decent 4.3 touchscreen android device for around $60

[Android Question]

I purchased a 4.3 Trio Stealth Lite for my 9 year niece for her birthday next month. I didn't even know that they made tablets this small so I was excited and purchased it on the spot at Best Buy. I am home now and after reading the reviews, noticed that it doesn't support Google Play. It is a problem for me as I will be the only supplying the games and books for her device. Plus, I have read that this device has some battery issues.

I am searching now and most of these cheaper models do not support Google Play. I guess I can do Amazon store but I was wondering if anyone can recommend a cheap device that is decent. I have a Prism 2 phone and while it is slow at times, I find it suits my needs to run small games, some music and take pictures. I don't anticipate her needs to be more than that so I am not looking for a high end product.

I appreciate any help you can give. I am brand new to the android smart phone world so I have limited knowledge in this area.

 

[sntaylor]

Hi and welcome to the forum, personally I would recommend going for a big brand company phone such as Samsung or HTC, both have lower end phones which work reasonably well, I purchased a galaxy y a while back to play about with and although a lot more sluggish etc than my s2 at the time, it did the job required. The other option would be an older phone/second hand in which case you could get the flagship device from a year or two ago at a good price such as the s2 because it's two years old now. it really does depend on your budget and requirements, if you see a phone your considering, do a search of the forum and see what others are saying, you could even join up and talk about the phones in question good luck

 

[nocutename]

Thanks for the reply back. I signed up respond. I will look into getting a refurb one. I not looking for a phone just a mini tablet at this time.

The Coby Kyros 4.3-Inch Android has some good reviews on Amazon so I may get her that. It is for a 9 year old and doesn't have to the fastest or perfect either.

 

[SolApathy]

Please keep in mind this device does not support the Google Play store. You will have to look into 3rd party apps to install programs on this device.

 

[nocutename]

Good point.

 

[nocutename]

I have been meaning to reply back with my experience but life is keeping me busy. So, I settled in on iView 4.3 tablet from Walmart. At the time I purchased 2, one white and one black for 34.00 each. Great deal as they were 39.00 the day before.

I get them and they are way cute little devices. Upon inspection, the buttons on the black model are wiggly and cheap feeling. The white one appears be the stable one of the pair.

So, now I have to charge them and set each up for my nieces. I don't have WiFi at home so I am frustratingly trying to find a strong enough signal to download and test out some apps. A few days of carrying the white tablet around with me to find a signal, I finally remember the library offers free WiFi. Score!

Things to note, this device is not Google Play accessible as advertised. There is no icon on the desktop and the only thing installed is Google Book. I figured out how to upgrade and install Google Play without too much trouble by going through the Google Book app.

I downloaded a few apps and they all worked great. I played with the unit for over an hour switching back and forth between apps. It actually played quite nicely and the action was very smooth. In fact one app Zen Color which is jerky on my smart phone played perfectly on this device. My only negative was that the device got hot.

Now the problem, the white tablet's case cracked at the left hand side corner. The case wasn't properly sealed and you tell that in a short time it would pop off. Note: When I was "carrying" it around, it was maintained in its original box completely snug and not thrown around. I believe the heat from the device cracked it. I am not sure when the crack happened as it was a thin hairline crack. It definitely wasn't before I charged them up as I fully inspected each one.

I uninstalled the applications and removed the personalization on the device to return it. As doing so, the language switched to Asian characters. That made up my mind about the black one and both were returned.

A lot of wasted time but a good learning experience. I don't want my nieces to have a bad experience with their first tablets. I am not really sure if they quite need a tablet. Does a 9 year old really need one? I am going to save my pennies and hope for really good Christmas sales else there is other things I can get them.

Thank you all for your replies.