I've got an old Xiaomi Pad 5 which was a great buy at the time and has served me really well. Price/performance ratio were amazing when I got it, and it still holds up just fine. The newer models seem to continue the trend. My only gripe is the absent fingerprint reader, which is unfortunately another trend which seems to have been maintained (I think it's present on the fancier versions). I cracked my screen and shopped for a replacement tablet for a long time. I couldn't justify the laptop-like expense of the fancy Samsung tablets and anecdotally we've not had great reliability from the Samsung tablets we've had at home. I'd have just grabbed the newer Xiaomi Pad if it was available in my country, but instead whilst travelling picked up a Lenovo Idea Tab Pro on a whim. I liked the 13" matte screen and included stylus. It was surprising to me after using it for a while what an ergonomic difference the bigger screen makes. It feels big and heavy and given a do over I'd have stuck with something in the 11" region. For streaming games and stuff I still use my busted up old Xiaomi, as I can't get a controller that fits this behemoth. I like everything else about the Lenovo - it is fast, has good battery and the display is great, if not the brightest out there. Reviewers comment on it not being bright enough for outdoor use, but I can count on my fingers the number of times I've ever used a tablet outdoors. I disagree with the prevailing "just get an iPad" sentiment. I've had iPads and the hardware is great, but the fruit machine empire's disdain for anything which might jeopardize their precious garden walls always ends up putting me off. When you want an Android, it is usually for specific reasons, so I can strongly vouch for Xiaomi's fondleslabs.

It's true, there's a vast amount of sickeningly exploitative and commercial content on the platform - "surprise eggs", unboxings, toy reviews and so on. This vile garbage is deliberately engineered to be addictive to young minds, and often deliberately misrepresented as educational. By the same token, those same young minds should NOT be given unfettered access. It takes some effort, but tools are made available to parents to curate which channels the kids have access to, and there are some very good ones. If you have made the mistake of providing unrestricted access to those in your care in the past, it won't be easy to switch to curated content, but a lot of the blame here is on lazy parents who use content consumption devices as electronic babysitters. After making the mistake of allowing unrestricted access to my little one, I'm now continuously curating and coaching him on how to recognize addictive content, and concentrate on content which provides fun AND learning. It was tough and took a lot of effort, but becomes easier if you are consistent and it is rewarding now to watch him now intentionally seek out beneficial content.

What could go wrong, they said

Ouch. In my case it was Queen's Greatest Hits, on continuous repeat for the duration of the restaurant's operating hours. The effect of the endless repetition was nauseating and depressing, and probably one of the main factors that contributed to my short tenure. That and the atrocious pay.

Erm, last time I checked, Europe wasn't a country.