Are you looking for a cheap Android tablet? We have decided to run through our pick of the bunch for the best Android tablets that are currently available in the UK at the start of 2012.
1) Archos 80 G9
The Archos 80 G9 is a great little tablet that has followed on in the footsteps of its previous Archos descendants, the Archos 70 and the Archos 101. In fact, not only has it followed on from them, it has become more advanced, higher quality and cheaper too. You’ll currently be able to pick one up for around the £180 mark, which is an absolute steal for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the design of it is top class. With sleek and unique curved corners, a slightly curved brushed-metal style backing and a built-in stand at the back, the Archos 80 G9 stands out in the crowd of ‘iPad wannabes’. What’s more, it’s 8.9″ size is growing increasingly popular in the tablet market, proving functional and practical.
The Archos 80 G9 runs Android 3.2 Honeycomb and will be getting upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich, meaning it will soon be running Android’s top Operating System. With its powerful dual-core processor it is capable of running any game or application seamlessly, as well as full Internet with Flash. It can even run video chat in HD with it’s high quality front-facing camera. With up to 250GB of storage, you shouldn’t run out of space on the nifty little tablet, even with a large range of films, photos and music.
At GearZap, we have a great selection of accessories for this tablet, allowing you to find your perfect Archos 80 G9 case.
2) Acer Iconia A100

If you’ve got around £100 more to spend than the Archos 80 G9, you might want to opt for the Acer Iconia A100. This sweet little 7″ tablet is more portable, but does it pack-a-punch when it comes to its tech specs?
Again running Android 3.2 Honeycomb, you’ve got your hands on a pretty well designed Operating System. Similarly to the Archos tablet, this also has a dual-core processor which will handle the majority of applications with ease, and can even play videos and games in full 1080p HD. A nice little feature about the A100 is that it comes with a full-size HDMI port, allowing you to put your HD tablet screen through your HD television screen with the help of a HDMI cable. If you are looking more of an entertainment system, this may be the tablet for you, with high quality Dolby surround sound built in.
This tablet is much more focussed to those that want to entertain themselves with sound and high quality video playback, rather than just using it for the Internet (if you are going to mainly be using the Internet, we’d recommend the Archos 80 G9). However, one drawback of the A100, as seen with the whole of the Iconia range, is that it is pretty ugly – although it’s the best looking tablet so far from Acer.
If you are looking for an Acer Iconia A100 case, then we do have a range available on our website.
3) Kobo Vox

The Kobo Vox is something you should consider if you really are on a shoestring budget – being the cheapest Android tablet in this rundown – you can pick one up for around the £150 mark. One of the main reasons tablets are so expensive is because of the memory, the Kobo Vox actually has very little storage space (8GB, approx. 10 movies or 4,000 books), but you can insert up to a 32GB SD card into it to expand the memory if needed, for just a small price.
Mainly built as an eReader, this is a great 7″ tablet for those that are considering both a Kindle and a tablet. Essentially, it is both of the two fused together in a stylish little package. The quilted style backing is something that stands out and Kobo can be proud of their innovativity on that one. The unique design continues into the buttons, with the power, menu and back buttons all being touch sensitive (and therefore not sticking out).
Running a lower, but still good version of Android – 2.3 Gingerbread to be precise – the Kobo Vox is likely to be a little slower than the Archos 80 G9 and the Acer Iconia A100, but if you are using it for emails and reading, this won’t matter.
You can pick up a Kobo Vox case by clicking that clever embedded link right there.
4) Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7

Being the most expensive tablet in this list, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 can currently be snapped up for somewhere in the £450 region. I know – not cheap, but who’s setting the boundaries in this cheap tablet run down? That’s right, I am. And this is too good a tablet to not include.
This is the first tablet to incorporate Super AMOLED Plus display technology, which gives you the best colour gamut, contrast ratio, sharpness and image response time – from any angle you look at it, colour will be crisp and vivid.
With just a 7.7″ display, 7.89mm thickness and weighing just 340g, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is designed to fit in your coat pocket for maximum portability and is comfortable to hold wherever you are holding and using it. Its 1.4GHz dual-core processor can handle multitasking seamlessly, load web pages instantly, give smooth UI transitions and ultra-fast power-up.
Other specifications similar to the other tablets are Android 3.2 Honeycomb, and it has microSD storage and microUSB connectivity.
Pick up a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 case from GearZap today.
5) Motorola XOOM 2

Rounding off this list is the Motorola XOOM 2. Great things were expected from the XOOM 2 with the relative success of the original XOOM, but it doesn’t quite live up to expectation. However, for around the £350, you can get your hands on this 10.1″ Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet.
Featuring Motorola’s unique angled corners, the XOOM 2 does look a little out of the ordinary, which is a good thing. All of these iPad-esque tablets are getting a little bit boring now, and I think many manufacturers have started to realise that copying the popular Apple tablet is not going to be viable.
Although more expensive than the majority of tablets in this list, getting your hands on 10.1″ of tablet-y goodness for less than £400 is tough, and this is high quality – despite what a lot of people might tell you. The only downfall to this tablet is that it isn’t good as was hoped – and the bar was set incredibly high.
Head to GearZap.com to get your hands on a XOOM 2 case today.