Best tablets in 2026: Top picks from Apple, Samsung and Amazon

Most of the time, it’s best to stick to the basics. This is certainly the case with Apple’s iPad.

Why I love it

While we’re still waiting for an updated iPad, the current model remains a great budget option. It uses the Apple A16 chip found in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15, not one of Apple’s more powerful M-series chips – that’s a performance upgrade over the A14 processor in the 10th generation iPad. Just as importantly, the base version of the 11th generation iPad comes with 128GB of storage instead of 64GB (hallelujah!).

Who is it for

The 11th generation iPad remains arguably the best value, especially when it’s discounted to under $300. It’s best as a media consumption tablet, but it can also be used for basic content creation, education, simple home office tasks, and FaceTime chats.

Who should skip it

Alas, this new base iPad doesn’t give you Apple Intelligence (the chip doesn’t support it), and it still only works with the simple USB-C Pencil or the first generation Pencil (with a USB-C to Lightning adapter), not the Pencil Pro.

Why I love it

At first glance, Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Tab series doesn’t seem like particularly good value for money. But you should always take Samsung’s tablet list prices with a grain of salt, as they frequently offer discounts and device trade-in options to bring the price down. Apple’s latest iPad Pro models are more powerful devices, but in the world of Android tablets anyway, there’s really nothing as sleek or thin with a great screen that delivers great performance as the Tab S11, which is why we gave it our Editors’ Choice (read our full review).

You can certainly quibble with Samsung’s processor choice and argue that tablets like the OnePlus Pad 3 offer better value when you compare list prices, but the Tab S11 remains the Android tablet to beat. While the 14.6-inch Tab S11 Ultra has advantages for some applications and is unique in the tablet world due to its extra-large size, for most people the smaller and more affordable Tab S11 makes more sense.

Who is it for

This is a versatile and capable tablet aimed at non-Apple users. It not only makes for a good productivity tool, but also an impressive entertainment device that also works well for cloud gaming. Along with the keyboard accessory, this is also a potential laptop replacement, although the larger 14.6-inch Tab S11 Ultra is better suited for this purpose.

Who should skip it

This is overkill for those looking for a tablet to use primarily as a device for consuming content.

CNET reviewer Scott Stein has this to say about the iPad Air M4, released in 2026 and equipped with an upgraded M4 processor: “Apple’s mid-range iPad Air is the only iPad to get a 2026 update so far, and its mix of lower price compared to the Pro and more capable M4 processor gives it by far the best value among iPads right now.” »

Why I love it

As nice as the fancier M5 iPad Pro is, spending $400 more is a lot to ask (although if you’re considering the 13-inch iPad Air, you might be better off upgrading to the Pro). I’d consider the 11-inch model instead, and with the right configuration, this could very well be the upgradeable, more affordable iPad that’s perfect for you – especially if you want to push the iPad hard for tools that will need the M4’s performance. Plus, there is a great keyboard for this.

Who is it for

It’s a versatile tablet, just like the basic iPad, but with better performance. If you want to use a Pencil Pro and plan to use the AI ​​or graphics features on the iPad, then the Air is your budget choice.

Who should skip it
iPad Pro offers HDR custom OLED display high-contrast, a slimmer design, a Face ID camera, and Lidar on the back, although these features come with a $400 price hike. Still, if these features are important to you, you don’t want Air. Likewise, you don’t need the Air’s M3 chip for the basics like streaming video and audio, playing less graphically demanding games, and using thousands of apps.

If you can’t afford Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Tab S10 tablets, the company’s Galaxy Tab FE tablets are an attractive alternative.

Why I love it

Every year, Samsung releases “Fan Edition” versions of its flagship Galaxy Tab S series tablets, which aren’t as powerful and feature less advanced display technology, but cost significantly less. Again, that’s true for the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus, which start at $500 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. While the Galaxy Tab S10 FE retains the same 10.9-inch screen as its predecessor, the larger Tab S10 FE Plus ($650) comes with a 13.1-inch screen, which is larger than the 12.4-inch screen of its predecessor and the standard Tab S10 Plus.

Both tablets run on an upgraded Samsung Exynos 1580 chipset instead of the more powerful MediaTek processors found in their standard counterparts (the Exynos 1380 chipset powers the Galaxy Tab S9 FE tablets). In our benchmarks, I can’t say that the Exynos 1580 offered blazingly fast performance (it was a bit mediocre, especially compared to the M3 chip in the latest Apple iPad Air), but the tablet’s overall performance should be more than adequate for most people and the LCD screen is bright and sharp with good color saturation (no, it’s not as good as the AMOLED screen on the standard Tab S10 Plus but I still liked it). Additionally, it has incredible battery life, reaching 17 hours and 45 minutes in our tests and winning a CNET Lab Award for longest battery life for tablets.

