Best Tablet for Reading and Casual Games
The best tablets in 2022
Included in this guide:
The all-time tablet for your needs can exist catchy to find, whether yous're looking to outfit the kids with inexpensive, durable tablets for schoolhouse or merely need a beautiful 2nd screen to keep near the burrow.
To help you make up one's mind which tablet is right for you, nosotros test all of the elevation devices in our lab and in the existent globe. In general, Amazon tablets are great for kids and anyone on a tight budget. iPads are best for students and creative pros, peculiarly with the new M1 chip and new displays in Apple's iPad Pro 2022 — which we reviewed late last year. We also reviewed the 2022 iPad and iPad mini, and both earned spots on the list below.
Nigh recently, Samsung unveiled a new line of Android slates: the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, Tab S8+, and Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. Nosotros're in the procedure of testing and reviewing them, so check back before long to see if they're good plenty to brand this listing! Apple has as well announced a "Peek Performance" effect for March 8 where we may see the Cupertino-based visitor unveil some new iPads.
Without further ado, hither are the best tablets you can buy right now, based on our easily-on testing and reviews.
What are the all-time tablets?
The iPad is synonymous with tablets for a reason: when yous purchase the basic iPad, you're guaranteed to get a bang-up screen and potent sound. But when it comes to picking the best iPad for most people, we tend to push people towards the new iPad Air 2020. Information technology may be a piddling pricier, but if you want to use an Apple Pencil or an attachable keyboard, information technology'south the best iPad that doesn't price an arm and a leg, as information technology supports the Magic Keyboard and Apple tree Pencil (2nd Gen). If you don't program on typing a lot, though, the new iPad mini is worth because. The iPad Pro is the best tablet for those who desire a device for work and play; available in both eleven-inch and 12.9-inch versions, the iPad Pro 2022 delivers slap-up performance and a groovy screen, peculiarly if you splurge for the 12.9-inch version with its new mini-LED display.
For parents or those on a budget, the Amazon Fire tablet line offers some great options. While their Amazon content-start interface may be off putting to those who don't live in the Prime globe, their prices can't be beat and Amazon'southward slowly updating them to USB-C, which it's got in the Fire Hd 10 and the Fire HD 8. For those who similar to accept lots of concrete notes, the reMarkable 2 tablet is a 1-of-a-kind slate that replicates the experience of pen and paper similar no other.
You can also cheque out the Microsoft Surface Go 2, which erases the memory of the lackluster original by lasting longer, thinning its bezels and providing a faster processor option. All of that, plus a kickstand that's every bit strong as the one used to prop up its big brother, the Surface Pro. And information technology runs Windows 10, arguably the most capable operating system on any tablet today. Microsoft has since released a successor, but as you can read in our Microsoft Surface Get 3 review, it'south really a bit of a footstep back from the excellent Go ii.
The all-time tablets you tin can buy today
The 9th Gen iPad looks just like the 8th Gen update, and that'southward (mostly) OK. The A13 Bionic chip gives the 2022 iPad that necessary bump in operation to go on it speeding forth, as iPadOS fifteen brings more machine learning tricks similar LiveText. The iPad's screen is nonetheless bright and colorful, and just what information technology needs at this price point. Also, Apple'south sticking with its first-gen Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folio for its supported Apple tree-made accessories, which many may find easier to use than 3rd-party Bluetooth options.
The Pencil will come in handy for Scribble-based annotation, and the keyboard volition help take advantage of the improved keyboard shortcut support. Sound is nevertheless good, as is battery life, the only thing nosotros don't like about the iPad is that the iPad mini and iPad Air are making information technology await even older than its pattern is. Added back up for Apple tree's finer accessories would be swell, only information technology even so has a headphone jack (no other iPad does), which is a win for the wired headphones crowd.
Read our full iPad 2022 review .
For a lot of customers, cost makes the large difference, so Amazon could have coasted when it comes to the $50 Fire vii tablet. Fortunately, the almost recent iteration of the company'south cheapest slate packs a snappy quad-cadre one.3 GHz processor, which helps you navigate apps and browse the web faster than you'd expect from a tablet this cheap. And while previous Burn down tablets fabricated you tap to actuate Alexa — which made no sense, it's meant to exist summoned with your voice — the Burn seven finally added vox triggers for the digital assistant.
Simply don't expect any frills that come with more expensive tablets. The Fire 7 tablet's sub-Hard disk screen is not sharp enough for anyone used to an iPad, and its lock screen is filled with ads unless you pay extra. However, it'due south a great pick for kids looking for a media consumption device.
Read our full Amazon Burn down 7 review .
