The 10 best tablets you can buy right now

The 10 best tablets you can buy right now

Tablets might not be top of the tech pile any more, but that doesn’t mean a good chunk of people don’t want them: with bigger screens than your average smartphone and better battery to boot, they remain a stellar way to stream, doodle and, well, do just about anything else you can find an app for. With that in mind, here are the 10 best tablets you can buy right now.

10) Lenovo Yoga Book with Android

There’s never been a hybrid laptop or tablet that felt quite as complete as the Yoga Book. It’s slim and light enough to lug around in one hand, but folds out when it’s time to type or draw. Android isn’t as flexible as Windows when it comes to art apps, but this is still the closest we’ve come to a completely digital doodle pad – and we love it in spite of a few flaws. The charmingly clever keyboard should be a real draw for artists. It’s not time to ditch pen and paper for good just yet, especially if you don’t use a stylus already (it won’t make you want to switch) but as a flexible 2-in-1, there’s nothing better.

9) Asus Zenpad S 8.0

It’ll cost you less than £200/$200, but the Zenpad S 8.0 still packs an iPad Mini-grade sharp screen with vivid colour and good contrast. It’s dead slim and light too. 7.9mm and 316g, this feels like a tablet that want to be taken everywhere. And while battery life doesn’t quite match an iPad, that you still get 8 and a half hours of video between charges. Yes, the software gets a bit annoying with app clutter, and the buttons on the side feel worryingly spongy a lot of the time. All the same, it remains a top affordable tablet for those who fancy a nice display but aren’t willing to pay through the nose for it.

8) Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro 10.8

The MediaPad M5 Pro is not a cheap tablet. But it is a lot more affordable than an iPad Pro 9.7, and a chunk cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 too. What’s not to like? Well, the screen isn’t immediately as impressive as those models, and there’s no headphone jack. However, this is more powerful than either, battery life is decent and a great speaker array makes this perfect for those YouTube deep dives when you want to veg out but can’t find anything on Netflix. It might not bury the iPad Pro, but it gets you similar skills for hundreds less.

7) Apple iPad Pro 12.9

The iPad Pro is not for everyone. If you don’t see the value of owning such a large tablet, then its generous curves won’t be enough to persuade you to buy one. Because it runs on iOS 9, the iPad Pro isn’t as serious a device as the Surface Pro 4. It means business, but works even better as a premium entertainment hub. It’s the perfect digital coffee table book that just about doubles as a laptop. So long as you can get by with the app-based incarnations of desktop software like PhotoShop and Excel. If you’re happy to pay a high price for this limited functionality, then make sure you pick up a Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil with your iPad Pro.

6) Google Pixel C

At a smidgen over £500/$550 with keyboard, the Pixel C is a heap cheaper than a keyboard-equiped iPad Pro or Surface Pro 4. Only the Surface 3 can compete on price. That said, the machines that may have more to learn from this tasty little workhorse aren’t necessarily other convertibles, but Chromebooks. They now outsell Windows laptops, but Chromebooks are still growing in popularity because they’re simple and affordable. The Pixel C hasn’t seen hordes of Android faithful turning in their laptops for tablets, admittedly – but it’s still a great tabtop, and continued software updates have kept those early adopters happy.

5) Amazon Fire 7 (2017)

It’s almost impossible to judge the Amazon Fire 7 outside of its price tag. Not that we’d do that anyway – after all, our job is to help you decide whether to buy one. And the answer is that unless you really want a premium tablet experience, you should definitely buy one. Look, it’s £50/$50. What else are you going to do with that? Probably fritter it. Yeah, it’s full of compromises – the screen is poor, it’s slow, and Amazon’s Appstore is way too locked-down. But most of the things you’d want to do with the Fire 7 aren’t majorly hampered by those flaws.

4) Samsung Galaxy Book 10.6

Whether you’re a doodler, note taker or digital artist, it’s the S Pen’s inclusion that makes all the difference to the smaller Galaxy Book. It doesn’t have the same gorgeous, HDR-ready screen as its bigger brother. It’s down on power, and that keyboard cover isn’t as sturdy as we’d like, but for the price, the 10.6in model still makes sense. Having everything included in the box means you could happily use it all day for work, then detach the keyboard and binge on Netflix into the early hours – without having to buy all the accessories first.

3) Apple iPad (2017)

Read what you like into Apple’s branding, but with this latest iPad being short of any modifier (Air! Mini! Pro! Just Buy It Already!), it feels like Apple’s saying this is the iPad for almost everyone. If you want something smaller, buy a mini, and if you need a Pencil, grab a Pro, otherwise just get this iPad. Is it the best iPad? No. That accolade still rightly belongs to the Pro. And occasionally, Apple should perhaps have reconsidered some of its cost-cutting decisions (such as the particularly reflective screen). On the whole, though, it’s hard to grumble at the new iPad’s marriage of form factor, power, app ecosystem, and price.

2) Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

Do you want the best Android tablet around? Well, this is it. The Tab S3 is plenty powerful, has a gorgeous screen, and the bundled stylus is a welcome little extra that you don’t have to be an artist to an appreciate. It doesn’t do half-measures – something that’s still surprisingly rare in an Android tablet. We’re used to seeing corners cut, or build quality not quite living up to expectations, but Samsung has managed to get pretty much everything right. The gorgeous screen really could make it become your go-to device for video, and the S-Pen/keyboard combination make it a viable work machine, too.

1) Apple iPad Pro 10.5 (2017)

Last year’s iPad Pro 9.7 was already the best tablet you could buy. Apple could have slapped on a few minor upgrades and called it a day – but this new model is so much more than that. The iPad Pro 10.5 is immensely powerful, with a stunning screen and focus on productivity you simply won’t find in any other tablet. Yes, for watching movies, scrolling through social media or general web browsing, this is beyond overkill – anyone after a multimedia machine should stick with the standard iPad, and save themselves some cash. For those more interested in creation than consumption, though, this is the iPad to buy – even if the price can hit eye-watering levels.