In a world where tech only seems to be getting more expensive, it’s refreshing to see a product that refuses to follow suit.

Now entering its 15th year, Amazon’s Fire Tablet range remains not only one of the most affordable tablets you can buy, but often tips the scales into unbelievably cheap – particularly during one of Amazon’s regular sales events.

We’ve highlighted just what great value these tablets are for years, and so it’s high time we caught up with the most recent version of the tablet family’s middle child, the Amazon Fire HD 8.

While still officially a part of the tablet’s 12th generation, it received a mild spec bump on the 2022 version – absorbing the benefits of the Fire HD 8 Plus and re-released in 2024 as the baseline tablet. But as so often is the case, there are more unwritten improvements here than meets the eye.

Price

While there was a 32GB version of the HD 8 (2024) available at launch with 3GB RAM, at the time of writing you can currently also pick it up in its 64GB variety.

The extra storage is welcome – as is the bump to 4GB RAM – particularly when it currently costs about the same as the 32GB version when you find it in stock. That’s £100 / $130 with ads, or £110 / $145 without ads (it’s currently not available in Australia).

As we mentioned though, it’s well worth keeping your eye out for sales, such as Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, as well as flash sales that happen throughout the year, for even better prices. The 64GB HD 8 (2024) came down to around £85 / $90 during Amazon’s last Prime Day, and the 32GB was available for less than £60 / $55.

Those prices are just not what you see on any other branded tablet, and although the Fire Tablet HD 8 requires some managing of expectations, it’s really quite hard to grumble at this price.

Design

Nothing much has changed from a design perspective – there is as much plastic here as ever. That means the HD 8 is incredibly lightweight, which isn’t the best at giving an impression of quality.

Still, it somehow manages to avoid feeling fragile; you have the feeling you could chuck this in your bag without a lot of worry. Its new textured back panel also feels nice and grippy.

There’s a pretty sizeable black bezel – remember those? – around the screen, a single 5MP camera lens on the top right corner of the back panel, a centrally mounted 2MP selfie camera and buttons for power and volume on the right-hand side.

There’s also a 3.5mm jack – remember those? – on the bottom right, a microSD card for expanding the storage along the bottom edge, plus a USB-C for charging. You get a cable in the box, but as is the norm now, you’ll need your own plug.

Features

The power at the heart of the current HD 8 (2024) comes from the same 2.0 hexa-core processor as before. However, the biggest upgrade here this time around is the bump up from 2GB to 3GB of RAM for the 32GB version, and 4GB of RAM for the 64GB version.

Having tested Fire tablets for years, we know that the extra RAM is needed, and will help the HD 8 run smoother for longer. Getting 4GB RAM is a good reason to go for the 64GB version, though we’re actually testing the 32GB/3GB version here.

The performance differences between the HD 8 (2022) and HD 8 (2024) are arguably minimal initially – the load times are similar, and you can move around apps relatively smoothly on both. There’s the odd stutter on the older version that we don’t notice on the newer one when playing games through Amazon’s Luna gaming service, but it’s largely negligible.

However, it’ll be as you make this tablet your own, and add more apps that run in the background, that the extra RAM is really going to come into its own.

Cameras are about as good as they sound on paper, which isn’t particularly great considering the quality of camera you probably have on your phone. From the 5MP main camera, there’s not a lot of detail, and pictures look a bit smudgy when you zoom in on anything. Colours are a bit washed out too, and you’ll need good light to get anything passable.

Similarly, the 2MP selfie camera will do its job for video calls, but it’s very soft on detail. Ultimately, these cameras are very much built for function. They’ll do the job well enough to be usable if you need them, and for a tablet at this price, that feels fair.

If this is your first time considering a Fire tablet, it’s worth noting that it runs on Amazon’s own operating system – and it doesn’t support Google’s Play Store. That means the app selection is a little narrower than mainstream app stores, and though it has got much better over the years, there are still gaps. A big sticking point is it still pushes native Amazon productivity apps and doesn’t have access to Google apps such as Gmail or Google Docs, which you may find annoying.

The good news for anyone picking this up for movies and music is that most of the main streaming platforms are there, including Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Now, HBO Max and, of course, Amazon Prime Video. There’s sadly no Apple TV though.

Apple Music is missing from the audio side, too, as is Qobuz, but Tidal, Spotify, and Amazon Music are all on board.

Battery life is quoted at the same 13 hours of mixed use as the 2022 version, but at full brightness (which we tend to have this tablet on most of the time unless in a dark room), you’re going to shave a few hours off that.

Streaming from Netflix at full brightness for an hour, the HD 8 drops 11 per cent, which roughly suggests it’ll manage just under 10 hours of movies before it needs a charge.

Charging it back up is slow though – expect it to take as long as five hours to go from empty to full.

Picture

The Fire HD 8 wears its screen specs proudly in its name, serving up an 8-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 HD resolution. That gives the tablet a pixel density of 189ppi, which puts it significantly below the likes of the 8.3-inch iPad Mini at 326ppi. That tablet starts at £599, so it’s not really a fair comparison, but it gives you an idea of some of the compromises you’re making here.

The screen is also significantly less bright than something like the iPad Mini, and far more reflective too. This makes it hard to use in any kind of bright light – inside or outside. To get the best from it, you’ll want to be using it somewhere a little darker.

Considering there have been no claimed changes to the display, you might be surprised to hear that there are improvements to the way the HD 8 handles video. It’s subtle, but it is better.

For a start, the colour tone is different. Where the older tablet skews slightly green, the new one skews a little more blue. That doesn’t make it cooler though – if anything it’s the opposite. Skin tones have a touch more warmth and life to them, there’s a subtler handling of colour across the board, and there’s a squidge more fine detail in there too.

That added detail helps landscape scenes to have a more believable sense of depth and texture, and while the older tablet arguably packs a little extra punch in bright highlights, there’s more detail in those highlights in the new version.

Stepping away from the comparison and simply looking at it on its own, it’s really hard to grumble at what the Fire HD 8 does with video for the price. It’s a clean picture with minimal noise, decent colour handling and detail levels that are perfectly acceptable.

On a pricier tablet you might be hoping for colours with a bit more depth, deeper blacks and better contrast. The Fire HD 8 doesn’t have any HDR support either, which doesn’t help. But considering the fact you can save £500 on this versus the cheapest, most recent iPad Mini, there’s plenty to enjoy – just as long as you can handle the reflections.

Sound

The Fire HD 8 (2024) packs stereo speakers on the top edge (when you’re holding the tablet in landscape orientation). They sound almost identical to those on its predecessor, so they go pretty loud and are plenty clear enough, and since they’re at the top, they don’t get blocked by your hands when you’re watching movies and TV shows. Not all tablet manufacturers think that through.

Unsurprisingly, they’re not the bassiest speakers, so they can sound a bit thin when you push the volume in big action scenes. We would like a bit more forward projection too, though you can help create this yourself by positioning your hands behind the speakers when you’re supporting it. It makes a considerable difference.

Still, the likelihood is that you’re going to use headphones with the Fire HD 8, and there’s the option of the 3.5mm jack for wired headphones, or of course there’s Bluetooth for wireless headphones.

The audio performance with headphones remained pretty consistent from its predecessor, and we’re happy with that – it’s a decent listen. It’s not completely neutral in its presentation – there’s a solid handling of bass that makes the sound a little warmer than that – but it’s never bloated or overpowering. It helps give the sound some body to ensure sharp edges are kept at bay, too, along with a fairly chunky rolling off of the treble.

If you’re listening with a critical ear, then perhaps that can make it sound a bit flat – but this is preferable to a sharp sound that’s hard to listen to.

But since we’re getting into it, yes, dynamic handling could be a little more explicit here too, and yes we’d take more fine detail retrieval. But overall there’s a good degree of clarity, drive and musicality, and it gets enough of the basics right for us to be fairly satisfied.

With movies, that slightly weightier bass helps give the sound some presence during action scenes, with dialogue remaining clean, composed and well projected against the wider soundtrack.

Verdict

If you don’t have £500+ to spend on an iPad, your choice of other good, affordable tablets is getting smaller and smaller. We can’t help but wonder if that’s because other manufacturers simply can’t match what Amazon’s Fire HD tablet line-up can offer.

For £100 (and often much less), the Fire HD 8 absolutely nails the basics when it comes to movies and music – and regularly surpasses them. This is not just a passable performance, but genuinely impressive at times, and all wrapped up in a size that’s perfect for travel.

Sure, we’d love a screen that was a bit less reflective, but when it comes to delivering great value, on a performance-per-pound basis, this tablet is bit of a no brainer.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the iPad Mini 6

Also consider the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022)

Read our Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review

These are the best tablets for movies and music

As part of Apple’s latest string of announcements, the tech giant has announced that a new iPad Air is joining its ranks, and it has been supercharged with a bunch of upgrades.

Most notably, the new model is being powered by the M4 chip, a jump up from the previous model’s M3. This is the same chip that powers the current MacBook Air.

Apple claims the iPad Air is up to 30 per cent faster than iPad Air with M3, and up to 2.3 times faster than iPad Air with M1.

It doesn’t appear to be getting an upgrade in terms of thickness or weight compared with its previous iteration, however. That should mean the new addition is still impressively thin, though, with the older model measuring just 6.1mm.

It also comes in four finishes: blue, purple, starlight, and space grey.

The tech giant says all of these upgrades give “users a big jump in performance at the same starting price.”

Speaking of price, the new iPad Air comes in at £599 / $599 for the 11-inch model and £799 / $799 for the 13-inch. If you are looking to increase your capacity, Apple’s storage sizes start at 128GB, with 256GB, 512GB and a whopping 1TB variant is also available.

You can pre-order the iPad Air from 4 March, with availability beginning 11 March.

Apple's previous 13-inch iPad Air scored very highly in terms of its AV performance when we had it in our test room, receiving a top five-star rating. We found that its screen delivers cinematic, subtle and balanced picture, and it offers good sound from headphones and speakers. That all meant it snagged a What Hi-Fi? Award as the best premium tablet on the market.

With its faster processing power and the price tag remaining the same, this bodes well for the iPad Air M4's abilities. We will have to wait until we get it in our test room to see how it performs, of course, so stay tuned.

MORE:

Here is our review of the Apple iPad Air

Apple unveils the iPhone 17e with an upgraded processor, tougher screen and MagSafe support

Check out our review of Apple TV 4K

I've spent a considerable amount of this year flying around the world to see the latest TVs, projectors and soundbars, so I'm confident in saying that my roster of on-the-go AV gadgets is pretty refined at this point.

While a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones does the trick for music, as an AV enthusiast, I simply need a screen that does my favourite movies and TV shows justice; that's right, the screen on the back of the seat in front of me simply no longer cuts it.

That's why you'll seldom catch me on a flight without my iPad Air, often loaded up with the latest blockbusters from the likes of Apple TV and Netflix and deployed on my tray table for a spot of serious movie watching at 30,000 feet.

It's not the cheapest tablet on the market, but it balances picture and sound performance with portability in a way that makes it a vital part of my portable AV setup. However, thanks to Black Friday, it's also not as expensive as it usually is.

Now, I mostly carry an 11-inch iPad Air, but we've just bestowed the 13-inch iPad Air M3 with a coveted Product of the Year Award, so it seems only right to highlight this deal at Amazon that knocks £200 off the asking price.

Curiously, the 256GB model is the same price as the 128GB, so you'd be best off securing the extra storage for no additional cost. The higher-capacity configuration usually retails for £899, so scoring it at this price is a no brainer – especially if you plan on filling it up with movies, TV shows and music.

This iPad features the powerful M3 processor which is equally suited for AV and substantial productivity tasks alike, and at just 616g, you won't feel it weigh down your hand luggage. Despite its lightweight appeal, it boasts an expansive 13-inch display which is perfectly suited for binge watching a series on a long-haul flight.

In our full review, we determined that "this latest-generation iPad can deliver the goods when it comes to fulfilling its role as a portable movie machine", citing its "large screen with excellent all-round picture performance" as its biggest asset.

This display is bright yet balanced, and with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ on board, it makes light work of any streaming tasks you throw at it.

Furthermore, we found plenty to appreciate regarding its audio performance. The built-in speakers deliver crisp and clear dialogue (ideal for a spot of out-loud movie watching), and the sound performance via a pair of wired headphones is equally excellent, with a rich, detailed and textured audio.

Traditionally I'd be pointing you towards the best OLED TV deals, or savings on Dolby Atmos soundbars, but this portable AV machine deserves a shout out, as it's served me well in instances where a 65-inch OLED TV would be simply impractical.

Amazon's deal that knocks the price down to just £699 (from £899) is impressive indeed, making this a top-notch deal if you're going to be stuck on planes, trains or buses for extended periods of time soon and want to watch some movies or TV shows to pass the time.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

• We rank the best tablets for movie and music fans

Google's 2025 hardware announcements have, by phone launch standards, been quite eventful for us.

The new Pixel 10 series actually boasts some new AV-focused upgrades that should make them better devices for consuming movies and music, thanks to brighter OLED displays across the range and improved speakers with better bass.

However, there is one thing missing from this new Pixel lineup, and it isn't a phone.

Cast your mind back to 2023, and you'll remember Google launched the Pixel Tablet, a truly unique hybrid device that was half tablet, half smart home speaker.

It included a magnetic speaker dock in the box, which users could snap the tablet onto for charging and, more importantly, improved audio.

It's been over two years since this nifty portable device launched, and Google has been rather quiet on the tablet front ever since. We liked the Pixel Tablet, awarding it four stars on account of its sharp and natural image and impressive audio capabilities.

So, when Google announced its annual Made by Google reveal event, I began wondering if we'd see a sequel to this quirky tablet. Sadly, that did not come to fruition as I watched the event start to finish last night.

It's a shame, as I think it's a bit of an overlooked gem in the tablet space, which in itself is practically dominated by Apple's iPad range.

We rarely see a tablet that's this focused on providing such a comprehensive audio experience, hence why I'm disappointed by the lack of a sequel.

And I'm not just talking about the speaker dock; the Pixel Tablet's built-in speakers were surprisingly potent, with a clear and full-bodied performance that made them more than acceptable for a spot of out-loud movie watching.

It's worth noting that Google still sells the original model, meaning it hasn't necessarily left its only tablet in the dust. However, there are no signs that it's developing a new version.

My wishlist for a new model includes a beefier speaker dock with better dynamics and a bit more oomph.

Notably, we mentioned that the Pixel Tablet dock wasn't directly comparable to any of the best Bluetooth speakers when it came to sound performance, so a revised version with an even better audio experience would be a significant win.

MORE:

Read our full Pixel Tablet review

As well as our iPad Air 13-inch review

And check out our picks for the best tablets

Samsung has revealed the latest additions to its Galaxy Tab family of tablets: affordable alternatives to the flagship S10 series. The Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Tab S10 FE+ feature premium designs and plenty of Galaxy AI smarts – although Samsung has dropped a staple feature of its mobile lineup to reach this lower price point.

The Tab S10 FE and S10 FE+ feature 10.9-inch and 13.1-inch displays, respectively; Samsung boasts that this is the largest display on an FE-series Tab yet. They feature trimmed-down bezels surrounding the screen for a sleeker look, and a claimed peak brightness of up to 800 nits.

Furthermore, Samsung has included its Vision Booster feature, which will reportedly deliver optimal viewing regardless of your environment – so an abundance of ambient light shouldn't impact your on-the-go movie watching.

Unfortunately, to meet the cheaper price point (more on that in a moment), Samsung has opted for LCD panels in these tablets instead of its punchy Dynamic AMOLED displays, which have proven to deliver rich colours and deep blacks on its previous tablets and smartphones.

These panels can reach up to 90Hz, which should deliver smoother scrolling and gameplay, but they probably won't be as responsive as the Tab S10+ and Ultra, which both feature 120Hz panels.

There doesn't appear to be any mention of HDR10+ support either, nor a reference to Dolby Atmos support for the dual speaker setup. Both of these features can be found on the more expensive Tab S10+ and Tab S10 Ultra.

Elsewhere, the Tab S10 FE and its plus variant feature the Exynos 1580​ chipset, with either 8GB or 12GB of RAM, depending on whether you opt for the 128GB or 256GB storage option. They both run Android 15 with Samsung's One UI skin. That includes the Galaxy AI feature suite, with Circle to Search with Google and the Gemini assistant supported.

The Tab S10 FE+ also boasts a large 10,090 mAh battery (8000 mAh on the standard version), and both models are available in grey, silver or blue finishes. Both versions include an S-Pen stylus in the box, and a keyboard cover case is available as an optional extra.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE and Galaxy Tab S10 FE plus start at £499 and £649 respectively, notably cheaper than the Tab S10+, which starts at £999. And those prices undercut Apple's iPad Air, which is currently £599 for the 11-inch version, or £799 for the 13-inch model.

Pricing and availability for the US and Australia are yet to be confirmed.

MORE:

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra review

Check out our picks for the best tablets

As well as our iPad Pro 13-inch M4 review

Apple has a new iPad. The iPad Air M3 has Apple's slightly older M3 processor, artificial intelligence and a new keyboard (sold separately). Given that the Air always reviews well, it's bound to be a great device.

But is it right for you? The iPad Pro M4 has a more powerful processor, OLED screen and a What Hi-Fi? Award to its name. It is, however, also more expensive.

Join us as we pit the two tablets head to head to see which comes out on top.

iPad Air M3 vs iPad Pro M4: price

The iPad Air M3 has the same £599 starting price as its predecessor. That's for the 11-inch model with 128GB of storage; 256GB will cost you £699, 512GB £899 and 1TB £1099.

