There are a ton of options when it comes to tablets. But when you are about to go to college and looking for the best tablets for college students, the parameters change.
When you need a tablet for college, you need something lightweight, quite affordable and that will last a few years. Also, it’s important to be able to easily take notes and to comfortably read for hours.
Most college students don’t need powerful hardware, but some apps may require you to have a relatively powerful tablet that can run demanding software.
If you’re on a fixed budget, I would recommend you to read our articles on the best tablets under $400, $300, $200 and $100. Otherwise, keep reading to see our Top 12+ best tablets for college.
Our Top 3 Picks
| #1 – Microsoft Surface Pro 4 | #2 – Lenovo Yoga Book (Windows) | #3 – Samsung Galaxy Tab A |
 |  |  |
12" Hybrid with Solid Design and Specs | Versatile Windows 10 Tablet | Affordable All-Around Great 10-inch |
| 12″ QHD | 10.1″ HD | 10.1″ HD |
| Intel m3 with 4 GB of RAM | Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM | Samsung Exynos 7870 with 2 GB of RAM |
| 128 GB SSD | 64 GB | 16 GB |
| Up to 9 hours | Up to 15 hours | Up to 14 hours |
| Jump to our Review | Jump to our Review | Jump to our Review |
What to expect from the best tablets for college?
All the tablets I listed here are of good quality. Of course, some are better than others, but all of them will last you through college.
I gave priority to tablets that are more versatile and that offered an easy way to take notes. Then, price was of course a factor and display quality as well.
Price
For a good college tablet, you can find something at any price. Expect to pay between $250 to $600 for a great one, the average being around $300 to $400 for a 10-inch tablet for college.
At those prices, you’ll get a great display, a solid & portable tablet and enough power to enjoy the occasional game and movie.
If you are on a tighter budget, opt for a smaller tablet. You can find good ones between $100 and $200.
Quality and Casing
While the quality and material of the tablet depend greatly on the price you pay, for a college student, a well-built device is what we recommend to make it last a few years.
A lightweight tablet is also recommended since you’ll have it on you most of the time. For a tablet with a keyboard, expect about 1.5 pounds. Without one, you’ll have a product that weighs less than 1 lbs.
Display
Most tablets I recommend will have a 10-inch display, but you can also opt for an 8-inch if you want something more portable and cheaper.
More expensive 12-inch tablets are also available. They are usually more powerful and come with keyboards, which makes them closer to a full-working laptop.
A good tablet for college should have a bright display with at least a 720p screen resolution, but the best ones now come with an ultra-HD resolution.
Performance
College goers will have different performance requirements and can choose from many different processors (Intel Atom, MediaTek, Apple A10 Fusion, Qualcomm Snapdragon, etc.).
All these chipsets, paired with 1-4 GB of RAM, provide adequate performance for note taking, browsing and watching movies.
For more demanding software, go with the more expensive tablets with 3 or 4 GB of RAM, they’ll provide better performance for those apps.
Audio
The Audio quality of a tablet should not be your first criteria when looking for the best tablets for College. But, if it’s important to you, know that the audio quality varies quite a lot from product to product.
Apple, Asus and Samsung tablets usually offer the best audio in the business.
Camera
A good camera can help you to take notes quickly. Just point your camera at the board and snap the picture.
Expect your tablet to offer decent quality rear and front-facing cameras, but your phone is probably going to be a better option to capture college memories.
Software
You have multiples choices when it comes to operating systems. If you want to run computer software and use the tablet for programming needs, a Windows tablet will be a better choice. For anything else, iOS and Android should do the trick.
Other Aspects
Other aspects to consider for your college tablet include storage and battery life.
A college student requires lots of storage and thankfully, most of the tablets come with a micro SD card slot for memory expansion. Battery life also is an essential aspect for any tablet and it’s even more important for college students as it should last at least 8 hours on a single charge. All tablets here fit this criterion.
Recommended for you:Specs for the Top 12 Best Tablets for College
| Graphics | 8, 10 & 12-inch |
| Processor | Intel Atom, Intel m3, Qualcomm Snapdragon, A10 Fusion and similar |
| RAM | 2 to 4 GB |
| Storage | 16 to 128 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 2 to 7 MP Back: 5 to 13 MP |
| Battery life | 8 to 12 hours |
| OS | Windows 10, Android to 7, iOS 9 |
| Dimensions / Weight | Height: 7.82, to 11.5″ Width: 4.8 to 7.9″ Thick.: 0.2 to 0.38″ Weight: 0.58 to 1.74 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$, $$$$, $$$$$ |
Top 12 Best Tablets for College
1 – Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – 12″ QHD
“12" Hybrid with Solid Design and Specs”
Microsoft has nailed the premium 2-in-1 segment with its Surface Pro series, and this version is even better. The 12″ QHD screen is as sharp & vivid as it can get and feels solid in hands.
