Tablet Buying Guide

Is Portability a Priority?
Most tablets with displays 8 inches or smaller weigh under a pound. Many are very thin, and most have at least 10 hours of battery life. Some top 15 hours. Of course, larger displays can provide a better experience for watching movies, reading, or using productivity and art apps, but they’re not as easy to transport as smaller tablets.

Are You a Bookworm?
You can save some money with a tablet from Amazon if you’re planning on relatively simple tasks such as reading e-books or streaming video, with some casual web browsing and social media use on the side. These tablets start around $60. They don’t have the highest-quality displays, but you’re unlikely to notice if you’re mostly reading.

What’s Your Budget?
If you have $200 or less to spend, you might want to focus on Amazon Fire tablets. There are several models available for under this price, including one 7-inch model, two 8-inch models, and two 10-inch models. There are a very small number of non-Amazon tablets available for under $200, but they don’t score particularly well in our tests. 

You’ll have to spend at least $330 if you want an Apple iPad: That’s the price of the company’s entry-level model, which is aimed at everyday usage. You’ll also find a handful of Android tablets around that price that get good scores, too.

The bulk of the market is between $500 and $1,000, with plenty of highly rated options from multiple companies. 

And if you have more than $1,000 to spend on a tablet, you’re looking at very high-end models aimed at professional users. These tablets have advanced features like high-refresh rate displays and hugely powerful processors.

Other Considerations
Some other aspects of a tablet may also factor into your decision-making, from the size of the screen to battery life to the amount of storage it has. 

Mostly, this is a personal preference—there is no “right” or “wrong” screen size—but bigger screens might be better if you’re planning to watch a lot of Netflix or YouTube videos, but perhaps not as necessary if you’re merely planning to read e-books or check your email on the couch. Conversely, a smaller display may be easier to take with you, whether that’s on a cross-country flight or merely to the local Starbucks. And smaller, lighter devices can be more comfortable to hold.

Battery life for tablets is generally pretty good, with many models offering more than 10 hours of life off a single charge—one, Amazon’s new Fire Max 11, runs nearly 20 hours on a charge. A handful of models do dip below 10 hours, but generally speaking there’s a good chance you’ll have battery life to spare no matter which tablet you choose.

One additional feature that may interest some consumers is compatibility with a stylus, which can be useful for taking notes or drawing and creating digital art. Many styluses can work with a variety of tablets, but you should check compatibility. The Apple Pencil, for instance, works only with more advanced iPads.

Do You Have Kids?
Parents can take significant control over what their kids are doing with parental filters. Tablets like the Amazon Fire and Walmart Onn Pro, which cost around $100, let parents create profiles for their children that limit which apps they can use. (Learn more in "Buying a Tablet for Kids?" below.)

All models offer WiFi connectivity, and most have a front-facing webcam. Some tablets also have built-in 4G LTE and even 5G connectivity, allowing you to access the internet when you’re out of WiFi range. This typically adds about $10 to your monthly cell phone bill, however. Many people will be happy with just the WiFi connection.

Operating System
A tablet’s capabilities are in large part determined by its operating system. That’s because the operating system will determine which apps are available to you (see “Consider the App Market,” below). Apple’s iPadOS, which features the Apple App Store, and Google’s Android, which has Google Play, dominate the tablet market. Amazon’s tablets run on the company’s own Fire OS, which is based on Android but comes with its own bespoke app store called the Amazon Appstore.

For the sorts of everyday “tablet-y” things you’d be looking to do, from browsing the web to reading e-books to watching streaming video, there are apps available regardless of which platform you choose. Some apps may be exclusive to certain platforms—Apple’s iPad has a vibrant scene of independent developers, for example—so you’ll want to double-check to make sure your preferred apps are available.

In the past, tablets did not do a great job of running multiple apps at once, but nowadays both iPadOS and Android handle this well enough.

Ports
Many Android tablets, Amazon’s Fire tablets, and Apple’s iPads now use USB-C as their connector. That means you can directly plug in certain accessories, like modern thumb drives, without the use of an adapter. If you have an older device that uses a USB-A connector, you’ll need an adapter. You may also need an adapter if you’re trying to connect an SD card (often used by dedicated digital cameras) to your tablet.

Printing Capability
Most printer manufacturers have apps that allow WiFi printing from iPad and Android tablets.

Pay Attention to Aspect Ratio
We find the iPad’s squarish screen to be better suited to most uses than a longer, narrower one. However, rectangular screens, like those in the 16:9 ratio when the tablet is held horizontally, offer a wider landscape view that’s better for watching movies.

Consider the App Market
The breadth and quality of Apple’s app market are still a competitive edge for the iPad, and the market continues to overshadow those for Android and for Fire OS, which powers Amazon’s Fire tablets. App developers frequently create apps for Apple’s platforms first, and sometimes exclusively, with no options for Android or Fire OS users. Fire OS users also miss out on several popular apps. There are alternatives available, including Amazon’s Silk browser and Amazon WorkDocs, but you may miss working with the exact apps you’re already familiar with.

WiFi Is Good Enough for Most People
WiFi-only models are less expensive than those that incorporate cellular service, and cell connections add another charge to your monthly mobile bill. Keep in mind that many cell phone plans allow you to share your smartphone’s cellular internet service with your tablet via tethering, but they may charge extra to give you that option.

You Might Not Need a Tablet Case
Cases are almost mandatory to protect your phone, so you might assume you’d need one for your tablet, too. However, cases (and screen protectors, for that matter) might not be as necessary for tablets. Phones are more prone to being dropped because people carry them everywhere and pull them out regularly when they’re on the move. If you’re going to keep your tablet around with you all day, leave it rattling around in a bag with your keys, or give it to a child, a case or a screen protector could be a worthwhile investment. But if your tablet is just going to be lying around the house, you can probably get away without one.

What About Detachable Laptops?
You can buy a keyboard for most tablets and prop up the screen so that it’s just like typing on a laptop. That’s fine if the keyboard is more of an afterthought, and if you like the phonelike interface of a device such as the iPad.

But let’s say you want a regular Windows laptop that you’ll almost always use with a keyboard and mouse—and you’d like to have a tablet once in a while, too. Instead of buying two devices, you could get a detachable laptop like the models in Microsoft’s line of Surface PCs. CR includes them in our laptop ratings. However, in some ways they are like a tablet. For one thing, you buy the screen and keyboard separately.

For most tasks, detachables like a Surface computer are easier to use with a keyboard and mouse, but you can also use your finger to tap and swipe when you want to. Regular tablets are just the opposite—they’re meant to be held in your hands and controlled through touch, just like a smartphone.

Age
While ordinary tablets are fine for older kids, Amazon has models created specifically for younger children. They offer parental controls that let you block access to certain apps and websites, and they provide curated content for an added fee.

Multiple Profiles
If you plan to have kids share the tablet, look for one that lets you create a profile for each user. That way you can ensure an age-appropriate experience for everyone.

Battery Life
If you’re planning to take the tablet on trips, make sure it will last long enough to keep your child occupied. Look for battery life in the 7- to 9-hour range.

Check out CR’s roundup of the best tablets for kids.