The 13-incher is pricier, as you would expect. 128GB costs £799, 256GB is £899, 512GB is £1099 and 1TB is £1299.

These are the wi-fi-only options. If you want a data connection to go with it, for connecting online when away from a wi-fi hotspot, it will cost extra.

Those prices are quite a bit cheaper than the iPad Pro M4. Its 11-inch model starts at £999 for 256GB, going up to £1199 for 512GB, £1599 for 1TB and £1999 for 2TB.

The 13-inch Pro is £1299 for 256GB, £1499 for 512GB, £1899 for 1TB and £2299 for 2TB. Ouch. The 1TB and 2TB options also come in a nano textured glass option, for even lower reflectivity in ambient light, for an extra £100. Again, you will have to pay more for a data connection.

iPad Air M3 vs iPad Pro M4: design

The iPad Air is, unsurprisingly, very slim and light – but perhaps not as much as you might expect.

The 11-inch model is a couple of millimetres shorter than the iPad Pro M4, but is actually 1mm wider and nearly 1mm thicker. The 13-inch Air is shorter and narrower than the equivalent Pro, but again is slightly thicker. The Pro models are also lighter than the Airs. Bizarre.

The Air is more colourful though, coming in four finishes: Blue, Purple, Starlight or Space Grey. The Pro only comes in the rather more buttoned-up Silver or Space Black. Think of it as the one person who still wears a suit to the office.

iPad Air M3 vs iPad Pro M4: features

The M3 processor is the big selling point of the new iPad Air. Apple says this will make the device nearly twice as fast as the M1 iPad Air (which came out in 2022), and up to three times faster than the iPad Air with A14 Bionic (which came out in 2020).

M3 packs an 8-core CPU, which is up to 35 per cent faster for multithreaded CPU workflows than the iPad Air with M1. Its 9-core GPU boasts up to 40 per cent faster graphics performance over the M1 model.

And it's the first iPad Air with Apple's advanced graphics architecture, with support for dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing.

Creative types, beavering away on graphics-intensive rendering workflows, will enjoy up to 4x faster performance than with the iPad Air with M1, meaning more accurate lighting, reflections, shadows, and more realistic gaming experiences.

The M3 chip also means Apple's neural engine (which enables AI features) is faster too – up to 60 per cent faster than the M1, Apple claims.

The new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air has a larger trackpad, and a new 14-key function row for adjust elements such as volume and screen brightness.

But the iPad Pro M4 has a faster processor in the form of the M4. That makes it better suited for creative professionals, as it puts much more graphics and processing power at their fingertips.

The 1TB and 2TB options have even more power: these variants have a processor with an extra performance core and double the RAM of the smaller-capacity versions

And there's another feather in the Pro's cap: an OLED screen. Not just any OLED screen at that; this is a tandem OLED, which won our Innovation Award last year. It delivers better brightness and radically better screen quality. All the benefits of OLED with the brightness of Mini LED, in other words.

According to Apple, it offers 1600 nits with HDR highlights and 1000 nits of full-screen brightness. It can now hit 1000 nits with SDR content, too, whereas the previous model was limited to 600 nits with such content.

The iPad Pro M4 also has the nano-texture display glass option for better visibility in certain lighting conditions (this is available only on 1TB and 2TB models).

It too has Apple Intelligence for AI smarts, and the same 12-megapixel camera as the new iPad Air – but if you're taking photos with your iPad, you want to have a word with yourself.

iPad Air M3 vs iPad Pro M4: picture

We haven't tested the iPad Air M3, so can't give our verdict on its picture quality. But we have tested its predecessor, which we found to have plenty of pop and punch.

"It's awesomely sharp and detailed, too, as all current iPads are, and its motion is superb, with no judder or soap-opera effect," we say in our review.

It's not a patch, however, on the iPad Pro M4, which combines "incredible peak brightness with perfect OLED blacks in scintillating fashion." The Pro is richer and warmer too, and effortlessly cinematic.

"All told, this is a spectacular picture performance that combines pop and dynamism with superb subtlety and cinematic richness, resulting in a portable movie experience that is a match for the best home cinema displays," we conclude.

iPad Air M3 vs iPad Pro M4: sound

Again, we haven't tested the iPad Air M3 so can't comment on its audio chops. Our verdict on the iPad Air M2's sound was "fairly well balanced, controlled and spacious". Which is pretty good for a tablet. "Dynamics are better than expected, too, and there’s good clarity to vocals in music and dialogue in movies."

Connect a pair of headphones, and you're in for a much more enjoyable experience. Dynamics, detail and timing were all excellent, and we expect the iPad Air M3 to perform very similarly.

The iPad Pro M4 is a touch warmer than the previous Air, and retains a good sense of spaciousness. It's a rich performance with plenty of weight, giving it a great sense of impact.

iPad Air M3 vs iPad Pro M4: early verdict

Without having put the new iPad Air through its paces, we can't give a definitive verdict on how it performs. But it is likely to be very similar to its predecessor, which earned five stars. Add a new processor, and the odd tweak here and there, and it should be another winning Apple tablet.

It's also much cheaper than the iPad Pro M4. There's no denying the Pro is the more capable tablet, thanks to its beefier processor and more advanced screen. But unless you watch a lot of films on the go, or use your tablet for graphics-heavy creative work, you're likely to be better off saving the money and going for the iPad Air M3.

That would be the sensible thing to do. But if you want an absolute monster of a portable cinema, we're certainly not going to stop you.

MORE:

Read our iPad Air M2 review

And our iPad Pro M4 review

These are the best tablets around

UPDATE 06/03/2025: Apple has also announced a refreshed version of the base model iPad, which will go on sale alongside this new iPad Air. The iPad (2022) will be replaced by the new 11th-generation model, which features a host of under-the-hood upgrades.

It looks practically identical on the outside, with the same four vibrant finishes – silver, blue, yellow, and, our personal favourite, pink – to choose from, and the display appears to carry over, too. It's an 11-inch liquid retina screen which has a claimed 500 nits brightness.

Apple has instead opted to focus on the processor and storage. It's upgraded the iPad with the A16 chip, which was previously featured on the iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 15 and 15 Plus; for reference, the previous generation model used the A14 Bionic processor from the iPhone 12 series. Interestingly, this means that the new iPad won't be compatible with Apple Intelligence. It also starts at 128GB of storage now, up from 64GB as standard.

The iPad (2025) is available to pre-order now, starting at £329 / $349 / AU$599.

ORIGINAL STORY 04/03/2025: Apple appears to be on a roll announcing its new products, as the tech giant has unveiled a new iPad Air less than a year after its predecessor – the iPad Air (2024)– started shipping. This also follows its iPhone 16e announcement earlier in the year.

The brand's latest tablet drop is another addition to its growing tablet range, and is cementing it as by far the biggest competitors in the market.

The new iPad Air has an upgraded M3 chip, a step up from the 2024 model which used the M2.

According to Apple, the faster M3 chip means you can “enjoy even more Apple Intelligence capabilities in iPadOS”. This isn’t the most modern chip Apple has to offer, but Apple says it’s twice as fast as the M1-powered Air and the A14 Bionic-powered Air.

We were also hoping Apple would implement the OLED screen display it uses for the iPad Pro but so far there has been no mention of any screen updates.

You can get the iPad Air in two sizes – 11-inch and 13-inches – as well as a choice of four finishes. The pricing starts at $599 for the smaller model and $799 for the larger, and we're waiting to hear the official price point for the UK and Australia.

Apple has also introduced an updates Magic Keyboard that boasts a larger trackpad, and a new 14-key function row to more easily adjust screen brightness and volume.

This was previously only available on the iPad Pro. It attaches magnetically, and the Smart Connector immediately connects power and data without the need for Bluetooth. The keyboard is going at $269 for the smaller model and $319 for the bigger one.

If you want to get your hands on it, the new iPad Air is available to pre-order now, with shipping starting on 12 March. We have not had a chance to get it in for review yet, but stay tuned to find out how we rate it.

MORE:

Here is our in-depth review of the 13-inch iPad Air (2024)

These are the best iPads we recommend

And check out our review for the iPad Pro M4

After years of rumours, 2028 could finally be the year we see Apple release a foldable iPad.

That’s according to Bloomberg’s Apple rumours expert Mark Gurman, who described the possible project as “something akin to a giant iPad that unfolds into the size of two iPad Pros side-by-side”.

This isn’t the first time a two-screen tablet has been teased in the last few years.

You might remember the Microsoft Surface Neo, which was in development in 2019. It promised two tablets connected by a hinge that could be folded away like a book. However, it never saw the light of day, as Microsoft pulled production.

The rumoured foldable iPad is said to be one piece of glass rather than two hinged together, so think of it more like a Samsung Galaxy Z Series, but giant – it is said to be around 20 inches when unfolded completely.

Gurman says that one of Apple’s focuses is to avoid a crease in the screen as much as possible, adding that the product will not be a “true iPad-Mac hybrid” but will include elements of both.

“By the time 2028 rolls around, iPadOS should be advanced enough to run macOS apps,” he commented.

While other rumours of a foldable iPhone have been floating around for years, Apple is yet to release a foldable anything.

MORE:

Here is our review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6

And these are the best iPads we recommend

We found the best tablet deals

There are lots of cheap tablets out there, but very few of them are any good, particularly where movies and music are concerned.

The Amazon Fire HD 10, though, is a different story: this is a 10-inch tablet that we recently gave a What Hi-Fi? Award to at its original price of £150, thanks primarily to its 'balanced and surprisingly punchy picture performance'. And now you can pick it up for just £70 at Amazon – that's better than half-price!

In our five-star review of the tablet, we praise its bright and punchy image, which comes as a welcome surprise considering its low price and the lack of HDR support. This makes for a more than passable viewing experience, packing an impressive punch for a 'basic' screen.

While watching Rogue One during our testing process, we found that "there’s an unexpected three-dimensionality to the Fire HD 10’s presentation, with characters and spaceships standing out effectively against backgrounds. There’s lots of detail in faces, clothes and scenery, too, and while there’s a little blur to motion, it’s not too distracting."

You can also connect with family and friends over social media or video calling. With Alexa built into the heart of the design, it is also possible to control all your smart home devices with just your voice.

MORE:

Here are the best iPad deals

And the best tablets you can buy right now

Also consider the Apple iPad

You can now buy a massive iPad that isn’t a Pro, and that’s cause for celebration around these AV-obsessed parts. We’re all about movies on the move, and there’s no substitute for size where cinema is concerned – even portable cinema.

The 13-inch iPad Air should, therefore, be a winner. It equals the largest iPad Pro for screen real estate, but it does without the new M4 processor, which is undeniable overkill for our modest media-consumption needs.

There’s an elephant in the room, though, in the form of Tandem OLED. The new iPad Pro has it but this iPad Air does not. Is that a wise sacrifice in the name of cost-cutting, or a compromise not worth making? That’s a very tough question to answer.

Price

The 13-inch iPad Air costs £799 / $799 / AU$AU$1299 in 128GB form, with each step up the storage capacity ladder incurring a rather hefty increase in price. Opting for cellular support as well as the standard wi-fi is a £150 / $150 / AU$250 decision, too. Go for the top-of-the-range cellular option with 1TB of storage and you’re looking at a £1449 / $1449 / AU$2429 bill.

That’s a lot of money, for sure, but the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at £1299 / $1299 / AU$2199, so if it’s a super-sized Apple tablet you’re after, it’s the significantly more affordable option.

If screen size isn’t your priority but screen quality is, you must also consider the 11-inch iPad Pro, which starts at £999 / $999 / AU$1699. That’s still more expensive than the 13-inch iPad Air we have before us today, but that Tandem OLED display sure is fabulous.

Design

An iPad is an iPad is an iPad, right? In a way, yes, but that does rather underplay what a gorgeous object an iPad is. This 13-inch Air might lack the ‘thinnest Apple product ever’ tag of the 13-inch Pro, but it’s still a fabulously slim yet super-solid device in its own right. And, for the record, the difference in thickness is only 1mm.

It’s worth pointing out that the size of the 13-inch iPad Air makes it slightly unwieldy compared with its smaller siblings, but that’s really the price you pay to have such a large but portable screen. One day, perhaps, a bezel-less iPad will exist, but the Air’s 1cm-ish bezels aren’t a big deal for now, especially as you’ll inevitably be resting your thumbs upon them at various times.

The bezel along one of the longer edges houses the front-facing camera, which means it’s at the top of the display when making a typical video call. The last iPad Air had the camera along one of the shorter edges, which could leave the people you were talking to feeling as though you were avoiding their gaze.

Features

The big deal for those of us of an AV persuasion is the 13-inch screen, which is 2.1 inches larger than the previous largest display to grace an iPad Air. That’s an increase of 19 per cent, which is a pretty big deal. It’s like going from a 55-inch TV to a 65-inch model.

As mentioned, that screen does without the innovative Tandem OLED technology that Apple has introduced with the new iPad Pro models. Instead, the iPad Air features Apple’s tried-and-true Liquid Retina Display, which combines an LCD panel with LED backlighting and a pixel density of 264 pixels per inch. Every iPad in the current range has this pixel density with the exception of the iPad Mini, which has long been an outlier with 326 ppi.

Of course, every Apple device launch comes with bold claims about speed increases, and the new iPad Air features the company’s M2 chip, which first appeared in 2022 as the processor of that year’s MacBook Air and and 13-inch MacBook Pro. It is of course not up there in performance terms with the M4 chip inside the new iPad Pro, but it’s still a relative powerhouse in general tablet terms. In fact, it’s overkill for the sort of media consumption with which we’re most interested, and even those who use the iPad Air for general productivity will rarely encounter even a stutter.

On the subject of productivity, the iPad Air is compatible with the Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil Pro, plus the Magic Keyboard. No iPad is really a complete laptop replacement at this point, but for some specific tasks or occasional work as a substitute laptop (typing up a review on a plane, for instance), the iPad Air is more than capable.

The front-facing camera which, as we’ve mentioned, is now usefully located along one of the landscape edges, is a 12MP Ultra Wide affair that features Centre Stage, which does a really good job of tracking you and automatically zooming in and out when it’s helpful during video calls. The 12MP camera on the rear is leagues behind the sort of multi-lens arrangement you get on the latest iPhones, but it’s more than passable in a pinch.

On the sound front, the new iPad Air features landscape stereo speakers, just as its predecessor did, but Apple also claims that the 13-inch model specifically boasts ‘even better sound quality with double the bass’.

Finally, we can’t close this section without mentioning Apple Intelligence, the AI system that is being integrated into practically all modern Apple devices. This will help you compose messages, summarise text, search through your photos and much more, but it’s alas not yet available in the UK so couldn’t be tested for this review.

Picture

There has never been a poor iPad display, and the 13-inch iPad Air certainly doesn’t buck that trend. The impact of the additional screen real estate is felt immediately and is a joy from the home screen, to apps for gaming, drawing and making music, and, of course, when watching movies.

Interestingly though, while there’s a clear good (iPad), better (iPad Air), best (iPad Pro) brightness hierarchy when looking at the home screen and most apps, things are a little more nuanced when watching an HDR movie.

We play Alex Garland’s Civil War from the Apple TV app on all three devices simultaneously, and the iPad Pro is clearly the most dynamic of the trio, combining incredible peak brightness with perfect OLED blacks in scintillating fashion. It’s also richer and warmer than its siblings in a way that makes it more cinematic. It really is the best tablet for movies that there has ever been – and by quite some margin.

From that high, the iPad Air is a significant step down. It’s less punchy thanks to significantly lower peak brightness, and its relative lack of black depth is clear to see, particularly when watching in a dark room. Of course, the comparison isn’t particularly fair – the Pro is the first in a new generation of Tandem OLED iPads – but it’s a consideration you have to have in mind when deciding which iPad to buy.

What’s more interesting is the comparison between the iPad Air and the entry-level iPad, because the cheap model is in fact punchier with HDR movies. Contrary to expectations, it has a lot more pop, delivering the white of the ‘Press’ car and the blue of Sammy’s shirt with a lot more zing. That said, its blacks aren’t as black and it doesn’t have the subtlety in its delivery – the more measured approach to shading – of the more expensive models. And, of course, it can’t deliver the scale of the 13-inch models in the range.

So, while the iPad Air is surprisingly less instantly impactful than the entry-level iPad, it does deliver the more subtle and balanced picture performance. It’s awesomely sharp and detailed, too, as all current iPads are, and its motion is superb, with no judder or soap-opera effect. And, at the risk of hammering the point, a 13-inch display at handheld range is really something.

Sound

The stereo speakers being on the shorter edges of the tablet means you have to be a little careful not to block the sound output when holding the screen in landscape, but one of the benefits of having a very large tablet is that the gap between the speakers is larger, giving you a bigger space into which you can strategically place your hands.

There’s obviously not oodles of bass to the delivery, but this isn’t the super-thin, shrill sound that we have broadly come to expect from portable devices with tiny drivers. On the contrary, the sound from the speakers is fairly well balanced, controlled and spacious. Dynamics are better than expected, too, and there’s good clarity to vocals in music and dialogue in movies.

The delivery is similar to that of the iPad Pro, though the flagship model is just a smidge more crisp in its timing. We’re again talking small margins, though. Both are a significant improvement on the entry-level iPad which, while good for a tablet in its price range, sounds thin and a little uncouth next to its more expensive siblings.

A decent, cheap Bluetooth speaker will of course trounce any model in the iPad range, but the speakers of the iPad Air are more than passable when there is no other choice.

Of course, using headphones is a much more satisfying experience. Playing Invincible by Tool from Tidal in 24-bit 96kHz FLAC, the new iPad Air sounds lovely in isolation. It boasts excellent dynamics, both subtle and grand, fabulous detail and impeccable timing. Notes that should stop abruptly do, and those that should slowly decay gently drift away.