Samsung says the Tab S10 FE is 4% lighter than its predecessor and both tablets feature a new high-resolution 13-megapixel rear camera, although the Tab S10 FE Plus no longer has a second ultra-wide camera.

Who is it for

While the Tab S10 FE’s screen sizes don’t match the standard screen sizes of the Tab S10 Plus and Ultra, the bottom line is that you get about 75% of the tablet you get with the standard Tab S10 series for a lot less money. And if you have an old Samsung tablet to trade in, the price becomes even more affordable. If you want a bigger screen, battery life and saving money are most important to you, the S10 FE Plus is the way to go.

Who should skip it

For artists or anyone else who needs the best display quality, or those who demand the best possible performance, you’ll want to get the full-fledged S10 Plus or the newer S11 models.

If money were no object, Apple’s M5 iPad Pros would clearly be the best iPads for everyone. Very similar to last year’s iPad Pro M4, except for the processor, they are “closer than ever to the future of the Mac,” according to CNET’s Scott Stein. Read CNET’s iPad Pro (M5, 2025) review.

Why I love it

Not only are Apple’s M5 iPad Pros incredibly fast with the new M5 processors (the iPad Pro M5 is about 10% faster than last year’s M4 version and about 38% faster than the M3 iPad Air), but they feature vibrant OLED displays with excellent contrast and brightness (it’s actually the brightest screen we’ve tested, earning it a CNET Labs Award), as well as Pencil Pro accessories and Improved Magic Keyboard (always sold separately). The M5 chip works with Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI feature set, and has enough power to last through years of future operating system updates. The Pro is also a thinner tablet.

Who is it for

Anyone looking for the best Apple tablet for creation and entertainment – ​​and doesn’t care about budget – is your choice.

Who should skip it

The iPad Pro’s downside is its price: it starts at $999 for the 11-inch model or $1,299 for the 13-inch model. This is beyond many people’s budget for a tablet.

Despite a few small flaws, the OnePlus Pad 3 is one of the best premium Android tablets. It’s certainly a great entertainment device, offering solid performance for gaming (it’s also well-suited for Xbox Cloud Gaming). Plus, it can handle light productivity.

Why I love it

Last year’s OnePlus Pad 2 was considered one of the best tablets, combining high-end performance with a mid-range price: $550, which sometimes went as low as $500. To some extent, the new OnePlus Pad 3 for 2025 follows the same playbook. Equipped with a high-end Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and a bright 13.2-inch display, 3.4K resolution with a pixel density of 315 ppi and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 144 Hz, this is a high-performance Android tablet that gives off premium vibes for a lower price than Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 Plus. The OnePlus Pad 3 shows impressive performance across all benchmarks, with particularly strong results from the GPU. It’s available for pre-order now, with a choice of two “free gift” accessories to incentivize purchase, and it will ship on July 8. Read the full review.

Who should skip it

People looking for a high-end Android tablet at a fairly mid-range price. At $700, the Pad 3 costs $150 more than the Pad 2, putting it in a high-end price zone that’s beyond some people’s tablet budget. It’s also not quite a replacement for a laptop if you’re looking for that in a tablet.

Although the Google Pixel tablet has been available for a while, it remains good value as a mid-range tablet, especially for people who have already bought into the Google device ecosystem.

Why I love it

Google’s versatile, docked Pixel tablet doubles as a home hub and dock-enabled assistant with speakerphone, and its multitasking features work very well. You’ll have to find your own stylus and keyboard options, but Google has otherwise offered a good family-friendly alternative to the iPad for everyone in the Android ecosystem. Google currently offers the tablet for $299 without the dock, but that dock is one of our favorite parts of the tablet.

Who is it for

The Pixel tablet is one of our favorite family tablets. The dock keeps it in a central location, like a kitchen or living room, so it’s always convenient for sharing. A relatively fast Google Tensor G2 processor, a good front-facing camera for video chats, a sharp screen (16:10 aspect ratio), and a clean Google Android software experience all add to the appeal.

Who should skip it

If you’re looking for a tablet that’s a little faster and more capable, there are better mid-range options, even if they cost a little more.

Microsoft has reduced the price and screen of its Surface Pro for people who view the tablet PC not as a primary daily driver but as a versatile secondary machine for browsing the web, watching YouTube and Netflix, and playing casual mobile games. Read the full review.

