The best tablets in 2025

Let's face it. The Apple iPad is the gold standard. Even if you're a Windows or Android user, the iPad is still the No. 1 name. Every other tablet is either made in the mould of the iPad or defined in opposition to it. When it comes to the interface, build quality, and app selection, the iPad just wins every time.

This 10th generation iPad has undergone a bit of an upgrade, with a new design, better screen, stereo sound, a faster A14 Bionic chip, and souped-up cameras. And the price has come down since it was first introduced.

There are more powerful tablets out there — including its big brother, the iPad Pro — but 4GB of memory and up to 256GB of storage will be more than enough for casual users. And it easily syncs with other Apple devices.

When the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 hit shelves in 2023, it was a noticeable upgrade on the previous Tab model, largely thanks to its dazzling Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU and 11-inch AMOLED display. And if graphic design is your thing — or perhaps you’re an enthusiastic note-taker — it comes with Samsung’s S-Pen, which has super low latency for slick, fluid artistry.

Being a true alternative to the iPad, the Galaxy Tab S9 is a sensible choice if you’re already stocked with a Samsung Galaxy phone and earbuds. Just like Apple, its devices sync seamlessly for an all-encompassing ecosystem.

This tablet is all about big performance — immersive game playing, pro-level creative apps, and Vision Booster viewing for bright days — but if you want something bigger still, you can try the Galaxy Tab S9+ or Tab S9 Ultra.

Armed with a Full HD 10-inch touchscreen display, the Amazon Fire HD 10 delivers crisp images and videos. Not only can it play Full HD movies, it also plays music from Amazon Music, runs mobile games from the Amazon App Store, and doubles as a hands-free smart home hub with built-in Alexa. Not even the Apple iPad can do the smart home thing like the Fire HD 10.

The tablet comes in 32GB and 64GB varieties, but it's also expandable up to a whopping 256GB with a microSD card.

If you're a Prime member, then you'll also get access to thousands of books, magazines, songs, movies, and TV shows for free. The Fire HD 10 can do so much for under £160 that it's really a steal. There is a more advanced version available, the Fire Max 11, though the reviews aren't quite as strong when you factor in the extra expense.

Meet the all-new Microsoft Surface Pro, the first of a new AI-enabled generation of Microsoft Surface (actually the 11th gen). It uses Copilot+ PC, which powers this 2-in-1 tablet's selection of AI features.

The big AI selling point is feature called Recall, which saves snapshots of your screen every few seconds, allowing you to easily search for specific screens you've visited or worked on from apps, websites, and documents. Simply describe text or imagery and Recall will pull it up for you.

After a troubled start for the software, some reviewers think it's surplus to requirements. But this tablet also does the basics very, very well indeed.

It's super fast thanks to a Snapdragon X Elite CPU, and it has an immense battery life. It a comes with a metal kickstand and detachable keyboard so you can set it up like a regular laptop, while the front and rear facing cameras are also AI assisted, giving you the best possible images and audio.

Samsung's mission to topple the mighty iPad continues with this latest effort, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10+. And Samsung might have achieved it this time around. For anyone willing to consider that Apple isn't the be all and end all, the Galaxy Tab 10+ could be the best of the bunch.

It's not cheap but it has plenty of power, which comes courtesy of its MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ CPU. This givea you plenty of oomph for creative tasks and gaming, with superb graphics and fast performance overall.

We're also impressed by its AI features. These features include Google's innovative "circle to search" function, a series of "Assist" functions for various tasks, and improved image editing. Overall, it's a bit of a unit — and we'd like a bit more battery for the size — but it's the best Android tablet you'll find.

There's a lot of hype surrounding the Apple iPad Pro, and it's well-deserved. In fact, it's the best tablet that Apple has ever made.

The 11-inch liquid retina display is nearly edge-to-edge. Its "ProMotion" technology helps make it seamless to draw on and its True Tone colour helps make it pop. Powered by the Apple M4 chip — with up to 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage — the iPad Pro is particularly suited to Adobe creativity apps. And while the 10-hour battery life isn't the best you'll find, it's still solid.

One downside of the iPad Pro is that you have to purchase an Apple Pencil to draw and sketch with it. This is an additional cost, but it's an investment worth taking on to get the most out of the iPad Pro.

The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is basic but it gets the job done for young kids. It ships with a colourful and durable "kid-proof" case and has a two-year worry-free guarantee. If something happens to the tablet during that timeframe, Amazon will replace it with no questions asked.

The tablet comes with a free year of Amazon Kids+, which offers more than 20,000 books, movies, TV shows, and games made for kids. It’s safe too. Amazon Kids+ users can't use Alexa or social media, or make in-app purchases without a parent approving. It's super-safe for little ones.

Parents are also able to set restrictions on screen time, permissible websites, and curfews for each user. Speaking of users, there can be up to four different child profiles, so it will keep your entire brood entertained.

The Lenovo Tab M11 is an impressive device for the money. Powered by Android, you have access to the Google Play store and while there are obvious compromises at this price, it has a respectable array of features in its own right. And its 10-hour battery will outlast some of the more expensive options.

It's actually made with families in mind — perfect if you need a device that will entertain the kids and help with their learning. You get child-specific features and parental controls via the Google Kids app.

And for anyone who uses their tablet to stream movies, the Lenovo Tab M11 is geared towards the cinema experience — as much as it can at 11 inches, at least. It has a dedicated cinematic mode, which is bolstered with Dolby Atmos-tuned quad-speakers and vibrant visuals. It also comes with a stylus for note-taking and sketching, plus a smart scanner feature for managing and converting files. Overall, this tablet great little all-rounder — excellent value for money.