The upgrades over the previous iPad are minimal – tiny increases to timing precision and larger-scale dynamics – but upgrades weren’t needed as the previous model already sounded so good.

The comparison with the other current iPad models is a little more interesting. There’s excellent consistency across the range, with each model typifying the fairly neutral tonal balance and general precision favoured by Apple, but the entry-level iPad isn’t quite as crisp as the Air, nor as full-bodied when it comes to those larger dynamic shifts.

The upgrade to the iPad Pro is similarly minimal, with the flagship model adding just a smidge of additional warmth to proceedings but otherwise sounding very similar to its siblings.

Verdict

The 13-inch iPad Air is an excellent option for those who want a tablet with an extra-large screen but don’t need a bleeding-edge processor. The lack of Tandem OLED technology means the picture performance is quite a long way off that of the new iPad Pro, but the price gap is significant, too, and in its own right the iPad Air is a superbly cinematic tablet with great sound to boot.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

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Check out our reviews of the iPad Pro 13-inch and standard iPad

These are the best tablets you can buy right now

After almost three long years of radio silence on the iPad Mini front, Apple finally decided that yesterday was the day to announce that a new model will be arriving soon. We often consider the Mini to be Apple's most underrated tablet thanks to its compact chassis, smooth everyday performance and impressive list of AV features (Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and Apple Spatial Audio). I even bought one with my own hard-earned cash before joining the What Hi-Fi? team – so that should grant me the status of a true iPad Mini fan.

When I saw the announcement of a new model drop unexpectedly into my inbox on a random Tuesday afternoon, I dived straight in with fairly high expectations. The more I read, however, the less enthusiastic I became. The new iPad Mini features a newer processor (from last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max), Apple Intelligence support (which isn't even available yet), and it now works with the Apple Pencil Pro… and that's it.

Now I don't want to sound entitled or ungrateful, but three years for that? We have seen such huge strides across the iPad lineup in recent years, and this is how the Mini is treated. If Apple truly wants to level up the Mini and make it the ultimate portable AV powerhouse, here are a few suggestions for the next iteration:

A Tandem OLED display

Getting straight into the most requested feature, Apple launched its first OLED iPad earlier this year to great acclaim. We awarded the 13-inch model five stars, and that is mostly due to its stunning picture performance. The inky blacks, unrivalled contrast, and rich colours are truly what makes this tablet so likeable; the detailed and expressive sound and lightning-fast M4 processor help, too – but screen specification is stellar.

Now, the current iPad Mini is a top-notch performer – it too earned itself five stars in 2021 – but after such a long wait I was hoping to see an improvement in the screen. An OLED iPad Mini sounds like a dream come true, and while that may be wishful thinking as not even the more expensive iPad Air was lucky enough to get the screen technology, it would have been a great opportunity to introduce an OLED iPad at a screen size smaller than 11-inches.

If not Tandem OLED, then perhaps Mini LED? Apple dropped the screen technology from the iPad Pro after the OLED upgrade this year and has proceeded not to use it in any of its other products. A pixel-dense Mini LED display with tightly packed dimming zones would have surely been a win in the brightness department at the very least; alas the same 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display returns for another generation (and likely another three years).

An updated design

When the design highlights for the new iPad Mini include "two new finishes" – one of which is an almost indistinguishable shade of purple than what we saw on the 2021 model – you know that there really isn't much to be said for the build of the new iPad Mini.

I'm a fan of the form factor of the current model. – it is compact and cute – and the move to the home button-less style really gave the Mini a new lease on life back in 2021. However, it feels as though more could have been done to distinguish this iPad from its predecessor. To start, the bezels on the iPad Mini are fairly chunky when compared with the rest of the lineup; Apple is in its "thinnest ever" era at the moment, so seeing it take some inspiration from the iPhone 16 Pro would have been appreciated.

Likewise, the camera placement is, it is pretty much universally considered to be, in the wrong place. Apple cemented this sentiment with the iPad (2022), iPad Air (2024) and iPad Pro (2024) by moving the camera across to the right-hand edge of the device, making it much better for video calls. Admittedly, the Mini is a small device, and cramming all of the components into the build is surely no easy feat; just take the volume controls which are oddly placed on the top edge for example. However, Apple's research and development team are clearly talented (and very well funded) so I'm sure a solution could be found.

Front facing stereo speakers

If Apple truly cannot shrink the bezels of the iPad Mini down any more, then maybe it could put them to good use. Embedding the stereo speaker system into the bezels would allow for front firing sound rather than side-firing, which should be an obvious improvement for watching content without headphones.

We praised the speaker system from the previous iPad Mini, but that doesn't mean Apple couldn't improve it yet again. I won't even mention the headphone jack by the by, as I have grudgingly accepted that it will never come back.

MORE:

Check out our list of the best iPads

And our wider list of the best tablets

As well as our iPad Mini 6 (2021) review

After nearly three years of neglect, Apple has dropped a surprise update to the iPad Mini today, with the announcement of the seventh-generation model. While the new iPad Mini doesn't make any adjustments to the adorable form factor first featured on the sixth generation model from 2021, there are some under-the-hood upgrades that make it an even more powerful pocket-sized tablet (depending on how large your pockets are, of course).

The biggest enhancement comes in the form of the A17 Pro chip, which was also featured on last year's iPhone 15 Pro Max. Confusingly, Apple decided not to option the new Mini with this year's A18 Pro chipset as featured on the new iPhone 16 Pro; which is a shame. Ideally, we would like to see the newest processor on this updated model, though Apple's track record for keeping its devices up to date for roughly five years minimum means we shouldn't be worried about this scaled-down iPad having a short lifespan.

The A17 Pro chip is still set to deliver a major step up over the A15 Bionic found in the iPad Mini 6th Generation. Apple quotes a 30 per cent boost in CPU speeds and a 25 per cent jump in graphical performance, which should provide a major performance increase in gaming and creativity apps. Wi-Fi 6E is also on board for faster wireless connectivity, or you can specify the iPad Mini with 5G support for cellular data if required. It also ships with iPadOS 18, and Apple claims that the new iPad Mini is "built for Apple Intelligence".

Yes, the headlining feature of the iPhone 16 Pro, which is still absent on the public release of iOS 18, is making its way to the iPad series. Apple's recent iPad Air 6th Generation and iPad Pro M4 models will also gain access to Apple Intelligence when it launches, as well as previous models sporting the M1 processor such as the fifth-generation iPad Air (2022) and sixth-generation iPad Pro (2022).

Back to the new iPad Mini, and there really isn't much more to say. The same 8.3-inch Liquid Retina featured on the previous model returns complete with Dolby Vision certification, as do the stereo loudspeakers with Dolby Atmos support. Interestingly, Apple has opted not to move the front-facing camera to the right-hand edge for use in landscape mode, as seen on all of the other currently available models, and Touch ID remains the only option for biometric authentication.

There are some new colours to choose from, including blue and a slightly lighter purple shade, alongside the existing space grey and starlight colours. It is also compatible with the latest Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) accessories, as well as Apple's new range of smart folio cases.

The seventh generation iPad Mini starts at £499 / $499 / AU$799 for the 128GB Wi-Fi model, or the 5G variant starts at £649 / $649 / AU$1049 – making it slightly more expensive than the previous model in the UK and US. It is available to pre-order now, with orders expected to ship on the 23rd of October.

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Check out our picks for the best iPads

As well as our full iPad Pro M4 review

And our iPad (2022) review

• The best tablets for movie fans rated

While other brands occasionally try to break through, the tablet market is really split in two, with Apple’s iPads on the premium side and Amazon’s Fire tablets on the affordable one. There are random, cheap options from brands called things such as ‘Hakaug’ and ‘Doogee’, but it’s a wilful soul who takes a chance on one of those when Amazon’s offerings are already so attractively priced.

The Fire HD 10 we have before us today isn’t super-cheap by any means, but it looks like very good value for a 10-inch tablet, particularly when compared with the prices of iPads. It’s got the highest pixel density of the whole Fire tablet range, too, potentially making it the pick of the bunch for those of us most interested in watching movies on the move.

Price

The Amazon Fire HD 10 is officially priced at £150 / $140 (it’s unfortunately not available in Australia), but as with most of Amazon’s own devices, it’s regularly discounted, particularly around sales events such as Black Friday. For reference, the cheapest current iPad is £349 / $349 / AU$599.

With the Amazon Fire HD 10, your £150 / $140 gets you an ad-supported version of the tablet. We’ve become pretty immune to the ads, which are most obvious when they pop up on the lock screen, but you can pay an additional £10 / $10 for an ad-free version if you prefer. Or you can buy the ad-supported tablet and then pay the extra tenner to have the ads removed at a later date if you find them annoying.

The £150 / $140 entry-level option also gets you just 32GB of built-in storage, which is unlikely to be an issue if you’re just streaming movies and music but could be limiting if you also want to download games. Amazon will sell you a 64GB version but the price increase is quite steep, so we instead recommend going for the 32GB edition and making use of the expandable storage should you run out of built-in space. SD cards up to 1TB in size are supported.

Design

Unsurprisingly, the Amazon Fire HD 10 can’t match an iPad for build quality, but it doesn’t look or feel cheap. The plastic chassis has a nice texture that means it won’t slip out of your hands at the first opportunity, and the rounded corners give the device a soft, approachable air, particularly when combined with one of the more attractive colour options – we chose lilac for our review device.

The front is all glass (aluminosilicate glass, if you must know) and uniformly black when the screen is off. Bringing it to life reveals bezels that are about 2cm in thickness around the 10.1-inch, 16:10-ratio active display. The tablet as a whole is just 8.6mm thick (the standard iPad is 7mm) and 434g in weight (the iPad is 477g), and in the hand it feels both slim and solid.

Features

That 10.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1200, which translates to just over Full HD in TV parlance. That equates to a pixel density of 224 pixels per inch, which is higher than any other Fire tablet, including the more expensive Fire Max 11, and not a million miles off the 264ppi of every iPad barring the surprisingly pixel-rich iPad Mini.

Running the show is a 2.0GHz octa-core processor that isn’t going to pull up any trees but is more than adequate for smooth operation, streaming and casual gaming. Should you wish to make the Fire HD 10 more of a productivity device, it’s compatible with accessories including a keyboard case and stylus pen.

As you would expect, the Fire HD 10 has cameras on its front and rear. Both feature 5MP lenses and neither is much good for photography, but the one on the front, which is positioned in the middle of one of the longer bezels, is perfectly fine for video calls. When holding the tablet in landscape mode, as you would when watching a movie, the tablet’s speakers are on either end of the top edge, so they’re not covered by your hands. Headphones sound better, of course, and the Fire HD 10 is one of the few remaining portable devices with a 3.5mm headphone jack – though you can of course connect headphones (and plenty more besides) via Bluetooth if you prefer.

Amazon quotes 13 hours of mixed use from a full battery, and our testing suggests that figure to be pretty accurate. Charging the battery from empty to full takes about four hours using the bundled 9W charger and USB-C cable.

It’s possible to ‘hack’ an Amazon tablet to access the Google Play Store, but most owners will rightly stick with the vanilla Fire OS operating system and its bespoke app store. While this is limited compared to the Apple and Google app stores, most of the bases relevant to video and music consumption are covered. On the video side, Prime Video (obviously), Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Now, Plex and all of the UK’s catchup apps are on board, and for music you’ve got Amazon Music, Spotify, BBC Sounds and TuneIn. You can even use cloud gaming apps such as Amazon Luna and Xbox Cloud Gaming. The only real disappointments are Apple TV, Apple Music and Tidal, which are missing and will be missed by a fair few buyers.

Picture

While the Fire HD 10 doesn’t support HDR, we’re immediately struck by how bright and punchy the image is when we click ‘play’ on the final episode of The Grand Tour on Prime Video. The purple of James May’s Triumph Stag and yellow of Richard Hammond’s Ford Capri really pop in the bright Zimbabwean sunshine, and the green fields and trees are lush. At the same time, the skin tones of the three presenters are realistically presented – May looks a bit sunburnt, but that’s because he is.

Switching to Rogue One on Disney+, it’s clear that the Amazon tablet can’t match an iPad for deep blacks – and it’s a little bit reflective in a bright room, too – but it doesn’t look unpleasantly grey or washed out, either. On the contrary, it’s a pleasingly contrasty performance. The tablet handles the more subdued palette of the movie well, authentically reproducing the dusty browns and greys of the uniforms of the rebel troops and the dirty white armour of a stormtrooper who’s seen better days.

‘Full HD’ doesn’t sound very impressive in a world of 4K and even 8K TVs, but it’s more than adequate for a sharp and fairly crisp delivery at this size. In fact, there’s an unexpected three-dimensionality to the Fire HD 10’s presentation, with characters and spaceships standing out effectively against backgrounds. There’s lots of detail in faces, clothes and scenery, too, and while there’s a little blur to motion, it’s not too distracting.

All told, the Fire HD 10 gets a lot right on the picture front, delivering movies and TV shows in a way that’s pretty faithful to creative intent and with a surprising amount of pop and definition.

Sound

If you’re watching a movie or TV show and find yourself without your headphones, the stereo speakers will do in a pinch. Being mounted to the top edge means the sound is fired upwards rather than out and towards you, but there’s decent clarity, particularly with dialogue. Unsurprisingly, there’s very little bass, making for a rather thin presentation overall, and there’s none of the pseudo-surround processing that you get with an iPad – but, again, the built-in speakers will do a job when required.

For music, it’s essential that you connect a pair of headphones. Do so and play Tool’s Invincible and you’ll discover a delivery that’s a little low on impact but pretty high on detail and tonally nicely balanced. The track’s larger dynamic shifts are handled well, and while things become a little congested as instrumentation is added, organisation isn’t bad overall.

The entry-level iPad is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a significant step up in terms of sound quality, offering more punch, control and subtlety, but for a tablet costing so much less, the Fire HD 10 is more than good enough.

Verdict

The Amazon Fire HD 10 isn’t going to knock your socks off, but expecting it to do so at this price is unrealistic. What it does do is offer a really solid picture performance that successfully balances authenticity with a surprising amount of punch and sharpness, and while the audio performance is less accomplished, it’s certainly good enough for a satisfying movie soundtrack and the odd bit of music listening.

With iPads costing as much as they do, the world needs a cheap-but-good alternative, and the Fire HD 10 is exactly that.

Review published: October 2024. Review updated: November 2024.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Apple iPad (2022)

Also consider the Amazon Fire HD 8

Read our Amazon Fire 7 review

These are the best tablets for movies and music

The largest iPad Pro has long been a brilliant but hugely extravagant way to watch movies on the move, and that theme is taken to the next level by the new model. Arguably the biggest news from the launch event for the new iPad Pro was the announcement that it would feature a new M4 processor, essentially meaning that the iPad would surpass Apple’s MacBooks in terms of power – if only temporarily.

For us, though, the much bigger news was that the new Pro would be the first iPad with an OLED screen, potentially opening the door to a big upgrade in picture performance. Having finally laid our hands on a sample and put it through its paces over several days, we can confirm that, while owners of the previous iPad Pro 12.9-inch model shouldn’t feel the need to instantly throw it in the bin, the new 13-inch OLED iPad Pro is undeniably the new benchmark for movie-watching on the move.

Price

The new iPad Pro 13-inch will set you back £1299 / $1299 / AU$1699. That’s a pretty big increase on the outgoing iPad Pro 12.9-inch, which launched at £1249 / $1099 / AU$1899. Apple will of course point to the big increase in power and the switch to OLED as the key reasons for the price rise, as well as the fact that the entry-level version now has 256GB of storage rather than the 128GB of before. You can of course buy a version with more storage (256GB, 1TB and 2TB versions are available), but the prices are pretty eye-watering.

Adding cellular support costs extra, of course – an additional £200 / $200 / AU$350 – and if you then add the new Apple Pencil Pro (£129 / $129 / AU$219) and lovely new Magic Keyboard (£349 / $349 / AU$579), your bank balance is going to feel significantly lighter.

Interestingly, the iPad Pro is no longer the only way to get a super-sized iPad. You can now buy a 13-inch version of the iPad Air for a starting price of £799 / $799 / AU$1299, though that does without the new Pro’s OLED display. We look forward to putting the 13-inch Air through its paces soon.

Design

While the screen has increased in size by 0.1 of an inch, the new iPad is (if held in landscape) only 1mm wider and 0.6mm taller than the model it replaces. What’s more noticeable is that it’s thinner by 1.3mm, making the tablet just 5.1mm thick in total. In fact, that makes the new iPad Pro the thinnest product Apple has ever made, which is really quite something. It’s lighter than the previous model, too, by a not-insignificant 100g.

Otherwise, this very much looks like the iPad Pros that have gone before it. There’s about 1cm of black frame around the screen, which at this stage it would be nice to be rid of, but overall there’s very little to complain about. This is a hugely well-made and premium-feeling device that is a pleasure to possess. It is, though, very large for a portable device and therefore better suited to a long-haul flight and/or movies in bed than it is to bus and tube journeys.

One very neat but near-invisible touch is that the front-facing camera has finally been moved to one of the long edges, which means it’s in the centre when you are making a video call in landscape mode. It took far too long for this change to be made, but it has at least finally happened.

