Best Tablets

iPads compared

Apple sells four iPads, and the gaps between them are narrower than the prices suggest. The base iPad runs every app in the store; the Air adds the M-series chip, a laminated screen and the Apple Pencil Pro; the Pro adds a 120 Hz OLED screen, more speakers and Thunderbolt; the mini is the small one with the Air's pen support.

• Pens do not cross over: the current base iPad takes the Apple Pencil (USB-C); the current mini, Air and Pro take the Apple Pencil Pro; older models sold new on Amazon take the 1st or 2nd generation Pencil, which the new ones reject.
• Older Air and Pro models are still sold new on Amazon, often well below their launch price, with years of iPadOS left.

All iPadsiPads with a laminated screeniPads at 120 Hz

Android tablets

Android tablets cover far more prices than iPads, from under $200 to the Galaxy Tab Ultra, and they are where a pen in the box is normal: every Galaxy Tab S model ships with its S Pen. Samsung promises seven years of updates on its recent Tab S models; other makers promise less or publish nothing, so check OS update years left.

• microSD is common on Android and absent on iPad, which makes a smaller storage tier a safe buy.
• Amazon's new Alexa Tablets run full Android with Google Play, unlike its Fire line.

All Android tabletsAndroid, pen in the boxAndroid at 120 Hz or more

Budget tablets under $200

Under $200 the choice is mostly Fire tablets, Lenovo's Tab line and Samsung's Galaxy Tab A, plus the older iPads when they are on sale. All of them handle video, reading and browsing; the differences are the app store, the screen sharpness and how long updates last.

• A Fire tablet is the cheapest screen, but it runs Amazon's Appstore, not Google Play.
• For a child, a kids edition with its case and replacement guarantee usually beats a bare tablet plus a third-party case.

Under $200Under $200 with Google PlayKids tablets under $200

Which tablet is overkill for what you do

For most buyers, no. The base iPad and a mid-range Galaxy Tab run everything most people need. The Pro tier buys ProMotion at 120 Hz, Thunderbolt and pen hover, and most buyers use none of them. The table takes each common use, sets the minimum it really needs, and names the cheapest model on sale today that covers it, with the gap to the cheapest iPad Pro in dollars.

Cheapest iPad Pro on sale today: iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) at $1,139.

A tablet with a keyboard is still not a laptop: file management, several windows side by side and desktop software are where it falls short. If your work lives there, the laptop comparison shows what the same money buys as a computer.

Notes and drawing under $500Video and reading under $350Work

The accessory tax nobody budgets for

A keyboard and a pen often cost more than the gap between two tablet models, and they are not cross-compatible across generations or brands: the wrong pen simply does not pair. The Apple Pencil 2nd generation does not work with the current Air and Pro, Apple's Magic Keyboard for the M4 and M5 Pro does not fit the Air, and Samsung changed both the S Pen and the keyboard sizes on its latest Tab S models. The table shows the maker's pen and keyboard for each model and the real total once both are added.

Phones have the same trap: cases, chargers and MagSafe accessories change between generations, which the iPhone comparison tracks model by model.

Pen in the boxPen sold separatelyPen included, keyboard available

What you give up on a Fire tablet

Only a table that covers every platform can show this. A Fire tablet is about half the price of an equivalent Android tablet, and it gets there by running Fire OS: no Google Play, no Google apps, Amazon's Appstore instead, and lockscreen ads unless you pay to remove them. For video, reading and kids it is often all you need; for anything that depends on a Google app, it is the wrong tablet.

Fire tabletsGoogle Play under $250No lockscreen ads under $250