The Best Tablets for 2022

There are countless tablets on the market, but which one is right for you? Whether you’re eyeing an iPad or one of the many Android models available, we have the key factors you need to consider when shopping, along with some of the top-rated tablets we’ve tested.

Keep in mind that Windows slates are different beasts entirely. If that’s what you’re looking for, head on over to our picks for the best Windows tablets, as well as the best 2-in-1s.

More About Our Picks

Best iPad for Creators and Advanced Students

Bottom Line:

The 2022 iPad Air offers many of the benefits of the iPad Pro for hundreds of dollars less, making it the ideal tablet for creators.

Pros

• Excellent performance
• Works with second-gen Apple Pencil
• Fits existing iPad cases and keyboards
• Light and easy to carry

Cons

• Battery life could be longer
• No millimeter-wave 5G support

Best Affordable iPad

Bottom Line:

Apple’s 2021 base model iPad delivers strong performance and an excellent front-facing camera at a very palatable price, making it the best tablet for most people.

Pros

• Powerful performance
• Multi-year OS upgrades
• Solid front-facing camera

Cons

• Dated design
• Tinny speakers

Best Cheap Tablet

Bottom Line:

Amazon updates the Fire HD 10 to deliver a very good tablet for $150, as long as what you want to do is control Alexa and consume Amazon books and media. Even without the Google Play store, it’s the best tablet you can get for less than $200.

Pros

• Fast processor for the price
• Plenty of RAM
• Acts as an Alexa smart display

Cons

• Poor app selection
• Very Amazon-centric interface

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2021)

Best Kids’ Tablet

Bottom Line:

The kids’ version of the new Fire HD 10 is ideal for parents who want to tap into Amazon’s carefully curated Kids+ library and take advantage of powerful, detailed parental controls.

Pros

• Excellent parental controls
• Library of brand-name kids’ content
• Two rugged case options
• Long warranty

Cons

• App store lacks some popular comics apps and games
• Not enough power for action gaming

Best for Taking Notes

Bottom Line:

No other E Ink tablet offers the build quality and software flexibility of the 10-inch Onyx Boox Note Air 2, making it ideal for taking notes and reading large-format documents.

Pros

• Top-notch build quality
• Built-in reading and note-taking apps work well
• Good battery life

Cons

• Taking notes in third-party apps isn’t great
• App compatibility can be hit or miss
• Not waterproof

Best 5G Tablet

Bottom Line:

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ wows with strong performance and a gorgeous 12.4-inch Super AMOLED display, and its S Pen and optional 5G make it the best Android productivity tablet you can get.

Pros

• Solid build quality
• Beautiful Super AMOLED display
• Textured S Pen tip makes writing on screen feel natural
• 5G connectivity option

Cons

• S Pen can easily become dislodged
• Android app integration still falls behind iPadOS
• Optional Book Cover Keyboard Case feels flimsy

Best Small iPad

Bottom Line:

Apple’s sixth-generation iPad mini tablet delivers Pro-level power in a smaller size that’s better for reading, taking notes, and slipping in a jacket pocket.

Pros

• Excellent performance
• Long battery life
• Works with second-generation Apple Pencil

Cons

• No multi-user option in iPadOS
• Pricier than previous model

Best Smart Display

Bottom Line:

From its bright and bold display to its immersive speakers, the Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is among the best entertainment tablets we’ve tested. But its large size and quad speakers are a handful.

Pros

• Vivid display
• Performs well
• Long battery life
• Wi-Fi 6 Support

Cons

• Bulky design
• No rear camera

Android vs. Apple Tablets

Android tablets make great media players, ebook readers, and kids’ devices (if you want a tablet specifically for children, check out our story on the best kids’ tablets), but they rarely compete with iPads when it comes to versatility and performance.

Generally speaking, the greatest strengths of Apple’s iPadOS are twofold: it’s very clean and intuitive, and the numerous apps that you can buy right on your tablet—more than one million iPad-specific titles at the time of this writing—work uniformly well, with a very few exceptions. The downside of iPadOS is that while recent upgrades have improved multitasking, it still can’t handle multiple users per device, and transferring files between apps is still kludgey. iPads remain a supplement to, not a full replacement, for MacBooks. iPads also have the best selection of accessories, including the outstanding second-generation Apple Pencil.

