The best tablets you can buy right now

2023 came and went without any new iPads, but the 2024 Air ensured it was worth the wait. Apple’s sixth-gen iPad Air is the best all-round tablet you can buy, combining premium hardware with the best software you’ll find on any tablet.

A wealth of dedicated tablet apps and a slick user experience still set the iPad apart from any Android tablets. But the Air has the hardware to back it up, with superb performance from the Apple M2 chipset and an excellent display, regardless of whether you choose the 11- or 13-inch models. If only the refresh rate wasn’t still stuck at 60Hz.

Battery life remains solid, though 20W charging means going from empty to full still takes almost two hours. Overall, it feels like a Pro-level tablet in many ways, but once you’ve got the right size, enough storage and the necessary accessories, it’s almost priced like one.

The latest iPad Air is the best tablet for most people, but it’s certainly not a budget-friendly option.

For most people, the S9 Plus is the sweet spot in Samsung’s 2023 Galaxy Tab range. It offers almost everything you’d want in an Android tablet, without the extortionate price of the Tab S9 Ultra.

It’s insanely thin at just 5.7mm and now comes with an IP68 rating – full dust and water resistance – that’s very unusual to find on a tablet.  

The Tab S9 Plus is also more powerful than many laptops thanks to an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Galaxy Edition and a whopping 12GB of RAM. There’s not much you can’t do with this slate and it’s also got a gorgeous 12.4-inch 120Hz OLED display.

With the S Pen stylus, long software support, AKG speakers and optional 5G, there’s no doubt this is an excellent tablet.

However, you may want to go for the Galaxy Tab S10+ instead. Wait for our full review to find out.

If your budget is under £200 and you’re happy with an Android tablet, your decision is very simple – buy the Galaxy Tab A9. Sadly, it’s not available in the US.

Samsung’s latest cheap tablet is extraordinarily good value for money, combining strong performance with a solid 8.7-inch display, impressive quad speakers and even decent battery life. The One UI software isn’t quite as impressive as on Samsung’s phones, but it’s still one of the best versions on Android you’ll find on a tablet.

However, given it’s so cheap, it should come as no surprise that there are compromises. Scrolling often feels slow and looks blurry, while charging is only 15W and the cameras are very disappointing.

But you aren’t buying this tablet for its photographic abilities. And its the fundamentals of a great tablet where the Galaxy Tab A9 excels.

If you’re willing to pay a little bit more for a bigger screen, consider the 11-inch Galaxy Tab A9+ instead.

Samsung’s huge tablet is very expensive, and not suitable for everyone. But if you want a huge 14.6-inch canvas to work with and prefer Samsung tablets to iPads, it’s a compelling choice.

That large display is a gorgeous 120Hz OLED, which works in tandem with excellent speakers to deliver a top-tier video-watching experience. Ditching Qualcomm for the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ doesn’t compromise performance, which is fast and reliable across all tasks – including gaming.

The included S Pen is a great option for digital art or handwritten notes, while the optional keyboard accessory makes it a realistic laptop alternative.

The lack of dedicated Android tablet apps still holds the tablet back, though, despite Samsung’s One UI delivering a strong overall software experience. Battery life is solid, but there’s no charger included, and a full charge will take well over an hour.

Ultimately, the Tab S10 Ultra is very similar to last year’s Tab S9 Ultra, with hit-and-miss AI features the most significant difference. But if you want the very best big Android tablet on the market, this is it.

If you want something more than a budget slate but aren’t willing to pay flagship prices, look no further than the OnePlus Pad 2.

At launch, it costs just £499/$549.99, yet offers everything most people want from an Android tablet and more. That includes true flagship-level performance from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, even if benchmarks suggest a slight drop-off compared to flagship phones.

The lack of an OLED display doesn’t really feel like a compromise, with a highly capable 144Hz LCD one in its place. It’s housed within a premium yet elegant design that will stand the test of time, especially with OnePlus offering three years of OS updates and four years of security patches.

