14 Best Tablets (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Other tablets to consider

We test tons of tablets every year. Here are a few others we like, but not as much as our picks above.

AppleiPad Pro (M4).

Photography: Brenda Stolyar

Apple iPad Pro (M4, 2024) for $899: Save money and buy the iPad Pro 2024 instead of the latest model. Just make sure you buy it at a decent price. There are two size options: 11 or 13 inches, and both are incredibly thin and light, bolstered by brilliantly bright OLED displays with 120Hz refresh rates. These are the only iPad models with Face ID for authentication and sport the nano-textured glass add-on to reduce glare, a must-have for anyone using frequently an iPad outside or near a window. They offer MacBook-level performance thanks to the M4 chipset and you can take advantage of the new multitasking features of iPadOS 26.

Photography: Julian Chokkattu

Boost the Celero 5G Tab for $200: I didn’t particularly enjoy using the 10.95-inch Boost Celero 5G Tab (performance can be choppy, making it a bit annoying to use), but it costs $200 and is fine for entertainment, whether that’s playing very light games or catching up on Netflix. You can only buy it on Boost, which means you might be able to get it for even less if you bundle it with your Boost data plan. Since it has 5G, you can add a cellular plan for always-on connectivity. That’s really this tablet’s calling card, as you’ll be hard-pressed to find a cheap tablet with built-in cellular radios. If you don’t want to have to connect to Wi-Fi or a connection from your phone, the Celero is a decent option, especially since the cheapest iPad with cellular will still cost you over $400.

Lenovo Tab Plus.

Photography: Julian Chokkattu

Lenovo Tab Plus for $200: There are many cheap Android tablets on the Internet and I urge you to be careful what you buy. If you’re not interested in Amazon’s Fire tablets (see below), consider Lenovo’s Tab Plus. I used it for a month for pure entertainment. The 11.5-inch screen is nice and large compared to a phone screen, but it’s portable enough for traveling. The built-in kickstand is excellent and should be standard on all tablets. It’s not the snappiest, but the performance was more than adequate. While the software is generally decent, on rare occasions a few pre-installed apps displayed full-screen ads (one was for “virus protection”). It’s crazy that Lenovo allows this kind of garbage to appear, but the easiest solution is to uninstall all bloatware.

Google Pixel tablet.

Photography: Nena Farrell

Google Pixel tablet with dock for $354: Google’s Pixel tablet (7/10, WIRED recommends) is both a tablet and a smart display. This 11-inch slate feels like a big Pixel phone, with a crisp LCD screen, good speakers, and nifty software. It works quite well thanks to the integrated Tensor G2 processor. However, it comes with a hub, so when you’re done using it as a tablet, you can dock it magnetically to start charging automatically. This hub also acts as a speaker, and because the Pixel tablet is the first tablet to natively support Google’s Cast technology, you can stream music or shows from your phone or laptop to it, resulting in better sound quality from the system. When you’re not using it, you can turn the screen into a Google Home Hub panel screensaver, allowing you to see and control your smart devices at any time. It supports multiple users with up to eight profiles, so each family member can switch to a personalized profile, securely locked by fingerprint. I don’t think it’s worth the MSRP anymore, so try buying it on sale.

OnePlusPad 2.

Photography: Julian Chokkattu

OnePlus Pad 2 for $530: OnePlus still sells the Pad 2, which is the 2024 tablet and the predecessor to the current Pad 3. The 12.1-inch screen isn’t as big and the performance is a bit below due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset inside. Still, it’s powerful enough to handle most apps and games. You’ll have a hard time finding accessories (like the keyboard), but if the Pad 3 is too expensive, this one isn’t a bad buy.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series for $703 and up: The Galaxy Tab S9 2023 series (7/10, WIRED recommends) consists of three tablets: the Tab S9, Tab S9+, and Tab S9 Ultra. They are all expensive, although prices have dropped since their release (some are harder to find). The hardware is still great, and given that the new Tab S10 and Tab S11 series aren’t drastically different, the Tab S9 series is still worth a look. They sport stunning 120Hz displays and IP68 water resistance, and Samsung includes the S Pen.

Honor the MagicPad 2 for £500: This sleek tablet is not sold in the United States. Quite similar to the OnePlus Pad 2 we recommend above, it has a truly gorgeous OLED display with impressive specs (3K resolution, 1,600 nits, 144Hz refresh rate) that aren’t usually available at this price. Paired with the eight speakers, watching movies and gaming on this tablet is a pleasure. The pen and keyboard are great (I love the handwriting and formula recognition), but they don’t seem to be available in the UK. I found Honor’s AI features, like Magic Portal, which can predict what you want to do, very useful, perhaps more so on a tablet than a phone. Battery life is good and charging is fast (66 watts). The only real weakness here is the limited processing power, which can’t compete with something like an iPad (although you’ll pay a lot more for an equivalent Apple device). —Simon Hill

Tablet accessories

Satechi aluminum desk stand.

Courtesy of Satechi

Tablets often don’t come with kickstands or enough ports, so it’s a good idea to pick up a few accessories to improve your experience. Here are some of our favorite tablet accessories, most of which you can also find in our guide to the best iPad accessories.

Satechi Aluminum Desk Stand for $40: This is my favorite tablet stand, so much so that I take it with me when traveling. It stores relatively well, and it’s very stable – there is no oscillation here. You can also adjust the angle a little. It can also handle huge sizes: it worked perfectly with my 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Logitech K380 Pebble Bluetooth Keyboard for $38: Want a simple Bluetooth keyboard for your tablet instead of spending half the price of your tablet on a keyboard case? I’ve been using the Logitech K380 for years and it works perfectly. It takes two AA batteries which I haven’t replaced yet (Logitech claims two years of use) and you can switch between three devices connected via Bluetooth.

StayGo Mini.

Courtesy of Douze Sud

Twelve South StayGo Mini USB-C Hub for $30: It works great with iPads and other tablets. You can either plug it in and hold it flush to the edge of a slate, or use the included cord to keep it extended. You have a USB-C port that you can use for direct charging, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack.

Lamicall Gooseneck Tablet Holder for $18: I’ve been using it on my bed frame to hold various tablets for over a year. The gooseneck requires a bit of manipulation to get to the right position, and if you constantly press down on the tablet it will wiggle. But it’s a great hands-free way to watch movies. You can attach the clamp to any surface, such as a desk or kitchen counter.

Twelve South HoverBar Duo Stand/Stand for $80: You can use it as a stand or an arm support, and Twelve South makes it very easy to switch between the two. This means you can easily attach your tablet to your bedside arm stand, then set it on your home office stand in the morning. Both are sturdy and the arm support is perfectly adjustable. Best of all, it doesn’t move as much as the Lamicall above when you tap the screen.

Anker Nano 3 30-watt charging adapter for $17: Most tablets charge at around 18 watts, so this 30-watt charger from Anker is more than capable. The cards fold up and it’s quite compact.

Ugreen 145 Watt Portable Charger for $70: This power bank is surprisingly compact considering its 25,000 mAh capacity. That’s enough to charge most tablets two or three times. It delivers up to 145 watts, which means it has enough power to charge even a laptop. You can charge quickly with USB-C ports and use the USB-A port on another device. A small LED indicates the current battery charge.

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