Features

The switch to OLED was also a long time coming, but it, too, is finally here. And this is no typical OLED display, either: presumably determined to ensure that the change of display technologies didn’t result in any specification drop, Apple has given the new iPad Pro a ‘tandem OLED’ display that combines two OLED panels so that it offers all of the benefits of OLED (most importantly, the pixel-level contrast control and perfect blacks) while still matching the previous Mini LED display for brightness. So, according to Apple, the new iPad Pro is still able to hit 1600 nits with HDR highlights and 1000 nits of full-screen brightness. It can now hit 1000 nits with SDR content, too, whereas the previous model was limited to 600 nits with such content.

Resolution has increased slightly for the new iPad Pro, but this is only so that the previous pixel density of 264ppi can be maintained on the slightly larger display.

According to the specs, nothing has changed on the audio front. Like the previous model, the new iPad Pro has two speakers on each of its shorter edges. It’s easy to cover these when holding the tablet in landscape mode, but you will hopefully be using headphones for any serious listening anyway. Speaking of which, there is of course no headphone socket on the new iPad, so you will need to buy a USB-C headphones adapter if you want to use wired headphones.

The iPad Pro has long been overkill in terms of power, but for the new model to skip the M3 chip and go straight to a new M4 processor is still a big deal. Apple suggests in its own literature that this is necessary in order to power the ‘precision, colour and brightness’ of the new tandem OLED display. It also, of course, brings with it a general leap in processing power. We suspect that most owners – particularly those most concerned with movie-watching – never get close to hitting the limits of their iPad Pro’s capabilities, and even more potential will be untapped with this generation. To a select few who do use their iPad Pro for professional purposes, all of that extra power may well be useful. They may even feel that it’s worthwhile going for the 1TB or 2TB version, which has a processor with an extra performance core and double the RAM of the smaller-capacity versions.

Those pro users will also probably be interested in the new Apple Pencil Pro and/or the new Magic Keyboard. The former features new gestures that allow for even greater granularity when using the iPad for writing or drawing, while the latter features an even smarter design, a larger touchpad and a row of shortcut keys at the top. While the iPad with a Magic Keyboard still isn’t really a fully functioning laptop replacement, it is lovely to type on. In fact, this very review was written on our sample.

Picture

Really, though, we’re interested in the iPad as a movie and music player rather than a productivity device, and in this regard it doesn’t disappoint.

Playing Napoleon from Apple TV+, the new iPad Pro’s warmer tonal balance is clear to see, and it gives its reproduction a more cinematic feel. There’s a real Panasonic OLED vibe to the character of the delivery, and anyone who is familiar with Panasonic OLEDs or their reputation within the movie industry will understand what a compliment that is.

The previous iPad Pro was an accomplished handler of motion, yet the new model is much better in this regard. OLED is inherently far more responsive than LCD technology, and you can see that in the constant crispness of the delivery, particularly in fast, unpredictable motion.

It was always quite hard to see blooming on the iPad Pro 12.9-inch, but in extreme circumstances – such as the small, bright white text at the start of Blade Runner 2049 – it was there, manifesting as a faint glow around the words. That is not an issue for the OLED model, which uses its pixel-level contrast control to ensure that the text is perfectly white but the space immediately adjacent is perfectly black.

The new iPad Pro doesn’t actually look quite as bright to the naked eye as the older model. We suspect that might be down to the differences in colour temperature, with the previous model’s cooler tone making highlights look a little more zingy. This isn’t an issue for the OLED iPad anyway, as its highlights combine with even deeper blacks to produce overall greater contrast. This has benefits right across the picture, most notably in terms of increases in perceived sharpness and three-dimensionality.

Those super-deep OLED blacks thankfully don’t crush shadow detail. On the contrary, we find that we’re able to see a little more of the fine detail of Sapper Morton’s dingy farm in Blade Runner 2049 – though not to the extent that we feel we’re being shown things that were meant to stay hidden.

All told, this is a spectacular picture performance that combines pop and dynamism with superb subtlety and cinematic richness, resulting in a portable movie experience that is a match for the best home cinema displays.

Sound

Apple often hides subtle sonic improvements in each new iPad and iPhone generation, but when listening via speakers there’s almost nothing to separate the outgoing iPad Pro 12.9-inch and the new 13-inch model. That’s no bad thing, though – so long as you avoid accidentally covering the speakers with your hands, they produce a surprisingly open and spacious sound with excellent central clarity, which means voices are always easy to understand.

Inevitably, given the size of the speakers, the iPad can’t produce terribly deep bass, but there’s a very good overall tonal balance and it does at least hint at the super-deep bass at the start of chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 while remaining totally in control and distortion-free. It’s clear that Apple understands the limitations of the iPad’s tiny speakers and has tuned the sound to perform just within them.

Connect a pair of capable wired headphones to the new 13-inch iPad Pro and there is in fact an extra bit of warmth, richness and weight to the delivery compared with that of the previous model. Thankfully, this extra little bit of refinement hasn’t robbed the delivery of its impact, dynamics or general intensity, so it’s good news all round for those who use their iPad for music.

For movies, it’s well worth investing in a pair of AirPods for the Spatial Audio that is then unlocked. While extravagant, the AirPods Max elevate the iPad’s cinematic chops to frankly amazing levels and make a long-haul movie marathon a thing of genuine joy.

Verdict

Apple had achieved a great deal with its Mini LED displays, to the extent that we weren’t sure whether the move to OLED would be that significant. Well, it is. Not only does the new iPad Pro boast even better contrast than its predecessor, it also adds richer colours, a more cinematic tone and even better motion.

Sure, it’s overkill in terms of processing power, particularly if you’re wholly or mainly going to use your tablet for movies and music, but if you have the luxury of a large budget, the new iPad Pro 13-inch is irresistibly good.

Review published: July 2024. Review updated: November 2024.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Here's our review of the previous iPad Pro 12.9-inch

These are the best tablets for movies and music

This month there’s been a lot of talk about Apple’s latest “home cinema in a hand”, the new iPad Pro OLED.

There is a good reason for this. For starters, there's the fact it is the latest gadget from Apple, which is enough to get many punters physically queuing outside their nearest Apple Store. 

But for us at What Hi-Fi? the main reason we're excited as a team is its new tandem OLED screen. We're yet to test the tech in our viewing room, but it aims to radically improve the new iPad Pro’s picture quality, letting it offer the perfect blacks synonymous with OLED and up to 1600 nits peak HDR brightness.

The latter is nowhere near the max you’ll find on some of the next-generation sets in our best TV and best OLED TV pages, some of which can go to 4000 nits max brightness. The peak HDR brightness is is still very impressive, though, especially considering many flagship OLEDs struggled to go over 700 nits even a few years ago. If deployed well the jump could lead to a much more immersive movie watching experience on the new iPad Pro, especially for HDR content.

Despite this, I can’t help but feel a slight feeling that, as cool as the new iPad Pro looks, Apple should go in a very different direction with its next device. Specifically, it should make a full-fat OLED TV.

I know that’s a very "out there" request as there are currently no concrete rumours or signs Apple has any intention of making an OLED TV. The latest credible looking predictions come from research firm Omdia which suggests Apple's next device with an OLED panel will be the iPhone 16 which is expected to launch in September, followed by new 32 and 42-inch OLED computer monitors in 2027. 

The reason I’m saying my wish out loud is that Apple has done all the background work it needs to create a really good OLED TV.

First, there’s the existence of the Apple TV streaming box and Apple TV+ content platform. Apple TV boxes have consistently delivered great user experiences and picture quality whenever we’ve got them in for review. Look at our latest Apple TV 4K (2022) review and you’ll see why.

Despite its age the Apple TV 4K remains the best streaming box on the market, which is why it won a What Hi-Fi? Award in 2023. 

The dinky package supports all the modern HDR standards you’d expect and offered stellar picture and audio performance during all our checks. As an added bonus, Apple’s loaded it with one of the easiest to navigate user interfaces we’ve experienced, making it quick and easy to find content to watch.

Speaking of content, Apple is also now firmly in the content creation business thanks to the arrival of its Apple TV+ subscription service. Apple is responsible for several brilliant shows including Ted Lasso and Masters Of The Air. This, plus the platform's integration with iTunes, means many Apple users' media libraries are already inherently tied to its ecosystem. 

Third, Apple has a solid track record with picture quality. Apple was one of the first brands to properly take colour accuracy and things like gamut coverage seriously. That’s why our best tablets to watch movies on guide is dominated by iPads. We even went so far as to call the previous generation iPad Pro 12.9 "the pinnacle of portable home cinema" when we reviewed it because of this.

Apple's background in the creative industry with its MacBook Pro, iMac Pro computer and Studio and Pro Display XDR monitors add further credence to this point. Apple knows how to make screens that are accurate to what the director intended. If Apple took the same approach to a TV that it did on these categories, it could make a great TV for any serious home cinema fan.

Fourth and finally, is the fact it’s already designing great home cinema audio products. The HomePod 2 has a stereo speaker functionality that lets you turn two of them into a cracking home cinema audio system. Our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, liked the experience so much he even penned a separate opinion piece about how great they work in this set-up when we reviewed the latest HomePod nearly two years ago. 

Its AirPods Max are similar, being among the only wireless headphones that can deliver proper, full fat, Dolby Atmos powered Spatial Audio, when watching movies on an Apple TV or modern iPad/iPhone.

Imagine what a great experience you could have watching movies at home if Apple combined all of these ingredients into a full-fat, flagship OLED. And that’s why I think, despite all signs suggesting it won’t, Apple's next product should be a TV.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we’ve reviewed

We rate the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Check out our picks of the best surround sound systems

Apple's exciting new duo of iPads announced yesterday certainly feels like a turning point for its tablets. The iPad Air is more powerful than ever before, and it comes in two new screen sizes – 11 inches and 13 inches, while the iPad Pro is a complete overhaul. That iPad comes with a Tandem OLED display, sandwiching two OLED panels together for enhanced brightness, and it's using Apple's most powerful processor, the M4, to drive that display with its Pro Motion 120Hz technology. It's also the thinnest Apple product ever made, even thinner than an iPod Nano – so surely I have nothing to complain about, right?

Wrong. While the new iPads are basking in the limelight, one of Apple's most underrated tablets has been quietly discontinued – and with it goes an endangered feature. 

As a previous Award-winner and budget champion, the iPad (2021) has remained on Apple's lineup alongside its more modern counterpart, the iPad 10th Generation, which also happens to be an Award-winner and Product of the Year recipient. Apple gave this tablet a brief spotlight in its Let Loose event, announcing that it will have its price slashed by a considerable £150 / $100 / AU$150. This is, of course, excellent news in most regards – however, I knew that could mean only one thing. 

Yes, the iPad 9th Generation is no more, as it has been dropped from Apple's lineup with the 10th Generation now serving as the most affordable tablet in the range. It was bound to happen, the 9th Gen device has been valiantly serving in this role since it launched in 2021, so it was probably time to set it out to pasture; however, it's taking with it a feature I hold near and dear to my heart.

This was Apple's last iPad to feature a headphone jack, and Apple's final portable device to include the 3.5mm socket in general. That luxury is now reserved for Apple's MacBook, iMac and desktop Mac devices, with all iPhones and iPads now requiring a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter (or Lightning depending on what generation iPhone you're using) if you want to use wired headphones. 

While an argument can be made for the impressively slender iPad not having enough room for a headphone jack, I find it confusing that Apple is billing this tablet as a media consumption and, to a greater extent, media creation device but has ditched the headphone jack. My bet is that music producers want the highest fidelity audio possible when creating tracks on Logic Pro for enhanced accuracy, and wired headphones will deliver that. Ironically, Apple is using the iPod Nano in its marketing to prove how thin the new iPad OLED is – which feels like an additional if subtle, kick in the teeth for music fans.

The new iPad Airs are certainly thick enough to house a headphone jack – in fact they're now thicker and heavier than the current iPad Pros, but I'll open that can of worms another time. 

Ultimately, I know it looks like I'm fighting a losing battle; and truth be told I'm not fighting at all, but simply reminiscing about a simpler time. The iPad 9th Generation certainly isn't without its flaws – I, for one, am happy to see the back of the Lightning connector, and the newer all-screen display still looks particularly slick, but the sunsetting of this iPad feels worth noting as it signifies the headphone jack's final hurrah on Apple's portable devices. 

MORE:

Read our iPad (2021) review

Find out all the details about the new iPad Pro OLED

And everything you need to know about the new iPad Air (2024)

Apple has just held its 'Let Loose' event and, as predicted, it was a big one for iPads. While the tantalising new OLED display touting iPad Pro will likely be the apple of most people's eyes, the iPad Air also received a noteworthy upgrade – with enhancements to the performance, design and audio specs that will make it a tempting tablet for those who don't want to spend Pro-level money.

So what's new for the 2024 iPad Air? Here's everything you need to know. 

iPad Air (2024) release date

In true Apple fashion, there's no time to wait when it comes to getting your hands on these new tablets. Pre-orders are available right this second, and they'll begin shipping next week – the 15th of May to be exact. 

iPad Air (2024) pricing

The big news this year is that, for the first time ever, the iPad Air now comes in two sizes – 11 inches and 13 inches. This means pricing is divided into two sizes, four storage specifications and whether you want a wi-fi or 5G-enabled version. 

The full iPad Air (2024) pricing structure is as follows, starting with the 11-inch model:

And here is how much the 13-inch model costs:

While we don't have a previous 13-inch iPad Air for reference, the 11-inch Air is ever so slightly more expensive than the previous 5th Generation model in the UK and Australia. The price has gone up by £30 and AU$70 respectively, whereas the price appears to remain consistent with last year's model in the US.

iPad Air (2024) design

On the outside, the new iPad Air looks rather similar to the model it's replacing. It comes in four colours – Space Grey, Starlight (a silver finish with a hint of gold), Blue and Purple – which are very similar to the finishes of the 2022 model. The Blue and Purple hues are a touch more pastel, while Pink is dropped from the lineup. 

As mentioned previously, the biggest design update is the new screen sizes. The standard model is now 11 inches (a very minor jump up from 10.9 inches on the previous model), and there is now a larger 13-inch model if you want a tablet with more screen real estate. The larger size is certainly exciting news to us, as it's a bigger display for watching movies, however digital artists, video editors and "prosumers" should also get a kick from this expanded canvas.  

Connections and buttons all look like business as usual, with a USB-C socket on the bottom edge, a volume rocker on the side and a power button that doubles as a Touch ID sensor on the top. Face ID hasn't made its way down to the Air from the Pro quite yet, and sadly (though unsurprisingly) the headphone jack hasn't made a triumphant return either.

There is a major improvement in one aspect though, and that's the front-facing camera placement. It's now in the same spot as the iPad 10th Generation, meaning you can hold your iPad in the more comfortable and convenient landscape orientation for video calls without having to awkwardly look off to the side to make eye contact with the camera. 

iPad Air (2024) features

Apple has juiced this iPad up with a new processor, namely its in-house developed M2 chip. This processor was last featured in Apple's previous generation of Mac laptops, desktops and all-in-one computers, and now it has trickled down to the iPad Air. It's not quite as powerful as the M4 that features in the new iPad Pro, nor the M3 that can be found across Apple's current range of laptops and computers, but it's an upgrade over the M1 of the current Air nonetheless. 

In fact, it is quite a large upgrade according to Apple, as it claims the M2-equipped Air is 50 per cent faster than the current M1 Air – which is a powerful tablet in its own right. This makes the new iPad Air powerful enough to play console-quality titles such as Assassin's Creed: Mirage, and it can use a suite of professional creative apps for photo and video editing too. 

Those apps, games and projects will take up a lot of storage though, so you'll be pleased to hear that Apple has doubled the starting storage from 64GB to 128GB. It's also available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configurations, plus you can connect an external storage drive to the Air via the USB-C socket. The new iPad Air is also compatible with Apple's current range of accessories, including the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Magic Keyboard, as well as the newly announced Apple Pencil Pro.

iPad Air (2024) display

While there were murmurs of the Mini LED display from yesteryear's iPad Pro being repurposed for the Air, sadly these rumours haven't come to fruition. It looks like Apple has outfitted the Air with the same IPS Liquid Retina display as its predecessor. On the plus side, the iPad Air (2022) was a top-notch tablet for video consumption, and it even bagged itself a What Hi-Fi? Award, but an upgrade would have been a nice touch to usher in a new era of iPad Air. 

The 11-inch Air appears to feature an identical 2360 x 1640 display, while the 13-inch has a 2732 x 2048 screen; although both sizes feature an identical 264ppi pixel density, which is the same as the 5th Generation Air too. Interestingly, the 13-inch model is apparently 100 nits brighter than the 11-inch model at 600 nits, whereas the smaller Air is rated at 500 nits. Neither model includes the 120Hz Pro Motion technology of the iPad Pro though. 

What they do include is Dolby Vision HDR support, which is ideal for watching content on Disney Plus, Netflix or Apple TV+, as well as Apple's True Tone display technology which shifts the display's colour temperature based on ambient lighting conditions. 

If picture performance on these new iPad Airs is anything like the 5th Generation model, then we could be in for another exceptional portable movie-watching device; although we'll have to wait until our review samples arrive before making that judgement.  

iPad Air (2024) audio

While Apple doesn't usually make a fuss about how its products sound (aside from its AirPods and HomePod products, of course), the iPad Air is touted to get an upgraded speaker system with this new generation. The 6th Generation iPad Airs include landscape stereo speakers with support for Apple's immersive spatial audio format and Apple singles out the 13-inch model for better bass reproduction. It claims the larger Air has "double the bass" (of what we assume the 11-inch is capable of), for better low-end effects. 

Headphone audio didn't get a mention though, so we assume it'll be a similar affair to last year. If you're going wired, then you'll either need a pair of USB-C cans or in-ears, a USB-C to 3.5mm jack adapter, or you can of course go wireless via Bluetooth if you prefer.

iPad Air (2024) early verdict

It's far too early to pass judgement on these new tablets for now, but we can begin to get a grasp of how we feel about them. While the rise in price isn't a welcome sight (even if it is fairly minor), everything else looks to be in order.

