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Best Tablets for Gaming in 2023

Find the best gaming tablet no matter your budget
Last Updated on April 10, 2023
best tablet for gaming

The best tablets for gaming offer a bright and beautiful display, top performance, and portability. Gaming is no longer a dedicated specialty for those big RGB-laden computers.

The best gaming tablets are just regular tablets with an enhanced capacity for gaming. This means they have a more powerful internal processor, or a great GPU which allows for faster gameplay.

With the rise of tablets, you can play on a device that fits your hand and accompanies you on the go. In this article, we take you through our picks for the best of 2023.

Products at a Glance

How we picked the best tablet for gaming in 2022

Through deep and extensive research on a large list of tablets, we’ve checked how they behave and operate with highly demanding games and apps. 

We’ve considered battery durability, how the tablet feels in your hands, and how easy it is to handle the controls.

The screen is a big part of our decision-making too – as it should be for any potential buyer. We want a vibrant and attractive experience. These are all important factors in what makes for the best gaming tablets in 2023.

Features and considerations

Before you buy a tablet and regret it, you must consider a personal checklist. Balance out your specific needs and what the tablet offers, to ensure you get the right product.

We’ll make that easier for you by explaining what the features and considerations to keep in mind are while you’re on the hunt. Here’s what we suggest:

  • Portability is important
  • A 120Hz refresh rate is a must in a gaming tablet
  • Good battery life for long gaming sessions and reliability
  • High-quality audio for an immersive gaming experience.

Our Recommended

Best Tablets for Gaming in 2023

1
PROS
  • Amazing performance
  • Bright and vibrant display
  • Gaming specific environment
  • Top game compatibility
CONS
  • Pricey

Apple knows what it’s doing. When it puts its focus on something it executes perfectly, and the iPad Pro 11-inch is proof of that.

The one thing to stand out first in this device is the M1 processor, one of the most amazing and powerful chips right now (even in spite of the M2). The M1 delivers incredible raw processing power with sharp, on-point, graphics.  

The iPadOS 16 release will exploit the latest technologies too with the MetalFX upscaling and a quick loading API – an asset that perfect for the gaming crowd out there.

What all of this means is that Apple has thought about us gamers, and given us not only the hardware but an immersive operating system for us to play in as comfortably as we like. 

We’ve picked the 11-inch iPad Pro instead of the 12.9-inch because it’s handier to grab, so you’ll be comfortable gaming for long hours stints with it. And, even though a bigger screen could always be better, in this case we prefer usability rather than size.

On a face-to-face comparison against Samsung’s best tablet, this iPad shows better performance, better FPS rate, and way better CPU efficiency than the competitor.

Put all this together, and it has top sit on top of our best gaming tablets list.

2
PROS
  • Ultra wide screen size
  • 120 Hz refresh rate
  • Quad speakers with Dolby Atmos
CONS
  • A little pricey for some

A gaming tablet is not only about powerful processors, and fancy graphic cards. You need to think of your needs before getting a tablet for gaming.

Samsung has done its own thinking and thought of pretty everything. It gives you a compact, well-put-together tablet, that will suit your gaming hunger and then some.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 has a 14.6-inch super AMOLED screen and a refresh rate of 120 Hertz – which delivers a better than average gaming experience. After all, at this point, you can still get laptops lacking a 120Hz refresh rate.

Add on top that this device has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and 16GB of RAM – and it’s position on our best tablets for gaming list is undeniable.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is the best Android tablet for gaming, but I have to let you know its biggest drawback too: some apps are not well optimized for a screen this large.

You’ll feel some sluggish performance on games like CoD mobile, or Genshin Impact. And, unless Samsung fixed that on a coming update, this tablet won’t beat the best of the best.

3
PROS
  • Amazing design
  • Beautiful Pantone-approved screen
  • Excellent performance
CONS
  • Not great battery life
  • Big and heavy

Is it a tablet; is it a laptop? well, it’s a piece of engineering. The Asus ROG Flow Z13 it’s the First gaming tablet in the market, specifically made to run hard-core video games on the go; or at least, that’s what they tried.

This Asus impresses the market with a stunning built-in Intel Core i9-12900H processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050Ti dGPU, that makes running your favorite games like butter.

On top of that, it’s 13.4-inch, 16:10 format, touch, glossy with Gorilla Glass Display. It has a Full HD 1920 x 1200 pixels IPS panel, and a 120 Hz refresh rate, along with a 100% sRGB, 500-nits, and is Pantone validated!

Basically, it will show you colors you’ve never seen before. So if you are a gamer that also makes a living out of graphic design, video, or photo editing, you can’t let this one pass.

Now, this is a great gaming tablet and you won’t have many complaints about it. But it has its downsides. Asus, in order to stuff all those qualities between the aluminum chassis, had to sacrifice something.

Most obviously, this is a heavy and bulky device. As such, Asus doesn’t even talk about its weight. But, this is a 2.6 pounds tablet and that goes up to 3.4 pounds if you have the keyboard attached. So you won’t really want to be traveling around with that on your hands.

