Which is the best tablet

It's a just-right marrying of hardware and software. Unlike in the phone market Apple also genuinely offers a flagship piece of hardware in the tablet space, the Apple iPad Pro, that isn't bested elsewhere.

This makes the iPad the go-to brand for creatives and professionals. The entry level Apple iPad, though, is perfectly judged for mainstream market and, again, unlike other Apple products is actually very affordable.

Throw in the mid-range iPad Air and Apple really does have the market sewn up. That said, there is buckets of value in the Android tablet market and a smorgasbord of slates to choose from, meaning that they can be great options for many people. Samsung has a good range of more premium-spec Android tablets, too, so while we'd say any buyer should look at iPads first, they definitely shouldn't do so exclusively.

From the most expensive iPad Pro on the market, to the cheapest budget slate, T3 takes testing tablets very seriously. This is because, far from just one-dimensional devices, today's best tablets are powerful computers that are incredibly versatile, and increasingly people are buying them to use as their primary computing device. Tablets are also big enablers for creativity, as well as productivity, and for entertainment, which during is needed more than ever.

With so many people working and living at home, the last thing they need is their core technology letting them down, which is why we review every tablet by the same strict criteria here at T3. We start by evaluating the tablet's package in total. So we judge the quality of the slate's build as well as what accessories it comes with out of the box. If a tablet is advertised with a stylus and doesn't come with one in the box then we will tell you about it.

Equally, if the tablet feels plasticky and cheap in the hand, we'll reveal this. Next up, we look at what the tablet delivers in terms of hardware, and that includes both its screen and internal components. The majority of a tablet is its screen, and as they are touchscreen devices it is crucial in our eyes that they are not let down by poor fidelity or unresponsive inputs.

In terms of core components, we'll find out what the tablet's CPU, GPU, RAM, storage and battery capacity are on paper, and then we'll look to benchmark the slate and also see how it actually performs in real life. We'll stream video, play games, edit photos, browse the internet, work, be creative and more during our review period. We'll also take a tablet on the road to see, firstly, how easy it is to carry and transport and, two, to see how strong and long-lasting its battery actually is.

If a tablet conks out after just six hours runtime you'll know about it, as too if it delivers all-day battery life. Finally, we explore the tablet's operating system and software. How intuitive and easy to use these things are is key to how well a tablet scores in this section, as too its breadth of empowering features. Finally the slate is given a star score out of five, with five stars the best and one star the worst achievable. If a tablet has scored highly, it is then considered for our best tablets buying guide.

Dave has over 20 years' experience in the tech journalism industry, covering hardware and software across mobile, computing, smart home, home entertainment, wearables, gaming and the web — you can find his writing online, in print, and even in the occasional scientific paper, across major tech titles like T3, TechRadar, Gizmodo and Wired.

Outside of work, he enjoys long walks in the countryside, skiing down mountains, watching football matches as long as his team is winning and keeping up with the latest movies. It's Apple Watch Black Friday sale time with these sales on various models. Not all Amazon Kindle ereaders are equal, but we'll explain the differences in our authoritative best Kindle guide.

Find the very best tablets for kids with T3's constantly updated children's tablet guide. The ultimate iPad comparison.

Which one is the best iPad for you? The best student tablets for going back to school, college or university. The iPad can be an incredibly powerful computer for students, but it has some limitations too — here are the pros and cons. T3 is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number Select your region.

Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter. The latest Apple iPad Air should be the first tablet any prospective upgrader considers. Apple iPad Air Specifications Weight: g. Dimensions: OS: iPadOS Screen size: Resolution: x Battery: Rear camera: 12MP. Front camera: 7MP. The best tablet in terms of value for money? That's the Apple iPad Resolution: x pixels. Front camera: 1. Reasons to avoid - No landscape stereo speakers - Apple Pencil is the more awkward first version.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e. Dimensions: x x 5. OS: Android 9. CPU: Snapdragon Battery: mAh. Rear camera: 13MP. Front camera: 8MP. Reasons to avoid - Specs beaten by Tab S6 and S7. Apple iPad mini Screen size: 8. CPU: Apple A Front camera: 12MP. Reasons to avoid - Screen size limited for working - No Smart Connector for keyboards. Subscribe today! View Deal. Apple iPad Pro The best Android tablet in the world? Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. Screen: CPU: Snapdragon Plus. Battery: 10,mAh.

