Guidemaster: Choosing the Right Tablet for Every Use Case

Enlarge / Surface Pro 9 from Microsoft. Andrew Cunningham

Tablets seemed to take the computing world by storm during the meteoric rise of the iPad, but they have now stabilized in their role as a secondary device focused on convenient content consumption and portability, at least as far as home use goes. Still, tablets are hugely popular, especially with families where kids and adults each want their own computing solution, but not everyone has room for a desk.

And given that younger generations prioritize touch first, keyboard and mouse second, and there are plenty of reasons to opt for one or more tablets these days. While Google has struggled to translate its Android smartphone operating system into a viable tablet platform, Apple's iPad dominates the market, with Amazon's Fire line covering many other users. p>

There's also Microsoft's line of tablet-like Surface products, which are geared more towards productivity and power users. Today, we're going to go over our top tablet picks for different types of users and use cases based on our time spent reviewing these devices. Let's dig!

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The ideal tablet for most people: iPad Air 5th generation (2022)

Enlarge / The iPad Air 2022. Samuel Axone Apple iPad Air 5th Generation $559 on Amazon $600 at Best Buy $599 at Apple (Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this posting through affiliate programs.)

Ars editor Samuel Axon has said it time and time again in our reviews: the iPad Air is "the best offering in Apple's tablet lineup in terms of performance and features you get for the price".

Of course, if you just need a good reliable tablet for the basics and want to spend as little as possible, the 9th Gen iPad is here. (And that's our budget pick below.) But to upgrade to the latest design, colors, faster USB-C charging, and more performance than a tablet of its kind needs , we recommend the latest iPad Air.

The Air has almost the same dimensions as the 9th Gen iPad, but it packs a slightly larger 10.9-inch screen (as opposed to the 9th Gen's 10.2) into its frame, thanks to a more modern design with thinner frames. It replaces the home button of the old iPad design with gestures that take little time to learn. You also get a much improved screen that covers much of the DCI-P3 color gamut. But unlike the even more expensive iPad...