Generally there are 2 main types of bloatware, some of which you can do things about, some you can’t.
One is normally some form of launcher and skin, that make the product visually dissimilar from the Android base, and add some theoretically nifty features, like non-standard widgets, but it comes at the cost of that little bit of extra processing going on in the background, which is a concern on budget devices.
The second is various “Samsung” or “OnePlus” (this is true for most non-Pixel brands) titled apps that work, but are basically replacing some browser / health app / weather app that’s already available from Google directly via the play store, are updated less frequently, and are (like many free apps to be clear) and harvesting your information. I’m not saying 100% that they’re worse, but if you’re already stuck giving that info out via one source, why give it out to more. And they may or may not integrate with other Google apps you’re used to. These are generally safe to delete though sometimes it really doesn’t want you too, and download whatever you’re already using/comfortable with.
The other issue with the second type is that it often exists to sell you more Samsung products - upgrades, their Smartwatch series, and other connected devices. Nothing too damn blatant, but noticeable. This is almost completely ignorable though, especially if your desire for other tech-toys isn’t that strong. I do have a weakness…
The very very top end, yeah, but IMHO, you’re paying too much for it. Some of the gaming tablets and Samsung’s Ultra series have really impressive benchmarks, but you’re normally looking at $900-$1100. And it’s no better than an Apple product in the same range. I know plenty of people who don’t hesitate to buy a phone in that price range, but tablets are a slightly more edge-use scenario due to their size and somewhat reduced portability.
Personally, I’m a more budget buyer - I like phones in the $4-500 range (not cheap, but most of the features I want/need), and my tablets in the $2-300 range. Tablets used at home seem to be more drop prone (-gives cats side eye-) falling off the couch, the bedstand, what have you. So I consider them semi-expendable, and my needs are modest. I mean, that’s why I have a desktop computer and a laptop if I want power!
It can be all OR none of the above. The two issues I mentioned about Bloatware above apply, but it’s often (not always) more extreme, especially the skin. Some of the ones on Amazon run customized Android forks that don’t play well with the Google play store, and or use their own (so back to things like the Fire), though by no means all. There’s concern in the community that they involve more aggressive spy/adware than you’d see in most tablets mass produced for the US market, though I haven’t seen strongly convincing evidence for that.
My biggest concerns are unlike major models that I can go hands-on with (see @puzzlegal’s post) at a Best Buy / Cellular Carrier / etc., I can get very little real life information on the devices. Just some well brushed (or entirely add generated) pics and spec sheet from whatever they’ve posted. The VastKing I bought 4-5 years ago was very well made, with a lightweight aluminum body, no rough edges, and all the ports still function pretty well. It does have a skin, but it’s not particularly intrusive, and I deleted any apps I wasn’t actively using. But it’s layout (dropdown, settings, etc.) was noticeably different, and worse of all (for me, not the average user) it was a one-size fits most for cellular bands.
Yes, I have one cellular enabled tablet, which is very nice for me but my cell line for it was a BOGO originally, and even now only costs about $5 per month. But that means it only supported some of my carrier’s bands, and thus it’s speed was much slower at most times than my phone.
Anyway, two last issues. First, service - outside the limited warranty given to return/replace by Amazon (normally a month or less) you’re normally SOL if something goes wrong. They’ll frequently let you ship it back to them for “repairs” but that’s often a month(s) long process and who knows if they’ll fully honor anything. Though this is true for any number of products on amazon, where you get a great deal, and find out the company selling it gone-gone-gone months later if you have a problem, but a nearly identical product is being sold under a new name, by a new company…
The one I -did- have an issue with was with resets. I retired the VastKing 2 years back from active use and swapped the SIM into a new tablet, but I continued to use it as my bedside reader/surfing tablet. And, as happens, one day it froze. Happens. So I tried a soft reset (didn’t work) and eventually a hard reset, which DID… but the recovery menu came up in Chinese.
I’ve had experience working with these menus, but it basically took a lot of trial and error of guessing the prompts to get it to do the full factory reset and it came back up in the English skin mode again. I suspect someone not comfortable with the fiddling would have trashed it and bought a new one.
So, yes, long story. But in short, if you’re not worried about possible spyware, do as much research as possible (hard, depending on model), and comfortable with fiddling with it (YMMV), then yeah, a cheap Chinese model is generally a good deal as long as you’re looking for performance to price ratio. Especially if you’re comparing it to the budget models of a lot of devices.
Me, personally? I’ve done it, it was pretty good, but not good enough to keep buying them when I have other options - though again, my use-case is far more rare than a typical wi-fi only user. I mostly mention them as an alternative to Amazon’s fire system, where you’re already locked into a weird android fork, can’t use Google’s play store without hacking, etc.
I can get her older books on paper, though.