AUSTRALIAN consumer electronics manufacturer Kogan has launched a budget Android tablet it says is the cheapest in its category.

The Agora 10-inch tablet retails for $179 and runs Android's latest Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 operating system.

A 16G version is also available for $199.

"For a multi-touch screen like this with these features and Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich, the new Kogan Agora 10 is the cheapest, by a long shot," Kogan founder Ruslan Kogan said.

"There were lots of really cheap tablets on the market, (but) some don't have a capacitive touchscreen, often have really old CPUs, smaller screens, and they definitely don't have Android 4.0."

Most 8GB, 10-inch tablets sell from between $219 to $430 according to data from the Get Price comparison site.

The Agora contains a 1.2GHz processor, 1G of RAM and has two 2MP cameras on the front and back.

Mr Kogan said he was thinking of his mum when he decided to include a USB and microSD port for easy data transfer.

"My mum has an iPad and she thinks it's awesome and easy to use, but she would always ask me: 'How do I put movie on here, or take music off?'" he said

"The iPad closes you off in that regard, so the USB and microSD input make it a bit easier."

Although the operating system was open source, Mr Kogan said he and his developers didn't fiddle with it too much, and that they were purely motivated by cost.

"The main feedback we heard from our customers on tablets is that I want one, but I don't need one," he said.

Mr Kogan said he had fixed some of the problems that plagued some of his previous products.