It’s no secret that kids love screens, and whether they’re looking for a way to watch their favourite show, get stuck in with a spot of gaming or help them finish off their homework, there are plenty of kids’ tablets to choose from when it comes to finding the right fit for you and your little one.
But deciding which one to invest in – and, crucially, how much to spend – can be tricky, which is why we’ve tried and tested the best on the market so you don’t have to.
What should I look for when buying a kids’ tablet?
There are plenty of factors to keep in mind when trying to track down the right kids’ tablet, but let’s be honest and admit that one of the main things to take into account is cost.
There’s no point spending close to £1,000 on a device that’s going to end up smeared in jam from your toddler’s breakfast or hurled around the back of the car. Luckily, there are plenty of options out there that are reasonably priced, while some even come equipped with guarantees in case of accidents and breakages.
Next, make sure the tablet you choose is age-appropriate for your child. Most devices now come with in-built parental controls, meaning you can make sure they’re not wandering into dark corners of the internet, but it’s also worth bearing in mind whether the tablet is equipped with enough function and capability to keep them entertained as they move into their teenage years.
Other factors to take into consideration when choosing the right kids’ tablet include durability, battery life, display and sound quality – all things we’ve looked into when testing the tablets on our list.
Here we’ve rounded up the very best tablets for kids to buy now.
See below
Amazon Fire HD 8
The Amazon Fire HD 8 often comes top of the list when it comes to kids’ tablets, and it’s not hard to see why. This is the tablet you’ve most likely seen out and about, entertaining kids while their parents try to enjoy a meal out or keeping little ones busy on long plane journeys. We bought the Amazon Fire 7 kids tablet for our daughter on her second birthday as a great starter device, but quickly upgraded to the 8 thanks to the fact that the screen is a whole inch bigger and the storage is bigger at 32GB.
Instantly recognisable for the brightly coloured, extremely sturdy cases, the Fire HD 8 has been designed for kids aged 3-7, meaning it’s built to withhold any thrills and spills. And if it doesn’t, the two-year worry-free guarantee means Amazon will send you a new one for free if the tablet breaks. The parent dashboard makes filtering content by age a breeze, and every tablet comes with a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+, which is packed full of entertainment as well as educational content.
Buy now £149.99, Amazon
Lenovo Tab M10
If you prefer your devices to be Android, this is the kids’ tablet for you. Designed to provide entertainment and learning for the whole family, each tablet is preloaded with Google Kids Space, which cleverly provides content for your kids based on their specific interests (you can easily create multiple accounts to cater to kids of different ages). You can also guide what they’re engaging with using the Family Link app’s parental controls on your own device, where you can also set screen time limits.
Despite all these baked-in safeguarding measures, the device still feels like a big step up from the toddler-proofed devices they may have just graduated from, while still coming with a realistic price tag that won’t break the bank. With a 10.1-inch screen size and 32GB of memory, it’s the perfect stepping stone device before they’re ready to be introduced to a fully-fledged adult tablet.
Buy now £129.99, Amazon
Samsung Galaxy Tab A8
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 is one of the best tablets on the market for older kids aged 10+, especially if you’re looking for that sleek iPad-like feel without the hefty price tag. Its lightweight design means it’s easy to carry around for outings or trips, while its 10.5-inch display means kids will be fully immersed in whatever they happen to be watching or playing with.
The tablet comes with plenty of whizzy features, including dual cameras (great for budding photographers), a fast Octa-core processor and a long-lasting battery. But despite its grown-up look and feel, our tester loved that parents can add any necessary restrictions via Samsung Kids, where you can set limits on playtime and give selective access to apps. All in all, this is a slick, sophisticated offering at a very reasonable price.
Buy now £219.00, Samsung
Microsoft Surface Go 3 2-in-1 tablet
This multi-purpose tablet is a great all-rounder, working in a variety of different ways for various members of the family. The sleek device comes with its own built-in kickstand, making watching TV shows on it a breeze, and when paired with a keyboard it doubles up as a very serviceable laptop. Team it with Microsoft’s Surface pen and you’ve got the full package, making it a great option for older kids and teens who can use it for homework and school projects.
