Best Tablets of 2025, Tested By Our Experts

If you want a device that can handle all your basic tablet-y tasks—like watching an occasional movie, browsing the internet, and playing games—it’s hard to beat Apple’s basic iPad (11th gen).

The iPad’s 10.9-inch display is vivid and touch-responsive. It also gets bright enough to be legible in direct sunlight. That’s handy for outdoor reading, at the beach or in the backyard.

In CR’s tests, the battery lasts a respectable 9.1 hours while browsing the web and 14 hours during local video playback.

If you’re an Apple lover and already own an iPhone or MacBook, you’ll find that an iPad offers seamless connectivity with your other Apple devices. You can also access the same iOS apps from the Apple app store. 

The iPad can work with Apple’s Smart Keyboard cover, which clips onto the tablet magnetically. Unlike a Bluetooth keyboard, this one doesn’t require charging or pairing—a nice convenience if you frequently use your iPad for emailing and word-processing tasks. The iPad is also compatible with Apple Pencil for handwritten notes and drawing. 

This is the newest 11th-generation device, but the 10th-generation iPad is also a solid performer, with the same bright 10.9-inch screen and a quality camera. It actually outshines the newest 2025 model by a hair in our ratings because of a higher-performing camera, but the latest generation offers longer battery life and more storage space. You can snag it at a lower cost than the newest model, particularly if buying refurbished.

If you know you want extra processing power, battery life, or a bigger display, you can also check out our recommendation for the best iPad for professionals, below.

If you’re looking for a tablet to do simple tasks, the Amazon Fire Max 11 is a solid pick. The device has an 11-inch display and is powerful enough to stream Netflix or Disney+, play simple games like Minecraft, and scroll through social media. It weighs just over 1 pound and has a battery that lasts an impressive 13.3 hours in our web-browsing test. You also get 64GB of built-in storage. 

If you want a smaller, lighter, and even less expensive Amazon Fire tablet, the Amazon Fire HD 8 (gen 12) is a good alternative. In our tests, its performance and camera both received below average scores, and the display quality is only middling. But if you plan to use a tablet for just the basics, the Amazon Fire HD 8 could do the trick and save you some money 

One notable trade-off: Fire tablets use the Amazon app store instead of the Google Play store, even though the operating system is based on Android. The Amazon app store has a significantly smaller library of apps to download.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 aces nearly all of our tests, from speed to camera quality. It’s a generation old, but it still sits near the top of our ratings among Android tablets. The 11-inch screen is bright and sharp, though the colors are slightly undersaturated. Its battery lasts a convenient 10.8 hours when browsing the web and 13.2 hours when playing video. Overall, it’s a top-notch tablet, with a premium price tag to match. If you want a larger display, Samsung also offers the Tab S9+ and Tab S9 Ultra in the same line, which have 12.4-inch and 14.6-inch screens, respectively. 

You can also get nearly the same quality at a lower price by choosing the Samsung Galaxy S9 Tab FE. It offers largely the same tablet experience but with a less impressive processor and camera. 

As a group, Samsung tablets earn top ratings for predicted reliability in CR’s member surveys, and they do better than most brands’ tablets on owner satisfaction. 

If you need something less expensive that provides Google Play access (unlike Amazon Fire tablets), you can also consider the Lenovo Tab Plus. It earns only middling scores in our performance and camera tests, but does a decent job with basic browsing, apps, and multimedia (though the display isn’t particularly impressive). It also excels in terms of battery life, lasting 14.2 hours browsing the web and 13.8 hours watching videos.

The Apple iPad Pro (13-inch) is the pinnacle of tablet performance. Its generous 13-inch display features Mini LED technology that can produce much better black levels than traditional LCD screens. (Mini LEDs are also found in some TVs and laptops.) The display produces very accurate colors, good contrast levels, and very wide viewing angles, meaning the picture is vibrant and sharp even when seen from an angle. That’s helpful if a few people are watching a movie together, or you’re using the tablet as a presentation device.

The device delivers excellent performance, as you might expect from a tablet aimed at professional users and powered by Apple’s high-performance M4 processor. Editing 4K video, playing demanding console-quality games, writing code—those tasks are all a breeze. And the iPad Pro does all this while running for an impressive 9.9 hours on a charge in CR’s web-browsing test and 21.6 hours in our video playback test.

At 1.3 pounds, it’s a larger and heavier device than some other tablets, though, so keep that in mind if you plan to carry it with you. 

The company also offers a slightly less expensive iPad Air with an M3 chip, available with either an 11-inch or 13-inch display, that sits between the iPad and iPad Pro in terms of processing power and performance.

The Amazon Fire HD 8 (gen 12) is a barebones tablet that has two great things going for it: Very long battery life (15 hours in our video playback test), and a super low price. That price, and the small size, make it a good choice for children. You can also buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet, which is the same device, but with a tough, colorful case. (CR doesn’t specifically test this model.) It also comes with either a six-month or one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ (a library of age-appropriate books, games, videos, and apps) and a 2-year guarantee. 

Depending on your child’s age, a base-level Apple iPad A16 (described above) can also be appropriate for somewhat older kids who are ready to take care of more delicate devices. Compared with the Fire tablets, the entry-level iPad provides a much better display and a more robust app store. Like Amazon Fire tablets, iPads are also able to be configured with parental controls. If you don’t want to buy a brand-new iPad for your kid, consider buying a refurbished device, which can be indistinguishable from a new one if purchased from a reputable retailer and significantly cheaper. 

For more suggestions, read our guide on the best tablets for kids.

Every year, Consumer Reports tests tablets from top brands like Amazon, Apple, and Samsung. The goal of these tests is to help you pick the right tablet for your needs and budget.

We rate tablets across a range of criteria, including performance, display quality, and predicted reliability. These criteria are scored on an ascending scale of 1 to 5, making them easy to compare and contrast from model to model. A display with a score of 5, for example, is one that’s sharp, gets bright enough to view in direct sunlight, and can accurately display colors. And a tablet with a performance score of 5 is one that will be able to easily handle demanding tasks like editing video or playing high-end video games.

We also subject tablets to rigorous battery testing, spread across three separate tests: One measures how long the tablet stays powered while browsing a web page, while a second measures how long the battery lasts while watching a video running on a loop. Finally, we see how long a tablet runs after being charged for just 30 minutes.