Best tablets for college and university in 2023
If you’re looking for the best tablets for school, college, or university, we’ve got everything you need to know right here.
Nobody really wants to carry a ton of notebooks around college or university to then realize the many lengths they must go to find that necessary note made in a particular class.
Nowadays, we students prefer comfort and efficiency, which is exemplified in the utilization of a tablet. For studying, note taking, and more, tablets are the best way to cut that wasted time and really focus on the important bits in school: learning and making friends.
The best tablets for college and university are devices that offer immense portability, processing power, and great stylus pens to complement the device. If you are looking to get a step up and improve your game in college or university, look no further than at the list below as we underscore the best tablets for students in 2022.
Products at a Glance
How we picked the best tablets for college and university in 2022
Considering all the good tablet options and the budget of a college student, we made a 4-item list of devices that are budget-friendly yet still offer great specs for taking notes, reading, watching YouTube videos, and even showcasing presentations.
Features and considerations
You’ll be walking, running, and moving around with these tablets a lot. That is why we only consider small and medium-sized screens (with a plus) for this list. However, portability isn’t everything you’ll need. You also may want to consider the power and screen resolution to really get the juices going when finishing that five-page essay. Also, a useful and advanced stylus that comes included, where possible, is a plus for those included among the best tablets for college and university. Below is a checklist of considerations and features a tablet for college and university has to complete in order to be a good fit:
- Portability
- Screen resolution
- Stylus
- Easy to use
- Storage
Best tablets for college and university in 2023
- Incredible design
- 10-hour battery life
- Comfortable and easy to carry
- Apple pencil 2 compatible
- No headphone jack
The iPad Mini (6th Gen) from 2021 is an 8.3-inch tablet with a 2266×1488 Liquid Retina Screen that will fit the needs of any student without breaking a sweat. Our favorite part of this iPad (aside from its screen) is the Apple Pencil, which remains one of the best stylus pens on the market. Whether you are an art student or an architecture student, this stylus and tablet combo will do the job faster and easier than most other options.
Even though it only has 4GB of RAM, the A15 Bionic chip with 65-bit architecture and a 6-core CPU, all do the heavy lifting for many of the most intensive tasks you may need this tablet for. It will serve perfectly enough for taking notes, making presentations, drawing, or watching videos for any assignment. And in your free time, you can even play games on it – but make sure not to do that while in class.
- Amazing price
- Aluminum design
- Strong battery life
- Week audio
- Slow performance
Sometimes, all you need when looking for the best tablet for college and university is a device to merely record some notes. Think of the Samsung SMART Tab M8 as a conventional notebook, but better. It has a strong battery and the perfect design for students to simply carry around, then go straight into studying on a dime.
It uses Android, so it has the perfect app compatibility, which is something that must be stressed as an important backbone for this list and is an affordable option. You can buy the SMART Tab M8 for less the $150 and enjoy its internal MediaTek processor with 2Gb Ram and 32GB of flash storage for the rest of your college career.
- Superb display
- The best processing power
- Amazing stylus
- Great size for more than studying
- Expensive
There are several instances where you may need more than just a note-taking tablet. In these situations, a device like the iPad Pro will always come in handy – that is, of course, if you have enough to spend on this rather expensive tablet. The iPad Pro is the flagship model out of Apple with their top M1 processor and a stunning 11-inch Liquid Retina display with ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color, so you can complete your assignments and show off while you also play the latest video games in true style.
This Apple tablet won’t leave you hanging, as it promises an entire day of charge, and potentially even more if you aren’t using it all too much (which we think you will). If you are an art student, engineering student, or just need immense power on hand to complete bulky workloads, this should be the perfect tablet to go with.
- Slim bezels
- S Pen included
- Amazing battery
- Incredible power
- Expensive
- Keyboard extra $350
We are in the big leagues now. If you find yourself needing a tablet for college or university with some steep power potential, Samsung’s got your cover. With the amazing Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, graphic design, video editing, and presentations will no longer be a headache.
You can fulfill all your college needs with this strong 14.6 inches AMOLED screen tablet. It may not be the easiest to move around, but it’ll be lighter than a conventional laptop, and much better than most options. The Galaxy Tab leverages the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the firm’s brand new chip, in tandem with 16GB of RAM and a 120Hz refresh rate.
One of the best things about this tablet is that it comes equipped with an S Pen, so you can start writing and drawing right out of the box. We highly recommend the additional Samsung keyboard, but it does come at a $350 premium. Texting on a normal tablet is already quite difficult, but imagine texting on a 14.6-inch tablet.
And there you have it, the absolute best tablets for college and university set across a gamut of OS and manufacturers. While Apple still remains the top dog in the sphere, several alternative designs are making waves, proving to give Apple a run for its money in budgetary and larger options.
Is it worth getting a tablet for University?
We’d say it’s great for university as it’s easy to carry and super lightweight. Many tablets can be paired with keyboards also, meaning you can essentially turn them into a laptop with ease.
Which is better for a student, a tablet or a laptop?
For portability, a tablet wins hands down. However, for more power, RAM, and arguably easier typing, a laptop is a good way to go.
Our Verdict
For students who are constantly on the move, the portable option is always the aptest among the best tablets for college and university, even though the enormous Samsung Galaxy Tab proves to have a ton of screen real estate for note taking and video watching. Thus, the first place spot goes to the always-reliable Apple iPad Mini 6th Gen, which is also the best 8-inch tablet on the market, showing to be a small, powerful, and beautiful device for all kinds of students in 2022.