Though you have been warned that it’s not wise to purchase cheap tablets, Black Friday or not, it’s hard to resist temptation when these tablet prices go as low as $50. But here’s a few tips that could help you resist the urge.

To make things easier for shoppers to purchase the right kind of tablet, Bluebox Security, Inc. released its findings on the cheap tablets being offered by retailers during the Thanksgiving weekend sale. The security firm purchased the following tablets: HTC Nexus 9 for $399 from Google, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 Lite for $99 (available at multiple stores), DigiLand for $49.00 at Best Buy, Nextbook for $49, Pioneer 7” for $49.99, Ematic for $49.99, RCA 9” $69, and Worryfree Zeepad for $47.32  at Walmart; RCA Mercury 7” 39.99 at Target;  Mach Speed Xtreme Play for $39.99 at Kmart; Mach Speed Jlab Pro for $39.99 at Staples; Craig 7” $49.99 at Fred’s; Polaroid for $49.99 at Walgreens; and Zeki for $49.99 at Kohl’s.

Bluebox gauged the devices’ trustworthiness, as well as looked for vulnerabilities to determine if consumers should bother with any tablets on their review list.

Of the tested devices, the inexpensive Zeki tablet fared the worst with low marks for suspicious trustworthiness and vulnerabilities across the board including master key loopholes and the Heartbleed bug. The majority of the tablets tested were semi-trustable, while the pricier HTC Nexus 9 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite were the only tablets deemed trustworthy and secure.

If you’re still not convinced as to why you should stay away from cheap tablets, we’ll give you three more.

3 more reasons to skip cheap tablets

You get what you pay for

One of the reasons why top brand tablets are expensive is because they use premium materials. Cheap tablets comprise subpar components that are easily breakable. And if it doesn’t break on accident, the poor quality display will downgrade the user experience and you just may throw it against the wall.

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No Google Play access

Not all Android devices have access to Google Play, and the cheaper tablets have put less time into the operating system’s experience, or have replaced Google Play with an unofficial Android store. The problem with unofficial Android stores is that they’re swarming with apps laced with malware, which can be used to steal your identity and bank account information, or rack up credit card charges through unverified purchases.

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Vulnerabilities

High-end tablets or tablets have security measures in place on their mobile devices. This makes it harder for malware to get in (unless you root your device). Cheap tablets don’t have security measures in place and are vulnerable to software such as Fake ID, Futex bug, Master Key, and Heartbleed, as we saw with the Bluebox report (below).

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feature image by Martin Voltri via photopin cc