I’ve been putting off buying myself a tablet for a long time. A part of me wanted one, but another part thought that it would be a bit of a waste of money since my phone already does most of the things that I want to be able to do. But when I started blogging a few months ago I began to see how a tablet would come in handy. A tablet, I thought, would make it so much easier to browse the internet, write blog posts, revise for an exam I’m sitting soon, contribute to forums and manage my social media accounts all in one place. I realised that I needed something bigger than my Samsung Galaxy S4, but less bulky than a laptop.
So I decided to do a bit of research to find the perfect tablet for me. After spending the last few months being super frugal with my money, I vowed to stick somewhat to my money-saving ways, opting for a budget tablet, the Tesco Hudl 2. It’s a steal at just £129.
If that’s not cheap enough for you, and you’re a regular Tesco shopper and have saved lots of points on your Clubcard, you’ll be able to purchase the Hudl 2 for just £64.50 in Tesco vouchers. This is all made possible by Tesco’s Clubcard Boost scheme which doubles the value of each £5 Clubcard voucher.
Appearance
There are eight different colours to choose from, and if you’re torn between two colours, you could always opt for a colourful case too. I went for a white Hudl 2 and a red case.
I’m prone to dropping new things, and so a case was a must. Lucky for me, the case I had my eye on was on a promotional offer and so it costed me just £13.20 instead of £20.
Set up
When I got home and unboxed my new Hudl 2, I was pleased to discover that I didn’t have to charge it before use as it came with a full battery. This meant that it wasn’t long before I was up and running. After switching the Hudl 2 on I was given the chance to link the tablet up to my Google account and my Tesco Clubcard account. I linked it up to Google, but declined the Tesco offer.
I’ve heard that some people are put off the Hudl 2 tablet because they fear that they’ll regularly be inundated with Tesco adverts and shopping suggestions. However, a week after purchasing, I can confirm that this is not the case. The Tesco element of the Hudl 2 has certainly not been intrusive at all, and I can’t recall seeing any promotional material. There is an icon in the top left hand corner of the home screen that takes you to Tesco services, but it’s not particularly noticeable or distracting. To be honest, I forget that the Hudl 2 is in anyway linked to Tesco.
The bargain tablet comes preloaded with a selection of apps, some you may already know and love, others you’ll probably never have heard of. It didn’t take me long to update it with the main players such as Instagram, WordPress, Twitter, etc.
Screen, speed and storage
The screen is bright, crisp and full HD (1920 x 1200). At 8.3 inches, it’s a great size for watching movies and your favourite TV programmes.
You may notice that it can be a little slow when turning it on, but if you’re like me and you don’t mind waiting a second or two, it’s not a big deal.
The Hudl 2 comes with 16gb of storage, though quite a bit of this has already been taken up by the pre-installed apps, but there’s still plenty of room for your apps, music, games and whatnot. If you do need a little more memory, there is space for a microSD card which can add up to an additional 32gb.
Camera
Photo quality on the Hudl 2 isn’t fantastic. The rear camera is 5 Mp and the front camera is just 1.2 Mp. But if you’re after fantastic photo quality, you’d probably just go right ahead and get a camera, wouldn’t you? I doubt I’ll be using the camera on this tablet anyway to be honest. I don’t really have a need for it as I already have a bridge camera and a Samsung Galaxy S4 which takes reasonable pictures when I’m out and about. I often find myself wondering why tablets even have cameras. There’s something a bit awkward about seeing people using them to take photos in public, especially since they probably have a smartphone in their pocket.
Other bits and bobs
Like Tesco’s last Hudl, the Hudl 2 has dual-band Wi-Fi, GPS, a micro-HDMI port and the battery is supposed to last eight hours. I’ve so far found the battery life to be reasonable, but after first getting it out the box and spending a good 4 hours on it playing a bit of music and installing apps, the battery life did start to dwindle. I’m sure it’ll last longer if you aren’t draining its energy with Spotify and don’t have the brightness on full-beam etc.
All in all I’m really pleased with the Hudl 2 so far. If you want to treat yourself to a tablet without breaking the bank, this could be the perfect budget tablet for you. It’s got a fantastically clear screen, the sound quality is good, and it’s a great little device for browsing online, playing games and if you have a blog, keeping it organised.
It’s worth noting that if you want to be able to use the internet on the bus, the Hudl 2 is probably not the option for you. While it allows access to WiFi, you can’t use it to connect to 3G or 4G. There is always the option of downloading the things that you need before leaving the house so that you can make use of it while in WiFi-free zones though. I use Spotify Premium to make sure I can listen to music when out and about, and download books and PDFs to read so that I can revise for my exam while on the bus. If you want to blog, there are plenty of apps that you can use without being connected to the internet. You’ll just not be able to upload them until you’re back in an area with WiFi.
Do you use a tablet? If so which one do you have and what do you use it for? Let me know in the comments below 🙂
