In today’s world, gaming on tablets is skyrocketing. Thanks to the new technologies, you don’t actually need to go to physical casinos; you can play your favorite game online directly from your tab. All you need is a gaming tablet and an active internet connection. But are you likely to get the best gaming tablet under $200?
Well, yes, the gaming tablets under $200 will still offer faster processing power along with an amazing selection of games, meaning you can have the best AAA games literally at your fingertips.
In this blog post, we’ve rounded up some of the most powerful gaming tablets on the market and discussed what makes them ideal for gaming. Read on to discover our top picks, followed by the necessary factors to look for in a gaming tablet.
Why Should I Buy a Gaming tablet?
Laptops and PCs often come to mind when we think of gaming, but portable tablets are the best gaming platform. The amazing thing about purchasing a gaming tablet is that it comes in different sizes, so you can easily pick one that fits your preference.
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Additionally, unlike large PCs and laptops, gamin tablets are portable, meaning you can enjoy your gaming experience wherever you are. Again, compared to small devices like gaming phones, the tables will offer longer battery life and larger display screens, enhancing the gameplay. Furthermore, most of the best gaming tablets wil offer Excellent processing power that allows you to run games without any issues.
With that in mind, here is a list of the best gaming tablets you can purchase with a budget of $200 and below.
1. Samsung Galaxy Tab S8
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 is the best gaming tablet for an Android smartphone user who wants a compatible tablet for playing Android and cloud-based games. This tablet comes with a generously-sized 11-inch AMOLED display that provides incredible performance. Our Samsung tablet’s fast 120Hz refresh rate makes it perfect for smooth imaging when playing.
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We also enjoyed the powerful Octa-Core processor with 8 GB RAM and 128GB storage, ensuring a solid experience of entertainment, browsing, and gaming. Again its GPU was great for intensive gaming, so if you have a heavy game, this might be the best option for you.
Most interestingly, we did not experience any lag while playing intensive games like Grand Theft Auto 3, Riptide GP, Roblox, and Crazy Taxon. Almost all the games ran smoothly, and we enjoyed the gaming experience. The only downside was that it was relatively expensive compared to other tablets we tested. Screen Resolution Calculator
Pros
- Fast and smooth performance
- Large touchscreen display
- It has support for Xbox Game Pass and other cloud-based gaming services
- It’s a powerful tablet for playing Android games
- It has a high brightness level that makes it a good choice for outdoor use.
- Quality built and impressive design.
Cons
- Pricey compared to other products in this category
2. ASUS ROG Flow Z13
Asus Rog Flow Z13 is nothing short of an incredible combination of a gaming laptop and tablet with excellent features contributing to excellent gameplay. When we received our Z13, we were first impressed by its compact design and 13.4-inch screen that looks good with great viewing angles. The 120Hz refresh rate that our device delivered offered smooth animations and interactions, while the color accuracy was fantastic, even without any calibration.
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We enjoyed that our gaming tablet came with a detachable keyboard complete with RGB gaming lights that were perfectly fine for navigating. In addition, the device had powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics, so it didn’t disappoint while playing games at 1080p high settings. While using the tab for gaming, the battery lasted five hours, but the battery life was longer when we used it for general computing tasks.
What’s even better, the tablet supports popular cloud gaming services like Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Valve’s Steam. As for sound, our tab had dual built-in speakers that supported Dolby Atmos audio and could handle Hi-Res audio at reasonably loud volumes.
Pros
- Ideal for serious gamers
- Excellent performance
- Fast and high-resolution touchscreen
- Affordable price
- Works with cloud gaming services
- Incredible sound
Cons
- Disappointing battery life
3. Lenovo Tab M10 HD (2nd Gen)
Another great alternative to the expensive Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ulta is the Lenovo Tab M10. What interests us most about this tab is that it came with a smart display that enhanced our gaming and viewing experience. It also came with built-in Alexa, the voice assistant of Amazon that made navigation even better.
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Additionally, this android tablet came with an octa-core processor that was pretty powerful to handle most games. Plus, it also came with 32GB of built-in memory, which could store some of our games. However, we found that that storage was insufficient, and we opted to expand it with a MicroSD card.
What’s more, the tablet can also be shared with your kids and family. Amazingly, you can manage profiles separately and choose what you find appropriate for your kids.
Pros
- Affordable
- Good parental controls
- Large 10.3-inch high-resolution display
- Ideal for kids
- Durable and sturdy
- Powerful processor for the price
Cons
- Storage is limited
4. Dragon Touch Max10 Android Tablet
Dragon Touch is another inexpensive tablet you can purchase for gaming. What we enjoyed most about this tablet is that it provided the efficiency and speed needed by every gamer. Again it had an Octa-Core processor that improved its performance, ensuring we enjoyed our gameplay.
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Our Dragon touch tablet had 2 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of storage, ensuring that we had a smooth entertainment, browsing, and gaming experience. The storage space was able to store most of our games and other media files. Furthermore, the tablet had a powerful CPU/GPU that was efficient for intense gaming. The only downside was its low battery life during gaming.
Pros
- Excellent stylish design
- Has good visibility
- Great overall performance
- Great programs for kids and parents
- Affordable
- Good choice for outdoor use
Cons
- Limited storage
5. Windows 10 Fusion5 FWIN232 Plus S1 Ultra Slim Windows Tablet
Another budget Android gaming tablet that will give an excellent gaming experience is the 2in1 10″ Windows 10 FUSION5 Ultra Slim Windows Tablet. We enjoyed that this tab came with unique and impressive features that contribute to the overall performance when playing.
