I just want to put in my two cents, as a long time user of a cheaper (and old!) bamboo tablet:
In 2011 I bought my first tablet, a Wacom Bamboo tablet, model CTL-460, which was one of their smaller, cheaper models during that time (I think I bought it for like... 40 bucks?? lol). I'm still using it now, for all of my paintings/drawings and stuff, so it's super reliable! The only reason I'd replace it now is because I messed up my pen a bit, though the pen getting messed up is entirely my fault. I have borrowed other friends' and my school's intuos before, and though I like it, I feel like my own work doesn't really have a serious change in quality. But, then again, Wacom in general is really nice, so I guess even their old, low end models are pretty good, compared to other off brands. Maybe? I need to re-check specs on tablets again! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ
I only have good things to say about Wacom. My tablet is 9.8″ x 6.9″, but the actual drawing area is only 5.8″ x 3.6″, so it is a little small (and I use two monitors too, lol!!), but I like it. The nice thing is that when I bring my laptop out with me, my tablet is nice and "travel" size, so its never really a hassle taking it around. I think the main thing when first buying a tablet is that it'll be a little disorienting to use at first, but if you use it a decent amount, after a week you should be fine! I've also done some freelance artwork and a lot of character design work for people with my little dinky tablet, so I definitely know you don't need an expensive tablet to get nice work... although if you have the money for it, I say go ahead (after doing proper research, at first!)!!
I do have a friend who's been using a Huion tablet for a while who really enjoys it, and the reviews on Huion models seem to generally be very good. Another friend of mine uses the Surface Pro 3, but he prefers using his Medium Intuos for drawing over using the Surface Pro's screen. Aside from that, I can't really say much about other brands and models, sorry about that!