With many tablet Buyers opting for Apple iPads (including iPad mini, iPad Air), the Android tablet market isn’t necessarily the first place people look at the market or on a new tablet. Fewer and fewer manufacturers are now even producing them. But that doesn’t mean that there are quite a few good Android tablets that do their best to keep up with the Apple iPad.
While some question a prospective Android tablet buyer’s reason, a good one can perform a number of tasks for any professional or occasional need, and in some cases do things an iPad or iPad Air still can’t work with, such as: a touchpad or a mouse. If you’re already invested in the Android app ecosystem, you don’t need to buy it again for iOS. Whether you’re looking for an inexpensive device for media consumption or a potential laptop replacement, there are options worth exploring. We did the research, taking everything from screen size to battery life to ease of use – basically all the factors that make a great tablet. Here are our tips for the best Android tablet out there.
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The Google Pixel Slate tries to reconcile the iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface Pro and Microsoft Surface Pro by bringing a tablet and a Chromebook together in a single device – a kind of tablet PC, if you like. Although it’s not a full Android tablet (and it certainly isn’t a cheap Android tablet), you have access to the apps in the Google Play Store and have enough power to use them here. It comes with a pen and has a 48 Wh battery, front and rear cameras, and a touchscreen LCD screen. It also has a full desktop browser and support for a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. It could even be used as a gaming tablet. The Pixel Slate also offers the option for Google Assistant. Overall, just a great tablet.
Read our Google Pixel Slate review.
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Amazon has come a long way from the first Kindle Fire tablet. The Amazon Fire HD 10 is the largest tablet from Amazon with a screen size of 10 inches and powerful speakers. Just like its smaller 8-inch sibling, the Fire HD 8, the tablet offers numerous advantages for Prime subscribers, so members can easily stream and download films, TV shows and games. The Fire tablets do not use a pure Android version, but the Android-based Fire operating system from Amazon and call up apps from the Amazon App Store. You can still get apps from Google Play, but you need to install the store yourself. This means that gaming enthusiasts have access to all of their favorite mobile games for a great gaming tablet experience. This is probably the next thing we have to do for the budget tablet on this list.
Read our Amazon Fire HD 10 review.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 tablet offers a lot for an Android device. It has a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and flexible, expandable memory with a microSD card of up to 1 TB. The Galaxy Tab S6 also looks fantastic, with a super AMOLED display with a screen size of 16:10. The battery life is approximately 15 hours and the rear view camera has a resolution of 13 MP. And if you’ve ever operated a Samsung Android device, using this particular tablet will feel very intuitive. The latest updates to Samsung DeX mode even make the Tab S6 a possible laptop replacement that lets you connect to a mouse and even an external display. Just take a keyboard and you’re done.
Read our Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 review.
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The Lenovo Smart Tab P10 combines a tablet and a smart display in one 10-inch device. This Android tablet is equipped with Android Oreo, front and rear cameras, fingerprint scanner and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor. If you set it on the dock, the Lenovo Tab becomes an intelligent display, similar to the Amazon Echo Show.
Read more about the Lenovo Smart Tab P10.