Best small tablets

Small tablets are easier to hold, lighter and cheaper than their big-screen counterparts, and are comparable to a large smartphone, but without the phone calling capabilities. If a smaller size is important to you or your child, below are some suitable devices to choose from.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4 (2020)

When it comes to Samsung tablets for kids, the safest bet is going with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A series, which have both large and small screen size options, the 2020 one sporting an 8.4-inch screen.

The Galaxy Tab A 8.4 is well suited for basic entertainment, such as streaming movies or YouTube videos and playing light games, and has a modern, attractive curved-edge design. In addition to all that, it’s perfect for reading.

The device also supports Samsung Kids, a feature that lets parents create a safe online environment for their children, in addition to providing other useful parental controls such as the option to set a play time limit or see the tablet’s daily usage statistics.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.4 on Samsung.com

Apple iPad Mini 5

When it comes to raw power in a tiny package, almost nothing on this list beats the A12 Bionic chip inside the iPad Mini 5, capable of playing any iOS game at high settings flawlessly.

Sporting a 7.9-inch display and weighing just about 300 grams, in addition to supporting the (first-generation) Apple Pencil, the iPad Mini 5 could be a great tablet for video and a suitable tablet for school.

Apple also includes parental controls on its devices, letting parents set content and privacy restrictions, as well as daily screen time limits. In addition to that, gamers may be interested in an Apple Arcade subscription, which allows for access to over 100 ad-free games, many suitable for kids of any age.

Buy the Apple iPad Mini 5 on Best Buy

Amazon Fire HD 8

Amazon’s super affordable 8-inch tablet features easy-to-use parental controls, and with an optional subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, kids can enjoy over 20,000 kid-friendly titles, including books, games, educational apps, movies, TV shows and more.

Instead of the usual Android, Amazon’s Fire tablets run on Fire OS, which is based on Android, but has a more user-friendly UI and its own app store.

Buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 on Amazon

Best cheap tablets

Here we’ll take a look at cheaper tablets with larger screens, better suited for longer content watching sessions.

Apple iPad 10.2 (2019)

Arguably the overall best tablet on this list, the base 2019 iPad is a powerful, affordable 10.2-inch option perfect for entertainment and even education, thanks to its support for the first-generation Apple Pencil, as well as a perfectly suitable gaming tablet.

Despite its low cost, it runs popular games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, PubG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile on mid to high settings with no problems.

If size isn’t an issue, as it’s quite a large device, and weighs 483 grams, about as much as two large phones put together, this iPad may be the best match for most uses and users, and the best bang for your buck on this list.

Like with the iPad Mini 5, parental controls are available, as well the option for an Apple Arcade subscription.

Buy the Apple iPad 10.2 (2019) on Walmart

Amazon Fire HD 10

The Fire HD 10 features a 10.1-inch Full HD display, and much like the Fire HD 8, it has easy parental controls and plenty of child-friendly content that can be accessed via an Amazon FreeTime Unlimited subscription.

It’s also a good tablet for light gaming, reading and watching online entertainment at 1080p HD. Its 2 gigabytes of RAM don’t sound like much, but Amazon’s Fire operating system is well optimized, so it generally performs very well. Despite using its own app store and not Google Play, streaming services such as Amazon Video, Netflix, HBO NOW, and more are all available.

Buy the Amazon Fire HD 10 on Amazon

onn. 10.1″ Tablet Pro

Walmart has its own brand of highly affordable tablets, with the onn. 10.1″ Tablet Pro featuring decent specs for its highly competitive price.

With 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and Android 10 on board, it’s a suitable device for watching online entertainment and light gaming. Also, Android 10 comes with handy parental control features built into its Digital Wellbeing settings app.

Buy the onn. 10.1″ Tablet Pro on Walmart

Best tablets for gaming

When it comes to quality mobile gaming, the options available are expectedly more pricey, as tablets need to pack the flagship specifications required for running heavy games at their highest quality settings.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

Arguably the best Android tablet available, the Tab S6 features a large, gorgeous 10.5-inch AMOLED display and excels in both work and play. Its built-in S Pen makes it a great writing and drawing tool, while its support for Samsung DeX and keyboard cases can easily turn it into a computer replacement.

As its price suggests, it’s also packing strong internals, making it well capable of playing all trendy games at high graphics settings. In addition, this tablet’s generous storage options are easily going to fit plenty of large console-quality games, along with many movies, music and anything else.

As previously mentioned, Samsung devices also support Samsung Kids, which features a plethora of useful parental controls.

Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2020)

If price isn’t an issue and you’re looking for the one tablet that can do everything effortlessly, the iPad Pro is the most future-proof, overkill tablet available.

With specs that rival or beat many computers and laptops, and crush any other tablets, it not only can play any game available on iOS at its highest settings, but is suitable for a wide range of work. Especially with the optional second-generation Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro is great for school work, video editing, drawing and more.

It has a bright, large 12.9-inch display (an 11-inch model is also available), high quality cameras for photos and video recording, five studio-quality microphones, and support for the newer, second-generation Apple Pencil, along with support for keyboard cases.

Newer iPads such as this one and the previously-mentioned base iPad also support certain gamepads, like the PlayStation DualShock 4 or Xbox Wireless Controller, for the perfect gaming experience.

The older 2017 iPad Pro is also available as a cheaper tablet alternative to this one, either refurbished or new. Despite its age and older design, it too has Apple Pencil support (first generation) and enough power to perform almost identically to the 2020 model. 

Buy the Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2020) on Best Buy