The software out of the box is also decent, with a few features that take advantage of the large display, while battery life is another key strength.

Its main weaknesses arrive in the form of forgettable cameras and a disappointing desktop-style mode when you connect it to an external display. But these are easy to overlook when you’re paying relatively little and getting so much.

The sixth-gen iPad Mini ditched the old form factor for something more akin to the iPad Air and Pro ranges; with an angular design, stereo speakers, Centre Stage technology and much smaller bezels than before.

The Mini’s 60Hz display jumped to 8.3 inches, but without changing the physical size of the tablet – allowing for more display real estate without affecting its portable nature. It’s a gorgeous display too, with the highest pixel density of any iPad right now, even if it is a bit on the small side for true split-screen multitasking.

It’s powered by the same A15 Bionic silicon as the iPhone 13 range, but that still means you get great performance in 2024.

The Touch ID sensor has been moved to the Power button – like with the iPad Air – and there’s support for the second-gen Apple Pencil to boot. However, the lack of a Smart Connector on the rear means that it doesn’t have its own Magic Keyboard; a real boon for the iPad Air and Pro ranges, and the only real chink in the Mini’s armour.

With no new iPad Mini expected until at least 2025, this version from 2021 is still worth considering, especially if you can find a discount.

The Xiaomi Pad 6 is an excellent tablet for the price, combining premium hardware with surprisingly good software.

Its Snapdragon 870 chipset is a little dated, but it still delivers top-tier performance. That helps power the impressive 11-inch LCD display, complete with smooth 144Hz refresh rate. Alongside punchy quad speakers, it’s a great tablet for content consumption.

Alongside a premium yet lightweight build, IP53 dust and water resistance rating and better than expected MIUI software, there’s very little to dislike here.

The only real downsides are the underwhelming battery life, no fingerprint sensor and the lack of a specific commitment to software updates. But these shouldn’t be dealbreakers for most people, considering everything else the Pad 6 has to offer.

The 2022 iPad Pro was the most capable tablet on the market at the time of its launch. It’s now been replaced at the top of Apple’s tablet range by the 2024 model, but until we review it, we can’t be sure how much of a difference the M4 chipset and OLED screen make.

Even, so the M2 in this older model still offers supreme power. And the LCD panel here remains one of the best displays around, with a 120Hz refresh rate and mini-LED backlighting that allows it to compete with OLEDs while being much brighter.

The experience is improved even more with the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard, with the latter turning the tablet into a fully-fledged laptop replacement. However, those are optional extras for a tablet that’s already very expensive – unless you can now find a discount.

Of course, you can save some money by opting for the smaller 11-inch model instead. But ultimately, unless you need loads of power and value creative features such as the Apple Pencil’s Hover mode, there are cheaper iPads that still offer everything you need in a tablet.

In many ways, Google’s first Pixel Tablet attempts to be two devices in one.

On one hand, this is a regular Android tablet, complete with an attractive 10.95-inch LCD display, good performance from the Tensor G2 chipset and strong battery life from the 27Wh.

However, connect it to the docking station and it becomes a Nest Hub-style smart display…sort of. There’s a dedicated ‘Hub Mode’ for while it’s attached, but there are far fewer features than you’ll actually get on a smart display. Speaker quality also isn’t as good as you might expect.

As a result, many people will want to buy what is a very solid tablet without the dock. And since May 2024 you can, with a price drop to reflect that.

The Pixel Tablet is by no means the best tablet out there, but it’s a decent slate which offers the versatility of a dock which will appeal to some people.

For something a bit different to your traditional tablet, the ReMarkable 2 is well worth a look. This E Ink slate might look like a stylish rival to the Amazon Kindle but you can do a lot more than read books on it.

The stunningly thin design is a highlight here and the custom OS makes tasks like note taking very easy indeed and there’s clever cloud syncing, screen casting and online storage too.

On the downside, you have to pay for a subscription for everything to work and sadly ReMarkable doesn’t include a stylus and the screen doesn’t have a backlight for using the tablet in the dark.