By The best Android tablets are a great substitute for the top iPads. With their powerful hardware, these elegantly built smartphones can run games and apps with little to no lag. Additionally, they use little power and can run for a long time on a single charge. Additionally, some Android tablets can serve as good laptop substitutes when equipped with a keyboard adapter.
To determine which Android tablets are best for particular people, we’ve evaluated a ton of them. We track screen quality, performance, and battery life. One unanswered concern about Android tablets is app quality. Because not all Android tablets come with the same apps, you may want to start by deciding how many apps you want. Based on our in-depth testing and evaluation of numerous tablets from Amazon, Samsung, Nokia, and even OnePlus, these are the best Android tablets available.
The best Android tablets you can buy today
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: MediaTek Dimensity 9000
Display: 11.6 inches (2800 x 2000) 7:5 aspect ratio, 144Hz
Storage: 128GB
Memory: 8GB
Ports: 1x USB-C
Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.4 x 0.2 inches
Weight: 1.2 pounds
An Android tablet that’s worth getting excited about is the OnePlus Pad. Curved edges, a distinctive 7:5 aspect ratio, and a massive 13MP back camera set OnePlus’ first slate apart from the competition. It’s among my top tablets for the year 2023.
Other than its unique look, this tablet has a lot going for it. Its bright 11.6-inch 144Hz display looks fantastic for watching videos and reading ebooks. Its MediaTek Dimensity 9000 CPU and Android 13 OS also make games and apps operate quickly and smoothly. In our tests, the thin and light OnePlus Pad’s battery lasted for more than 13 hours. The OnePlus Pad performs much better than it appears. The OnePlus Pad is a good option if you’re searching for an Android tablet that costs less than $500.
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 2GHz Hexa-core
Display: 8-inch 1280×800 LCD Touch
Storage: 32GB, 64GB
Memory: 2GB RAM
Ports: 1 USB-C, 1 microSD slot, 1 Headphone jack
Dimensions: 7.94 x 5.4 x 0.37 inches
Weight: 0.7 pounds
Amazon’s tablets have a reputation for being surprisingly good considering their low cost, and the Amazon Fire HD 8, a middle-sized tablet, hits the sweet spot in terms of cost, performance, and features. The new 2022 model keeps things the same, despite some pleasant improvements and changes from the previous iteration.
About 30% more power than the previous model, the 12th generation Fire HD 8 tablet helps to mitigate some of the latency spikes we noticed when we reviewed the older hardware. It feels more substantial and is lighter as well. Granted, the price has increased by $10 from previously.
However, the fundamental experience and value proposition remain mostly unchanged: if you can overlook some minor annoyances like lock screen adverts and the restrictions of Amazon’s app ecosystem, this is an incredibly good tablet for the money ($100). This is a decent low-cost tablet to purchase if that doesn’t worry you.
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Display: 11-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz
Storage: 128GB/256GB
Memory: 8GB RAM
Ports: USB-C, microSD
Dimensions: 9.99 x 6.51 x 0.25 inches
Weight: 1.1 pounds
While the Galaxy Tab S9 excels in many areas, its greatest attribute is that it is an expensive Android tablet. Although it can be used to do tasks quickly, in our opinion, it works best as a quick multipurpose tool to provide some enjoyment to both work and play.
The S9 is more powerful and features a gorgeous new AMOLED display that makes everything you do on it look amazing, even though it is essentially the same as the model from last year. It’s perfect for reading comics or playing games on the couch. It’s handy to have at work as a secondary display or note-taking device, especially if you go to the expense of setting up your workspace to be DeX-friendly and investing in the Galaxy ecosystem.
The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is undoubtedly the better option if you just must have the largest, worst Android tablet available, but if all you need is a fantastic premium Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S9 excels in that regard as well, raising the bar for what we should expect from the market.
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Tensor G2
Camera Resolution: 8MP, f/2.0 front and rear
Display: 11-inch 2560 x 1600 LCD, 60Hz
Storage: 128GB, 256GB
Ports: USB-C
Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches (tablet); 6.6 x 3.7 x 2.7 (dock)
Weight: 1.08 pounds
Being the only tablet on this list with a built-in speaker and charging station, the Google Pixel Tablet stands out from the others. It’s a tablet as well as a smart home appliance. Google is trying to make the tablet stand out from the competition, and it works. We discovered that it functions pretty well and that no other tablet on the market does the same job as an off-the-shelf smart home hub.
The tablet’s charging dock has excellent speakers as well, though they sacrifice some treble in favor of more gratifying bass. Even though it costs $50 less, this Android tablet is just as good as Apple’s iPad base model. Its compatibility with different smart home technologies varies, though, and it falls short of the features and audio quality of a high-end specialized smart home hub like the Nest Hub Max.
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Snapdragon 870
Camera Resolution: 8MP (front)
Display: 13-inch (2160 x 1350 pixels) capacitive touchscreen
Storage: 128GB
Ports: USB-C, micro-HDMI
Dimensions: 11.55 x 8.03 x 0.24-0.98 inches
Weight: 1.83 pounds
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 is an entertainment-focused Android tablet with an impressive 13-inch display and quality speakers. It makes you feel like you’re watching movies and shows on a proper TV instead of a bulky tablet. Playing games is a delight too, thanks to the speedy Snapdragon 870 processor and 8GB of memory. The slate can even act as a secondary monitor for your laptop or tablet, giving its 2K screen a bit of extra versatility.
Though great at what it does, it’s not the most portable device out there. It’s also all but impossible to find a protective cover due to its unusual design. The lack of 5G support is also a letdown, as is the lack of a headphone jack. Still, if you’re looking for an entertainment-focused tablet that you don’t plan to cart around much, the Yoga Tab 13 is a good choice. That said, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra might be a better choice.
SELECTING THE BEST ANDROID TABLET
Consider the apps you wish to use before choosing the best Android tablet for you. Indeed, considering that many of these tablets have comparable battery life and speed, you can easily cross out half of this list by considering whether you’ll need to use your next Android tablet for anything other than Netflix and Spotify.
The Amazon Fire tablets require a lot of work to enable Gmail or any other Google program to function as an app, so individuals who want every app possible on their Android phone should generally stay away from them. You might want to look into Fire tablets if you don’t need such apps on your tablet or if you could live without them entirely and use older, subpar versions of them on a web browser.
You have three questions, each with an answer, if you want all of the apps. Will you be consuming material primarily? Obtain a Galaxy Tab S9. Searching for a device that can produce a Word document quickly and could serve as a replacement for your laptop? For you, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is ideal.
If one is willing to put up with the restrictions of Amazon tablets, then one should choose a Fire 7 for less demanding applications or a Fire HD 8 for people who have slightly greater expectations. Additionally, the Fire HD 10 is the greatest option among the budget-friendly options.
