How much do tablets cost?
Entry-level devices with basic features cost under £100 while the premium models like Apple’s latest iPad can be well over £1000, but unless you’re doing graphic design or you’ve picked up at-home architectural drawing, you don’t need to spend that much to get a great tablet experience.
The sweet spot is around £300-£600, as that will give you decent storage for your files, a big, bright, colourful screen for watching the likes of Grand Designs on All 4, and a speedy processor for browsing your apps.
Each brand has varying accessories for each model, so the base price can increase if you want to bundle up your tablet with things like attachable keyboards, a touch-sensitive stylus, or more storage. This can bloat the price by £100 – £400 – so be prepared.
What kind of tablet should you buy?
As with smartphones, you’ll want to pick one with the operating system (OS) you prefer. There are four main ones: Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows 10 and Amazon’s Fire OS.
Each one will be preloaded with apps specific to that brand (Google Play Store and Google Chrome for Android, App Store and Safari for iOS for example), and they will also be able to link up with voice control assistants like Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant.
Our advice? Stick to what you know. For example, if you’ve got a Samsung phone, you’ll feel more at home with a Samsung tablet, and that will save you the hassle of having to relearn a new system.
Not only that but your files, accounts and even other gadgets are likely to pair seamlessly if you stick to the same OS. Apple is a great example of this, with its phones, tablets and earbuds quickly connecting with each other for ease of use.
What tablet features should you look out for?
Screen size
Tablets are roughly twice the size of some of the more recent smartphones. They are measured in inches from corner to corner, and can be as large as an A4 sheet of paper – such as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro – or as small as seven inches.
If you’re just casually using your tablet to check emails you won’t really need anything bigger than nine inches, but if you plan on using it for watching movies or as a work device, get something between 10 and 12 inches. In our opinion, 8-11 inches is the sweet spot.
Processor
This is the clever part of the tablet that manages speed, tasks and apps. This isn’t much of a consideration for most, as even ageing processors from several years ago are enough to run Netflix or play a few games.
Generally, the more expensive tablets or new a tablet is, the better the processor will be: apps open faster, you are unlikely to suffer lags when gaming and the display feels more responsive to touch.
Storage
You’ve got to have somewhere to store pictures, videos and apps, right? Each tablet has internal storage to keep files, and some have slots for a microSD card to add more space if that gets filled. Affordable slates start at 8GB (enough for around 1,000 pictures), doubling in capacity to 16GB, through to 256GB and up.
High-end slates go up to multiple terabytes, but you’re unlikely to need that. Staying around 64GB to 256Gb is more than enough for most people, but you could also choose to opt for cloud storage, such as Microsoft OneDrive or Apple iCloud, which often have free tiers but any significant amount will require to pay a monthly fee.
Cameras
Tablets are a great way to keep in contact with loved ones, as all have a camera to take and send pictures or make video calls using Skype or chat apps. Each device will have varying degrees of quality in their lenses, but will be enough to be seen clearly on calls. Most also have a front-facing camera, too.
Megapixels (MP) are a measure of the number of pixels rather than their actual quality. But a higher count, anything above 8MP, is a good hint that you’re dealing with a more powerful camera set-up.
Weight
Tablets are always a little bigger than your average phone, meaning they might put more strain on your wrists if you’re holding them all day.
Make sure you pick up something that is relatively lightweight if you plan on using the slate for travelling or commuting as it will need to be comfortable to hold for a long time.
Battery
Your tablet will only last so long before it needs a charge again, and that will vary largely based on how often you use it, particularly if watching lots of video content like Netflix or Disney+.
Most of our picks will have between five and 15 hours of battery before you need to plug them into a wall to recharge. The more recent tablets use USB-C charging, which is an updated cable that helps you get your power back quicker. However, these devices will require a plug that can fit the USB-C cable, so keep that in mind.
