They don’t have the highest-resolution displays, but you’re unlikely to notice if you’re mostly reading.Īs described above, some small tablets sell for less than $100, but they come with compromises. You can save some money with a tablet from Amazon if you’re planning on relatively simple tasks such as reading e-books or streaming video, with some casual web browsing and social media use on the side. Of course, larger displays can provide a better experience for watching movies, reading, or using productivity and art apps, but they’re not as easy to transport as smaller tablets. Many are very thin, and most have at least 10 hours of battery life. Most tablets with displays 8 inches or smaller weigh well under a pound.

We buy every product we rate, from SUVs to laptops to printers. And for our favorite picks, view our list of the best tablets in CR’s ratings.Ĭonsumer Reports is a nonprofit member organization that works to create a fairer marketplace. You can also check out our tablet ratings, where you’ll find options from Amazon, Apple, Samsung, and other brands. Pay too little and you could end up making the wrong compromises: a mediocre screen on a device you’re buying for movie-watching or paltry battery life in a tablet destined for life on the road.īelow you’ll find some of the major questions you should ask yourself while shopping for a tablet. Pay too much and you may be wasting money on advanced features you don’t care about. For most people they’re relaxation devices, best suited for moments spent reading in a café or on the beach, watching movies on a plane, or checking Facebook while dinner’s in the oven.įor such simple devices, it can be surprisingly difficult to know how much to spend on a new tablet, with prices ranging from less than $100 to more than $1,000. Laptops are still our workhorses and our phones are indispensable, but tablets, by comparison, are decidedly optional. Instead, over the past dozen years tablets have settled into a comfortable role as a third screen. But that vision, articulated by Steve Jobs when Apple launched the first iPad in 2010, hasn’t come to fruition.

Tablets were once looked at as a technology that could replace the laptop-or at least compete with it-eliminating the need for mice and keyboards.

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