While this doesn't appear to be a grand departure from the existing Air, aside from the new size option of course, the 6th Generation model appears to be making some welcome under-the-hood improvements to make performance even smoother. Throw in a relocated camera, upgraded base storage and better bass on the larger size, and we have ourselves another solid looking iPad. That being said, we're eagerly awaiting putting the new Air through our rigorous testing process when our review unit arrives. 

MORE:

Read our iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) review

And check out our picks for the best iPads

This week Apple unveiled a duo of new treats for tablet users, lifting the lid on its new iPad Air and iPad Pro 2024.

As expected the iPad Pro model in particular is expensive. The lowest 256GB storage, 11-inch iPad Pro costs £999/$999, while the entry-point 256GB, 13-inch model costs £1299/$1299. 

To put that in context, for the same price as a 13-inch iPad Pro, you could buy a 55-inch LG C3 TV and for just a little more you could get a current generation, 42-inch LG C4 OLED TV. 

Why am I comparing an iPad to an LG OLED TV you ask? It's because Apple did pretty much that at the iPad Pro’s unveiling, describing it as being, “like holding a cinema in your hands.”

There’s no way I’d ever give up a proper, full-sized OLED TV as my go-to destination for serious movie-watching, but as I watched the tablet’s launch I couldn’t help but feel a little excited about the new iPad Pro.

Of course, we will reserve judgment on the new iPad Pro until we've properly tested it, so this is based purely on my experience reviewing tablets over the past decade and a half and my early impressions of the device’s specs.

But from that standpoint, there's one key reason I’m interested in the new iPad Pro: its OLED screen. We’ve seen OLED tablets before; Samsung has been rolling out Galaxy Tablets with the tech for quite some time. It also famously released a giant Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, which was similarly pitched as “the perfect tablet for cinephiles”, complete with an AMOLED screen.

The reason that the iPad Pro's display is so interesting is that it promises to be the first to overcome OLED technology's biggest perceived weakness – low max brightness. 

OLED screens create images by charging individual pixels. This lets them deliver perfect, inky blacks and stellar contrast when set up right. It's also a key reason most of the sets in our best TV guide are OLEDs. 

The downside is that traditionally the screens can’t go as bright as LCD sets. Recently TV makers have tried to fix this problem, using MLA or QD-OLED panel technologies. This has led to an influx of great next-generation OLED sets, such as the LG G3, Philips 908, Panasonic MZ2000, Sony A95L and Samsung S95D, which all offered significantly higher max brightness levels than we're used to from traditional OLED TVs. If you read our reviews you’ll know this makes a huge difference and helped the TVs offer a much more immersive picture experience.

The 2024 iPad Pro, features a new Ultra Retina XDR display. The screen is atypical in that it uses a custom “Tandem OLED” setup, which from what I’ve seen has the same brightness-boosting goal as MLA and QD-OLED.

Specifically, Apple claims by loading the iPad with two overlapping OLED panels, the new Pro claims to offer 1000 nits fullscreen brightness and 1600 nits peak HDR brightness. To put that in context, most HDR standards require 1000 nits max brightness as a baseline. Traditional OLED screens struggle to get past 400-700 nits. So this is a bold claim and potentially a very big deal, especially considering where and how I would watch movies on an iPad Pro. 

While serious movie watching will be done in my lounge, with a Dolby Atmos sound system and the blinds closed, I use a tablet for more casual viewing. This includes sitting in my hammock when it’s sunny (yes, really), in bed with headphones while my wife’s asleep, on my morning and evening commute, and while travelling. In these instances, while it’s been fine using a tablet to catch up on the latest episode of Bob’s Burgers, I’m yet to find a device that does HDR content justice.

Most recently this led to a particularly jarring moment when I was trying to watch The Fall of the House of Usher on a Pixel Tablet in a hotel room, where even in pitch black the lack of contrast and poor black level cut out entire sections of the picture. I probably saw less than 30 per cent of what the director intended as a result.

Equally, in the past on tablets like the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, the lower max brightness meant the device's screen would quickly become illegible in bright sunlight, which happened a fair bit during my hammock sessions.

If the new OLED iPad Pro can perform in these situations, I’d be more than happy to invest in it as a portable movie station. I can’t wait to get it into the What Hi-Fi? test rooms and see how it performs during our review. 

These are the best OLED TVs we've reviewed

We rate the best tablets for home cinema fans

Check out our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Apple has just unveiled the new iPad Pro which, in a first for an Apple tablet, has an OLED display. Not just any OLED display, either, but a 'Tandem OLED' display that features two OLED panels sandwiched together for extra brightness. The company is claiming 1000 nits fullscreen brightness and 1600 nits peak brightness. Combined with the perfect blacks of OLED, that should make it an awesomely dynamic display.

Apple has a habit of producing superb screens, and there's every reason to believe this one will be its best yet. I just can't help thinking, as I have with many previous iPads, how cool it would be if the new Pro had an HDMI input into which I could connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Yes, I can see that incredulous look on your face, and I'm not even going to pretend this isn't a niche wish. To most, the idea of partnering a portable screen with a decidedly not-portable console is pure madness, but I'm not looking at this as an on-the-go solution, but as a once-I-get-there solution.

I travel a lot for work, and there have been plenty of occasions when I've wished I could take advantage of the time to myself by whiling away a few hours on whichever epic game I don't have time for in everyday life (I've still not finished Baldur's Gate 3, if you're wondering). Sure, I could plug my console into the hotel TV, but I'm a graphics snob, and have you seen the state of hotel TVs these days?

The existing iPad Pro is already like having a flagship TV in your bag, and the addition of OLED should only elevate that further. It should offer something very similar to the Panasonic OLED TV experience I have at home, but obviously on a much smaller scale. The OLED tech should make it super-responsive, too, as should the 120Hz refresh rate. It is, in theory, the ultimate portable gaming monitor, but without an HDMI socket, there's no opportunity to take proper advantage.

Sure, the iPad now has so-called 'console-grade' games such as Resident Evil Village, and Assassin's Creed Mirage is on the way, but that's a drop in the ocean of the PS5 and Xbox Series X game libraries.

So why not stream games via the Xbox or PlayStation cloud gaming services? Did I not mention that I'm a graphics snob? Cloud gaming is much lower resolution than native console gaming. It's laggy and often juddery, too, even with a great connection, and have you seen the state of hotel wi-fi these days?

I want a premium gaming experience wherever I am, and I'm prepared to cart a full-fat console across the country to get it. I draw the line at carting along an OLED TV, too, so it's a massive shame (at least to this nerd) that Apple has never produced – and probably never will produce – an iPad with an HDMI input.

MORE:

Here's everything you need to know about the new iPad Pro

These are the best tablets you can buy right now

And these are the best OLED TVs

Apple has launched two new iPad Pro models with OLED screens. The new iPad Pro comes in 11- and 13-inch variants – both are stunningly slim, and their displays promising to be brighter than ever.

Apple calls its OLED screen tech Tandem OLED. This uses two OLED screens on each tablet, combining the brightness of both. This helps the tablet to reach 1000 nits of full screen brightness and 1600 nits for peak HDR. That's nowhere near the 3000-4000 nits achieved by modern OLED TVs, but still pretty impressive for a tablet.

This level of brightness has a knock-on effect to the rest of the picture. Not only does it create brighter highlights, but you get deeper blacks and more shadow detail. The screen – which Apple is calling Ultra Retina XDR Display – is more responsive to motion too. And because it's an OLED screen, it's thinner and lighter than the previous iPad Pro's. There's a nano texture glass option for less glare, too. 

Apple claims the new iPad's screens are "like holding a cinema in your hands."

Both new iPad Pros boast a sleek new design, with the OLED screen helping them to slim down considerably. The 11-incher is 5.3mm slim, while the 13-inch model is 5.1mm – making it the slimmest Apple product ever. That's even more impressive when you consider the amount of power inside.

Namely the M4 chip. Apple claims this will mean a huge leap in performance over the M2 of the previous iPad Pro. The CPU is 50 per cent faster than the M2's CPU, while the GPU is four times faster, and brings ray tracing to the iPad for the first time. That should be a boon for gamers.

Apple claims the M4 Pro can perform to the same level as the M2 model, but using half the power. It also says it can match a slim PC laptop while only using a quarter of the power, though it doesn't say which model PC it's comparing it to.

The OLED iPad Pro's neural engine is Apple's most powerful ever, capable of 38 trillion operations per second. That makes it 60 times faster than the first neural engine in the A11 Bionic chip (though that was released back in 2017).

Overall, the new Pro is up to four times faster than the M2 iPad Pro, Apple claims.

There are improvements elsewhere, too. Like the new iPad Air, the new Pro has the camera on the landscape edge, which makes more sense for video calls. There's a new Magic Keyboard accessory that's thinner and lighter, and has a new row of keys for functions like dimming the screen. And there's a new Apple Pencil with new features for more advanced illustrating.

Both new iPad Pro OLED models are available to pre-order now and will go on sale 15th May – a week tomorrow. Prices start at £999 / $999 / AU$1699 for the 11-inch and £1299 / $1299 / AU$2199 for the 13-inch. Storage options now start at 256GB (up from 128GB on the previous model).

MORE:

Check out the best iPads

I wish the iPad had this kitchen-friendly feature

Find out more about the iPad Pro OLED

Apple has confirmed the details of the new iPad Air, which comes in two screen sizes for the first time ever.

For this 6th generation of Apple's most affordable tablet, users will be able to choose between a redesigned 11-inch version or an all-new 13-inch design – a decision Apple says was inspired by the iPad Pro, where 50% of users opt to go bigger. 

The result is 30% more screen real estate, giving users more room to "work, learn and play".

Unlike the iPad Pro, there's no OLED display here – the iPad Air uses the same Liquid Retina Display as the previous generation, with no further upgrades to picture quality mentioned during the presentation.

There are, however, some helpful upgrades elsewhere. New landscape stereo speakers with support for Apple's spatial audio promise better built-in audio than the previous generation, with the 13-inch version packing double the bass of its smaller sibling.

The front-facing camera has also been moved to the landscape edge of the Air, making it much better for video calls and conferences.

This is all powered by Apple's more powerful M2 chip, which makes the new Air 50% faster than 2020's M1 Air, and three times faster than the fourth-generation iPad Air, with the A14 Bionic processor.

This helps to push the iPad Air further with Apple's growing AI offering, including features like Visual Look Up, for identifying popular landmarks or objects in your photos and giving you more information on them, and Live Text for copying, sharing and translating any text within a camera frame. It also enables Apple Pencil's Hover feature, for previewing your actions before committing.

The iPad Air is available for pre-order now in a choice of four colours – Blue, Purple, Starlight and Space Grey – and will cost $599 for the 11-inch and $799 for the 13-inch version. It'll be available next week.

MORE:

Check out all the details on the new iPad Pro

Read our pick of the best tablets

Read our review of the iPad Air (5th Generation)

The latest iPad Mini was a long time coming. It was rumoured to launch alongside the OLED iPad Pro and latest iPad Air in May 2024, then at Apple's September 2024 iPhone 16 event. It finally premiered in October 2024 – and it didn't disappoint.

With a new processor geared up for AI smarts, new finishes and a boatload of new features, it looks like the small tablet to beat.

Here's everything you need to know.

iPad Mini 7: price

The previous iPad Mini launched in 2021, so it's unsurprising that the seventh-gen model costs a bit more. It starts at £499 / $499 / AU$799 for the 128GB Wi-Fi model, or £649 / $649 / AU$1049 for the 5G variant.

That's £20 / AU$50 more expensive than the wi-fi-only iPad Mini 6 (the US price remains the same). Not bad, considering how rampant inflation has been in recent years.

iPad Mini 7: specs

As with most of its recent products, Apple is bigging up artificial intelligence (AI) as a big selling point of the iPad Mini 7.

How useful that ends up being depends on what you use your iPad for. Apple has had some issues with its AI smarts (it was making up facts when summarising news reports from trusted sources, for example), but hopefully these bugs will be ironed out soon.

The iPad Mini 7 is powered by the same A17 Pro chip as 2023's iPhone 15 Pro Max. The cynical among you will note that it has a lesser processor than the entry-level iPhone 16e, but is still a big improvement over the A15 Bionic found in the iPad Mini 6.

Apple says it's 30 per cent faster in terms of CPU speed and a 25 per cent more powerful in terms of graphics – good news for gamers and creative types (though both will be better served by the bigger, pricier iPad Pro).

Wi-Fi 6E gives you faster wireless connectivity, and it comes with iPadOS 18.

Other than that, it's business as usual. The iPad Mini 7 has the same 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display as its predecessor, complete with Dolby Vision certification, while the stereo speakers have Dolby Atmos support.

The front-facing camera has been moved to the right-hand edge in landscape mode, in keeping with Apple's other iPads. And TouchID returns for fingerprint recognition.

The iPad Mini 7 comes in four finishes (blue, purple, starlight, space grey), and works with the latest Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB-C) accessories, as well as Apple's new range of smart folio cases.

iPad Mini 7: early verdict

We haven't reviewed the iPad Mini 7 yet, but all signs point to it being another winner for Apple.

It has more power, more features and more style than its five-star predecessor. The iPad Mini 6 was one of the best tablets money can buy – if you want a small model, and your budget can stretch to it, the Mini has been your best bet for years now. We can't see that changing any time soon.

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The best iPads around

It's been quite some time since Apple released a new iPad, which is an uncharacteristic move from the company that usually renews its product like clockwork. We might have taken the yearly iPad refreshes for granted in previous years, but Apple's ageing lineup is now starting to gather dust – so an update to the range is certainly due.

As of right now, Apple's lineup consists of five models with some released all the way back in 2021. Here's what Apple is currently offering to prospective tablet customers:

• iPad (9th Generation) – released September 2021
• iPad (10th Generation) – released October 2022
• iPad Mini (6th Generation) – released September 2021
• iPad Air (5th Generation) – released March 2022
• iPad Pro (6th Generation) – released October 2022

As you can see, some of those models are practically geriatric by tablet standards, but thankfully an end to this iPad drought is in sight. Apple has announced an event titled "Let Loose" which will be live-streamed on the 7th of May and is expected to feature updates to some of the above models. How do we know that Apple will unveil new iPads? The Apple Pencil featuring prominently in the promotional graphics for this event is a dead giveaway, alongside a raft of rumours that have surfaced before this announcement. 

We've already covered these rumours extensively, with everything from new display technology and sizes to upgraded processors and accessories, but what we're really interested in is what AV upgrades Apple has to offer. Early speculations are promising, but these are the features I want to see on the next iPads, to make them the ultimate movie and music companion devices.

Truthfully, Apple's current range is full of five-star picture and sound performers, making picking out a handful of AV upgrades a tricky task; so consider this a wishlist more than a realistic expectation of what will be revealed in two weeks. 

 OLED Pros and Mini LED Airs

Rumours of Apple launching its first OLED display-equipped iPad have been rife, and I'll be very surprised if we don't see such a device announced in the coming weeks. Apple has already plastered OLED screens across practically all of its iPhone lineup (aside from the iPhone SE), so it feels like high time that the iPad gets the same treatment.

The obvious choice is outfitting the Pro with an OLED screen, which is reportedly what Apple will do according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Saving the premium screen tech for the flagship iPad is an appropriately Apple move, as is the case with Mini LED and 120Hz ProMotion tech on the existing Pro models. 

The current iPad Pro is already an Award-winner thanks to its stellar picture performance and support for Dolby Vision, so my imagination is already running wild with the prospect of the improved black levels and contrast that OLED screen tech traditionally delivers. 

A caveat to this is that, currently speaking, only the bigger 12.9-inch iPad Pro features the more advanced Liquid Retina XDR display powered by Mini LED screen technology. If Apple is committing to OLED on the new iPad Pro, I hope that both sizes are treated equally, with the smaller version also being granted the self-emissive screen tech.

However, I also hope that the iPad Air gets some love in the screen department with the upcoming rumoured refresh. That appears to be the case, thankfully, as rumours suggest that it will come in the usual 11-inch screen size and a new 12.9-inch size, the same as the iPad Pro. To me, this seems like the perfect opportunity to repurpose the Mini LED display currently used on the larger iPad Pro and trickle that feature down to the cheaper Air model. 

We already praised this display on the Pro, highlighting its "solid blacks" and "luscious colours", so I'd prefer to see that screen be put to good use rather than discarded. ProMotion would also be a welcome addition to the Airs, as the 120Hz refresh rate on the Pro is something you truly appreciate when you don't have it. 

If I were to truly indulge my iPad pipe dreams, I'd also request a 21:9 display on the iPad Pro and Air. The only other handheld devices to use this aspect ratio are Sony's Xperia range of smartphones, and while usability takes an undeniable hit, the all-screen effect when watching movies in their intended aspect ratio is glorious. 

If Apple delivers on these display upgrades, then I believe we could see the ultimate iPads for AV use, but remember it's not all about the picture...

Move the speakers to accommodate landscape orientation 

Let's face it, if you're doing anything on your iPad that requires using the onboard speakers, you're probably holding it in landscape orientation. Most of the decent games found on the iPad are made for this orientation and, unless you like having two-thirds of your screen obstructed with black letterbox bars, you're probably holding your iPad in landscape mode for watching movies and TV shows. 

The issue with Apple's current design is that it has placed the stereo speakers on the top and bottom edges of the majority of its models, making them very easy to obstruct with your hands. This is where Apple could take inspiration from its smallest iPad to solve this issue. 