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For starters, our tab had 6GB DDR4 RAM and Intel Celeron N3450 Quad-Core CPU that allowed us to have increased performance as we played. It also had 64GB of storage, allowing us to store our favorite games and media files.
Furthermore, our tablet came with a Full HD IPS Screen, making it ideal for playing games, watching TV, movies, and YouTube videos. Its Fast Charge allowed us to fully charge our phone in 70-80 minutes.
Pros
- Ultra-slim and elegant design
- 12-month USA warranty
- Budget-friendly tablet
- superior performance
- Ultra-lightweight and portable
- Good value for money
Cons
- Often has issues with network connectivity
How to Boost Gaming Performance on Your Tablet
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1. Increase the Screen Refresh Rate
The higher the screen refresh rate, the better visual you get from your tablet. Switching to a high refresh rate will increase gaming performance and provide much smoother animation. The best bit is that most of the best gaming tablets include flagship models, allowing you to change our screen refresh rate.
2. Switch to a Fast Internet Connection
If you are playing high-end games on your tablet, the speed of your internet connection might affect the gaming performance of the device because most games need to send and receive data constantly. If you have poor internet connections, the data takes longer to transfer, spoiling your gaming experience. Therefore, you must consider getting a faster internet connection to ensure your gaming is smooth and lag-free.
3. Clean up the memory
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A tablet with sufficient memory allows your games to run smoothly. You can get rid of useless files, cache, and applications running in the background regularly before you start gaming. You can clear your tabs memory by accessing the storage settings on your tab> Free Up Space and selecting the items you want to delete. Then, hit Free Up bottom. This improved memory will positively affect your gaming sessions, giving you a great experience.
4. Use a Game Booster App
With more and more gamers playing games on tablets, dozens of apps are available to optimize your device for gaming. These game boosters refine different options on your tab to ensure that your tab plays games smoothly. They also shut off notifications that can interrupt you as you play. The best bit about these apps is that you don’t need to manually optimize most options because they do that for you.
5. Use a Tablet Gaming Accessory
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In addition to improving your software, you can also make changes to your hardware to improve your gaming device. For instance, if you can get an external game controller to help you play games on your tablet, you will better control your moves as you play. You could also get a clip holder to mount your tablet or controller for a better handheld gaming experience.
6. Overclock the tablet CPU
Overclocking the CPU on the tablet will come in handy for any gaming enthusiast. This lets you extract more power from the same processor. By doing this, your tablet will process more items at once, which eventually improves your gaming experience.
Factors to consider while Buying a Gaming Tablet with a $200 Budget
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1. Screen Size
When it comes to purchasing the best tablets for gaming, one of the important factors you need to pay attention to is the screen size. Getting a bigger screen to get the best out of your device would be best. A bigger screen allows you to see details more clearly, noticing every little detail the game has.
The majority of tablets are around 10 inches, measured diagonally. However, you can get smaller ones that run as small as 8 inches and other bigger ones that run up to 13.5 inches.
2. Graphics Processing Unit
Along with large screens, GPUs are important considerations for a better gaming experience. The Graphic Processing Unit renders images or pictures to the screen by converting data to signals your monitor can understand. So with a poor GPU, your tab will not be able to give display output, and you won’t be able to see anything on your display. Additionally, the GPU is also responsible for running your games smoothly.
3. Processing Speed
To play online games delightedly without worrying about any issues, you must consider the processing speed of the tablet you wish to purchase. The processing speed is usually measured using gigahertz (GHz). A processing speed of 3.5 GHz to 4.0 GHz is usually considered a good clock speed for gaming, but it’s more important to have good single-thread performance.
4. Cooling
Although cooling is an important factor to consider when purchasing the best gaming PCs or laptops, it is also essential for gaming tablets. When running games, your tablet will get hot and need good cooling to avoid affecting the performance of your processor.
Most gaming tablets will have an advanced form of the cooling mechanism inside the device. While only some of them will be equally good, a good way to gauge the cooling capabilities of your next gaming tab is to look up customer reviews on the device that talks about the gaming and cooling performance of the device in detail.
5. Storage
The storage capacity of most gaming tablets ranges from 16GB to 128GB. The amount of storage you will need depends on the games you will play on your tablet and how you will generally use it. For a better gaming experience, you should aim for tabs with more than 64 GB of storage.
Again some other tablets allow for extra storage via a MicroSD card, allowing one to store up to 512GB of games, photos, and apps. So if you’re planning on storing a ton of data or media on your tablet, this is something worth looking into.
Frequently Asked Questions on the Best Gaming Tablet Under $200
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1. Between Android, iPad, or Windows, which is better for gaming?
Whether you game on an Android tablet or an iPad mostly depends on your personal preference and which type of device you are used to.
For instance, if you’re a longtime iOS user and have subscribed to Apple One, which has the Apple Arcade gaming service, an iPad is probably the best device for you. Similarly, an Android tablet makes more sense if you’re an Android phone user and have installed many apps or content from the Google Play store.
As for Windows tablets, they are usually better suited for other functions rather than gaming. This is because they usually have insufficient power for gaming. That said, you must note that you can find some exceptions in this category made specifically for gaming.
2. Do You Need a Cellular Gaming Tablet?
Determining if you need to spend more for a tablet with a cellular connection mostly depends on what games you plan to play and where you will mostly use the tablet. You should be okay without cellular connectivity if you use the tab from home or anywhere with regular Wi-Fi access.
However, suppose you will typically use the tablet in places where Wi-Fi isn’t readily available. In that case, you should consider getting a gaming tablet with 4G or 5G.