Apple's iPad Air (2020) borrows a lot of what we similar from the iPad Pro, at a more affordable cost, and information technology's arguably Apple's best iPad ever (though it's however not going to sell as well equally the 10.2-inch iPad). It's got the super-sparse bezels you lot'll recognize from the iPad Pro, too as support for the Magic Keyboard, which makes it a true laptop competitor. On top of that, Apple's blazing-fast A14 Bionic bit helps future-proof this tablet with enough speed for demanding apps and multitasking. Oh, and they managed to put Affect ID in the lock button.
Everywhere else, the iPad Air four is not bad, if not the best. Its 10.5 hours of battery life will be enough to keep you going all day long, and its screen is bright and colorful plenty to make your next Netflix binge-spotter wait bright. It's also great for the work from habitation era, thanks to its 7-megapixel webcam, which crush the Logitech C920 in head-to-caput testing done for our review. We but wish the Magic Keyboard wasn't so expensive: it'south hard to feel groovy buying a keyboard for almost the same price every bit the entry-level iPad.
Read our full iPad Air (2020) review .
Sometimes, it takes a second try to make a thing go right. The Surface Go 2 takes aim at all the flaws of the predecessor and knocks them all down. Starting time of all, thinner bezels make manner for a bigger screen, arguably the most important part of a tablet. The Surface Go 2 has a 10.5-inch brandish, compared to 10 inches for the previous model.
The biggest upgrade is the Surface Go ii'due south 11 hours and 39 minutes of bombardment life, which is over 5 hours longer than the original Surface Get.. Microsoft likewise answered my prayers for a laptop with a slap-up webcam. The v-megapixel 1080p camera in its top bezel is great for the era of online video calls, and its 2d front photographic camera sensor adds Windows Hello biometric login. Finally, go the Surface Go 2 with the 8th Gen Intel Core m3 upgrade, it'due south a little pricier at $629, only it's definitely the model for multitaskers.
Read our full Microsoft Surface Go 2 review .
Android fans finally have a true iPad competitor, at a much more affordable cost. Retailing for $229 (and on auction often for much less) the Galaxy Tab A7 is a bully ten.4-inch tablet for consuming content. Whether you're browsing the web or streaming movies, you go to focus on your content more than, thanks to its super-thin bezels that are thinner than what you get with Apple tree's $329 iPad. Oh, and it'southward got endurance to spare, lasting xiii hours and xiii minutes on the Tom'southward Guide battery test. Oh, and it's as well got an iPad Pro characteristic that Apple makes you pay a lot for: facial recognition to unlock the device.
And just similar Apple tree's pricier tablets, the Milky way Tab A7 charges over USB-C, so you can continue to cut non-reversible microUSB cables out of your life. And while information technology'south not equally fast as the iPad and its screen isn't as vivid, neither is a serious problem at this price. Especially when Samsung gives you true Android with the Google Play app store, and non the watered-downward Amazon Fire tablet experience.
Read our full Samsung Milky way Tab A7 review .
Take nigh everything we know and love about the iPad Air, but shrink it down to a size and weight that's super-like shooting fish in a barrel to utilize with just 1 hand and yous have the iPad mini 6 (2021), which may be the iPad you've been waiting for. Information technology has the Apple Pencil 2 support with the flat-edged design, the much-smaller bezels and virtually everything else we love about an iPad. Currently, Amazon has the marketplace cornered on sub-10-inch tablets with the pricing of its Burn down slates, just the new iPad mini gives quality-focused folks an culling worth investing in.
On acme of that, you've got the super-fast A15 Bionic system-on-chip, which outpaces the iPad Air and every not-Pro iPad out at that place. Its display is also super bright (over 500 nits of brightness), plus surprisingly good audio for a device this pocket-size. Oh, and speaking of outperforming its size, the iPad mini 6 has terrific battery life. The only thing that isn't small about the iPad mini 6? Its $499 cost tag is a bit college than the normal iPad, simply it's another case of "you lot get what you pay for."
Read our total Apple iPad mini 6 (2021) review .
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro may have the better screen, but the 11-inch iPad Pro is arguably better for more people. Not merely is its battery life fantastic — over xiii hours on the Tom's Guide Battery Test — simply it'southward lighter and fits meliorate with terminal twelvemonth'south Magic Keyboard. Plus, information technology'southward $300 less expensive. On top of that, yous get the amazing speed of the Apple M1 chip, which is possibly too powerful for well-nigh tablet apps, only they phone call it the iPad Pro for a reason — this is made for the folks using demanding video and image editing apps.
Of course, the 11-inch iPad Pro 2022 however thrives at the piffling things. Its bright and colorful brandish is sharp, its four speakers provide much larger sound than you might wait from such a thin device and. And if yous're willing to pony up the cash its astonishing (optional) Magic Keyboard offers the simplest and smoothest tablet typing experience there is.
Read our total iPad Pro 2022 (11-inch) review .
