Your guide to the latest and best Windows tablets for 2017. Check out our latest reviews and buyer’s guide for the top Windows tablets for this year
We’ve reviewed and ranked the best Windows tablets you can buy today in the UK, but check out this buying advice before spending your money.
Windows tablets have — over the last few years — been gaining in popularity, although they represent less than a quarter of the whole tablet market.
Because they run Windows most models come with a keyboard, although strangely not Microsoft’s Surface Pro — you usually have to buy the keyboard separately. Whether you want to work or play, you’ll find something here to suit your budget.
If you don’t really need to get any work done on your tablet, an iPad or and Android tablet might suit you better, so check out our list of the best tablets, and also the best new tablets coming in 2018 .
Unlike the alternatives tablets running Windows 10 offer true portable computing on the move. Microsoft’s own Surface Pro, for example, is as powerful as many desktop PCs, and it offers decent battery life. You can install proper Windows software on it, and perform any task for which you would normally rely on a desktop PC. All it will fit into any man bag.
The Surface Pro line offers the best of all worlds, with relatively little sacrifice. If you can afford one and you really want one device for everything, it is a great purchase now that the new Surface Pro is available, and the Surface Pro 4 has dropped in price. Bearing in mind that the new version doesn’t include a stylus in the box, it could be that the older version works out better value for you.
You’ll note in our chart below that not all the devices look the same. That’s because Windows offers manufacturers flexibility of form. Some Windows tablets are tiny portable devices. Others are more like laptops which can also be used like tablets. These are often called 2-in-1s or hybrids.
Just remember that by its very nature a tablet should be a flexible and portable device. So ask yourself whether you need a keyboard (and if so whether an ultraportable laptop would be a better idea). How big a screen do you need, and how much weight are you prepared to carry? Hybrid devices can seem like the best of all worlds, but they tend to be equally imperfect as laptops and tablets — how often will you transform their functions in your daily life?
If anything in the list below grabs your attention, read the full review in detail, and the answers to these and other questions should become clear. If you specifically want a 2-in-1 device then check out our best convertible tablets chart.
