I think Samsung makes some of the best Android tablets on the market, and my team and I have reviewed so many that it made sense for us to build a list of our top recommendations to make finding the best Samsung tablet for you a bit easier.
In general, I recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 as the best Samsung tablet for most folks because it's a flagship Galaxy tablet that delivers great performance, good battery life and a lovely AMOLED screen for under $1,000.
But for those who want a slate that's significantly under that amount, I tend to recommend the Galaxy Tab A7 because despite its age it's still a decent tablet that can be found for $200 or less on a good day.
And of course, Samsung also has the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra for those who absolutely want the biggest, most powerful Android slate possible. If you want to try and use your Android tablet as a laptop, this is the one for you.
Read on for our list of the best Samsung tablets you can buy, based on our own hands-on testing and reviews!
The quick list
Here's a quick overview of the best Samsung tablets you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews.
The Galaxy Tab S9 is the best overall Samsung tablet thanks to its versatility. It's great for both work and for play, and the AMOLED screen is a real luxury. If you need a solid premium Android tablet, you can't go wrong with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.
Read more below.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 is a few years old now and won't feel like the snappiest or best-looking tablet, but it's plenty good enough for basic tasks and won't burn a hole in your wallet.
Read more below.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is massive, making it best for those want a tablet as big as a laptop. This 14.6-inch monster is the largest slate we've ever reviewed, but it has the speed, accessories and screen space to help you get work done on the go.
Alex Wawro is a lifelong journalist who's spent over a decade covering tech, games and entertainment. He oversees the computing department at Tom's Guide, which includes managing tablet coverage and reviewing many himself every year.
The best Samsung tablets you can buy today
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The best overall
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 is an excellent slate that's aimed at folks who want an Android tablet that's as nice as an iPad Air. You can use it to get work done in a pinch, but in my experience the Galaxy Tab S9 is best enjoyed as a speedy all-purpose device for making work and play a bit more enjoyable.
I think it's the best Samsung tablet for most folks because it's not the fanciest or most premium slate you can get, but it feels like it thanks to the gorgeous AMOLED display, a premium-feeling upgrade that used to be reserved for only the most expensive Samsung tablets. But with the S9 it's standard on the entry-level model, and it's a great upgrade that makes this affordable tablet really feel like a premium iPad competitor.
Of course, if you look at our reviews and testing data you'll see the Tab S9 was outperformed by the latest iPad Air in our testing lab. But while this slate isn't as speedy as the best iPads, our testing reveals it's plenty fast enough for day-to-day use. And since it lasted 9 hours on a full charge in our battery test, you can count on being able to carry it through a day at work or school without needing to plug in.
While this may not be the biggest Android slate on the block (that honor likely goes to the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra) it's a great all-around tablet that competes favorably with Apple's iPad. if you just need a great premium Android tablet the Galaxy Tab S9 is a great buy, and it should last you for years to come.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 review.
The best value
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 is starting to show its age at this point, but I think it's still a great value because if you can find one on sale it's one of the best deals you can get on an Android tablet. This pint-sized slate was originally priced to undercut the iPad by $100, and now it's an even better savings thanks to the fact that iPads have gotten more expensive.
And while this slim tablet can't compete in terms of speed or power in our tests, you shouldn't be expecting top-tier performance at this price. One of the benefits of its low power is good battery life - over 13 hours on a full charge, according to our testing.
While this tablet is significantly slower and weaker than anything modern you could buy, the trade-off is that it doesn't cost much, so it's great for gifting to a young child. Plus, you get the convenience of facial authentication tech and access to the full Google Play Store.
While our reviewer did wish it was a tad brighter and faster, this remains a great utilitarian tablet that offers the real, unadulterated Android experience. It looks great and is easy to carry, too, making this my top recommendation when I'm asked what Samsung tablet to buy on a budget.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 review.
The best laptop replacement
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is the ultimate Samsung tablet for those who absolutely need a ginormous slate.
Like its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, this model features a gorgeous 14.6-inch OLED display, an ultra-slim svelte design and plenty of power thanks to its speedy MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ processor. If you’re ingrained in the Samsung ecosystem and need a tablet with laptop-like functionality, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra will serve you well.