Why I love it

Compared to the larger and more expensive 13-inch Surface Pro, the 12-inch model sacrifices some elements to achieve a lower price, but retains the Surface Pro’s excellent design: a slim aluminum chassis with a great kickstand, and an “optional” keyboard that snaps into place perfectly magnetically. Despite using the lower-powered Snapdragon X Plus, the 12-inch Surface Pro managed to produce competitive scores compared to the more powerful 13-inch Surface Pro. Its benchmark results were in line with those of the HP OmniBook 5 and Acer Swift Go 14, which feature the same Snapdragon X Plus processor. That is to say, it performed well on the Geekbench 6 scores, trailing the 13-inch model by 15% on the multi-core test and even ahead of it on the single-core test.

Who is it for

Someone looking for a thin tablet that can double as a full Windows laptop, but not necessarily one you’d want to use as your primary laptop.

Who should skip it

Those looking for a true Windows laptop for work. Although the Surface Pro offers a complete Windows experience, it is better suited as a secondary device to have in your house or apartment for browsing the web, watching s shows and play casual tablet games on a larger screen than your phone. Plus, adding a keyboard – and even a power adapter – increases your final cost, although Microsoft often offers decent discounts on its Surface Pro models.

TCL is primarily known for its great value TVs, but it also has an interesting line of Nxtpaper tablets with matte screens that can mimic color and monochrome E Ink e-readers quite convincingly.

Why I love it

The 1.08-pound Nxtpaper 11 Plus features an 11.5-inch 120Hz display with Nxtpaper 4.0 display technology (base display technology is LCD). I was pleasantly surprised by this screen, which has a resolution of 2,200 x 1,440 pixels at 229 pixels per inch. It’s not super sharp or super bright, but colors seem accurate and it has something TCL calls “VersaView 3-in-1 modes.”

Yes, the main selling point of the Nxtpaper 11 Plus over other Android tablets is the ability to switch between three display modes. Normal mode is the brightest and makes the tablet look most like your typical tablet with an LCD screen, although it is not the brightest due to the matte layer on the screen.

Ink Paper mode turns the screen into a Kindle-like monochrome E Ink display “for extended reading sessions and note-taking.” And Color Paper mode cuts the screen to mimic color E Ink tablets like the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft and ReMarkable Paper Pro, offering “soft, low-saturation colors ideal for reading comics or magazines.” Both Paper modes are designed to reduce eye strain, and there’s also blue light filtering (Paper modes are not E Ink technology). Note that these large color E Ink models cost over $600.

Where it excels is for reading indoors, and it’s a budget-friendly tablet for taking notes and drawing. I should point out that while the matte screen helps reduce glare in brightly lit environments, unlike E Ink e-readers, the screen still struggles to withstand direct sunlight. In other words, don’t expect to take this tablet to the beach and get the same glare-free, fade-free visual experience you get with an E Ink e-reader in direct sunlight. But there are still a lot of benefits for the price.

Who is it for

Someone who is interested in a color E Ink tablet but can’t afford one and also wants a more versatile, true Android tablet.

Who should skip it

This tablet is powered by a mid-range MediaTek Helio G100 processor, making it significantly slower than a high-end tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11. It also doesn’t have the best cameras: they’re only 8 megapixels on the front and back. It’s perfect for everyday tasks like watching videos, browsing the web, and making Zoom calls. You can play games on it, but it has its graphical limitations and it’s not a tablet I would recommend for serious gamers.

Amazon continues to update its Fire HD 10 tablet every two years, increasing its processor speed and RAM. It offers acceptable performance at a very affordable price.

Why I love it

In 2023, Amazon introduced a slightly lighter and 25% faster Fire HD 10. It’s available in several different versions, including a standard version priced at $140 with 32GB of storage, as well as the Fire HD 10 Kids (aimed at kids ages 3 to 7) and the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (aimed at ages 6 to 12). Aside from its larger 10.1-inch screen compared to the Fire HD’s 8-inch screen, this model’s screen is sharper, with a pixel density of 224 pixels per inch, which is the best for any Amazon tablet, including the flagship Fire 11 Max.

The non-Pro model has a Disney theme option. Like all Fire Kids tablets, these come with padded cases, a 12-month subscription to the Amazon Kids Plus service, which offers kid-friendly apps and content, and a two-year free replacement policy if the tablet is damaged. Battery life is estimated at 13 hours.

Who is it for

When it goes on sale, the Fire HD 10 is arguably the best budget tablet, and it often is. It’s naturally a great option for media consumption and online shopping.

Who should skip it

While the Fire HD 10’s screen offers 1080p resolution, if you’re looking for a tablet with a very sharp screen, the entry-level iPad is a better choice. It’s also not a good choice for content creation.

CNET’s iPad reviewer Scott Stein was mostly pleased with the updates to the last-generation iPad Mini, although its high price remains a concern.

