We've tested the best tablets for entertainment and productivity, and these are the 7 I recommend right now

You probably know that most people think the iPad is the best tablet. In many ways, this is still true. It has some of the best performance of any tablet, is easy to use and has plenty of accessibility options (and parental controls for little ones).

So, of course I'm going to recommend Apple's iPad Air M3 as the best tablet for most people. It's not your only choice, though. If you don't have other Apple devices, you don't get the benefit of the company's ecosystem, and you can find similar specs on many Android tablets too.

If you're looking for an Android alternative to the iPad, the OnePlus Pad 3 is the way to go. Hardware-wise, it competes easily with the iPad Pro, and it outpaces Apple's tablets on battery life, hitting up to 16 hours compared to the iPad Air's 9.5 hours.

But whether you're looking for something to act as a larger second screen, a more budget-friendly pick, or a productivity workhorse, I've rounded up the best tablets we've tested that are actually worth your money right now.

The best tablets you can buy right now

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The best tablet overall

If you're looking for the best iPad, the M3 iPad Air is it. Of course, this all depends on what you want to do with it (the iPad Pro remains the top laptop replacement) but the Air is the most versatile and not as expensive as its productivity-focused sibling.

Every few years since Apple launched the Air, the company upgrades the hardware and tweaks the software to make it perform better, but as we found in our testing, you don't really need to know that it has the M3 chip or Liquid Retina display; it just works.

If you want a device that you can turn on and get straight on, no hassle, this is the tablet you should get. It launched alongside iPadOS 26 in late September 2025, which added better multitasking and file management tools for iPads.

The biggest change is the new Liquid Glass display language, which makes everything look a bit translucent. I'm not a huge fan of it, but it doesn't really effect how I interact with or enjoy my time on Apple's mobile devices.

But the reason Apple has a dedicated operating system for iPad is to make the tablet a viable laptop alternative. Until a few years ago, that wasn't really true, but with proper support for running multiple apps and other improvements, you could use any of the iPads, including the Air as a laptop replacement.

Just keep in mind that it adds quite a lot to the cost. Things like compatible keyboards, cases and the like quickly increase the price, and if its a laptop alternative your after, the larger screen on the iPad Pro is probably a better bet.

For everyone else, the iPad Air M3 is as close to perfect as Apple has ever made a tablet.

• Read our full iPad Air M3 review

The best budget tablet

To be frank: the Apple iPad (2025) is not the cheapest tablet you can find. There are plenty of cheaper tablets out there, mostly running Android, but the latest model of Apple's flagship tablet is the best value right now.

Like with the iPad Air M3, the physical design is familiar, just a little lighter and with a more entry-level chip powering the whole thing. It'll handle daily tasks with ease, but if you're into video editing or gaming, it might struggle a bit.

The main advantage it has over cheaper Android tablets is Apple's ecosytem; a well-stocked App Store, better battery life and excellent parental controls, which is a huge plus if you're thinking of this as a family tablet.

And despite being several hundred dollars less than some other iPad models, our testing showed that the entry-level iPad actually has a slightly brighter screen than the iPad mini 7 and lasts longer on a full charge than either the iPad Air M3 or the iPad mini 7. So while the hardware isn't as powerful, it never really feels that way.

The display isn't as vivid or immersive as you'd find on a tablet with an OLED screen, but for a daily driver that won't break the bank, I think it's absolutely a compromise worth taking.

• Read our full Apple iPad 2025 review

The best Android tablet

Although iPad has become synonymous with tablet, that doesn't mean Apple's devices are your only choice. In fact, you arguably get a better tablet for less money with the OnePlus Pad 3, and an incredible 16-hour battery life.

It runs Android (Google's operating system) instead of Apple's iPadOS. There are some differences, but on the whole, it's quite a similar tablet experience; you can download apps from the Google Play Store, multitask and watch movies and shows on a larger screen than your phone.