This tablet can handle any and all of the Windows applications as it runs on Windows 10 backed by an Intel m3 processor and 4 GB of RAM. That’s a lot of power for a tablet! If you want something even more powerful, go for the i5 version.
The Surface Pro 4 comes with quite a lot of storage at 128 GB, and a pretty good battery life. The rear and front-facing camera units are better than most of its competitors, while the audio loud & clear.
Both the comfortable keyboard and the pressure-sensitive S Pen (sold separately) makes the Surface Pro an ever better tablet for college.
If you don’t have budget constraints, it’s is an ideal tablet for college students.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 12″ QHD touchscreen (2736 x 1824) |
| Performance | Intel m3 with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB SSD |
| Cameras | Front: 5 MP / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 9 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 11.5″ x 7.9″ x 0.33″ / 1.73 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Grey |
| Price Range | $$$$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
2 – Lenovo Yoga Book (Windows) – 10″ HD
“Versatile Windows 10 Tablet”
The Lenovo Yoga Book is not your regular Windows tablet, as it comes with a unique and practical design. This 10-inch tablet has a touch & type keyboard that can be turned off and used as a canvas. This is great if you are a student of digital art.
The 10-1-inch full HD display is sharp and offers adequate details for digital work. Under the hood, an Intel Atom processor paired with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage powers the device. All that power, while the excellent 12-14 hours of battery life keeps the lights on for a whole day.
On the audio side, it’s decent, but nothing to boast about. Enough for comfortably watching movies and definitely better than some tablets, but some competitors are doing better. The cameras give the same average impression.
The Yoga Book is a well-built device that looks good and feels premium in hand, except for the fact that the screen wobbles a bit in the laptop mode if you touch the display. It weighs around 1.52 lbs and is quite slim, which makes it very portable for a tablet with a keyboard.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 10.1″ HD screen (1920 x 1200) |
| Performance | Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 64 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 2 MP / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 15 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 10.1″ x 6.72″ x 0.38″ / 1.52 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Black, White |
| Price Range | $$$$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
Android Version: Intel Atom + 4 GB RAM
3 – Samsung Galaxy Tab A – 10″ HD
“Affordable All-Around Great 10-inch”
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A is an exceptional device for the price. If I had to cherry pick the bad bits in this tablet, I would talk about the lousy button placement and the lack of tablet-optimization apps. But apart from that, the Galaxy Tab A scores above average in all the departments.
The 10.1 full HD resolution display is good, and the great audio quality is even better, making the tablet ideal for media streaming.
The plastic body of the tablet feels sturdy and it’s powered with a Samsung Exynos processor and 2 GB of RAM. This enough power to run most of the Android apps without any issues. The camera quality is also better than other tablets in the price range and, with 14 hours of battery life, it’s much better than average.
Definitely a great value tablet by Samsung.
Pros
| Cons
|
Buy on NewEgg.com
Check current price on Amazon.com
| Graphics | 10.1″ HD screen (1920 x 1200) |
| Performance | Samsung Exynos 7870 with 2 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 16 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 2 MP / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 14 hours |
| OS | Android 6 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 10″ x 6.11″ x 0.32″ / 1.16 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Black, White |
| Price Range | $$$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
Recommended for you:
4 – Samsung Galaxy Book – 10″ HD
“An excellent alternative to Microsoft Surface Pro 4”
Resembling the design of Microsoft Surface Pro 4, the Galaxy Book is a 10.6-inch tablet that comes with a type cover. Samsung did a good job offering an excellent Full HD display with great brightness, even in outdoor conditions.
Under the hood, it is powered by the same m3 Intel processor that powers the Surface Pro 4, and with 4 GB of RAM, it can run any Windows 10 application with ease. With 128 GB of SSD storage, space is adequate to store your multimedia contents, as well as your pictures, clicked with a 5 MP front-facing camera. The S Pen offered precise inputs and worked great in our testing.
The audio quality, keyboard, and performance are great, if not excellent. But for that price, we didn’t expect less.
