The Best Tablets for Streaming, Gaming, Work, and More

It’s hard to argue against the tried and true original Apple iPad, and its colorful 10th gen iteration brings a new design with a faster chip to make it as powerful as ever. You finally lose the home button with Apple opting to put Touch ID on the power button, giving you more Liquid Retina—though still not fully laminated—screen space to play around with. And there’s a good deal of oomph behind that display to handle multitasking and some light gaming with ease thanks to the A14 Bionic chip, though we question why Apple decided against using the newer A15 chip.

Now, the 10th gen Apple iPad continues to remain affordable like previous generations of the tablet, coming in well under $500, but that does mean it has some tradeoffs. This device only works with Apple’s Magic Keyboard, not the more affordable Smart Keyboard. You also don’t get support for the feature-full 2nd gen Apple Pencil, only the first gen, and you’ll need to grab a $9 adapter just to charge it. Or you could just, you know, grab one of the dozens of Apple Pencil alternatives out there instead.

See our guide to the best iPad models for more options.

I’m not convinced there’s any Android tablet worth spending $1,000 on — sorry, Samsung, but at that price you can get a competent 2-in-1 Windows machine that will have clearer longevity (like the Asus ProArt PZ13). And many of the cheaper options out raise a lot of concerns. But the OnePlus Pad 2 is neither a shoddy budget Android tablet nor an unreasonably expensive one, and it brings a ton to the tablet. It pulls on its flagship-killer roots to prove a tablet that won’t leave you wanting for much more.

First, it comes packing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which was the flagship chipset from Qualcomm for mobile devices until very recently and has yet to be supplanted in tablets. This gives the OnePlus Pad 2 excellent performance. 12GB of memory also helps it better keep up with the multitasking you’re liable to get up to on a tablet, which has a bigger screen better up to the task.

Speaking of screens, the OnePlus Pad 2 packs in a sizable 12.1 inch display with a 2120x3000 resolution. It may only be an IPS panel, but it offers a 900-nit peak brightness and 144Hz refresh rate. That makes for easier visibility and smoother motion across the board. That 144Hz refresh rate can also help in the inking experience, as the OnePlus Pad 2 works with a stylus (that also charges while magnetically attached to the tablet — take a note, Apple).

The OnePlus Pad 2 even gets decent treatment where software is concerned. OnePlus launched it on Android 14 and promised 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates. In a market of tablets launching on outdated operating systems with next to no promise of updates, it’s refreshing to see an option that’s not destined to be outdated right out of the gate.

While the OnePlus Pad 2 launched at $550 and still proved a good value at the price, it has more often been running for $450 from OnePlus lately, and can include a free accessory, like the keyboard case.

When I first opened the iPad Pro, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Apple was branding it as a permanent workstation replacement, but it still wasn't running Finder or the desktop applications I would want in that kind of device. However, after a month of using the iPad Pro, it's become one of my go-to daily devices. The Tandem OLED display alone is enough to get most people hooked, even if the price tag makes you wince a bit.

The iPad Pro with an M4 is quite simply the most powerful tablet on the market right now. The M4 that powers the thing is packed with an 8-core CPU clocked at 3.49GHz, which is accompanied by a 10-core GPU that will make easy work of any game you throw at it. Just keep in mind, however, that the amount of RAM you get depends on the storage configuration you go with. As long as you get a 1TB model, you're getting a respectable 16GB of RAM, but the 512GB and 256GB models will have to make do with half the memory. If you're not planning to use the iPad Pro for heavy creative workloads, this is going to be a non-issue. After all, iPadOS isn't exactly known for being super memory-intensive. If you're doing a lot of work in Photoshop or Premiere, you're going to feel it, though.

Artists will also want to pair this tablet with the Apple Pencil Pro, or one of the myriad Apple Pencil alternatives out there. With a stylus in hand, the iPad Pro becomes an incredible creative powerhouse, even with the limits that come with working with what's essentially a souped-up version of iOS.

Apple put together a wonderful little package with the 2024 iPad Air. It upgraded from its predecessors with a thinner design, a selfie camera upgrade, and a newer chip under the hood. You can snag the iPad Air with either an 11-inch or 13-inch display, and beyond a corresponding adjustment to resolution, most of the specs of the two tablets otherwise remain the same. Either option gets you an Apple M2 chip backed by 8GB of memory. In our testing, we found this provided ample performance for everyday uses, like streaming movies and browsing, and it even held up for extended gaming sessions in Zenless Zones Zeroes. The thin design of the tablet can result in some heat build-up though, so be mindful of that if you’re looking to do serious gaming.

The new design of the iPad Air trims its depth down to just 6.1mm, which is even thinner than an iPhone 16. Between that and the tablet weighing just a hair over one pound, it’s exceptionally portable, which you should want from your tablet. It’s also boasting a quality build with an aluminum frame and back — not that I’d expect any less from Apple.

The display on the iPad Air isn’t as bright as some of its competition, hitting 500 nits, but it offers a wide color gamut that looks great for TV and movies. It also works well with the Apple Pencil Pro, providing smooth inking for drawing and note taking. And, for those looking to incorporate the tablet into a broader device ecosystem, you’ll get the benefit of a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port on the bottom of the tablet, supporting faster data transfers and DisplayPort output.

The original iPad is back and better than ever, with much snappier performance, an upgraded front-facing camera for all your FaceTime needs, and a display that now touts Apple’s True Tone technology. In the shadow of Apple's newer and mightier chips, the A13 Bionic on this 2021 iPad might seem a tad late to the party.

However, it’s plenty powerful for the rest of the tablet users who mostly rely on their devices for casual, everyday tasks like doing video calls with friends and family, streaming shows and movies, gaming, and sending the occasional email. Luckily, it’s also cheaper than the rest of Apple’s tablet offerings, which means it’s the best value for most people.