Google’s Android OS gives you a choice of hardware from several different manufacturers and offers maximum customization, a top-notch notification system, fast and smooth web browsing, and seamless integration with Google applications such as Gmail, Google Maps, and Meet for video chat. Android also includes support for multiple user logins, so you can share your tablet with a friend or family member, a useful feature that’s missing in Apple tablets. (Apple’s Family Sharing works the other way around, giving multiple people access to shared data and services.) That said, most Android tablets ship with an older version of the OS, and few get updates.

Amazon’s Fire OS is a branch of Android with its own user interface and its own default apps. It’s designed to be clear and easy to use for consuming Amazon content and for streaming video from various services, and it’s easier to use than standard Android if most of what you’re doing is web browsing and accessing your Amazon library. It’s less flexible for customization, though.

Which Tablet Has the Best Apps?

What’s a tablet without quality apps? If you want third-party apps specifically designed for a touch-screen interface, nothing out there beats the iPad and its huge library of programs and games designed specifically for Apple tablets. The App Store is well curated and monitored, offers a deep selection, and includes every popular app you can think of. If a wide range of compelling apps that look good and work well on your tablet is your main priority, Apple is your best bet. For more, see the best iPad apps.

The latest iPad mini works with the second-generation Apple Pencil
(Credit: Steven Winkelman)

Android has made great strides in app selection, but it’s still not home to as many as Apple offers. It’s tough to say exactly how many tablet-optimized Android apps are available, but it’s far fewer than Apple boasts. There are also Android phone apps, which look decent on a 7-inch tablet, but less so on a 9- or 10-inch one. Check out the best Android apps for our top picks.  

Amazon tablets don’t have access to the Google Play store, so they have considerably fewer apps available. There are plenty of people who have hacked the Play store onto Amazon tablets, but that violates both Amazon’s and Google’s terms of service and can’t be considered a reliable solution. Though they have their own app store, which is a subset of Google Play, you should consider Amazon tablets designed to be used with the apps Amazon recommends.

What Size Tablet Do You Need?

This consideration is a bit obvious, but size—both screen real estate and storage capacity—is important to consider. First things first: When you hear a term such as “10-inch tablet,” this refers to the size of the screen, measured diagonally, and not the size of the tablet itself.

7- and 8-inch tablets are considered small-screen; 9-inch tablets and above are considered large-screen. Apple’s iPads, Amazon’s Fire tablets, and Samsung’s slates all come in small- and large-screen iterations. And more than ever, phones are blurring the lines with tablets. Folding phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 can easily do double duty as tablets if you’re willing to pay a hefty premium.

Screen resolution is important too, especially for ebook reading and web surfing. A sharp, bright display is key. If you’re in the market for a 10-inch tablet, look for a display with a resolution of at least 1,280 by 800 pixels.

The low weight of a tablet is one definite advantage it has over a laptop—but with large-screen tablets typically weighing around a pound, they’re not nearly as light as smartphones. After you hold one with a single hand while standing up for 20 minutes, your hand will get tired. Setting one flat in your lap, rather than propped up on a stand, can also be a little awkward. And few tablets will fit in your pocket, unless you’re wearing a very large jacket. If you want pocketability, you might want to consider a phablet.

Cloud (off-device) storage is an option for many tablets (Amazon Cloud Storage for Fire tablets, iCloud for iPads, Google Drive for Android tablets), but when it comes to onboard storage, more is always better. All those apps, when combined with music, video, and photo libraries, can take up a lot of space. Some Android tablets feature a microSD slot for additional storage, but it’s worth noting some apps will not work from a microSD card. 

Wi-Fi-Only vs. Cellular Tablets

Some tablets come in a Wi-Fi-only model or with the option of always-on cellular service from a wireless provider. Unless you constantly use your tablet in an area without Wi-Fi or are a frequent international traveler, you’re probably better off using your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot and saving the extra money you’d spend on an LTE tablet. You can also buy a dedicated mobile hotspot, which won’t kill your phone’s battery life. Some even double as backup batteries to charge your tablet.  

The Top Tablets (for Now)

The tablets chosen here represent the best Android and Apple options across a variety of price levels. That said, there are plenty of other great tablets out there, and one might be right for you. For the latest lab-tested reviews, check out our tablet product guide. And if you’re looking for a good deal, head over to our roundup of the best cheap tablets we’ve tested.