as a VGA front shooter. The Core X4 comes with 16GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 64GB via a microSD card slot. Apart from the usual connectivity options like Wi-Fi and 3G, the tablet also comes with GPS and A-GPS support and Bluetooth. The tablet comes with an HDMI port as well.  
 
Lenovo IdeaPad A3000

Definitely a worth-while mention on this list, the A3000 comes with a price tag of Rs 15,749 on the official company website. A quick look at the specs sheet shows that, like the FonePad, this model also comes with a 7-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. The device measures 194 x 120 x 11 mm and weighs in at 339g. Internally, the tablet comes with a quad-core Cortex-A7 MTK 8125 processor bundled with 1GB of RAM. On the audio-front, the IdeaPad comes with stereo speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The IdeaPad A3000 is definitely worth a second look

The device comes with 16GB of internal memory, expandable up to 64GB via a microSD card slot, more than enough to carry all your videos and music along. In terms of photography, the device sports a 5-megapixel primary camera with auto-focus as well as a VGA front shooter. The A3000 runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.1 out-of-the-box, but can be upgraded to Jelly Bean 4.2.

On the connectivity front, the tablet comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but no NFC, GPRS or EDGE. Also packed in is A-GPS support. Rounding off the offering is a non-removable 3500mAh battery, a bit lower than the other tablets we have seen on this list. You can find the Lenovo IdeaPad A3000 in a black avatar.   

So there you have it. This was our pick of some of the tablets you could look at picking up this festive season. There are also some other tablets that you can look at, despite the fact that they have been in the market for some time now. A noteworthy tablet currently in the market is the Samsung Tab 2, priced at Rs 16,340. Another tablet that is definitely worth a consideration is the iPad mini, though it does slightly push beyond the bracket, currently being priced at Rs 21,500.