If you’re looking for the best tablet to buy in 2021, this is our ranked and definitive list.
Our best tablet guide has recently gained a major new addition in the form of the iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) which shot straight in to first place. You can read all about what makes it so good below, and if you’re after something smaller, make sure to check back soon to see where the iPad Pro 11 (2021) ranks. There are plenty of other excellent tablets to choose from too though, such as the iPad Air 4 (2020), the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro, and the iPad mini (2019). You’ll find all of those and many more in our list below. The best tablet won’t be the same for everyone, so they’re all worth considering. Factors that you should bear in mind will include operating system, size, price, and specs. To make things easier, each entry below shows you all of those things at a glance, along with an overview highlighting why you might – or might not – like each of them. And if you don’t see anything you like, it’s worth checking back regularly, because as well as the iPad Pro 11 2021 likely being added soon, we’re also expecting other new additions throughout the year, with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 for example likely to land before the end of 2021, and that looks set to be a serious iPad Pro rival. The iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) is a spectacular tablet, with its headline feature arguably being the M1 chipset that powers it. This chipset was lifted straight from Apple’s top-end Macs, so you’re truly getting desktop power in a tablet here. But that’s not all this tablet has going for it. For the first time in an iPad, it also has a Mini LED screen, with a remarkably high 1,600-nit peak brightness, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 2048 x 2732 resolution. It’s crisp, bright, vibrant, and all-round impressive. The iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) also has a long-lasting battery, a decent camera, a premium aluminum design, and support for the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2 – these are sold separately, but turn it into a real productivity machine. So if you want to get some proper work or creation done on a tablet, or you’re just a big tablet gamer, the iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) will be the perfect device. But if your needs are lighter then you might find this too expensive and too big. Note: we’re only talking about the 12.9-inch model here. There’s also an iPad Pro 11 (2021), but we haven’t reviewed that yet. On paper it’s largely similar, but with a less impressive screen that doesn’t use Mini LED. Read the full review: iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) The iPad 10.2 (2020) isn’t the most thrilling of updates, as it’s really only a modest improvement on 2019’s iPad 10.2, but it’s still an improvement, and that makes it the best 10.2-inch iPad you can buy, and also arguably the best cheap iPad, if not quite the best tablet overall. You’ll find its predecessor down below in this list, but this tablet comes with an A12 Bionic chipset that makes it quite a bit faster than the older model. It also have a 20W charger packaged in the box, which means it’s much faster at charging than previous models. All the same great features you’d expect from an iPad of this price return here including access to iPadOS software, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support as well as strong battery life. Why shouldn’t you buy it? The selfie camera is feeling a touch tired on the iPad 10.2, plus you shouldn’t opt for the 32GB model if you want a lot of storage on your tablet.
