Amazon UK publishes a list of its bestselling tablets which is updated every few hours. Aggregating these lists over time and refining the definition of a tablet allows us to see trends and to be confident of which are truly popular with UK buyers.
It's useful to check whether the model you're considering is reasonably popular as that will improve your chances of being able to find a forum, website, or repair shop later if anything goes wrong. There are a great many different models available from Amazon, while none of the high street shops offers this many.
It's no surprise that Amazon's own tablets are very well placed here - but they are genuinely selling well across the board. The new higher-resolution "HDX" Kindle Fires aren't at the top of this list, with the lower prices of the 2012 "HD" versions proving compelling. For more detail on the market as a whole, and the relative popularity of Galaxies, iPads, Kindles, Nexuses (Nexi?) and the cheap unbranded models, take a look at our trends tab.
Amazon's new Fire series has an improved screen and processor compared with the 2012 version. However, it's not yet ahead of the older model in the popularity stakes - especially after the 2012 version has been discounted.
There is certainly no shortage of variations on the theme of smartphone / phablet / tablets coming from South Korea's giant producer. Even though this is - again - a 2012 model, it is still popular.
It might something of a reflection on the market as a whole that this beast is undoubtedly climbing gradually back up the rankings as respectable secondhand examples are appearing at very competitive prices.
This does have all the basics to perform quite happily with today's apps and the backing of a major brand meaning that repairs will be an option if necessary.
Half a Gig of RAM memory. Luckily IOS uses it well.!
This older version of the iPad has now dropped from Apple's own stores as of March 2014. It's very common, and therefore repairable with a wide choice of good apps.
The iPad 2 was a fabulous product - but time is at last beginning to take its toll.
To be honest, the age of this iPad's design is not really reflected as much as they should be in its current price. Most users would be better served by a 2012 iPad mini, an iPad 4 or an Android device. Although the product is the same as it has always been, other tablets now have better screens and processors, and the battery in any second hand model you buy might be showing its age. Remember that you can't change the battery yourself.
For some, this may begin to feel a bit overpriced, but as a second hand buy, there are still some benefits -
Its iOS platform is still being updated each time Apple introduces a new version.
It was the most popular tablet sold over the last couple of years and there is quite a thriving market in repairing them if, for instance the screen cracks or the battery dies.
Speaking of the battery, this is in fact one of the best batteries and even if its capacity dwindles rather with age, there will still be quite a few usable hours.
And from the point of view of street credibility it helps that this looks almost identical to the newer iPads - 3 and 4 until you get your eyes well focused on the screen.
This replaces
an earlier similar device. The upgrade is much faster and is currently amongst the most popular of the rather anonymous brands applied to Chinese clone devices.
On paper, though, it beats many of the other slates here with a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)
Look out, though, for the weaknesses of budget offerings
Low screen resolution - in this case 1024 x 600 - that's 117 pixels per inch (ppi), which doesn't compare so badly on paper with the best selling 2012 iPad Mini's 163ppi.
Lack of brightness or sharpness in the screen
Lots of Chinese software installed and liable to get in the way.
Very little chance of English instructions, help or support with platform updates.
The Tab 3 launch was a little bumpy but now they are establishing themselves helped by a steady reductions price which has left the Tab3 series with the tiniest of premiums compared to 2012's Tab2 series.
This replaces
an earlier similar device. The upgrade is much faster and is currently the most popular of the rather anonymous brands applied to Chinese clone devices.
On paper, though, it beats many of the other slates here with a dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and Android 4.2.2.
Look out, though, for the weaknesses of budget offerings
Low screen resolution - in this case 1024 x 600 - that's 132 pixels per inch (ppi), which doesn't compare so badly on paper with the best selling 2012 iPad Mini's 163ppi.
Lack of brightness or sharpness in the screen
Lots of Chinese software installed and liable to get in the way.
Very little chance of English instructions, help or support with platform updates.
Welcome back! This isn't even last year's model, but from the year before. There's no denying that some of the devices that were around a while back are reappearing in this list.
The thing is that if there aren't cracks in the screen, there's not that much to degrade. And these that you might describe as the best of the branded tablets from last year still compare quite respectably with today's models and their price has dropped significantly.
Look out for the things that do degrade though:
Battery - Most are OK, but these batteries cannot be changed except by dis mat ling the whole thing.
Storage - without getting technical, the storage on an older device can slow down. It is possible to improve things quite a bit, if you're prepared to commit some time to the task.
This is one of the best fondleslabs you can buy, but, of course it comes at quite a high price.
It has one of the fastest dual-core processors available, 2Gb of RAM and a very high resolution screen. As with all the Nexus devices, you get a new, clean version of Android and the best chance of getting updates.
However, as with the other Nexus phones and fondleslabs, there's no slot for a memory card. This really is quite a handicap for what is otherwise a very strong machine.
There was a Sony Xperia Z 10" tablet last year, and to tell them apart in the shop is quite a struggle. The outside appearance has hardly changed at all, although the back panel which was glass now has a nice grippy finish instead. The screen resolution is also still the same and a pretty decent 1,920 x 1,200 or 224 pixels per inch.
Inside, though, there has been quite an upgrade, with a whole 3Gb of RAM, a quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 processor, better water-proofing for watching videos in the bath and better battery life - although the battery itself is unchanged.
Perhaps the most impressive feature though is the lightness of the Xperia (426g) - lighter than last year's model and probably lighter than all the similar devices.
The Xperia manages to look slimmer and subtly posher than its rivals.
Although the list price hasn't changed from last year, this is still on the high side.
The Register - "Our fave ‘droid 10-incher here at El Reg? Yup."
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Non Mover
Amazon 2012 Kindle Fire HD 8.9"
Dual-core Processor
1 Gig of RAM memory.
This larger, higher-resolution, version of Amazon's Kindle Fire series was a while coming to the UK. Both the product and its attractiveness in the market were thoroughly tested in America before it was put on sale here.
The product itself is sound, with a dual-core processor and a full HD screen (plus a bit more) for watching films or ogling the most glorious magazine photos. But, as buyers move a little up the price scale, they are perhaps a little less enthusiastic about Amazon's walled garden.
You are strongly encouraged to buy all those films and magazines and games from Amazon's own ecosystem. Most of the same things are still available, but that's not exactly the point. Perhaps one of the most annoying restrictions, and one shared with Apple's iPads, is the lack of a memory card slot. This pushes you either to buy more memory from the start, or to depend more heavily on the various cloud storage options - another thing you're encouraged to get from Amazon.
This larger Kindle Fire never did quite as well as its smaller brothers even though it has just lately benefited from quite a deep price cut as the new model becomes available. Also, this device never sold as well as the similarly-priced iPad mini (2012). Though the screen sizes are not that different, the mini iPad is much lower resolution, but it gains by being lighter, fashionably cool and smaller to pack into a bag or whatever..