It’s easy to create multiple user profiles, so each member of the family can log in securely, and you can even add a family subscription to Office 365. We found the Microsoft Family App pleasingly simple to use, meaning we could easily set time limits and apply filters to make sure our children were accessing the right content. While it is one of the pricier options on the market, it’s also one of the most versatile, and with a large 10.5-inch screen and 64GB of memory, it’s got all the tech features older kids could need.
Buy now £469.99, Laptop Outlet
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro
If your children have graduated from Amazon’s original kids’ tablet, it’s time to upgrade them to the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro, which is designed for school-aged children from 6-12. Each tablet still comes with those colourful durable cases, but here they’ve been streamlined to give a much more adult look and feel, while still being appealing to little ones (and, most importantly, still protecting the tablet itself). While it still has the same overall look and feel as the familiar Amazon Fire HD devices, this one comes with way more bells and whistles to keep older kids interested.
The 10.1-inch display is much larger than other Amazon tablets, while our tester was particularly impressed with the 12-hour battery life, which came in particularly handy over a long-haul flight. There are plenty of controls on there to make sure children are using it safely, from the ability to make calls to approved contacts to restricted access to the internet. Like the Fire HD 8, it also comes with a two-year guarantee against accidental damage and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+.
Buy now £199.00, Amazon
Apple iPad 10th generation
Unsurprisingly, the Apple iPad is one of the most expensive tablets on this list, but if you’re looking for something that will appeal to older kids, tweens and teens, you can’t go wrong. It’s a great tool both for catching up on films and games and getting down to the serious business of learning – pair it with an Apple Pencil and Apple Keyboard and it transforms into a mini laptop, making it great for homework and creative projects.
If you happen to be an Apple household, it will also pair up with the other devices in your home and will grow with your child, who has most likely been coveting your own iPad and iPhone for years. The downsides are that as it’s not explicitly designed to be child-friendly, adding parental controls isn’t quite as seamless as on other devices and since iPads are definitely not drop-proof, you’ll need to invest in a sturdy case to ensure it stays in one piece.
Buy now £349.00, Amazon
TCL TAB 10L Gen 2
In the market for a 5G tablet at a very pleasing price point? Then this is the device for you. Kids and adults alike will love the more sophisticated elements of this tablet, which include a large 10.1-inch display, high-quality onboard speakers and a microSD card slot. The battery life is also very decent, lasting over 10 hours when our tester tried it out.
While it doesn’t come with built-in parental controls, the fact that it’s an Android device means that you can download most parental control apps onto it. In a nod to its younger users, the tablet also comes with Eye Care mode, which provides little ones with regular reminders to rest their eyes and use the tablet in a position to help their eyesight.
Buy now £99.99, Argos
HP Pavilion 2-in-1 laptop
If you’re looking for a portable tablet that can also double up as a laptop when needed, the HP Pavilion ticks all the boxes. With a full HD touchscreen, it still has tablet proportions, but the cover comes with an integrated Tent mode for watching films and there’s a snap-on keyboard for when you need it in the laptop configuration.
A great option for Android households, the tablet runs Google Workspace and Microsoft Office, so every member of the family can get something out of it. It isn’t as durable as some of the other tablets on this list, so it’s probably best kept out of the littlest of hands, but with its versatile nature and larger-than-average screen and memory size, it’s a great option for older kids who aren’t quite ready for a full-blown laptop yet.
Buy now £479.00, Currys
Verdict
When it comes to kids’ tablets that are age-appropriate, hard-wearing and fun, you can’t beat the offerings from Amazon, with the Fire HD 8 perfect for younger users and the Fire HD 10 Pro ideal for older kids and tweens. For teenagers looking for a sleeker, more grown-up model, my top pick would be the Lenovo Tab M10, which is a great stepping-stone device.
