The 8 best tablets of 2025: I compared iPads, the Microsoft Surface Pro, and Amazon Fire
Even if you have a very capable smartphone and a nice laptop, a tablet can still be worth adding to your tech arsenal. A touchscreen that can be carried anywhere makes for a portable studio for creatives, a crucial sidekick for frequent travelers, and an e-reader for book lovers. These days, tablets are basically just laptops anyway.
Whether you’re looking for a kid-friendly tablet or a compact laptop replacement, there are plenty of excellent options out there. If you’re not exactly sure which tablet you should buy, we’ve got one simple question to help narrow down your search: Are you an Apple person? We tested the entire iPad lineup, and though iPads are our preferred tablets in 2025, we also love some of the best tablets from Samsung, Lenovo, and Microsoft. So, whatever your preferences, we’ve got a tablet to recommend.
Recent additions to this guide:
Oct. 28, 2025: We’ve added the Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 tablet to this guide; it’s an excellent Android gaming tablet, but is suitable for anyone in the market for an Android tablet.
Nov. 5, 2025: After spending several weeks with the Samsung Galaxy S11 Ultra, we were impressed by its performance. We’ve added it to this guide as the best Android tablet for professionals, as its oversized screen is overkill for the average tablet user.
Mashable
