Medion's LifeTab is a 10-inch Android tablet which costs well under £200. Most of its big-name rivals cost more or have smaller screens, so if you're after a 10-inch Android tablet, let's see how the LifeTab stacks up.

Medion is a pains to point out that the LifeTab is better specified than any other 10-inch tablet at this price. It has a dual-core processor, 16GB of storage (expandable by microSD card), front and rear cameras, USB and HDMI plus an IPS screen for great viewing angles.

However, specifications alone rarely tell you if a tablet is any good. See our full Medion LifeTab E10310 review.

Medion LifeTab E10310: Design and build

The LifeTab looks fairly bland, but we like the soft-feel plastic on the back, which makes the tablet nice to hold.

Build quality is decent, and all the ports and buttons are on one side to keep things simple. There's on speaker on the back which reasonably loud.

• LifeTab: 1280x800
• Nook HD+: 1920x1080

The screen is just about what you'd call HD, but can't match the full HD resolution of the cheaper 9-inch Nook HD+. It's fine for watching videos and browsing the web.

You can hook up a flash drive and watch videos from it: Medion bundles a player that will play most common formats.

Medion LifeTab E10310: Performance

You get the stock version of Android Jelly Bean. It's not the very latest version but Medion has already promised regular updates.

In general use, the LifeTab feels quite zippy. Swiping between home screens and launching apps isn’t the slickest experience you can get on an Android tablet, but it’s more than acceptable at this price.

Plus, whether browsing the web, watching iPlayer or zooming around Google Maps we couldn’t really fault the E10310’s performance.

If numbers are important to you, here are some benchmark results.

• Geekbench 2:  1430
• GLBenchmark 2.5.1: 12fps
• SunSpider 1.0: 1512ms

These figures are nothing special these days, and only casual games will be playable on the LifeTab.

It’s worth noting that the brand new, second-gen Google Nexus 7 scored 2651 and 41fps respectively, and costs only £149. Of course, it has a 7-inch screen which might rule it out if you specifically want a 10-inch tablet. (The original Nexus 7 scored roughly the same as the LifeTab).

Medion LifeTab E10310: Software and Cameras

Unlike some budget tablet, you get access to Google Play and all the apps, films, books it offers.

Medion also pre-loads several useful apps including Skype and Ebay. Kids will love the excellent Drawing Pad, and there's also DocsToGo. Anyone tempted by the presence of a rear camera will be disappointed with the quality of photos and videos: they're simply awful.

Medion LifeTab E10310: Verdict

With tough competition from the new Nexus 7 and Nook HD+,  the LifeTab E10310 struggles to compete. However, if nothing but a 10-inch screen will do, it’s not a bad choice if you don’t want to play 3D games and your budget is limited to under £200. It’s just a shame that the cameras are so poor.

We award 3 stars. See also: the 12 best Android tablets of 2013.