The best tablets for students

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The best tablets for students; a mix of tablet computers on a blue background

(Image credit: HP, Apple, Microoft)

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1. Best overall: Apple iPad Air
2. Best portable: iPad Mini
3. Best for creatives: iPad Pro
4. Best Windows: Surface Pro 9
5. Best Android: Galaxy S8 Ultra
6. Another Windows: Surface Pro 8
7. Best 2-in-1: HP x2 11
8. Budget Android: Galaxy S6 Lite
9. Best budget: Amazon Fire HD 8
10. Budget Windows: Surface Go 3
11. Best basic: IdeaPad Duet
12. Other options
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If you're starting back at school or looking to upgrade your old kit, the best tablets for students make for fantastic and versatile machines. Gone are the days when bulky, heavy laptops need to be lugged into every lecture and class; now, tablets are available with a variety of tools and software to make them just as good for note-taking, creative work, and organisation. 

Ian Dean
Editor, Digital Arts & 3D

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creativebloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and leading video game title Official PlayStation Magazine. In his early career he wrote for music and film magazines including Uncut and SFX. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on AI, digital art and video game art and tech, and more to Creative Bloq, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5. He's also a keen Cricut user and laser cutter fan, and is currently crafting on Glowforge and xTools M1.