When looking for a tablet for college, you should definitely consider the Galaxy Book, if you can afford the steep price tag.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 10.6″ HD screen (1920 x 1280) |
| Performance | Intel m3 with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 5 MP / No Back Camera |
| Battery life | Up to 9 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 10.28″ x 7.05″ x 0.35″ / 1.42 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Silver |
| Price Range | $$$$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
powerful but expensive: Intel i5 + 8 GB RAM
5 – Apple iPad – 10″ HD
“10-inch Apple device with a premium build quality and balanced performance”
Apple iPad 10 needs no introduction and is among the top contender when it comes to the best tablet for college students. Offering the typical Apple premium design and build quality, the iPad comes with a 9.7-inch retina display which is as good as it can get on a tablet, with sharp contrast and excellent color accuracy.
While the front-facing camera does not impress one bit (it doesn’t have one!), the rear camera unit can capture decent quality pictures. Under the hood, it packs an A10 Fusion chipset with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage offering good performance.
The iOS is fast and fluid, the fingerprint sensor is accurate, and the battery can last up to 10 hours of continuous use. It also comes in three colors and weighs 1 pound which is decent for the size.
Pros
| Cons
|
Buy on NewEgg.com
Check current price on Amazon.com
| Graphics | 9.7″ HD screen (2048 x 1536) |
| Performance | A10 Fusion with 2 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 32 GB |
| Cameras | No Front Camera / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | iOS 11 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 9.4″ x 6.6″ x 0.29″ / 1.05 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Silver, Gold, Grey |
| Price Range | $$$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
6 – Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 – 10″ HD
“10-inch Tablet with Excellent display and Good Performance”
Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is a what we call an all-rounder, offering one of the most balanced products for the price. Galaxy Tab S3 is a well-built, solid plastic tablet that offers a good grip in hand.
The 9.7-inch Super AMOLED full HD display is bright & vivid and is one of the best in the category. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.2GHz processor paired with 4 GB of RAM, the tablet performs well, even under heavy load. The 32 GB of onboard storage is supported by a Micro SD card slot for memory expansion.
It comes with a responsive stylus and, if you want to comfortably take notes, there’s also a good keyboard / cover available (sold separately).
For a college student, the battery life will last up to 10 hours of moderate usage. The speakers on the tablet are loud and clear while the 13 MP rear camera unit can capture good quality pictures.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 9.7″ HD screen (2048 x 1536) |
| Performance | Qualcomm APQ8096 with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 32 GB |
| Cameras | No Front Camera / Rear: 13 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 12 hours |
| OS | Android 7 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 9.34″ x 6.65″ x 0.24″ / 0.95 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Black, Silver |
| Price Range | $$$$$ |
# 7 to 12 Best Tablets for College
7 – Asus ZenPad 3S 10 – 10″ HD
“Affordable Android Tablet with Good Display and Audio”
The Asus ZenPad 3S is a premium looking tablet with a solid build quality. The rubberized back of the tablet feels premium while offering a good grip. If you can compromise with the average camera and battery performance, the Zenpad 3S is an affordable, good 10" tablet for college students.
The 9.7-inch full 2K resolution display is crisp and offers excellent viewability. It’s light and thin, and portability is not an issue with its 0.94 lbs shell. Asus has packed this tablet with a MediaTek dual-core processor, along with 4 GB of RAM. The ZenPad 3S can handle browsing, video streaming and word processing without any lag or slowdown.
The 64 GB onboard storage is further expandable using the Micro SD card slot. Apart from the excellent display, the ZenPad 3S also offers great audio output making it an ideal device for media consumption.
Pros
| Cons
|
Buy on NewEgg.com
Check current price on Amazon.com
| Graphics | 9.7″ HD screen (2048 x 1536) |
| Performance | MTK MT8176 Dual-Core with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 64 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 5 MP / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | Android 6 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 9.45″ x 6.44″ x 0.22″ / 0.94 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Silver |
| Price Range | $$$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
8 – Asus Transformer Mini T102HA – 10″
“Well-Built Windows 10 Hybrid at the Right Price”
The Asus Transformer Mini is a premium looking device with its curved edges and an aluminum body shell that looks stunning in person. It is a Windows 10 hybrid, so it can be used as a tablet as well as a laptop when the keyboard dock is attached.
The 10.1-inch HD display is excellent and gets adequately bright. The keyboard, although a bit cramped for large hands, offers typing experience that’s not bad at all. It is powered by an Intel Atom processor paired with 4 GB of RAM, running Windows 10 quite smoothly.