Samsung's honing in on what makes a tablet perfect. The Milky way Tab S7 has the slim-bezel/all-screen look that you should get for a tablet in a higher place $500. Information technology's also got a brilliant, vibrant display that's super well-baked. Plus, over 13 hours of battery life. And while DeX style isn't exactly perfect even so — app developers need to have it into consideration — a windowed Android app interface makes for decent productivity, which I noticed while watching nature videos in Android while I wrote parts of my review in Google Docs.
Samsung needs to refine its Book Embrace Keyboard though, if it wants to truly compete with the iPad Pro. The S7's keyboard has too-small number keys for many, and the two-slice nature of the Book Encompass Keyboard (a $199 extra add on) is frustrating. Too, Android app developers demand to requite some polish to their apps' DeX mode version, and when the functioning of the Snapdragon 865+ pales in testing compared to the Core i5 and A12Z fries, the Tab S7 isn't the iPad Pro killer Samsung may desire it to exist. While many may go for a cheaper Android tablet, it'southward not bad to see Samsung giving Android users a tablet that tin can get toe-to-toe with the iPad Pro.
Read our full Samsung Milky way Tab S7 review .
The best got better this yr, as Apple dropped its super-powerful M1 flake inside the already mighty iPad Pro 2021. That chip sets new tablet records in Geekbench and Adobe Premiere Blitz — continuing Apple's tradition of putting tons of brawn in its sleek tablets. And this 12.nine-inch model benefits from Apple tree's Liquid Retina XDR brandish, which offers much higher brightness — up to 1588 nits! Also, Apple's got a new video conferencing fob chosen Heart Stage, where the camera tracks and follows you as you move during calls.
Oh, and the nuts are still stellar. Its quad-speaker setup booms, its optional Magic Keyboard offers a comfy typing experience — and its battery life is improve than last year's (lasting hours longer than the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus). That said, the super-bright XDR display needs HDR content to thrive, and that's not always available — as the likes of Hulu and HBO Max have nonetheless to adopt it. Also, the 12.ix-inch iPad Pro 2022 is more expensive than the MacBook Air (and heavier when docked with its Magic Keyboard). But, all the same, the iPad Pro 2022 is worth it for artistic pros who want the all-time tablet for their next masterpiece. It's so good that we gave it the award for best tablet in our Tom'southward Guide Awards 2021.
Read our full iPad Pro 2022 (12.9-inch) review .
The Microsoft Surface Pro viii is the latest in the visitor'due south line of 2-in-1 Surface Pro tablets. This iteration includes an 11th generation Intel CPU, a xiii-inch 120Hz display, 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports and a removable SSD. Just as important, y'all'll get Windows 11 right out of the box with this 2-in-1. While you'll probably desire to pay extra for the detachable keyboard and Surface Slim Pen ii stylus accessories, fifty-fifty if you don't this is the best Windows 11 tablet you lot can buy right now.
Its pocket-sized size and lightweight design make the Surface Pro 8 ideal to apply at home or on the road. The forepart-facing and rear cameras are also fantastic, providing clean detailed images. Unfortunately, the Surface Pro 8 disappoints every bit a gaming device and didn't live upward to the promised 16 hours of battery life in our testing. Despite some of those qualms, the Surface 8 Pro is arguably the all-time Surface Pro yet.
Read our full Microsoft Surface Pro viii review .
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is an amusement-focused Android tablet with an impressive 13-inch brandish and quality speakers that can make you feel similar you're watching movies and shows on a proper Tv set, instead of a bulky tablet. Playing games is a delight too, thank you to the speedy Snapdragon 870 processor and 8GB of memory. The slate tin can even act as a secondary monitor for your laptop or tablet, giving its 2K screen a bit of extra versatility.
Though keen at what it does, it's non the virtually portable device out at that place. Information technology's also all just impossible to notice a protective cover due to its unusual design. The lack of 5G back up is besides a letdown, as is the lack of a headphone jack. Even so, if you're looking for an amusement-focused tablet that y'all don't program to cart around much, the Yoga Tab 13 is a practiced pick.
Read our full Lenovo Yoga Tab review .
If you're a writer, who loves pen and paper, you know that the iPad and its Apple Pencil don't really feel right. That's where the reMarkable tablets have jumped into the fray, offering a real-feeling writing feel, with a unique screen technology that uses digital paper and the Marker stylus, which feels more authentic when you lot press its nib confronting the screen. The reMarkable 2, however, is a much more seductive device, now measuring a sleek 0.ii inches and ditching its plastic frame for a sleeker metallic chassis.
Oh, and it's not only a notebook. Your documents sync to the deject and so you can read them on iPhones, iPads, PCs, Macs and Android. The reMarkable 2 likewise translates your handwriting to editable text, and then y'all can share your notes with your whole squad, or plough your draft ideas into a manuscript. And its two weeks of battery life ways you tin can just leave it on your coffee table, for when inspiration strikes, rather than continue information technology plugged in all the fourth dimension. We like the ReMarkable 2 so much we gave it a recommendation for best tablet in our Tom's Guide Awards 2021.
