Should You Buy A Cheap Android Tablet From Amazon? I Tested One That's Surprisingly Viable

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• This is simply a awesome worth tablet, pinch a 12-inch show and moving Android 15.
• While capacity is connected nan little extremity of nan spectrum, this is still much tablet than astir group need.
• The tri-fold lawsuit leaves a small to beryllium desired, and there's obscurity to shop nan stylus.

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The value of fund Android tablets continues to amaze me, and Blackview -- a institution renowned for its ruggedized smartphones -- has consistently delivered awesome devices. The latest Mega 2 tablet is nary exception, offering a coagulated operation of features and capacity astatine a value that's difficult to beat.

Also: The champion inexpensive tablets of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

The Mega 2 starts pinch a 12-inch FHD+ 2K (1200 x 2000 pixel) show pinch a 16:10 facet ratio. It boasts an awesome 84.9% screen-to-body ratio, delivering clear, crisp, and vibrant visuals. Whites are agleam and clean, while blacks are heavy and rich. While location are higher-end displays connected nan market, this 1 is much than capable for astir users.

Under nan hood, nan Mega 2 is powered by an octa-core Unisoc T615 processor paired pinch an Arm Mali G57 GPU. It comes pinch 12GB of RAM, which tin beryllium expanded by an further 24GB utilizing strategy storage, and 256GB of soul storage. If you request much space, nan tablet supports microSD/TF cards for description of up to 2TB.

To support things moving cool, nan tablet features an integrated cooling strategy designed to support soul temperatures beneath 38.7°C, moreover nether dense loads.

Two Smart-PA dual-BOX speakers located nether nan surface grip audio, which delivers amazingly rich | sound for a fund tablet. You won't get nan sharpest sounds successful voices and high-pitched instruments, but there's certainly some oomph from nan speakers.

Also: Why I for illustration this Lenovo tablet complete nan iPad for multimedia consumption

Regarding cameras, nan Mega 2 includes an 8-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and look unlock, and a 16-megapixel rear camera tin of capturing photos and 1080p video astatine 30fps. Let's beryllium honest, you're not going to usage a fund Android tablet's cameras for overmuch photo-taking, but for nan occasional archive scan and video call, nan setup present is conscionable adequate.

If your digit gets tired, there's a stylus!

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

The hardware does a bully occupation of keeping nan strategy moving smoothly. However, I urge boosting nan extended representation to nan afloat 24GB, which noticeably improves capacity during heavier workloads.

Also: I tested a large-screen tablet that gave maine zero iPad Pro envy (and it's connected sale)

In position of earthy performance, nan Mega 2 sits connected nan little extremity of nan spectrum. It achieved Geekbench 6 scores of 423 (single-core) and 1,341 (multi-core), on pinch a GPU people of 706, while connected AnTuTu, it scored 318,569. While these numbers whitethorn not rustle you away, they're much than capable for moving Android 15 features for illustration Magic Eraser and Split Screen. The tablet besides handles games, media playback, and productivity apps without awesome issues.

The lawsuit offers nan Mega 2 a batch of protection shape bumps.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

The Mega 2 is powered by a 9,000mAh artillery that supports 18W accelerated charging. The artillery delivers astir 12 to 15 hours of mixed usage and an awesome 900 hours (37 days) of standby time.

The tablet is housed successful a sleek, fingerprint-resistant aluminum ammunition that measures 282 x 177 x 8 mm and weighs 617 grams. For comparison, nan latest Apple iPad measures 249 x 180 x 7 mm and weighs 481 grams for nan Wi-Fi + cellular version. 

Also: The tablet that quickly replaced my iPad and Kindle now has a worthy successor

The Mega 2 besides comes pinch a tri-fold lawsuit and a stylus. While nan lawsuit does a bully occupation protecting nan tablet, its guidelines characteristic feels a spot flimsy, and location isn't a spot to shop nan stylus, which is simply a missed opportunity, particularly for designers who want a much robust fund Android tablet.

ZDNET's buying advice

Now, let's talk astir nan price. The Blackview Mega 2 is presently priced astatine $170 connected Amazon. For comparison, nan new iPad starts astatine $499 for nan balanced Wi-Fi + cellular type pinch 128GB of storage. 

At this value point, nan Mega 2 is simply a coagulated tablet packed pinch imaginable -- particularly if you return advantage of nan other 24GB of expandable RAM. The caveat present is Android versus iPadOS, which is much intuitive and reliable.

A fewer years ago, a tablet pinch these features would person costs a mini fortune. But acknowledgment to nan accelerated gait of technological advancements, you tin now get a tin instrumentality for illustration nan Mega 2 astatine a budget-friendly price. While it's not nan fastest tablet by immoderate measure, nan Mega 2 is still much tablet than astir group need.