This tablet is a good choice for anyone looking for a 2-in-1 Windows machine for media consumption and word processing as it offers good battery life and loud speakers.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 10.1″ touchscreen (1280 x 800) |
| Performance | Intel Atom with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB eMMC |
| Cameras | Front: 2 MP / No Back Camera |
| Battery life | Up to 11 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 10.2″ x 6.7″ x 0.32″ / 1.74 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Silver, White & Orange |
| Price Range | $$$$ |
9 – Asus ZenPad S8 – 8″ HD
“Good 8" Tablet with Premium Build Quality and Performance”
This 8-inch tablet carries forward the legacy of the well-built & premium-looking Asus Zen series with a soft-touch back, and aluminum work on the side of the tablet.
The 8-inch 2K touch screen doesn’t disappoint with its adequately bright output and good color accuracy. Powered by an Intel Atom processor and 2 GB of RAM, the tablet Asus ZenPad S8 can handle casual games and video streaming without any lag. The browsing sessions are smooth, and note apps work great.
The battery life on the ZenPad S8 is average, so are the 2 MP front and 5 MP rear cameras. At 0.7 lbs, it’s lightweight, and you won’t feel its presence in your backpack.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 8″ HD screen (2048 x 1536) |
| Performance | Intel Atom Z3530 with 2 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 32 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 2 MP / Rear: 5 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 8 hours |
| OS | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
| Dimensions / Weight | 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.27″ / 0.7 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Black, White |
| Price Range | $$$ |
10 – Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 – 8″ HD
“8" Tablet with Small Form Factor, Good Performance, and Quality Display”
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is a decent option for those looking for an affordable Android tablet. The tablet feels well-built and weighs around 0.6 lbs thanks to its small form factor.
The 8-inch 2K resolution display is a treat to the eyes and it’s equipped with an Octa-core CPU paired with 3 GB of RAM. The performance is solid for the price, and we did not notice any lang during the browsing or video streaming sessions.
Samsung has equipped this tablet with 32 GB of internal storage, a 2 MP front-facing & 8-MP rear camera and it runs on Android 6.0 out of the box. While the storage can be increased with a Micro SD slot, which is a plus, the audio and battery life are on the average side.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 8″ HD screen (2048 x 1536) |
| Performance | Octa-core APQ8076 with 3 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 32 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 2 MP / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | Android 6 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 7.82″ x 5.31″ x 0.22″ / 0.58 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Black, White, Gold |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
11 – Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus – 8″ HD
“Affordable 8-inch with Good Performance”
The Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus is an 8-inch tablet made of plastic but that feels solid in hand. While it may not look as premium as other tablets in this list, it can certainly survive a few low heights accidental drops.
It’s a good choice for watching multimedia content since the Full HD display is bright and the dual front speakers are loud and clear.
The Tab 4 8 Plus is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Octa-core processor along with 4 GB of RAM. The performance remained lag free when we tested the tablet with heavy games.
The battery life is average and the storage is limited at 16 GB, but the micro SD card slot in the device makes up for it. The Tab 4 8 Plus is a very good affordable 8-inch tablet for college students.
Pros
| Cons
|
| Graphics | 8″ HD screen (1920 x 1200) |
| Performance | Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8953 with 4 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 16 GB |
| Cameras | Front: 5 MP / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | Android 7 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 8.3″ x 4.8″ x 0.3″ / 0.68 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Black |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
10-inch HD, 
cheaper version: Lenovo Tab 4 8
12 – Apple iPad Mini 4 – 8″ HD
“8-inch iPad with Excellent Display and Battery Life”
The Apple iPad Mini 4 is an 8-inch tablet that looks premium with a smooth aluminum finish at the back. The fingerprint at the front works well, but it misses out on 3D touch.
The 8-inch Retina display is excellent and gets adequately bright offering good readability, even under direct sunlight. The battery life is good, but it is equipped with an old Apple A8 chipset, paired with 2 GB of RAM. While the tablet can handle most of the apps easily and works great with all the streaming services, the latest games and heavy apps may not work as it does on the latest iPad models.
The Apple iPad mini is still a good choice with 128 GB of internal storage, a good battery life and premium look, but for the price, there are other options if you are not explicitly looking for an iOS device.
Pros
| Cons
|
Buy on BestBuy.com
Check current price on Amazon.com
| Graphics | 7.9″ HD screen (2048 x 1536) |
| Performance | Apple A8 Chip with 2 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB |
| Cameras | No Front Camera / Rear: 8 MP |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | iOS 9 |
| Dimensions / Weight | 8″ x 5.31″ x 0.24″ / 0.65 lbs |
| Colors Avail. | Silver, Gold, Grey |
| Price Range | $$$$$ |