Reasons to avoid - Not all apps are optimised - Expensive for a tablet. Want an Android slate? The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is a great choice. Samsung Galaxy Tab S6. CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon The inch Apple iPad Pro is, simply put, a great tablet to choose if you can afford it. Screen size: inch. CPU: Apple M1. Battery: 7,mAh. Want Windows 10 on your tablet? Then the Microsoft Surface Go is absolutely worth looking at. Microsoft Surface Go 2. Specifications Weight: 1. Dimensions: x x 8.

OS: Windows Resolution: 1, x 1, CPU: 1. This Amazon Fire tablet also has an all-important headphone jack, so you don't have to worry if your wireless earbuds are charged. Read our Amazon Fire 7 review. Read our Fire HD 10 first take. For the right price, the Chromebook X2 could be the best tablet of the bunch as far as deals go. It's a functional Chromebook laptop screen that's also a detachable tablet, and it can also be used for modest photo editing and playing Android tablet apps.

Read our HP Chromebook x2 review. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. CNET editors pick the products and services we write about.

When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Scott Stein , Alexandra Garrett. An obvious affordable choice The latest iPad Jump to details. Expensive, but the best smaller tablet Apple iPad Mini The most affordable tablet Amazon Fire 7 Chromebook that's also a tablet HP Chromebook X2. Found what you saw on the Gadgets Best Tablets page helpful? Check out our other tablet pages, including the Gadgets Tablet Finder where you can find the tablet that best suits your requirements.

You can search via filters that include brands, processor specifications, operating system, screen size, the amount of RAM, and more. Other useful tablet pages include the Gadgets Latest Tablets page , Inch Tablets or Larger page , and the useful Compare Tablets page — a tool you can use to compare up to four tablets against each other in detail. The new model is also powered by the latest A15 Bionic chip that is rated to deliver up to 80 percent faster performance than the previous generation.

The new iPad mini comes with a megapixel Ultra Wide selfie camera with a degree field of view. It also includes support for Center Stage from the iPad Pro. At the back, there is a megapixel camera sensor that is paired with a True Tone flash and supports Smart HDR as well as 4K video recording.

The iPad Air refresh has an all-new design that brings it more in line with the iPad Pro models than the mainstream ones. It has an all-screen design but there's a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the top rather than Face ID for biometric identification. You get Apple's new A14 Bionic SoC which has plenty of power for apps and games, plus beefed-up AI processing for on-device machine learning and security.

Apple also sells its Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories that add a lot of functionality but are very expensive.

The iPad Air has some quirks but could prove to be very convenient for lots of people, plus it delivers good value for money overall. It's the same old Windows we're all used to, just on a tablet. This means you can run your Windows apps and programs, provided your tablet is powerful enough to handle them. And with the addition of a keyboard, using programs such as Excel and Word is almost on a par with the laptop experience.

While Windows 10 has clearly been designed with tablets in mind, it can prove a little fiddly to navigate by touch on some devices.

Fortunately, the four biggest app stores all have online versions so you can have a look at the apps that are available.

The only exception is the Apple App Store, which can only be searched using the App Store app itself. The links below take you to each of the web versions of the other big app stores. There is one major exception, which is WhatsApp, that can only be used on a smartphone. The same is true of iPads if you already own an iPhone. If an app exists on iPhone, it almost certainly exists as an iPad app. The difference is that far more apps are optimised especially for tablets, so while the app will exist, it may have been enhanced to be easier to use on a bigger screen.

Tablets that manage more than 10 hours of video playback and web browsing score well in our tests. As with any tech product, if you shop around and wait for a good time to buy a tablet, you can save some serious cash. Here are some easy ways to get a good deal on each of the major tablet operating systems. For example, the For more, see our guide on laptops for students and student discounts. Ready to buy? Take a look at all our tablet reviews to find the right model for you.

Test score.