The iPad Mini 6th Generation moves the volume buttons to the top edge, leaving the sides clear. Those edges are prime real estate for the speakers to be moved to, solving the issue of having to awkwardly hold the iPad without blocking them. 

Admittedly Apple is working with a tightly packed slab of tech with the iPad, so this might be wishful thinking. I'd prefer Apple to keep up its stellar sonic track record and Dolby Atmos certification with the iPad's built-in speakers, but this upgrade would take them to the next level.

Bring back the headphone jack!

Am I in denial? Most definitely – but hear me out. I've gotten over Apple removing the headphone jack on the iPhones, as painful as it may be, but taking it off the iPad still breaks my heart. The entry-level iPad 9th Generation is the only model to retain this feature, which makes it the best option if you prefer wired audio over Bluetooth headphones. 

Let's not lie to ourselves, there is plenty of space within the chassis of practically all available iPads to squeeze in a headphone jack, and the benefits of wired audio will always be worth it. While adaptors are available, they take up the precious single USB-C socket on your iPad, meaning charging or connecting wired accessories is a no-go. 

Apple hasn't culled the 3.5mm connector on its Mac laptops and desktop computers (yet), but considering it's billed iPads as alternatives to these machines for years now, it still feels like a contradictory move to remove it. We know it took courage to remove the headphone jack, but there's no shame in reversing that move if you want to win back audio enthusiasts, Apple.

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As well as the best tablets overall

It's been quite some time since we've seen a new iPad; 18 months to be exact. Apple has neglected its popular tablets in favour of upgrading its Mac computers and launching the iPhone 15 series, which has left the current lineup untouched for over a year.

Thankfully, iPad fans should be able to breathe a sigh of relief, as Apple looks to be coming back stronger than ever according to new rumours courtesy of Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. According to these reports, we could see a new range of iPads launch within the next month. Gurman attributes this speculation of an imminent launch to the increased production of iPad displays, which has also revealed two major upgrades to the iPad lineup in the process.

Starting with the new iPad Pro, Apple is expected to make a shift from Mini LED to OLED on its premium tablet offering. Apple has outfitted its iPhones with OLED displays since the iPhone X in 2017, as well as using Micro OLED technology on its Vision Pro headset, but now the self-emissive screen technology should be making its way to the iPad for the first time. 

The OLED panel should be sharper and provide enhanced contrast on the new iPad model, as well as delivering those trademark inky blacks that we know and love. Combine that with Dolby Vision certification and we could be onto a real winner with this new iPad. We also expect Apple to include the existing ProMotion display technology that allows for a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz. 

Codenamed J717, J718, J720 and J721, the new iPad Pro models will also use the latest Apple-developed M3 processor, which also features in its high-end Mac computers. Gurman also points towards redesigned Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories, making this the biggest update to the Pro-series iPad since 2018. 

It's not just the Pro that will be receiving all the attention, as an updated iPad Air is also supposedly on the way. While it won't feature an OLED display, it is reportedly set to come in a new 12.9-inch option; a first for the iPad Air. It's also expected to get an upgrade from the M1 chip of its 2022 predecessor, although Gurman didn't specify if this would be to the M2 or M3 processor. 

We'd also like to see updates to the 10th Generation iPad (released in October 2022) and the iPad Mini 6th Generation which hasn't been touched since September 2021. However, no mentions of updates coming to these models were made, so we don't have high hopes.

Gurman reports that Apple initially intended to release its new iPad range by the end of March, but a combination of software development and complex manufacturing processes has delayed the launch. They're now expected to launch within a month of Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024 event, which is supposedly scheduled to commence on June 10th.

MORE:

Read our full iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) review

As well as our iPad Air 5th Generation review

And check out our picks for the best tablets

Rumours concerning the arrival of several new models of iPad have begun circulating, hinting at an updated design, OLED screen, and possibly even redesigned accessories.

On Monday morning, "Setsuna Digital" reposted information shared by another leaker, "Boss Hookup", on Chinese social media site Weibo. Setsuna's post refers to several third-party protective cases for the 2024 versions of the iPad Air and iPad Pro tablets going on sale. 

The listings for the cases state that they will begin shipping on 26th March, and while this doesn't definitively prove anything regarding a new model of iPad, it does seem to hint that the new tablets might be coming soon. 

Analysts predicted the new tablets would be announced at the start of March – but that did not happen. Some reports even suggested the products would have been launched by now. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently said that he expected an update to Apple's iPad to be on the horizon, coming in late March or early April. He also believes a new version of iPadOS 17 could be on its way.

Alongside speculation surrounding new models of Apple tablets, there have also been rumours of a redesigned Magic Keyboard and a new Apple Pencil. We might see an OLED display used with the iPad Pro, and it's also possible that the FaceTime camera could be moved to the long side of the tablet to match the tenth-gen iPad models. 

Apple also announced its new M3 MacBooks a few weeks ago. The company launched its M3 chip back in October with versions available for its iMac desktop computers and a more powerful version designed for the MacBook Pro laptops. 

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Read our full Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review

Apple Vision Pro goes on sale 2nd February... but questions remain

iPad fans stay alert as, according to a new rumour, Apple could be leading up to a stealthy launch of three refreshed models. These are set to be minor spec bumps and refreshes, meaning we're not getting our hopes up for 120Hz OLED displays or brand-new speaker systems, however, it's certainly looking like these new models will be more powerful than their predecessors. 

So what's new? According to a report from 9to5 Mac (via Supercharged), we're getting spec bumps to the entry-level iPad, iPad Mini and iPad Air. This will be a series of processor-focussed updates, with the iPad Mini (7th Generation) receiving the A16 Bionic Chip (the same found in the iPhone 15), and the iPad Air (8th Generation) upgrading to the M2 chip also found in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

It hasn't been made clear as to which processor the iPad (11th Generation) will be using. Still, considering it currently uses the same A14 Bionic chip as the ageing iPhone 12, our suspicion is that it could go up to the iPhone 14's A15 Bionic chip, or even the same A16 Bionic chip as the (supposedly) new iPad Mini. The current generation iPad has just earned itself a What Hi-Fi? Award for its exceptional performance for the money, while the iPad Pro (6th Generation) has also taken home a Best Tablet Award for its premium performance and build.  That being said, no update to the iPad Pro is expected to be announced.

What else could we expect from these updated iPads then? Presumably some new finishes; Apple opted for more refined and muted tones on the iPad Air and Mini, while the entry-level iPad sported brighter hues. We're hoping that Apple takes some inspiration from the iPhone 15 series with its pleasing pastel shades. There will likely also be new accessories for the iPad, although we assume this will mostly be new colour variants of the Smart Folio cases.

Finally, Apple could use this opportunity to do away with the brilliant (and affordable) iPad (9th Generation), so bear that in mind if you want the cheapest five-star iPad.  

This all being said, conflicting reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman tempted expectations, saying that new iPads might not be as close as we'd hoped. While he didn't cast doubt on iPad upgrades happening in the near future, he did suggest that Apple wouldn't announce anything relating to these new tablets before the new year. 

This has scuppered some excitement around the supposed new models; to us, it looks like the rumours regarding the new chips are true, but we might be waiting until 2024 for their official announcement. 

MORE:

Check out our iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) review

As well as our Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra review

As well as our picks for the best tablets

• Want more choice? Check out our long list of the best tablets

It’s fair to say that picture and sound quality aren’t Apple’s top priorities when it comes to iPhones and iPads. Watch any of the company’s launch events or browse its own product pages and it’s the processors and cameras that are most shouted about.

It’s been clear over the years that the brand does take picture and sound seriously, though, pretty much always delivering excellence in both areas. No device typifies this more clearly than the iPad Pro 12.9 – a tablet with a huge Mini LED screen and a price tag to match.

The latest version of the iPad Pro 12.9 is in many ways very similar to the model that went before it, with most of the focus – once again – on a big increase in power. However, Apple has, once again, included some small tweaks to picture and sound quality.

Price

The current iPad Pro 12.9 starts at £1249 / $1099 / AU$1899 which, let’s face it, is an extraordinary price to pay for a tablet. That gets you a 128GB wi-fi-only model, which will be plenty for many people, particularly those who are buying it as a portable movie device. 

If you do need more storage, though, there are options available right up to 2TB, but you have to pay fairly handsomely as you move up the scale. Adding cellular support, meanwhile, adds £180 / $200 / AU$250 to whichever storage option you choose.

For context, the current iPad Air starts at £669 / $599 / AU$999, while the standard iPad is £499 / $449 / AU$749.

Design

The design of the 6th-generation iPad Pro 12.9 is identical to that of the previous model, right down to the last millimetre and gram. While inter-generational design stagnation is always a little bit of a shame, the iPad Pro is a lovely device that’s impeccably well-made and very stylish.

It is, though, very large by ‘portable device’ standards, which is to be expected of something with a 12.9-inch display. It doesn’t feel like that long ago when some TVs had screens of this sort of size, and needless to say those were much larger and heavier than this iPad.

The size of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has to be taken into consideration by potential buyers though. This is perhaps too hefty a device to whip out for a short hop on the tube, but ideal for a long-haul Business Class flight.

The one big disappointment of the design is that the front-facing camera is still on one of the shorter edges, which means you’re awkwardly off-centre when doing a video call in the more regular landscape orientation. This is something that users have been complaining about for ages and it’s been addressed with the standard iPad, so it’s inexplicable that it’s still an issue for Pro models.

Features

The headline upgrade for this sixth-generation iPad Pro 12.9 is a move to the M2 processor – the same chip that is found in a number of MacBooks and the Mac Mini. Apple claims it represents an 18 per cent increase in CPU performance and 35 per cent increase in GPU performance over the already extraordinarily powerful M1 chip.

Needless to say, if you’re eyeing up the new iPad Pro as a portable movie and music machine, as we are, you’ll barely use even a fraction of the performance of which the M2 chip is capable, but those who also want a portable productivity powerhouse will surely appreciate all of that extra power tucked into a compact (compared to a laptop) shell. Gamers, too, should soon be able to make more use of the M2’s power: Apple recently announced that console games including Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Resident Evil Village are coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, and you have to hope that they also launch for the overall more powerful iPad Pro.

Another productivity upgrade is support for Wi-Fi 6E, which doubles the maximum download speed of the new iPad Pro 12.9 to 2.4Ghz – but only if you’ve also got a Wi-Fi 6E-capable router.

Those who intend to work using the iPad Pro will be pleased to hear that it supports Apple’s expensive but lovely Magic Keyboard, and Apple Pencil support is obviously baked-in, too – there’s even a new ‘hover’ feature that shows the positioning and style of the strokes you’re going to make before the Pencil even touches the screen.

One interesting feature that was introduced with iPadOS 16 (which has now been superseded by iPadOS 17) is ‘Reference Mode’, which switches the screen into a mode for accuracy-critical tasks such as colour grading. This isn’t really intended for simple movie-watching and the performance it delivers is too dim for most situations, but you might want to give it a try if you’re watching something in a pitch-black room.

The 12.9-inch screen is, in spec terms, identical to that of the previous-generation model. That means it’s a Mini LED ‘Liquid Retina XDR’ affair with a resolution of 2732 x 2048, which equates to a pixel density of 264ppi (pixels-per-inch). Peak brightness with HDR content is a claimed 1600 nits in small areas and 1000 nits full screen. That puts it roughly on a par, brightness-wise, with a top-spec 2023 OLED TV.

Picture

Watching 1917 via the Apple TV app, it’s clear that while nothing has changed in terms of screen specs, Apple has – as it so often does – slightly improved picture performance. The first change you notice doesn’t initially appear to be a good one, though – bright highlights, such as the sky in the opening scene, aren’t quite as bright from the new model as from the one it replaces. However, this is compensated for by a slight increase in bright detail.

The new iPad Pro tends towards a deeper delivery overall, with more solid blacks and marginally more lusciousness to colours. And, despite its blacks being deeper than before, shadow detail is marginally higher and high-contrast elements, such as Colin Firth’s candlelit face in the briefing room, are more pronounced and impactful.

To be clear, we’re talking minor differences, and owners of a 2021-edition iPad Pro 12.9 certainly shouldn’t feel the need to upgrade to the newer model purely for the picture quality upgrades. Those considering an iPad Pro for the first time, though, will be blown away by the movie performance it offers. It really is like having a flagship OLED TV that you can take anywhere. The image is exceptionally sharp and detailed, colours are supremely well-judged and delicately shaded, contrast is superb and, as mentioned, blacks are both super-deep and insightful.

Motion is good, too. There’s no processing as such, so there’s a little bit of blur at times, but the Pro’s overall control over proceedings is outstanding and there’s obviously never even a hint of the soap opera effect.

All told, barring its predecessor, this is a huge qualitative jump over every other tablet we’ve tested, including the iPad Air. Of course, that’s very much what you’d hope for from a device that costs as much as this iPad Pro does.

Sound

Should you find yourself watching a movie using the iPad’s own speakers for sound, you’ll discover a delivery that’s surprisingly spacious and atmospheric, with effects that are sent out quite a long way to the left and right of the tablet’s chassis. Detail levels are good, too, and dialogue is projected clearly, regardless of what else is going on in the soundtrack.

Of course, even the best tiny speakers struggle to produce much bass, and the iPad Pro’s presentation is too lightweight for serious cinematic enjoyment, so connecting a pair of headphones is strongly recommended. Adding the AirPods Max is an extravagant but compelling option thanks to their synergy, all-round ability and superb Spatial Audio. Combined, the iPad Pro 12.9 and AirPods Max make for an awesome on-the-go cinema system that will make you the envy of everyone in Business Class.

Alternatively, you can pick up a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter and connect a pair of standard wired headphones. Do so and fire up Tidal and you’ll hear a delivery very similar to that of the previous model but with a minor uptick in energy and drive. Apple has always gone for a fairly neutral and balanced delivery, and the iPad Pro very much follows this template, proving clean and consistent through the frequency range, revealing oodles of detail from good recordings, and offering the sort of rhythmic pace and dynamic agility that will make every listening session an engaging experience.

Verdict

Power-hike aside, the latest iPad Pro 12.9 is only a minor upgrade on the previous model. That’s a bit of a shame, of course, but the iPad Pro has long been in a class all of its own and so this is a case of the best being made just a little bit better.

There are rumours that the next iPad Pro, which isn’t expected until 2024, will feature an OLED screen. Some buyers might want to wait for that, but it could be quite a long way off and who knows how much of an upgrade it will prove to be – if any at all. In the here and now, this iPad Pro 12.9 is a stunning device for movies (and music) on the move.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

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Also consider the Apple iPad Air (5th Generation)

Best tablets: top tablets for movies and music

In a world of escalating costs, cheap electronics are vital. It’s important to remember that ‘cheap’ and ‘good value’ are two different things, though. Some cheap products simply aren’t good enough to be recommended regardless of how little they cost. Those that are actually good value and therefore recommendable are few and far between.

That’s an area in which Amazon’s Fire range of tablets has regularly excelled. They’re not simply cheap, but they’re actually good – and believe us when we say that there are very few tablets about which we can say the same thing.

Here, we’re looking at the Fire HD 8 which – spoiler alert – is the best performance-per-pound model in the range and once again a What Hi-Fi? Award winner.

Price

Pricing for the Amazon Fire HD 8 starts at £100 / $100 (it is not currently available in Australia). That price is subsidised by adverts that appear on the lock screen. Honestly, we don’t find the ads to be particularly intrusive, but you can pay an extra £10 / $15 for an ad-free model if you prefer. You can also trade in a compatible device for a 20 per cent discount. 

This entry-level model comes with just 32GB of internal storage, but the device supports microSD cards of up to 1TB capacity, so adding more storage is easy and inexpensive – to an extent that makes the 64GB edition of the tablet (£130 / $130) seem superfluous.

If you were wondering whether the Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus was worth the extra £20 / $20, know that it has everything the HD 8 has, plus wireless charging, a 9W power adaptor that brings charging time down to three hours, 3GB RAM (vs 2GB) and a 5MP rear-facing camera (vs 2MB). 

As with all of Amazon’s own devices, the Fire HD 8 is regularly discounted, and not just during the company’s big sales events such as Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday – though at those times you can pretty much guarantee a big drop. We’ve seen the entry-level model drop as low as £55 / $75, and at anything approaching that level it’s an absolute bargain.

Design

As you’d expect, the Fire HD 8 features a lot of plastic. It is thinner and lighter than the previous version, yet it still feels pretty durable overall. The screen also features ‘strengthened aluminosilicate glass’, and Amazon claims that the device is "twice as durable as the Apple iPad Mini (2021)". That’s important for a portable that may well end up in the hands of children.

The stereo speakers face upwards when you’re holding the tablet in landscape orientation, so they’re not blocked by your hands, and the front-facing 2MP camera is in the middle of the top edge, which is the right position for most video calling. There’s also a 5MP camera on the rear, which is predictably nothing to write home about, and along one of the short edges you’ll find the power and volume controls as well as a USB-C port and proper 3.5mm headphone jack.

Features

Powering proceedings is a 2.0GHz hexa-core processor backed up by 2GB of RAM. That’s hardly going to get you a next-gen gaming experience, but it is enough to provide a fairly fluid and snappy user experience and is enough to satisfyingly run the sorts of games that are common on Amazon’s own App Store.

Speaking of which, it is worth noting that while Amazon’s tablet operating system is based on Android, the Google Play Store is not supported and Amazon’s own App Store is a little less well-appointed. For those of us who are most interested in a device such as this for watching movies and listening to music on the move, most bases are covered, including big hitters such as Netflix, Disney+ and, of course, Amazon Prime Video, as well as all of the UK’s main catch-up apps plus Now and Sky Go. Spotify, Tidal and Amazon Music are all on board, too. However, Apple TV and Apple Music apps are missing, as is Discovery+. Plenty of other, less popular apps are missing from the Amazon App Store too, so if there are any that you simply must have access to, it’s worth checking whether they’re supported before you go ahead and buy.

