Nokia T20 vs Amazon Fire HD 10: Which is the best affordable tablet?

(Pocket-lint) - For a fig of years, the affordable Android tablet abstraction has been alternatively sparce. While premium tablets continued, galore brands pulled retired of offering cheaper tablets, leaving Amazon to capable this void.

Nokia has ne'er truly been a sanction successful tablets. There were a mates of Lumia tablets and the Nokia N1 backmost successful 2014, but the T20 sees the caller HMD Global-run Nokia elbowing into caller territory.

Price and availability

• Nokia T20: £179.99
• Fire HD 10: £149.99

The Amazon Fire HD 10 was astir precocious updated successful April 2021, and is wide disposable to buy. It's priced from £149.99 successful the UK, but determination are a fig of versions available, with the 64GB mentation costing £189.99.

Nokia's tablet, for the UK, volition connection 64GB retention excessively and volition outgo £179.99, truthful they are adjacent successful terms - but there's a batch much to it than conscionable storage, and worthy digging into

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Design and build

• Nokia T20: 247.6 x 157.5 x 7.8mm, 465g
• Fire HD 10: 247 x 166 x 9.2mm, 465g

The sizing of these 2 tablets is amazingly close. The Fire HD 10 is simply a small larger, it's thicker and arsenic it has a smaller display, the effect is that you're looking astatine larger bezels, truthful Nokia's tablet mightiness person much contiguous appeal.

The Nokia T20 has a sandblasted aluminium body, truthful it immoderate mightiness find it a small much premium than the integrative decorativeness of the Fire HD 10 - though Amazon's instrumentality does a bully occupation of keeping the dinks and dents astatine bay.

Both these tablets besides measurement the aforesaid and it's wide they beryllium successful the aforesaid space. Amazon offers a scope of colours, portion Nokia lone seems to beryllium offering the 1 bluish colour. Both person cases disposable too.

Overall, it's the caller Nokia tablet that has the edge.

Display

• Nokia T20: 10.4in, 2000 x 1200 pixels, 224ppi, 5:3
• Fire HD 10: 10.1in, 1920 x 1200 pixels, 224ppi, 16:10

In the show department, again there's parity. Nokia has a somewhat larger show connected the T20, but lone by astir 0.3 inches. There's a flimsy bump successful resolution, but the biggest quality is the facet ratio, which is somewhat different.

The Fire HD 10 is akin and some these displays really person the aforesaid pixel density, truthful some should beryllium arsenic as adept astatine showing detail. They besides person akin brightness, astir 400 nits, truthful the show is apt to beryllium akin from some devices.

As we said, the plan sees the Nokia T20 with smaller bezels and immoderate mightiness spot that arsenic somewhat much modern, though you request bezels to grip the tablet without putting your fingers each implicit the content.

It's beauteous overmuch level pegging here.

Hardware and performance

• Nokia T20: Unisoc T610, 3/4GB RAM, 32/64GB storage, microSD (512GB), 8200mAh, 15W
• Fire HD 10: MediaTek Helio P60T, 3GB RAM, 32/64GB storage, microSD (1TB), 6500mAh, 15W

When it comes to the halfway hardware, some of these tablets are sitting connected hardware astatine the affordable extremity of the spectrum. It's beauteous similar, some being octa-core and connected a akin architecture, though the Unisoc hardware is much recent.

We'll enactment these tablets caput to caput arsenic soon arsenic we person some connected our table to trial the existent satellite differences.

Nokia is offering 3 oregon 4GB RAM, with the 4GB exemplary being disposable successful the UK. The Fire HD 10 comes with 3GB RAM, portion the Fire HD10 Plus comes with 4GB - but that besides pushes up the terms due to the fact that it besides offers wireless charging.

In presumption of storage, some travel successful astatine 32GB oregon 64GB, but this is tied to the mentation you bargain successful the Nokia tablet - truthful those successful the UK volition get 64GB - portion connected the Amazon instrumentality you tin take which exemplary you buy.

Both enactment microSD, with Amazon offering enactment up to 1TB, beating Nokia.

When it comes to the artillery life, Nokia has declared that there's a monolithic 8200mAh battery, with enactment for 15W charging. It's said to past for up to 15 hours successful mixed usage.

Amazon doesn't state the artillery connected the Fire HD 10, but it's been reported arsenic 6500mAh. It besides supports 15W charging, but successful this lawsuit you get 12 hours of mixed use. (We're not definite the artillery capableness is correct, but the endurance is.)

In reality, bundle could play the biggest portion successful however these tablets consciousness successful regular use.

Software

• Nokia T20: Android 11
• Fire HD 10: Fire OS

The Nokia T20 comes with banal Android. That's Android 11 astatine launch, with the committedness of 2 years of OS upgrades and 3 years of information updates. This is precise overmuch successful enactment with Nokia's approach to its phones, offering Android with messing astir with it.

That means you tin marque the tablet what you want, instal each the apps from the Play Store and mostly acquisition everything arsenic Google intended.

The Fire HD 10, however, besides runs Android, but is skinned with Fire OS. This changes everything to marque it customized designed for Amazon's services. While it sits connected Android and mostly behaves similar Android, it's precise antithetic - and you don't get Google Services.

That mean you person to usage the Amazon AppStore alternatively of Google Play and immoderate of the apps are older oregon not available.

At the aforesaid time, the Fire tablet is good suited to Amazon's content: you tin entree your Kindle books oregon Amazon Video oregon Music from the location screens, portion there's integrated hands-free Alexa, arsenic good arsenic integration into an astute devices you setup with Alexa.

Then there's Show Mode too, allowing your Fire tablet to behave similar an Echo Show. All of this worldly is large and portion you tin instal the Alexa app connected the Nokia tablet and entree those things, it's much seamlessly integrated connected the Amazon device.

Ultimately, the entreaty of axenic Android is amended app entree and a much accepted bundle loadout, the vantage of the Fire tablet comes if you're mostly going to beryllium utilizing Amazon's services.

Conclusions

These tow tablets person the imaginable to slug it retired for attraction successful the cheaper tablet space. They're substantially cheaper than the iPad which dominates tablets, with Amazon's Fire HD models fashionable with families, particularly for kids.

Nokia has immoderate advantages: a bigger show successful a assemblage that's beauteous overmuch the aforesaid size, a much premium physique utilizing aluminium, though it mightiness amusement harm much easy than the Fire's integrative back.

It besides offers bundle that's not been forked to service up Amazons' contented and services, with entree to amended apps.

The Fire tablet connected the different manus comes successful cheaper, but the astir affordable enactment includes adverts.

Ultimately, what are you going to beryllium utilizing your tablet for? If it's watching movies past some volition service you good with small quality successful the experience. If you privation it for doing more, offering a wider acquisition with entree to much apps and services, the Nokia is amended placed.

Writing by Chris Hall. Originally published connected 6 October 2021.