The Best Tablets of 2016
But which tablet is right for you? Whether you're eyeing an iPad, one of the many Android tablets available, or a Windows slate for productivity, here are the key factors you need to consider when shopping for a tablet, along with the top-rated models we've tested.
Choose Your Operating System
Just like with a
full-fledged computer, if you're getting a tablet, you need to pick a
camp. And just like with a computer, your decision will likely come down
to your gut feeling. Right now, the top contenders are Apple with its
iPads and Android with its many hardware choices from the likes of Acer,
Amazon, Asus, Samsung, and others. And we're seeing affordable Windows
10 tablets built around Intel's Atom processor from various
manufacturers like Acer and Asus.
Generally speaking, the greatest strength of Apple's iOS, the
operating system on the iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad Pro tablet lines,
is twofold: It's very clean and intuitive, and the wide selection of
iPad apps that you can buy right on your tablet—more than one
million iPad-specific titles at the time of this writing—work uniformly
well with very few exceptions. For more, check out our iOS 9 review.
Google's Android mobile OS gives you a choice of hardware from
several different manufacturers and offers maximum configurability, a
top-notch notification system, fast and smooth Web browsing, and
seamless integration with Google applications like Gmail, Google Maps,
and Hangouts for video chat. Android also includes support for multiple
user logins so you can share your tablet with a friend or family member,
a useful feature that's missing in Apple tablets (despite Apple's
Family Sharing, which isn't the same thing). See our Android 6.0 Marhsmallow review and our hands on look at Android 7.0 N for more.
Windows 10 comes the closest to offering a traditional computing experience with
full x86 support for all of your Windows software. And you can run the
full version of Microsoft Office when you buy a Win 10 tablet. Also,
connectivity options and hardware add-ons for Windows models are
typically more plentiful than with other tablet types. Check out our Windows 10 review for more.
What About Apps?What's a tablet without quality
apps? If you want third-party apps specifically designed for a
touch-screen interface, nothing out there beats the iPad with its huge
library of programs and games designed specifically for Apple tablets.
The App Store is well-curated and monitored, offers a deep selection,
and includes every popular app you can think of. If a wide range of
compelling apps that look good and work well your tablet is your main
priority, Apple is your best bet. For more, see The 100 Best iPad Apps.
Android has made great strides on app selection, courting more
developers and offering more high-quality tablet apps, but it's still
not as many as Apple offers. It's tough to say exactly how many
tablet-optimized Android apps are available, but it's likely in the
thousands, rather than the hundreds of thousands. There are also Android
phone apps, which look decent on a 7-inch tablet, but less so on a 9-
or 10-inch one, so you're likely to have more problems getting
high-quality apps for larger Android tablets.
Windows 10, meanwhile, offers an impressive array of more than
100,000 touch-screen-friendly tablet apps, but its real strength is in
running the millions of existing Windows desktop apps. Many of those
aren't designed for touch screens, though, and may be better handled
with an add-on keyboard and mouse.
Screen Size and Storage
This consideration is a bit obvious, but size—both screen real estate and storage capacity—is important to consider. First things first: When you hear the term "7-inch or 10-inch tablet," this refers to the size of the screen, measured diagonally, and not the size of the tablet itself. 7-inch tablets are considered small-screen, while 8.9- to 10-inch tablets are considered large-screen. Apple's iPads, Amazon's Fire, and Samsung's Note- and Tab-branded tablets all come in small- and large-screen iterations. And more than ever, phones are blurring the lines with tablets. Huge smartphones (or phablets) like the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 5£463.98 at Amazon and the Google Nexus 6P£419.01 at Amazon are challenging the need to carry a separate tablet.
This consideration is a bit obvious, but size—both screen real estate and storage capacity—is important to consider. First things first: When you hear the term "7-inch or 10-inch tablet," this refers to the size of the screen, measured diagonally, and not the size of the tablet itself. 7-inch tablets are considered small-screen, while 8.9- to 10-inch tablets are considered large-screen. Apple's iPads, Amazon's Fire, and Samsung's Note- and Tab-branded tablets all come in small- and large-screen iterations. And more than ever, phones are blurring the lines with tablets. Huge smartphones (or phablets) like the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 5£463.98 at Amazon and the Google Nexus 6P£419.01 at Amazon are challenging the need to carry a separate tablet.
Screen resolution is important too, especially for ebook reading and
Web surfing. A sharp, bright display is key. Right now, the highest
resolution you'll find is 2,732 by 2,048 pixels, on Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro. If you're in the market for a 10-inch Android tablet, look for a display with at least a 1,280-by-800 resolution.
The weight of a tablet is one definite advantage it has over a
laptop—but with large-screen tablets typically weighing around a pound,
they're not cell phone-light. After you hold one with a single hand on a
subway ride for 20 minutes, your hand will get tired. Setting one flat
in your lap, rather than propped up on a stand, can also be a little
awkward. And few tablets will fit in your pocket, unless you're wearing a
very large jacket. If you want pocketabiity, you might want to consider
one of the aforementioned phablets.
Cloud (off-device) storage is an option for many tablets (iCloud for
iPads, Amazon Cloud Storage for Fire tablets, and OneDrive for Windows),
but when it comes to onboard storage, more is always better. All those
apps, when combined with a typical music, video, and photo library, can
take up a lot of space. Right now storage tops out at 256GB of
flash-based memory, and that's only on the iPad Pro line, with most of
the tablets we've tested available in either 16, 32, or 64GB varieties.
Larger-capacity models can get as expensive as full-featured laptops,
though—the 256GB Wi-Fi-only 9.7-inch iPad Pro
rings up at $899; add 4G service, and you're up to $1,029.
Many non-Apple tablets have microSD memory card slots that let you
expand storage.
Wi-Fi-Only vs. Cellular ModelsSome tablets come
in a Wi-Fi-only model or with the option of always-on cellular service
from a wireless provider. If you want to use your tablet to get online
anywhere, you should opt for a model that offers a cellular version,
like the aforementioned iPads
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