Amazon quotes a battery life of 13 hours of constant use, and we’re given no reason to doubt that figure during testing. A charger is included in the box and will take the battery from empty to full in around five hours.

The screen is what we’re most interested in. As the name suggests, the Fire HD 8 has an 8-inch screen with an HD resolution (it isn’t actually on fire, though). Said resolution is 1280 x 800, which gives the tablet a pixel density of 189 pixels-per-inch (ppi). That’s a small but significant increase on the 171ppi density of the smaller Fire 7 but a significant decrease on the 224ppi of the Fire HD 10. iPads, meanwhile, have a pixel density of 264ppi in all cases except the iPad Mini, which has a disproportionately high pixel density of 326ppi.

Picture

The Fire HD 8 costs almost twice as much as the Fire 7, which is itself very good for the money, but it quickly becomes clear that the HD 8 is well worth the extra.

The extra inch obviously makes a big difference at this sort of size, making the movie experience more engaging all round. It’s also sharper and brighter, reproducing the green patterns on the displays of the Rebel base’s briefing room in Rogue One in significantly punchier fashion.

Black levels certainly aren’t inky deep from either tablet, but the HD 8’s are better and they’re good for a backlit device that costs so little. There’s plenty of shadow detail from the HD 8, too. The only real issue with dark scenes is that the screen is rather reflective, so the action can be hard to make out if you’re watching outside or in a well-lit room.

The extra brightness of the HD 8 over the Fire 7 means there’s extra contrast, and this combines with increased sharpness to make K-2SO’s metallic body more reflective and solid – essentially more realistically droid-like. Colours are impressively natural, too – the balance is a touch cooler than the Fire 7’s, but there’s still authentically cinematic warmth to the HD 8’s presentation and skin tones are accurately reproduced and fairly subtly shaded. There’s good pop to bright objects such as the sun over Jedha, too.

The Fire HD 8’s picture performance is clearly a long way behind that of an iPad, but it gets the basics right and at this price, there’s essentially nothing (other than the overly reflective screen) to complain about.

Sound

It’s lovely to use a device that has a proper 3.5mm headphone socket, and if you use it to connect a pair of headphones to the Fire HD 8 you’ll be rewarded with an impressively balanced and grown-up delivery. There’s no obvious exaggeration to any part of the frequency range, no harshness to treble and no ballooning in the bass. It’s all very composed – cleaner at the top end and weightier than the Fire 7, too.

A little more detail and drive would be nice, but the HD 8 certainly doesn’t sound dull. On the contrary, it’s a pretty engaging listen that – as with the picture performance – gets the basics right and makes no obvious mistakes. That’s a big deal at this price.

Listening via the speakers is a predictably large downgrade, but the speakers aren’t too bad in their own right. For starters, there are two of them and, when you’re holding the tablet in landscape mode, they’re on the top edge, so don’t get blocked by your hands. They sound fairly clear as well, so you can keep track of dialogue even when Rogue One’s soundtrack gets exciting.

On the other hand, there’s very little bass and not much of a spread of sound to the left or right. A little more forward projection would be nice, too.

In short, you really should listen via headphones whenever that’s an option, but listening out loud certainly isn’t the horror show that it can be with portable devices.

Verdict

There are lots of people out there who would love an iPad but simply can’t justify the £499 / $449 / AU$749 cost of entry. For those people, an Amazon Fire tablet is the obvious choice – but it’s also the right choice.

This is a range of tablets that deliver on the basics, with balanced, controlled and always-enjoyable picture and sound quality. The HD 8 is, on a performance-per-pound basis, the pick of the bunch – a big improvement on the super-cheap Fire 7 but usefully more affordable and more compact than the HD 10, which is due to be replaced soon anyway.

In short, this is an excellent buy. Not just cheap, but great value.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Amazon Fire 7

Read our Apple iPad (2022) review

Best tablets: top tablets for movies and music

Just holding the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has triggered very vocal responses from everyone that we’ve shown it to. “That tablet is massive,” or “What on earth is that?” is usually the first thing we hear when someone unfamiliar with the Ultra first lays eyes on it. And we can’t blame them – it’s quite the sight. 

The Tab S9 Ultra is Samsung’s take on the tablet formula dialled up to 11, and its flagship specs and an extensive list of features should support this claim. That being said, Apple still seems to own the tablet space, especially in the premium sector, so does the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra compare? And should you buy one over an iPad? 

Price

Serving as the crown jewel in Samsung’s current trio of Tab S9 tablets, the S9 Ultra sits above the standard and Plus model variants. The base model Ultra will set you back £1199 / $1200 / AU$1999 and comes with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. You can step up to the 512GB/12GB model for £1299 / $1320 / AU$2199 if you need the extra storage, or go for the top end 1TB/16GB version for £1549 / $1620 / AU$2699 if you need this tablet for serious productivity and creative tasks.

For the price, your S9 Ultra comes equipped with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, with that “for Galaxy” suffix supposedly alluding to Samsung’s exclusive skew of the widely used chip that runs at a slightly higher clock speed. 

You also get the S Pen included in the box, which is a very nice touch as Apple makes you spend an additional £139 / $129 / AU$219 if you want a stylus. What you don’t get in the box, however, is a USB wall adapter for charging, which is incredibly frustrating. We’ve come to terms with the fact that most manufacturers don’t include a charger in the box with their phones, but tablets have much higher capacity batteries that require more powerful chargers, so not including one in the box (especially with a tablet this expensive) is a poor show on Samsung’s part.

Contextualising the price of the Tab S9 Ultra is tricky as it resides at the top end of the tablet market. However, its main competitor seems to be the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Apple’s flagship tablet starts at £1249 / $1099 / AU$1899, and while it gets you a Mini LED-powered XDR display and Apple’s powerful M2 chip, it only comes with a relatively measly 128GB of storage. 

Build

If you scrubbed the Samsung branding off the back of this tablet and stamped its competitor’s logo on the back, we’d have no trouble believing that this is a new iPad. This new Samsung tablet treads uncanny grounds with its flat metal edges and dual camera lenses on the rear, and flipping the device around will even reveal a notch in the display – something that Samsung mocked relentlessly when Apple debuted it on the iPhone X five years ago.

Comparisons aside, the Samsung feels premium and its razer thin edges (just 5.5mm) help the tablet to remain slender and lightweight, despite its size. Speaking of, have we mentioned the size of this tablet? To put it bluntly, this tablet is absolutely massive. Its 14.6-inch display dwarfs even the largest iPad, and that, of course, has its own pros and cons. The expansive canvas is ideal for giving you more room to work, draw and watch – but in turn you have to sacrifice some portability.

Despite its large footprint, the Tab S9 Ultra only weighs 732g, making it only slightly heavier than the iPad Pro. It’s also surprisingly rugged, with an IP68 rating meaning it's dust-resistant and water-resistant up to 1.5m for up to 30 minutes; we still wouldn’t endorse jumping into a swimming pool with it however, just in case you were considering that.

The S9 Ultra comes in two finishes, Graphite and Beige. Our review unit is the latter; however, we personally question Samsung’s definition of “beige” as it is most definitely silver. We did get to see the Graphite finish in person at a hands-on event prior to the Tab S9 Ultra’s release, and we thoroughly approve of the stealthy dark matte finish of that model.

Features

As tablets go, the Tab S9 Ultra is practically the definition of feature-packed. Starting with the main event, the tablet’s aforementioned 14.6-inch display has plenty of excellent features to match its sheer size. It's a Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a 1848 x 2960 resolution, a pixel density of 239ppi, a variable refresh rate of 48Hz to 120Hz, and HDR10+ support. This screen is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass, which should allow for added protection against cracks and scratches. However, our review unit has picked up some unfortunate marks on the screen with normal use; thankfully these are not visible while the tablet is in use. 

Moving to the edges of the tablet, here is where you’ll find the quad loudspeakers. They’re Dolby Atmos-certified and tuned by AKG, which Samsung acquired when it bought Harman back in 2016. While we’re pleased to see four speakers on this tablet, we can’t help feeling that they could have been positioned slightly better, as holding the tablet in a landscape orientation without careful consideration results in the bottom pair of speakers being totally blocked by your hands. You can avoid this by adjusting your grip, but doing so makes the tablet less comfortable to hold. 

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is filled to the brim with cameras, sporting four in total. There’s a 13MP main lens and an 8MP ultrawide on the rear, and wide and ultrawide front-facing cameras which are both 12MP. In use, these cameras are perfectly serviceable, with the duo of front snappers being ideal for video calls. The cameras produce sharp and clear images and are perfectly usable in a pinch, however, your phone is probably still a better option than whipping out a slab the size of a bathroom tile in order to take a quick photo or video.

As for the various miscellaneous features of the tablet, it features two types of biometric authentication including an under-display fingerprint scanner and face unlock, both of which are quick and mostly reliable. It also has an impressively large 11200mAh battery which can be juiced up via a 45 watt fast charger if you have one lying around or plan to buy one separately. The S Pen is also a handy tool for power users and digital artists, and it sits neatly in a magnetic groove on the back of the device for storage and charging. You also have the opportunity to convert the S9 Ultra into a full laptop-style set-up if you plan on using it for fully-fledged productivity tasks, with access to wireless DeX (Samsung’s desktop user interface experience) and a keyboard case that’s sold separately for the rather steep price of £339 / $350 / AU$549.

Picture

In many ways, the Tab S9 Ultra feels like a handheld Samsung TV, both down to its picture characteristics and sheer size. Samsung’s AMOLED panel is as punchy as ever and blacks are impressively authentic, but it seems to struggle when it comes to subtlety and authenticity. 

The first thing we do, before we begin watching anything, is switch the display’s colour profile from vivid to natural in the settings menu. While this does draw a little bit of punch out of the image, we find it preferable to the overdone colours in the vivid picture mode. Now we can get into some serious watching, and we begin with Dune on Amazon Prime Video in HDR10+. A blockbuster of this calibre is well suited to the large screen and feels adequately cinematic by tablet standards, and as the display doesn’t support Dolby Vision, it’s also a good way to test HDR performance. 

In the opening scenes of the film, we’re met with a mixed bag of pros and cons. The key strength here is how punchy the display is, even knocked back into the natural picture mode, with the rich golden sands of Arrakis, and fiery explosions as laser beams connect with spaceships that pop with violent vibrancy. On the flip side, black depth is excellent, with the infinite void of space looking appropriately imposing on this screen. 

However, the image looks noticeably soft and lacking in detail here. This extends to the edges of subjects on screen, which unfortunately has a knock-on effect on the solidity and impact of the image. Compared to the 5th Generation iPad Air, which happens to be roughly half the price of the Samsung, we find Apple’s tablet offers a sharper and more detailed image. We do, in part, put this down to the Prime Video app, which seems to struggle on Android with playing back content at high definition.

It's also not the most subtle display we’ve seen. In a scene in which Paul Atredies and Lady Jessica eat breakfast together, we see that the light coming in through a nearby window appears to hit the subjects like a solid beam. While we know that the intention in the film is to create some dramatic and varied lighting, the Samsung presents this more like a spotlight directed towards these subjects on screen, completely drowning out any facial details. The iPad, on the other hand, seems to take a more considered approach with greater control over brighter highlights and more detail retained in the parts of their faces still covered in shadow.

Switching to Netflix’s The Gray Man we do see the tablet regain some composure when it comes to the clarity and solidity of the image. Edges seem better defined, while skin and clothing textures are noticeably more detailed, although it's certainly not perfect. Skin tones have some warmth and liveliness, although they can verge into ruddy and overdone territory at times. That all being said, Netflix certainly has the cleaner and sharper images of the two services on this device.

As the action kicks into high gear, we thankfully see the Tab is adept with motion, which is crucial for a display this big as judder would be much more noticeable. A sweeping shot taking place over a fight scene moves fluidly, and Ryan Gosling’s ‘Six’ takes out the baddies in fast-paced beatdowns that don’t appear to stutter. 

Switching to some older SDR content, the first episode of Peep Show streaming on Netflix looks clean and punchy. The colours are perhaps slightly exaggerated, but it looks plenty sharp enough while still retaining the slightly fuzzy, low-budget aesthetic that it sets out to achieve. 

When we play the same on the considerably cheaper iPad, we can’t help but be drawn in by the iPad’s more subtle and refined picture. Its much more thoughtful approach to handling contrast means that there’s more perceivable three-dimensional depth to the image. The iPad pays closer attention to skin textures too, as well as offering richer and more accurate colours, making the Samsung seem a little bit messy in comparison. 

Sound

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra’s audio performance is also a bit of a mixed bag. Starting with its quad-speaker array, the Samsung sounds good when playing audio out loud. The speakers are clear and detailed when we use them to watch Dune, with crisp vocals and even some depth when it comes to lower frequencies, such as when Paul uses his gift of the Voice.

Switching to music, we listen to Taylor Swift and Bon Iver’s collaboration Exile from the Folklore album on Tidal. What takes us by surprise is how spacious the tablet sounds, likely aided by the physical separation between the left and right channels thanks to the sheer size of the display. The vocals sound clear and have a hint of sparkle, but they can’t quite match the iPad when it comes to authenticity.

The Apple tablet has a touch more in the way of expressiveness to the singers’ voices, but the Samsung certainly has more presence and sounds more full-bodied. In fact the Apple can sound slightly thin in comparison, with its comparatively weak speakers. 

Headphone performance is a different story, unfortunately, with the Samsung delivering a less enthusiastic show once we plug some cans in. Using the same song, we don’t hear the rich, textured piano that underpins the start of the track in the same way that the iPad conveys it. Here the piano sounds noticeably flatter and that extends to the rest of the song, as the vocals also lose some character. 

Using Fred Again’s Delilah (Pull Me Out Of This) as a more energetic alternative to Exile, we find that the pacing of the track seems to be slightly sluggish and lacks the desired drive that the iPad does, the Apple device invoking an involuntary tapping of the foot that the Samsung can’t seem to initiate. Overall, the Samsung doesn’t get much wrong in the headphone audio department, we just wish it tried a bit harder to uplift what we play through it. Much like its picture performance, it could do with a touch more in the way of subtlety and authenticity.

Verdict

While it isn’t perfect, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a lot of fun. Having a portable screen of this size and quality to take your movies on the go is an exciting prospect, and while it may not be practical, it's about as close to a portable OLED TV as we’ve seen. 

It’s a little rough around the edges, with a screen that seems to trade detail for scale, but its uncompromising approach to being the biggest and boldest tablet still has appeal.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the iPad Air 5th Generation

Also consider the Pixel Tablet

Best tablets for movies and music

Samsung's Ultra suffix is a recent addition to its Galaxy products, but it's one we're beginning to seriously look out for with each new launch. Introducing the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra; a bonkers, no-compromise tablet that takes the standard Tab formula and dials everything up to 11.

It has the latest flagship internals, a nearly 15-inch OLED display and quad speakers with Dolby Atmos support. On paper, this is a dream tablet for music and movie enthusiasts who want to take their media on the go without compromising on quality.

Price

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is the top-of-the-line model of Samsung's new crop of tablets, so no surprises when we say it's the most expensive of the bunch. It starts at £1199 / $1200 / AU$1999, which gets you 256GB of storage, 12GB of RAM and wi-fi-only connectivity. However, you can configure the tablet with up to 1TB of storage, 16GB of RAM and 5G, with the most expensive configuration coming in at £1699 / $1700 / AU$2949.

The most similar iPad is the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which features a Mini-LED Retina XDR display and Apple's powerhouse M2 chip, but only 128GB of storage in its base configuration. That costs from £1249 / $1099 / AU$1899.

Design

The Tab S9 Ultra looks very similar to last year's Tab S8 Ultra but with a few modernisations and design tweaks. Samsung has ditched the glossy strip that used to house the cameras and magnetic charger/storage spot for the included S-Pen. There's now simply a seamless divot in the aluminium back panel of the tablet for the pen to rest in and wirelessly charge. The cameras are also separated slightly now, and they look very similar in style to those of the Galaxy S23 with their untethered, individual lens design. 

Elsewhere, the tablet looks and feels mostly the same. It's still razer thin at 5.5mm and deceptively light (although technically heavier than its predecessor) at 732g, but still impressive when you take that behemoth 14.6-inch display into account. 

Speaking of the display, it too retains a feature from its predecessor, and a controversial one at that. This is the only tablet (at least that we can think of), to feature a notch in its display. It's to house the dual front-facing 12MP cameras and, thankfully, it's not too intrusive, but it still just looks a bit odd and out of place.

The tablet's overall aluminium and glass construction felt substantial and premium in the hand during our brief demo of the device, but while it's lightweight and thin, there's no avoiding that it's also a bit unwieldy due to its sheer size. We will say that in the Graphite colourway, it had a pleasingly understated and stealthy appearance, and the Beige is equally elegant.  

Features

Starting with the internal specs of the device, the Tab S9 Ultra uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Processor that's found in the Galaxy S23 series of phones – that's the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the rest of the Galaxy Tab S9 family. A+ for processor synergy, Samsung. It's backed up by either 12GB or 16GB of RAM based on your configuration and it runs Android 13 with Samsung's One UI skin over it. During our demo, the Tab S9 Ultra flew through its operating system and apps loaded in a flash. 