The battery specs initially looked suspicious; at 12,140 mAh its almost double some of Apple's tablets. But we tested it and found the same thing; the OnePlus Pad 3 lasted more than 16 hours between charges. It's incredible performance, and makes it a great option if you plan to use the tablet while on the go and away from outlets.

I'm most excited by the octo-speaker set up. Most tablets have four speakers, but the Pad 3 has double the amount for a more immersive experience. I find the tinniness of phone speakers incredibly difficult, so a more rounded audio output means that it's actually quite fun to listen to music and dialogue on the tablet.

My main memory of early tablets from around a decade ago was that the cameras were terrible. Fortunately, that's no longer the case and the 13MP sensors on the tablet take high-quality pictures without distortion. You'll never get the performance of the best camera phones, but it's more than good enough.

Arguably, there's not a better Android tablet out there right now. The only exception could be the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, though like with Apple's devices, most of the benefit comes from if you already use Samsung phones, watches and services.

• Read our full OnePlus Pad 3 review

Best Windows tablet

The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is more a laptop without a keyboard than a tablet, but it's easily the best tablet if you want to run Windows 11 on a more portable device. Like Apple's devices, it benefits from a tight integration between the Microsoft-powered hardware and software, coupled with some impressive Snapdragon chips.

The other advantage over many other tablets is that, because this is essentially a laptop, you get the kind of configuration options you'd find on a laptop, too. So you can choose the base-level model, or upgrade the RAM, storage and display.

However, my main word of caution is that this is not a mobile device like the others. It runs a full Windows 11 operating system, and that also means desktop applications instead of mobile apps. If you need this for work or for a specific app, great! But Windows desktop apps mostly aren't optimized for tablets or touchscreens.

Microsoft talks up the Copilot AI features — even going so far as to market devices as 'Copilot ready' — but I wouldn't buy any tablet on the basis of these lacklustre additions. Not only are most of the Copilot (and Apple Intelligence on iPad) features underbaked, I wouldn't ever recommend buying a product on the 'promise' of future software.

But Windows existed long before AI gimmicks, so if it's a powerful desktop experience you're after on a portable device (which you can accessorize with a folio keyboard), the Surface Pro 11 is the one that should be top of your list.

• Read our full Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review

The best Samsung tablet

The OnePlus Pad 3 is excellent for daily use and light productivity, but if you need a full Android laptop alternative, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is what you want. It's one of the best Samsung tablets, but fair warning; it's big.

The display looks excellent in person, with an AMOLED screen, but it is 14.6 inches, which is larger than some mid-size laptops. Yes, technically it's still a tablet, but it's a big one with a big screen that is really intended for when you have work to do.

Fortunately, Samsung has actually invested in creating a tablet software experience that rivals, and in some ways, betters Apple's iPadOS. It's a mix of Android, with all the apps on Play Store, and Samsung's One UI optimized for larger screens.

If you've used a Samsung tablet as a desktop replacement before though, it's worth noting that DeX (the desktop-like experience developed for devices like this) has changed a lot, and many of our favorite features are now gone.

But this is offset by the fact that the native, default operating system is just a lot better at doing what you need for a full productivity tablet, so in many ways, DeX is starting to be less essential than it was.

Of course, this being a Samsung device, you'll get the most from it if you're already embedded in the Galaxy ecosystem. The company's apps come preinstalled, and there's an Apple-esque approach to integrating Samsung's devices and services.

And, unlike Apple, Samsung doesn't charge an obscene amount for a stylus like the Apple Pencil. Instead, there's one included with your tablet. Since you don't need to buy another peripheral, it also means you're more likely to interact with and use some of the stylus-focused features, like drawing and handwriting recognition.

• Read our Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra review

The best tablet for note-taking

The ReMarkable Paper Pro looks like one of the best Kindle e-readers, but it comfortably finds its place as one of the best tablets, thanks to its interactive e-paper display. It's not a tablet like the rest here, but it knows its strengths — reading, writing, sketching and note-taking.

If that's what you need, there's probably no better option. The display is designed to replicate the feeling of pen on paper, which is a lot different than the experience you get writing on a tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, where the stylus-on-glass feeling is a bit more slippery.