Read our total reMarkable two review .
Android tablets don't have the strongest track record, but on hardware, Samsung's defenseless up with the iPad with the Galaxy Tab S6 Light. This first-class tablet has a ton of battery life — lasting over 12 hours on a single charge — and offers a sleek design with a bright screen and solid audio. This all ties together for a tablet that's great for consuming content on. The Galaxy Tab S6 Calorie-free'south thin bezels help it stand out from the mid-range tablet crowd even further, making it look more similar the iPad Pro than the iPad. Oh, and the S-Pen stylus, which offers low-latency drawing, is included by default, and it snaps to the top of the Tab S6 Lite, and so you're less probable to lose it.
Performance-wise, though, the Tab S6 Light won't be blowing people away if they try to multitask. There'south besides the matter of Android tablet apps, which still could use more dear and care from their developers.
Read our full Samsung Milky way Tab S6 Lite review .
The Amazon Burn HD 10 (2021) takes an already-good tablet and applies incremental upgrades, such as a slightly brighter screen, 1GB more than RAM and a smaller, lighter blueprint. While information technology probably isn't a must-have for anyone who bought the 2022 model, it's a expert demonstration of Amazon's ability to put out a value-driven slate that's proficient plenty for many.
If you call up you'll be irritated by slight lags in functioning, you should consider spending an extra $30 to get the $179 Amazon Fire HD 10 Plus, arguably the all-time Amazon tablet ever. That said, the Burn Hard disk drive ten (2021) is still going to be great for the folks who are looking for a device to casually peruse the internet, read due east-books, and watch video. This keeps the Burn down HD ten'southward spot among the best Android tablets out there, and i of the best tablets you can buy — especially if you're on a upkeep. Its biggest flaws, though, are nada new. Near notably, Amazon's Burn OS is however app-challenged, missing the Google Play app shop — which means you can't get the full YouTube feel, for example, and you'll miss out on a lot of swell apps not available on Amazon'south app shop.
Read our total Amazon Burn down HD 10 (2021) review .
The Amazon Burn Hard disk 8 is a dandy tablet for certain needs. Its bright screen and epic 13+ hours of battery life make it great for consuming content, and its reversible USB-C port is a feature we wish was in the cheaper Fire 7 tablet. On tiptop of that, this $xc tablet is good plenty at everything else — decent sound, OK functioning — for its price that I can't deny how many will find it a great value. I also found its front end camera surprisingly crisp when I snapped some selfies while writing the review, as more expensive laptops have much worse webcams.
That being said, anyone who wants the abyss of the Google Play Android app shop or the iPad's iOS app store might feel a niggling ticked off at Amazon. The lack of Google's own apps, which you need to sideload to use, is frustrating to folks who don't like to utilize inferior web-based versions of those apps.
Read our full Amazon Fire HD 8 review .
How to choose the best tablet for yous
Start past thinking almost the operating system you live in, which ways opening your pocket and thinking about how much you rely on your smartphone. iPhone owners may jump straight to the 7th Gen iPad or iPad Pro, and they'd be right to do so — iMessage integration and the shared app ecosystems across iOS and iPadOS are an ideal combination. But if the iPad Pro is too expensive and the 7th Gen iPad isn't powerful enough, the iPad Air's faster CPU makes information technology the iPad to definitely consider, though I can't blame budget-conscious shoppers for going with the regular iPad.
Android folks have a wider ready of options, but since Android apps aren't thriving on tablets equally much every bit anyone would hope, this is a good time to consider all of your options. Yes the Milky way Tab S6 has a fantastic screen and Android apps, but isn't Windows 10 a more than capable platform? If you're nodding your caput "aye," and so the Surface Go 2 is the best tablet for yous. That all being said, if y'all've got a large enough family, and you lot're all living in the Amazon Prime ecosystem, become for the Fire 7 if you're trying to fit to a upkeep, and the Burn HD x if you are tired of devices that don't take USB-C.
How we test tablets
First, we run every bit many benchmarks every bit that tablet will permit, to run into how fast they are in ways that can be compared direct against competitors. We say "will allow" as some tablets, like Amazon's Burn slates, have trouble with side-loaded Android apps. We then use colorimeters and calorie-free meters to measure how colorful and bright these tablets' screens tin can get. After that, we put them through our in-firm battery test, which times how long it takes — while surfing the spider web with brightness at 150 nits — to drain a tablet of a accuse.
After that, nosotros practise the same things y'all practise — scan the web, scout YouTube, play games, compose emails — and then a lot more. We try and write some (or all) of our tablet reviews on the tablets we're testing, if there's a keyboard for it that is. Nobody wants to write a magnum opus on a drinking glass screen, trust me.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-tablet
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