Why I love it

I’ve always liked the iPad Mini because it’s smaller and lighter than the entry-level iPad and more travel-friendly (yes, the screen is smaller, but it’s still decent for watching videos and reading). It has a newer A17 Pro chip that supports Apple Intelligence, it works with the Pencil Pro stylus, and now comes with 128GB of storage in its base $499 model (up from 64GB). The Mini hasn’t changed its basic look, although this tablet got a facelift in 2021.

Who is it for

It’s a great tablet, small but powerful. It will work well for everything from content creation and note-taking to video streaming, reading, and gaming.

Who should skip it

The iPad Mini just seems a little too expensive for what it is. Yes, the A17 Pro processor is better than what you get with the entry-level iPad A16 chip, but it’s not the M3 processor that powers the iPad Air and lets you run additional apps on an external monitor like the M-series iPads can.

This 8.8-inch gaming-focused tablet is slightly larger than the iPad Mini, but in the same price range, at around $450. For your money, you get solid performance, solid build quality, and a great overall set of specs and features. Read the review.

Why I love it

Jason Cockerham, who reviewed this tablet for CNET, says that with an 8.8-inch diagonal, the Legion Tab Gen 3 is larger than the best large phones but still smaller than most tablets designed for entertainment. “You might not expect it to be great for gaming, but the more I used it, the more I realized it was almost the perfect size. Larger tablets get too heavy to hold for long sessions, and unless you have a case with a kickstand, propping them up can be a hassle. However, being larger than a phone makes it easier on your eyes. Plus, some of the best mobile controllers, like the Razer Kishi Ultra, even fit the Legion Tab for an incredible mobile gaming experience.”

Who is it for

It’s a good choice for someone looking for a compact, lighter tablet with high-end performance, excellent for mobile gaming and video watching.

Who should skip it

If you’re looking for a larger, more versatile tablet, this may not be for you.

Lenovo bills its Android-based Tab Plus as a “premium entertainment tablet,” and it largely lives up to that description, although we could debate how good it really is.

Why I love it

Although the Tab Plus’ MediaTek Helio G99 processor offered fairly average performance, it was quite fast. Its 11.5-inch 2K LCD (2000 x 1200 pixels) screen offers essentially 1080p resolution, although its 90Hz refresh rate helps create a smoother picture, and overall the display seems like a small improvement over the screens you get with many budget Android tablets. That said, the standout feature of the Tab Plus is its sound. Equipped with JBL speakers, this tablet produces louder – and better – sound than most tablets I’ve tested.

The built-in speakers add girth to the tablet, which also has a retractable kickstand, making it a bit bulky. Battery life is solid, around 12 hours, and I appreciate the included carrying case. The case is a little cheap, but it is protective.

Who is it for

With its built-in kickstand and premium JBL speakers, the Tab Plus is ideal for consuming media on the go. It’s also a decent value, especially when discounted.

Who should skip it

If you’re looking for a tablet that’s a little thinner and sleeker with more premium performance, this may not be for you.

Amazon continues to make the best cheap tablets for media consumption. The Fire HD 8 sits in the middle of the range, striking a sweet spot in terms of price and performance.

Why do I like

The main reason to like the Fire HD 8 is its price. Additionally, the 2024 version is a slight update over the 2022 model and includes an upgrade. Improved performance thanks to a six-core Arm processor upgraded to 2 GHz and 3 GB of RAM (instead of 2 GB). The step-up model with 64 GB of memory instead of 32 GB is equipped with 4 GB of RAM.

Although its 1,280 x 800-pixel screen isn’t terribly sharp and remains a weak point, the Fire HD 8 is a good low-cost option for streaming video, reading ebooks, and browsing the web. The key is to wait to pick it up when it’s on sale, which it often is, selling for $65 or less.

Who is it for

Amazon Prime members are looking for a cheap tablet for themselves or their children to consume media because Amazon offers a lot of “free” content, including movies, games, and e-books, with Prime accounts.

Who should skip it

If you’re looking for a tablet with a sharper screen, faster performance, and a premium look and feel, you’ll probably be disappointed.

The 11-inch Lenovo Chromebook Duet is a compatible ChromeOS tablet with a stylus and detachable keyboard. The Duet line is one of the best-selling Chromebooks of all time, according to Google’s John Maletis, ChromeOS vice president of product, engineering and UX. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, considering how versatile it is and what you get for its $350 starting price (and it’s regularly available for less).

Why I love it

This is a great option for an inexpensive basic laptop for travel and home. It’s a smart choice if you’re looking for something for pure mobility or as a secondary device.

Who is it for

With an included keyboard – and sometimes a bundled stylus – it’s ideal for basic office tasks, sketching ideas, taking notes, browsing the web, gaming, video chatting, and streaming media. It’s a great second screen couch companion.

Who should skip it

As a primary computer, its performance and size may be too limited.