During Christmas we have talked a lot about how to find the perfect tablet to give as a gift, but facing the new season that begins and now that the CES 2018 He has already left us a few very interesting debuts, we leave you our recommendations to help you choose which tablet to buy for yourselves, taking into account what in our opinion are the fundamental decisions.
Decide budget
It is common sense, but it is the basic decision that will condition all the others, because depending on what we can spend, there are options that are practically excluded: that of the tablets of 100 euros or less It is a very specific niche for 7 and 8 inch tablets, very basic, recommended for children and very occasional users; between about 130 and 280 euros we have mid-range tablets, mainly Android (unless we don't mind importing); between 300 and 400 euros we have some options that are a bit out of the ordinary in the mid-range; getting a good high-end tablet will cost us about 600 euros at least and if we want a Windows of a certain level we have to think about 700 or 800 euros at least. It is always good to be on the lookout for tablets on offer, but the discount seldom causes them to go outside these basic ranges.
Decide how long we expect it to last and how much work we are going to give it
When deciding in what price range we can afford to move, it is important to think if it can be convenient for us to spend a little more if we are waiting for the tablet it lasted us several years and especially if we are quite intensive users. There are many factors that influence the good condition in which we can expect a tablet to be maintained (finishes, hardware, updates…) and not all of them age equally well. Although tablets do not require renewal As often as smartphones, we tend to put it off too long sometimes and not everyone is in a position to bear it.
Deciding what we want it for most of all
Tablets are very versatile devices, some (each in its scale) are quite good for almost anything, but none is the best at everything, so it is always interesting to think realistically what we are going to do with it. more or what activity is a priority: does it have to above all serve us to work?, Do we want the best for play? Or are we actually going to use it mostly for browse and watch series? Some activities have higher requirements than others (in hardware, accessories, etc.) and some may have quite specific demands, it is important to be clear about our priorities.
Decide the "extras" that interest us
Beyond the use that we are going to give it, each one then has particular circumstances that can lead us to give priority to certain characteristics, which many tablets lack or which make the price rise a lot. A clear example is the 4G connection, easy to find on upper-middle-range Android tablets and on the iPad, but not on Windows tablets or in the basic range, and which can make the purchase quite expensive, depending on which brand and model we are thinking about. Another example is the fingerprint reader, surely essential for many who use their tablet individually, but much less common on tablets than on smartphones. It is also very important to be aware of our habits and our real needs in storage and to what extent we need or not more internal memory or a micro-SD card slot.
Decide the operating system
For unconditional fans of one or the other operating system, This decision (which is made in advance, in fact), will be at the beginning of the list, but unless we already have a valuable collection of apps and games for one of them, that an exclusive characteristic of one of them has some special importance for us. or that we have special difficulties to adapt to a new one, we advise you to keep an open mind and give priority to other considerations. However, as we just mentioned, there may be circumstances where the operating system is key for us and, other things being equal, there are still enough differences between them to help us tip the balance.
A help to choose which tablet to buy
To finish, we remind you that a few months ago we left you a guide to buy tablet with general recommendations and specific models for different profiles of use and budget, which is still quite valid, although in recent times there have been some losses (Pixel C has been discontinued) and some interesting additions (we can already buy the Miix 520, presented at IFA 2017, and also the Lenovo Tab 4 10 Plus and a new Lenovo Tab 4 7 Essential, for those looking for ultra-cheap tablets). Or if he preferred to wait, you can take a look at what we know at the moment of the calls to be the best tablets of 2018.
And you, what do you give more importance to when choosing a tablet?