King's International School, Seremban
Kiddy123 Frame
Apple King Educational Group
Little Angel Kindergarten
The children's house
Small Wonder Malaysia
Odyssey, The Global Preschool (Mont Kiara)

Cheap Tablets for Kids Online Learning (Below RM1,000)

by on 18/02/2021 4621

With the number of daily Covid-19 cases hitting a 4-digit high every day, many parents prefer to keep their children at home and continue with home-based e-learning. However, there are many low-income families that cannot afford to provide their children with a personal laptop or tablet to access online lessons.

The results from a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education showed that only 6% to 9% of students own a computer and/or tablet. And 37% of students don’t have any appropriate digital devices.

*Scroll to the bottom for more info about digital devices and data connectivity support for underprivileged students.

In hope that more students can get hold of a digital device so they won’t miss out on education during such tough times, we have waded through lots of companies selling affordable devices (most are old, underpowered and of questionable quality), and came up with a list of budget tablets** (below RM1,000) from more reliable brands.

Lenovo Tab M7 (2nd Gen)

RM 459

Tech Specs

Processor

MediaTek MT8321 A/D Processor (1.30GHz)

Operating System

Android 9.0

Screen Size

7”

Memory

2GB

Storage

32GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi

Camera

2.0MP FF Back Camera + 2.0 MP FF Front Camera

Huawei MatePad T 8

RM 559

Tech Specs

Processor

MTK MT8768, 8 Core A53, 4x2.0GHz + 4X1.5GHz

Operating System

Android 10.0

Screen Size

8”

Memory

2 GB

Storage

32 GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi

Camera

Front camera 2MP Fixed Focus + Rear Camera 5MP Auto Focus

Samsung Galaxy Tab A (8.0)  

RM 599

Tech Specs

Processor

Quad-Core 2GHz

Operating System

Android

Screen Size

8”

Memory

2GB

Storage

32GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/4G LTE/Bluetooth

Camera

Rear camera 8MP + Front camera 2MP

Samsung Galaxy Tab A (10.1)  

RM 899

Tech Specs

Processor

Octa-Core 1.8GHz

Operating System

Android

Screen Size

10.1”

Memory

2GB

Storage

32GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/4G LTE/Bluetooth

Camera

Rear camera 8MP + Front camera 5MP

Teclast P80 Tablet

RM 499

Tech Specs

Processor

Quad-Core

Operating System

Android 10.0

Screen Size

8”

Memory

2GB

Storage

32GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth

Camera

Rear camera 2MP + Front camera 3MP

Teclast P20HD Tablet

RM 650

Tech Specs

Processor

Octa-Core

Operating System

Android 10.0

Screen Size

10.1”

Memory

4GB

Storage

64GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/4G/Bluetooth

Camera

Rear camera 5MP + Front camera 2MP

CHUWI HiPad X 

From RM 871

Tech Specs

Processor

MT6771 Octa-Core 

Operating System

Android 10.0

Screen Size

10”

Memory

6GB

Storage

128GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/4G LTE

Camera

Rear camera 8MP + Front camera 5MP

Fujitsu Tablet STYLISTIC    

From RM 750

Tech Specs

Processor

Intel i5 Processor

Operating System

Windows

Screen Size

12”

Memory

4GB

Storage

64GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth

Camera

Rear camera + Front camera

Acer Iconia One 8 

From RM 439

Tech Specs

Processor

Quad-Core 1.3GHz

Operating System

Android 7.0

Screen Size

8”

Memory

1GB

Storage

16GB; Supports up to 128GB of extra storage

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/4G/Bluetooth

Camera

Rear camera 5MP + Front camera 2MP

JOI 11 Pro   

From RM 848

Tech Specs

Processor

Intel Atom x5- Z8350  

Operating System

Windows 10

Screen Size

10.8”

Memory

4GB

Storage

32GB; Supports up to 128GB of extra storage

Connectivity

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth 4.0

Camera

Rear camera 5MP + Front camera 2MP

**Prices, features, specifications and availability may vary at time of purchase.

 


*Affordable Digital Device Programmes For Low-Income Households

1. Tabung Cerdik

The 2021 Budget outlined that government-linked companies and government-linked investment companies will contribute RM150 million into Tabung Cerdik to provide laptops, tablets and data connectivity to 150,000 students from low-income households in 500 schools to facilitate online learning. Working in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, this initiative is set to rollout in February 2021. However, the latest news revealed that the devices will be given on loan for 12 months instead.  

2. Jaringan Prihatin

The Jaringan Prihatin subsidy programme will provide the B40 group with a telecommunication credit of RM180 per person or RM15 per month to cover part of the cost of purchasing smart devices. This is expected to start in March 2021. Telecommunications companies will also offer free Wi-Fi access in general areas at 130 selected People’s Housing Projects (PPRs) nationwide until the end of next April. And the operating hours for all Community Internet Centres (PIK) (click here to check locations) will be extended to 9pm daily.

3. YTL Foundation

The Learn From Home initiative from the YTL Foundation offers to provide students from B40 families free phones with 120GB worth of data (10GB/month for 12 months) so that they can continue learning from home. Teachers are encouraged to submit nominations of underprivileged students who are in need of a digital device here. Applications end 30th June 2021.