Of course, while it excels at some things, there are compromises. E-paper displays take longer to change or refresh, in their power-saving Etch-a-Sketch kind of way. But to compensate, the tablet has more than 4,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is why you get such a 'real' experience when writing or drawing on the screen.

Although I've included it here, I'd probably think of the Paper Pro more like a digital notebook; great for quick reminders, sketches, notes and reading but it's not a laptop-style device like the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra or entertainment tablet like the iPad.

So long as you know that going in, and don't expect it to come with all those features, it really excels, especially when you pair the color display with the keyboard cover. If you think its a bit on the pricey side for what's on offer, the ReMarkable Paper Pro Move is very similar, but a third less in a smaller, more portable form.

• Read our full ReMarkable Paper Pro review

The best tablet for power users

The iPad Pro M5 is currently the most powerful (and most expensive) tablet in Apple's line up. If you want a portable device for entertainment, it's probably overkill, but for a mobile-first laptop replacement, it's excellent.

It managed to last almost 13 hours between charges in our tests, which is in part thanks to the efficiency of the M5 chip, currently one of the most powerful in Apple's roster. That's also why you get near-instantaneous feedback on the tablet when you touch the display, open an app or give a command.

The OLED display does look incredible, making it ideal for watching movies and editing videos or photos, with either the 11-inch or 13-inch version of the tablet. And, if you want to use the iPad Pro in direct sunlight, you can upgrade the display with a glass coating to reduce reflections.

Where the iPad Pro M5 comes a bit unstuck is the price. The configuration we tested would set you back $2,000, more than many of the best MacBooks. If the laptop alternative is more expensive than the laptop, it's hard to explain why you should buy the iPad over a MacBook.

Of course, the main reason you would is because it's what you want. After all, the key to any of these devices is to choose something that you find easy and fun to use. Otherwise, your powerful tablet will end up in a drawer somewhere, and that'd be a shame when the iPad Pro M5 has a lot to offer for power users.

• Read our full iPad Pro M5 review

Also tested

Not every device we test can be The Best tablet. But many come close. If you're after some more options, these are the tablets that didn't quite make the cut, but I still think are good options if you need them.

How we test the best tablets

We put every tablet we review through a raft of custom tests, looking at power consumption, performance and battery life. The process differs slightly between operating systems, but we aim for consistency to make it easier for you to compare between models and brands.

Plus, since manufacturers love to talk about how vivid the new display on their latest tablet is, we actually check that. We use professional-grade colorimeters to measure how bright the screen can get on every tablet we test, as well as how well it displays colors in the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts.

Once the technical tests are complete, we start using them just as you would. We browse the internet, check emails, play games and watch movies and YouTube videos. It's one thing to see how they perform in ideal conditions, but we want to know what you really get in everyday usage.

At a minimum, we put them through their paces like this for a week to get a realistic sense of how they perform and feel day-to-day. Where we can, we keep hold of the tablets even after our review is published so that we can get some long-term testing notes to update our reviews and buying guides, like this one.

How to choose the best tablet for you

Ultimately, choosing the best tablet is going to come down to what devices you already own. Use a lot of Apple? Then you'll want an iPad. Samung phone owner? Stick with a Galaxy tablet. Prefer Android over iPadOS? Choose the OnePlus Pad 3.

Of course, there is more nuance to it, but its a big factor. If you're used to a Windows laptop, then the Surface Pro 11 is going to feel familiar and easier to use. But once you've settled on a platform, you then need to look at what you want to use it for.

If you travel or you're away from power outlets a lot, battery life will be key. But if you want to game, then performance is your biggest concern. There are devices that sit comfortably in the middle (like the iPad Air M3) but often you need to pick; performance or battery.

Many people like tablets because they're a useful second device for car journeys or entertaining kids. In that case, you want to be sure the tablet you're choosing has good parental controls so you can lock down the device in the way you feel comfortable with.