Other Tablets to Consider
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
We test tons of tablets every year. Here are a few others we like, just not as much as our picks above.
Nubia Redmagic Nova Gaming Tablet for $649: I’ve enjoyed using this Android tablet from Nubia (formerly a subsidiary of ZTE) for several weeks. The transparent design elements on the back are fun, and the 10.9-inch LCD screen is a nice size. Performance is smooth with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset paired with 12 GB of RAM, and the 144-Hz screen refresh rate keeps things looking buttery smooth. I’ve played a few hours of Kingshot with no issues, though the back of the tablet gets quite warm. I also edited several RAW photos from my mirrorless camera on Lightroom Classic. My main qualms? Nubia’s software isn’t my favorite (it’s not my favorite design, and there’s a lot of bloatware). And the company is only promising one OS update and two years of security updates, and that’s terrible for a slate that costs this much.
OnePlus Pad for $450: The OnePlus Pad has a successor, but OnePlus says it will continue to sell the OnePlus Pad until stock runs out. It’s a great tablet, though less so at its $450 price (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Try and wait for a sale. Multitasking is notably efficient, aided by the company’s accessories: a Magnetic Keyboard case and a stylus. It was the first time I felt comfortable working for long stretches on an Android tablet. The 11.61-inch LCD 144-Hz display is sharp, fluid, and colorful, the battery can last nearly a full workday, and performance is smooth. It’s a shame there’s no microSD slot, headphone jack, or biometric authentication.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus for $550: The Galaxy Tab S9 FE is the “Fan Edition” version of the flagship Tab S9 series, meaning it makes some sacrifices for a more palatable price. It now has a successor—the Tab S10 FE series—but I haven’t tested it yet. The S9 FE comes in a Plus and standard variant—I tested the former—and both include a stylus. It performed much better than the older Tab S7 FE tablet with fewer stutters. The 12.4-inch LCD screen is large and a rarity to find at this price in the Android world, but it’s a bit tricky to comfortably hold, especially when browsing apps in bed. It has dipped to $400, so try to catch it on sale. At $550, you may as well buy the newer Tab S10 FE.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Series for $675+: The 2023 Galaxy Tab S9 series (7/10, WIRED Recommends) consists of three tablets: the Tab S9, Tab S9+, and Tab S9 Ultra. They’re all expensive, though prices have come down since their release (the Ultra is no longer available). The hardware is still excellent, and considering the newer Tab S10 series isn’t dramatically different, the Tab S9 series is still worth a look. They sport superbright 120-Hz screens and IP68 water resistance, and Samsung includes the S Pen stylus.
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Photograph: Amazon; Getty Images
Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) for $140: This Amazon tablet drops to $75 on sale, and that’s a hard-to-beat price. The update over the 2021 model is largely just a processor bump, making it slightly faster. Its performance is decent (get the keyboard bundle if you plan to do some light typing tasks).
Poco Pad for £239: This affordable tablet from Xiaomi’s fun budget sub-brand has a lovely big, sharp 12.1-inch display with a 120-Hz refresh rate and four stereo speakers around the sides. The Poco’s build quality is impressive for the price, though it is quite bulky and heavy, and it’s ideal for watching movies or casual gaming in bed. Performance gets stretched if you play anything too demanding, and HyperOS on top of Android 14 can be clumsy and ugly. The battery life is pleasing, and you can expect several days from the Poco Pad with light use. Unfortunately, it’s not currently available in the US. —Simon Hill
Honor MagicPad 2 for £400: This classy tablet is also not currently sold in the US. Quite similar to the OnePlus Pad 2 we recommend above, it boasts a truly gorgeous OLED display with impressive specs (3K resolution, 1,600 nits, 144-Hz refresh rate) that are generally unavailable at this price. Paired with the eight speakers, watching movies and gaming on this tablet is a pleasure. The stylus and keyboard are great (I love the handwriting and formula recognition), but they don’t seem to be available in the UK. I found Honor’s AI features, like Magic Portal, which gets good at predicting what you want to do, very useful, maybe more so on a tablet than a phone. Battery life is good, and charging is speedy (66 watts). The only real weakness here is the limited processing power, which can’t match something like an iPad (though you will pay a lot more for an equivalent Apple device). —Simon Hill
Tablet Accessories
Tablets often don’t come with kickstands or enough ports, so it’s a good idea to snag a few accessories to enhance your experience. These are some of our favorite tablet accessories, many of which you can also find in our Best iPad Accessories guide.
Satechi Aluminum Desktop Stand for $45: This is my favorite tablet stand, so much so that I’ve taken it with me on trips. It packs down relatively well, and it is very stable—there’s no wobbling around here. You can also adjust the angle quite a bit. It can handle huge sizes too—it worked perfectly with my 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Logitech K380 Pebble Bluetooth Keyboard for $40: Want a simple Bluetooth keyboard for your tablet instead of spending half the price of your tablet on a keyboard case? I’ve used Logitech’s K380 for years and it’s functioned perfectly. It takes two AA batteries that I’ve yet to replace (Logitech claims two years of use), and you can switch between three connected devices via Bluetooth.
Twelve South StayGo Mini USB-C Hub for $60: This works with iPads and other tablets just fine. You can either plug it in and keep it flush with the edge of a slate or use the included cord to keep it extended. You get a USB-C port you can use for pass-through charging, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack.
Lamicall Gooseneck Tablet Holder for $22: I’ve used this on my bed frame to hold up various tablets for more than a year. The gooseneck requires a bit of finagling to get to the right position, and if you’re constantly tapping the tablet, it will jiggle around. But it’s a great hands-free way to watch movies. You can affix the clamp to any surface, like a desk or kitchen counter.
Twelve South HoverBar Duo Mount/Stand for $80: You can use this as a stand or as an arm mount, and Twelve South makes it really easy to switch between the two. That means you can easily affix your tablet to your bedside arm mount and then put it on the stand in your home office in the morning. Both are sturdy, and the arm mount is decently adjustable. Best of all, it doesn’t wiggle around as much as the Lamicall above when you tap the screen.
Anker Nano 3 30-Watt Charging Adapter for $20: Most tablets charge at around 18 watts, so this 30-watt charger from Anker is more than capable. The plugs fold up, and it’s pretty compact. If your tablet does support faster charging, then I recommend Satechi’s 108-watt three-port USB-C charger ($75). This will let you charge your phone, tablet, and laptop all off the same plug.
Ugreen 145-Watt Portable Charger for $75: This power bank is surprisingly compact considering its 25,000-mAh capacity. That’s enough to recharge most tablets two or three times. It dishes out up to 145 watts, meaning it has plenty of power to recharge even a laptop. You can fast-charge with the USB-C ports and use the USB-A port on another device. There’s a small LED that shows the battery’s current charge.