Of course, Samsung’s monstrous tablet isn’t flawless. While you can use it as a laptop when it’s paired with the Samsung Book Cover Keyboard, the accessory adds an extra $200 cost to an already pricey machine. And while the Tab S10 Ultra is a light 1.58 pounds, its large size can make it cumbersome to use when compared to a smaller tablet.
However, if you absolutely want the biggest tablet possible, this is the one to buy. While it can't outperform or outlast the iPad Pro M4 (don't miss our Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra vs iPad Pro M4 guide), it delivers killer performance for an Android tablet and one of the biggest, most beautiful screens you can get in the category. Plus, Samsung throws in a stylus for free, so you can start doodling and jotting down notes right away.
Read our Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra review.
Battery life compared
Battery life is one of the key differentiators for many folks trying to decide which tablet to buy, which is why we've collected all our battery test results for the tablets on this page into one handy chart that's easy to understand at a glance.
I added a few of the most recent, most popular competing tablets to the table as well, including a pair of iPads, to give you a better sense of how these Samsung slates stack up to the competition. As you can see, the answer is: pretty favorably!
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Time (min:secs) |
|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 | 9:06 |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra | 9:22 |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 | 13:13 |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 | 12:52 |
| Lenovo Tab Extreme | 9:28 |
| Apple iPad Air | 10:09 |
| Apple iPad Pro | 10:37 |
While all the tablets on this list performed well in our battery tests, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 is the clear winner here if battery life is your top concern.
How to choose the best Samsung tablet for you
When it comes to picking the best Samsung tablet for you, start by thinking about what you plan to use it for.
If you mostly want a slate to browse the web, watch videos and play games, good news — every tablet on this list is good for that. All that remains is to work out what size and features you can afford, then make the best pick for your needs and budget.
Looking for a slate that could possibly replace your laptop? The Galaxy Tab S9 is a great choice, though typing on its (optional) Book Cover detachable keyboard can be a little cramped. If you want something larger and don't mind paying over $1,000, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is explicitly designed to replace your laptop -- and thanks to Samsung's DeX mode, it's more capable as a laptop replacement than any iPad.
Looking for a cheap tablet that's good enough for most tasks? The Galaxy Tab A7 is a great choice. Sure, the cheap LCD screen can make watching videos on it feel a bit underwhelming, and it tends to feel a bit sluggish when you're doing a lot at once, but it's a decent choice if you need an affordable, lightweight tablet.
Before you make your purchase, take a look at our Samsung promo codes page to find the latest discounts.
How we test the best Samsung tablets
We put every tablet we review through a series of performance tests to get a sense of how well the real product stands up to the hype, and how it compares relative to other tablets.
One of the first tests we do is a battery test, which times how long a tablet can last on a full charge by tasking it with endlessly surfing the web via Wi-Fi with its screen set to a specific brightness. We also perform a series of display tests to measure how colorful the panel can get (measured with its sRGB output number) as well as how bright it can get. We then run the slate through a series of performance tests designed to give us a sense of how fast and powerful it is, including the latest version of the Geekbench CPU performance benchmark.
Another thing we do to evaluate Android tablets is check out the included apps and app store to see if you're getting a true Android experience or some company's vision thereof. Luckily, Samsung has been pretty good about allowing users to access the full Google Play storefront (though it also has its own separate Android app storefront), and its own apps tend to be pretty good -- especially if you own other Samsung devices. On tablets with parental controls settings, we try and find the loopholes in said limitations, to find red flags before your kids can.
Plus, we use every tablet for at least a few days to a few weeks as though we'd just bought it ourselves. We unbox and evaluate the design and setup process, then fire up our favorite apps and open as many browser tabs as possible to see how much work a tablet can handle without slowing down. We also watch YouTube videos because the color output (sRGB) and brightness (nits) measurements don't tell the whole story about how nice it is to watch videos on a tablet. We describe all these experiences in detail in our reviews, which you can consult for hands-on reporting and hard testing data which helps you understand how a product compares to the competition.
For more information, check out our how we test page for Tom's Guide.