That aside, it still deserves its place in our best tablets for gaming list. You just may want to get comfortable somewhere before you use it.

4
PROS
  • Rugged
  • Good parental controls
  • Great battery life
CONS
  • Lackluster OS

Amazon’s Fire tablets sometimes get a lot of hate due to the lackluster operating system but they are good for kids. This specialized kids edition of the Fire HD 8 comes in at a really reasonable price point and still provides enough power to run the games kids of today play.

The 2GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM bundled into the tablet make for great everyday use by your kids and enough gaming capabilities for most of the stuff on the app store. There’s also an impressive 32GB of internal storage which is enough to house plenty of games and apps. Battery life remains a strong point, with up to 13 hours stated by Amazon.

This tablet is really tough and pretty much childproof with its rubberized shockproof case. But it has seen a refresh too, as in the latest model Amazon has added an 8-inch Full HD 1080p display. 

Our thoughts? A great gaming tablet for young ones.

5
PROS
  • Loads of storage
  • Impressive display
  • Very portable
CONS
  • Expensive

If you’re looking for a portable tablet for gaming, the Apple iPad Mini 6 is far and away the best bet. With a compact 8.3-inch display, featuring Liquid Retina and True Tone color technology, this tablet is a joy to behold. Plus, you can keep it in your handbag or a particularly large pocket.

We love the whopping 64GB storage this little tablet offers, and the speedy Wi-Fi connection is nothing to sniff at. Although it’s not a cheap option, the Apple iPad Mini 6 is a great choice for gamers on the go.

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Things to consider

Screen size

When choosing among the best tablets for gaming, you’re going to want a screen size so that you can actually see what’s happening. That means staying away from anything smaller than the iPad Mini as you’d be getting into phone screen size territory. You can get away with mobile games like Candy Crush on those smaller screens but if you’re looking to play games like Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, or even your favorite racing games, it makes your gaming experience just that little bit worse. We personally would recommend opting for a 10-inch tablet for gaming as this gives you enough real estate to view the smaller details as well as fitting the game’s UI better.

This screen size can sometimes impact resolution too. So, usually opting for a larger tablet will open up options like full HD or in Apple’s iPads, even greater. This will give you a much crisper image that will not only provide you with a stellar gaming experience but also if you use your tablet for watching your favorite Netflix shows.

Processor

The processor that your given manufacturer is going to be putting into your tablet is the most important thing to think about. It’s this little chip that will determine for the most part how well your tablet will cope when running games. Apple has some of the best processors around when looking at tablets but that doesn’t mean you should pass on Android as most have enough power to cope with today’s mobile games. Additionally, with Huawei creating their own spin on processors that are powerful yet affordable, you can a real bargain in terms of price vs performance.

RAM

Along with the processor that goes into your tablet, RAM is similarly important. Like with traditional PCs, RAM basically does the job of allowing you to multi-task as well as giving you the capabilities to run your games at stable framerates. Most of the time you’re looking for between 2 to 3GB of RAM on a tablet to do sufficient gaming. Any lower and you’re moving toward only handling basic mobile games. If you can get higher than that 3GB, you’re looking at more tablet PC, which is pretty decent for gaming but will have some different onboard software.

Battery Life

With any portable device, battery life is always something that needs to be considered. This especially comes into play when thinking about how gaming will impact said battery life. Manufacturers usually detail around 10 hours of battery life as a standard nowadays but this is usually for general web surfing and light app usage so really, for gaming, you’d be lucky to get 8 hours of that. Having features like quick charging built into your tablet is always a plus and really helps when gaming. It’ll not only speed that charging process up but get you back into gaming quicker and for longer than the standard.

Can you use a tablet for gaming?

If the tablet you are using has at least 8GB of RAM and a strong processor, it should be able to run most games at a decent level. However, for more competitive gamers, you’ll probably want to look towards a proper gaming PC setup.

What is the best gaming tablet from Android?

When it comes to gaming tablets from Android, we think the Samsung Galaxy S8 Ultra is the best out there. Although it is a little expensive, it performs fantastically, with a speedy internal processor and 120Hz refresh rate.

What is best for gaming iPad or Android?

Although Android have some strong offerings, Apple is hard to beat when it comes to gaming tablets. The iPad 11’s M1 chip and overall performance outranks Samsung’s Galaxy S8 Ultra, the best Android gaming tablet.

Our Verdict

Our overall pick and ruler of the best gaming tablets? It has to be the 11-inch iPad Pro. Its sheer performance and design are fantastic.

It may not be right for you though. If you absolutely must get an Android device, opt for the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. Or, if you’re an enthusiast who wants power over portability (and a laptop too), the Asus ROG Flow Z13 is the pick to go for. 

Got little ones? Or buying something special for a young relative? Amazon’s Fire HD 8 will give them plenty of hours of entertainment, without question.