The Best Tablets for Kids in 2022

Kids want tablets. But tablets are fragile, expensive gadgets with potentially unlimited access to the internet, both issues that challenge parents. A good kid tablet is different from a good adult tablet: While you want a grown-up tablet to be slim, light, and fast, you want a tablet for kids to be cheap, rugged, and protected.

Our picks here are some of our favorite tablets for children, chosen for a balance of affordability, durability, and age-appropriate features. Whichever tablet you get, be sure to buy a case and some kid-friendly headphones. These small investments pay for themselves.

More About Our Picks

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2021)

Best for Kid-Safe Content

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 iPad for Kids

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 Affordable Android Tablet

Bottom Line:

The Lenovo Tab P11 Plus is the best affordable Android tablet on the market, with solid performance, a vivid 11-inch display, and impressive speakers.

Pros

• Sharp display
• Loud, clear speakers
• Perky performance

Cons

• Unimpressive cameras
• No promise for OS updates after Android 12

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook

Best Chromebook for School

Bottom Line:

Cool with Chrome OS in tablet form? A 13.3-inch OLED touch screen makes Lenovo’s second, bigger version of its Chromebook Duet a surprisingly nice 2-in-1 detachable for the money.

Pros

• Superb OLED display in an under-$500 detachable
• High-quality front and rear cameras
• Comes with keyboard cover and kickstand

Cons

• Ho-hum compute performance
• No audio jack, or 4G or 5G LTE option
• Stylus supported, but costs extra

Best Affordable 4G Tablet

Bottom Line:

Add a Metro by T-Mobile plan to this LTE-equipped tablet, and your kids can watch videos anywhere.

Pros

• Handles basic tasks with ease
• Good battery life
• Strong LTE connectivity
• Excellent audio for the price

Cons

• Cameras perform poorly in low light

Best Low-Cost 5G Tablet

Bottom Line:

If you’re in the market for a 5G-capable Android tablet with peppy performance, the budget-friendly TCL Tab 10 5G for T-Mobile fits the bill.

Pros

• Quality screen for the price
• 5G support
• Good performance and battery life
• Decent stereo speakers
• MicroSD support

Cons

• Disappointing Android upgrade commitment
• Only 32GB of built-in storage
• Lackluster cameras

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

Amazon Fire 7 Kids Tablet (2022)

Most Affordable Decent Tablet

Bottom Line:

Amazon’s Fire 7 Kids Tablet is an affordable and durable option for parents who want lots of control over the content their kids consume.

Pros

• Affordable
• Comes with a rugged foam case
• Two-year warranty
• Excellent battery life

Cons

• Sluggish performance
• Low-resolution display
• Poor cameras

Best for Kids’ Books

Bottom Line:

Amazon’s Kids+ kids’ subscription content service works well on the company’s affordable Fire HD 8 tablet.

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Long battery life
• Excellent audio
• Hands-free Alexa support

Cons

• Limited app compatibility
• Sluggish performance

The Best Tablets for School

The best tablet for school is probably a base model iPad. The iPad’s dominant role in the tablet landscape means most schools support them, many teachers have them, and tech support should be easy. Other tablets may not be able to run the third-party apps that schools demand or even fill out the right web forms. The worst offenders here are Amazon’s Fire tablets, which are inexpensive and popular, but aren’t designed for productivity.

If an iPad won’t do for your school, you’re probably going to want something with Chrome OS, such as the Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook. Head over to our roundup of the best Chromebooks for kids for more recommendations.

What Specs Do You Need in a Tablet for Kids?

Don’t assume a tablet for a kid should be a piece of junk. Sufficient hardware specs can help you find a tablet that works well enough to avoid frustrating meltdowns. Let’s start with screen size and resolution. An 8-inch, 1,280-by-800-pixel display is good for reading comics and watching videos, so use that as your baseline.

Pay close attention to storage specs, too. We recommend 32GB of built-in storage (or more) rather than 16GB. This amount of storage enables you to install more apps and take more pictures and videos. A microSD card slot can’t hurt, either, especially if you want to download movies to watch on long trips. Some games, like Genshin Impact, take up more than 20GB on their own, another thing to keep in mind when you shop around.

Look for 2GB of RAM or more. This amount of RAM helps apps launch and run more smoothly, particularly if there’s anything else running in the background.

Battery life is another factor to keep in mind—you don’t want the tablet to die in the middle of a long car ride. Carrying a backup battery can help.  

The Best iPad for Kids

The most recent iPads have really come down in price and deliver tremendous value for what you pay. iPads have the best tablet apps, grow with your kid, and can double as a pseudo-laptop for schoolwork. Apple’s operating system, iPadOS, has tools to let you monitor your kids’ tablet use and keep an eye on what applications they’re using and for how long. Apple also has parental controls that can block apps, filter content, and prevent purchases—which you should use to keep your kids from spending money without your permission.

The iPad has by far the best ecosystem of accessories for productive and creative kids of any individual tablet model: cases, keyboards, and the Apple Pencil stylus. It’s versatile and extendable.

As you probably already know, iPads also let kids use iMessage and FaceTime to talk with other friends or relatives who have Apple devices, without you having to get them a phone.

The rest of this roundup is primarily for people either with very small children, people who are entirely in the Android ecosystem, or people who don’t want to spend $300 or more on an iPad.

The Best Fire Tablet for Kids

Amazon’s inexpensive Fire tablets have been the best family option for years. They are inexpensive and have a Kids Edition that comes with a rubber case, a no-questions-asked two-year guarantee, and Amazon’s parental controls service. The 8-inch Kids model (based on the standard Fire HD 8) is quite affordable.

Amazon Fire 7
(Credit: Dave LeClair)

Amazon’s tablets have a simplified interface, strong parental controls, and Kids+, which is basically a giant bucket of content for kids. A Parent Dashboard lets you keep track of what your children are doing and restrict their screen time. You can put multiple user profiles on the tablets, as well.

The Best Android Tablet for Kids

If you primarily use Google cloud services and Android apps, an Android tablet can get you what you need for a little less money than an iPad, and it’s not locked down to Amazon services the way a Fire tablet is.

In terms of parental controls, Android has restricted user profiles that can also prevent accidental purchases and filter Google Play apps. But if you intend to let your kids use one of these tablets out of your sight, you should really consider installing some parental control software.

Why You Should Avoid Toy Tablets

Companies such as Fuhu, Kurio, and Leapfrog made their names with highly restricted tablets that come with kid-friendly software and, by default, don’t offer access to the open internet. By and large, though, these tablets haven’t been updated for years and are running old, insecure versions of Android that we no longer recommend.

While you’re shopping for your kid, check out our lab-tested picks for the best kids’ phones and the best kids’ laptops. For a broader selection of tablets for older kids and adults, take a look at the best tablets we’ve tested overall.