Onto that colossal screen, and the Tab S9 Ultra might be the biggest tablet we've tested. That expansive canvas is a 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, with a variable refresh rate of 60Hz to 120Hz. Samsung says it's got a QuadHD resolution, although no specific figures have been shared quite yet. We do know it has a 16:10 aspect ratio. It also supports HDR10+, as this is Samsung's preference over Dolby Vision.

Moving onto audio and the S9 Ultra, despite its mammoth size, does not have a headphone jack; although as it seems to be slowly fading away from tablets after being ejected from almost all smartphones (shout out to Sony for keeping it alive) we're not exactly surprised. What it does have, however, is a pretty impressive set of speakers. There are four to be exact, one on each corner of the device, and they've even got Dolby Atmos support.

Finishing things off with the remaining features of the Tab, it has four cameras in total; a 13MP main and 8MP ultra-wide on the rear and a 12MP main and 12MP ultra-wide on the front. It also has a goliath battery inside rated at 11,200mAh, which should keep things running for quite some time. You also get the S Pen stylus in the box, ideal for occasional bouts of productivity or digital art, but let's be real, you're here to see how it fairs as a movie and music machine.

Picture and sound

This is where the disclaimers start: during our testing, we were in a fairly loud, bright and crowded room with no ability to log into the set of streaming apps that we'd usually use to test a tablet. Therefore, you should consider this a first impression of the tablet's AV ability, with a full review coming further down the line. 

So, we fired up trusty old YouTube and whacked some of the latest film trailers on the screen for a preliminary test. For reference, we used the trailers for Oppenheimer and Blue Beetle, as one is more natural and cinematic while the other offers a more animated, vivid set of scenes.

Starting with Oppenheimer, we were immediately impressed by how cinematic it felt despite being merely a trailer on YouTube. The colours looked nicely balanced with an appreciable pop of glowing orange for the roaring explosion. Overall, the picture was really sharp and detailed, with plenty of environmental, skin and clothing textures to be picked out and appreciated. The outlines of subjects on screen looked nicely defined too, with a scene of two characters walking out onto a sports field having a good sense of depth. The picture exuded a richness and lifelike nature, and we think the larger screen really helped to make the whole affair feel more cinematic than it had any right to be.

Switching over to Blue Beetle, this is where the punchy, vivid nature of Samsung's display came into play. As the titular hero flies unwilling to the edge of the atmosphere, the deep inky black of space is contrasted by the rich, punchy blue of the hero's costume. During the high-octane fight scenes, the tablet refrained from stuttering and motion looked good overall, if a little overly smooth in some short instances.

We also used Oppenheimer's majestic score and dialogue to test drive the tablet's quad speakers. Speech was pleasingly clear and detailed and the booming bass at the end of the trailer sounded decent by tablet standards. As for the score that underpins the trailer, the Tab S9 Ultra managed to remain in control of the increasingly frantic strings, ensuring a spacious and well-defined performance. Obviously, we'll need to give this tablet a much longer listen with the appropriate reference material, but it sounded good on first listen.

Early verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra seems to live up to its billing in our initial impressions. This bonkers tablet is about as extreme as can be, making the iPad Pro look somewhat staid by comparison.

Once again, we'll need much more time before we reach our final verdict, but so far Samsung seems to have delivered an enticing new option for those who want serious picture and sound quality on the go and don't mind the heft that goes with it.

MORE:

Check out our early hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

As well as our Google Pixel Tablet review

And our Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) review

It’s too early to be sure, but we just might be entering into an Android tablet renaissance. After quietly dipping out of the tablet race back in 2014, and a few misfires with some Chrome-based slabs in the years between, Google has decided that 2023 is the year to make its grand return to the scene with the Pixel Tablet. Other manufacturers like OnePlus are attempting to bring Android tablets back too, and Samsung never really stopped; however, Google taking the plunge is big news.

Not to be confused with the Pixel Slate, which was technically the first “Pixel tablet” but we can ignore that for now, the Pixel Tablet can best be described as a really big Pixel phone as it uses the same design cues and software; although it does have one major trick up its sleeve to differentiate it from its cellular counterparts. Bundled in the box you’ll find a magnetic dock that not only charges the tablet but also houses a speaker which it will seamlessly switch to once you snap the tablet onto it – very interesting. 

So does that make the Pixel Tablet a smart home display (akin to an Echo Show) or a tablet? Technically it's a hybrid and not a shabby one at that, but a larger question still looms; can it stand toe-to-toe with the iPad?

Price

The Pixel Tablet will run you £599 / $499 / AU$899 for the 128GB model, or £699 / $599 / AU$999 for the 256GB model. Both storage options are paired with the Google Tensor 2 processor (the same one found in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7a) and 8GB of RAM. It's running the latest Android 13 operating system out of the box and Google has done a good job adapting the software to work well on the larger screen.

It's available in Charcoal and Porcelain (AKA black and white) in all markets, although the US gets an exclusive Rose variant (a mix of pink and orange to our eyes). It's worth noting that only the Charcoal model gets black bezels around the screen, while the other two get white, which we find to be a bit distracting on our Porcelain review unit. 

As we’ve already mentioned, the magnetic charging/speaker dock is bundled in the box at no extra charge; in fact, it's the only way to charge the tablet that's included in the box, though you can use your own USB-C charger if you wish. You can, however, purchase extra docks for £139 / $129 / AU$189, a nice touch if you plan on having one dock in the kitchen and another in the living room or bedroom. 

If we subtract the price of the dock from the overall package, we find the value of the tablet itself to be £460 / $370 / AU$ 710. This puts the Pixel Tablet in an awkward spot; as a package, it’s competing with the iPad Air (5th Generation) at £569 / $599 / AU$929, but on its own it's closer to the budget-oriented iPad (2022) at £499 / $449 / AU$749. 

Build

The Pixel Tablet continues the design language that Google has carried across all of its products from the Pixel 7 to the Chromecast with Google TV. This includes muted, subtle colours and rounded, minimalist styling throughout. The chassis of the tablet is constructed entirely of aluminium and glass, making it feel sturdy yet lightweight. The tablet weighs 483g, which is a hair heavier than the iPad (2022), although it is thinner than the Apple tablet.

There are a few obstructions to the smooth and minimal exterior, which include a USB-C connector socket, fingerprint scanner/power button combo, volume rocker and a set of four magnetic pins for connecting to the docking station. There is also an 8MP camera lodged in the top left-hand corner of the backside and an 8MP front-facing camera in the centre of the top bezel on the front of the device.

Speaking of the front of the device, the Pixel Tablet features an 11-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, but we’ll get more in-depth with this soon. You will also find four speaker grilles around the edges of the tablet that house the quad loudspeakers.

On the subject of speakers, let's talk about the dock. It's fairly compact, comparable in size to a pencil case and it's wrapped in a fabric mesh. There’s a flat surface which is what the Pixel snaps onto with a satisfying clunk and chime, and the tablet feels reassuringly secure when suspended on the dock. The placement takes a little while to get used to as there are no real indicators as to where the tablet goes, but a mix of trial and error, and pretty strong magnets, will help you to adapt to this transforming tablet. When docked, the Pixel Tablet looks nearly identical to the Google Nest Hub and functions like one too.

Features

We’ll start with the dock as it is the biggest feature of the Pixel Tablet. As we’ve established, the tablet snaps onto the dock with magnets and a set of connection pins in order to start charging the device. These pins also allow the sound output of the tablet to seamlessly switch to the speaker dock, with no need to connect via Bluetooth. It’s important to mention that the speaker cannot be used as a Bluetooth speaker separately from the tablet, as it is only compatible with the Pixel Tablet. 

You can however cast to the tablet once it's docked via Google Chromecast, meaning you can transfer music or a movie from a separate device onto the docked Pixel Tablet. Better yet, if you decide to keep watching on the Pixel, and want to remove it from the dock, your content will continue to play on the tablet itself. The dock features a 44mm full-range driver and it charges that tablet at a slightly wimpy rate of 15W, so we’d recommend having a wired charger on hand if you need to juice up the tablet quickly. 

Now’s a good time to mention battery life, as the Pixel features a 7020mAh cell which is ever so slightly lower capacity than the iPad. In use, the Pixel Tablet has an acceptable battery life by tablet standards, although it seems to discharge quickly when on idle standby mode.

Moving away from the dock and onto the tab’s screen, the Pixel Tablet uses an IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1600 x 2560. It has a pixel density of 276ppi, a typical brightness of 500 nits and a 60Hz refresh rate, as well as HDR10 support. Overall, it's an almost identical spec to the iPad (2022)’s display, with the only real difference being the Pixel’s slightly higher pixel density. 

The tablet features quad loudspeakers, with two positioned on the left and right edges of the tablet when held in landscape orientation. While we appreciate the number of speakers, the positioning is very unfortunate as it's almost impossible to comfortably hold the tablet in the horizontal position without blocking any of the speakers. The tablet doesn’t support Dolby Atmos either, which is somewhat frustrating as it seems like the perfect feature to add to a tablet whose main focus is sound.

Picture

While we’ve drawn comparisons between the Google Pixel Tablet and Apple iPad (2022)’s displays, it's very apparent that while the specs might be similar, performance is quite different. 

Firing up Drive on Netflix, we’re pleasantly surprised by many of the aspects of the Pixel’s picture. As The Driver cruises through the gloomy streets of LA, the street light illuminating his face reveals nicely refined shading and a balanced approach to skin tones that means they look lively without broaching ruddy or overcooked. 

As the film cuts to Bryan Cranston's Shannon standing in the foreground of an interior shot of his garage, we’re met with well-defined edges and a decent sense of contrast, which creates a convincing sense of depth to the image. It’s not perfect, and if we’re being honest the iPad does it better – with a much greater tangible sense of depth, especially when it comes to the convex windscreens of the cars – but we certainly applaud the Pixel’s solid attempt. 

In this brighter scene, we can appreciate how detailed the Pixel’s screen is. Smudges and dents on the bodywork of the cars can be picked out, adding an extra layer of realism to the image, although we do wish some more detail was retained in the brick wall in the background. This tracking shot as the pair walk through the garage and behind various pillars and car lifts is also a good display of the Pixel Tablet's handling of motion; which doesn’t appear to stutter or judder despite the constant obstructions while the camera continues to track the motion. 

Switching to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we see the Pixel's approach to colours, which undoubtedly errs on the side of restrained. The flora of the planet Lah'mu doesn’t exactly pop with vibrancy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as we’ve seen other mobile screens that can overdo it and verge on almost neon green. That being said when compared to the iPad, we have to side with the Apple tablet as it's bolder and richer, while still remaining balanced, resulting in a more engaging and cinematic picture.

Finishing off with the following scene of protagonist Jynn Erso escaping from the Empire into a dark cave, unfortunately the Pixel Tablet seems to fall apart under the pressure of trying to retain dark detail. A blocky light grey-ish texture seems to plague the darkest parts of the picture, and there’s a general lack of detail to be picked out in the darker sections of the scene too. 

While the picture on the Pixel Tablet handles everything well, it doesn’t particularly excel in any way, especially when compared to its iPad competitor. It's detailed, handles motion well and has good contrast, but the picture on the Apple tablet is richer, deeper and ultimately more cinematic. 

Sound

Sound is the name of the game with the Pixel Tablet, and thankfully it's pretty good when it comes to speaker performance. The quad loudspeakers are impressive by tablet standards, as they sound more full-bodied, clear and substantial than the iPad. It's more than adequate for movie watching, with the dialogue of Drive not only being perfectly legible but also adding a hint of subtlety and emotional inflection into the voices. During the car chase, the sound effect of the car’s engine has a convincing rumbling texture to the sound that isn’t always apparent with other phone and tablet speakers.

Switching over to some music, Don’t Take The Money by Bleachers on Tidal is satisfyingly punchy on the built-in speakers, with a hint of bass in lead singer Jack Antonoff’s voice, and there’s even a semblance of dynamics here too. The sound from the Pixel’s speakers feels clearer and more solid when compared to the iPad, making it the better sounding of the two devices in this regard.

Using the same track played through the Pixel Tablet’s speaker dock, there’s certainly a greater presence to the sound and undoubtedly more bass, but it's not a totally transformative experience. It sounds better at louder volumes than the built-in speakers, and there is a bit more detail and spaciousness to the sound, but truthfully we’d compare the performance to that of a Bluetooth speaker that costs a lot less than the asking price of the dock. Personally, we would have liked to see the built-in speakers of the tablet and the dock work together, as we feel like it would result in a “best of both worlds” scenario.

Finally switching over to headphones, it's no surprise here that the Pixel can’t outdo the iPad. That being said, the way the Pixel plays the song is perfectly fine, with no glaring performance issues, the timing is fairly stable and there is a sense of scale and dynamics – it just lacks enthusiasm and rhythmic drive. Comparatively, the iPad offers an almost unmatched sense of warmth, tonal balance, texture and energy to its sound that makes listening to music through headphones truly engaging and enjoyable.

Verdict

Truthfully, the Pixel Tablet is probably more suited as a smart display for your kitchen that you can detach and watch the occasional movie on the go with; but as a smart display/tablet hybrid, it works quite well. It's quickly becoming a desktop companion that we use to play background music and stick the occasional video on, and it's even a solid tablet for productivity tasks.

So has Google succeeded in reviving its Android tablet ambitions? With an overall pleasant image and generally impressive sound (not counting headphones that is), we’d say yes… mostly.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the iPad (2022)

Also consider the iPad Air (5th generation)

Read our Amazon Fire 10 HD review

Best tablets: top tablets for movies and music

Apple's bog-standard iPad (that's the non-Air variety) is available in two variations right now, and while both are discounted in the Amazon Prime Day sales, only one is actually worth it... in our humble opinion. 

While the latest and greatest 2022 10th-generation model offers a redesigned chassis and upgrades to the picture and sound, the 2021 9th-generation version (which Apple itself is still selling) is actually a much better deal, and the one we'd recommend buying.

At just AU$423, down from its usual AU$549 asking price, the 9th-generation iPad from 2021 is a much better buy despite not having the updated design or USB-C. What it is, however, is AU$260 cheaper than its 10th-gen sibling. 

Both recent generations of the standard iPad are available from Apple direct, which implies the tech giant itself still sees value in having them both around. The 9th-generation uses a familiar design, with a home button and Lightning connector, while the 10th-generation adopts the design language of the more expensive iPad Air, complete with thinner bezels, swipe navigation, a fingerprint sensor in the lock button and USB-C for charging and data transfer.

So why are we recommending the older option, which on paper seems to have a less desirable design and feature set compared to its newer sibling? Well, there are two distinct things that have swayed us. The foremost, and possibly less important, is that the 9th-generation model is the last iPad to include a headphone jack, so if you're planning on using your iPad as a portable music machine, then this model might just serve you better.

Onto the more important factor; price. Right now, the 10th-generation model is AU$683 in the Prime Day sales, whereas the 9th-gen iPad is only AU$423. Yes, of course, we expect the newer model to be more expensive compared to the now two-year-old iPad, however the performance between them is actually much closer than you'd expect. 

While the newer iPad looks a tad sharper and slightly more three-dimensional, the five-star iPad 2021 is still a fantastic-looking tablet. The colours are bold and punchy, yet still authentic, and the image is sharp and detailed enough to hold its own against its newer companion. Neither model has HDR, and both actually have the same 264ppi pixel density. 

Moving on to sound, the speakers on the newer iPad 2022 are admittedly much better, however when it comes to headphone sound, they are quite evenly matched. The newer model is a tad more expressive, but once again not really enough to justify such a big price difference. Both iPads provide rich, natural and textured sound through headphones, making them ideal devices to take your music on the go.

And, while the newer model gets an upgraded 12MP camera and 4K video recording, who is actually going to use the camera on their tablet? It's pretty superfluous really.

At the end of the day, both of these iPads are five-star tablets with top-notch picture and sound performance. However, the older model paired with this Prime Day deal is an excellent value proposition, and considering the fact that Apple still sells it to this day, you can expect to get plenty of life out of it yet.

MORE:

These are the best Prime Day deals

Check out our picks for the best iPads

While tablets aren’t nearly as popular as they once were, I love my iPad Pro and get a lot of use out of it. I use it as a second screen for the football when I’m gaming or my wife is watching something on the TV; it’s brilliant for watching TV shows and movies in bed or on the train, particularly when combined with the AirPods Max; I use it for signing documents far more often than you might imagine; and it’s great as a wireless second screen for my MacBook.

The place I most often use my iPad, though, is the kitchen, and this is arguably where it’s least comfortable.

There are three main issues. The first is that the Magic Keyboard, which is generally a thing of genius and elegance, rather gets in the way when chopping veg and the like, and I worry about covering the keys – which are less easily wiped clean than the screen – with bits of crushed garlic or an errant blob of tomato puree (yes, I am a messy chef). I could get a different stand for the kitchen but I’ve not really got the appetite (see what I did there?) to constantly swap cases.

Second, if I’m not using the iPad to follow an actual recipe, I’m probably using it to watch the football or F1, and then, on top of the existing mess issue, I’m also stuck using the iPad’s built-in speakers for the audio, particularly as Sky Go doesn’t allow you to output the sound to a separate device. The iPad Pro sounds very good indeed by tablet standards, but it’s not like using a dedicated wireless speaker.

Third on my list of first-world iPad-related kitchen problems is that Siri still isn’t a great virtual assistant. Yes, it can handle the basics, but I find myself turning to Alexa (via a Sonos One) for my complex cooking questions even when the iPad is right in front of me, particularly as Siri often says “here’s something I found on the web” and puts it on the screen that I was already using for something else and that I don’t want to touch because my hands are covered in marinade.

None of these niggles prevents me from using the iPad in the kitchen, but it would be lovely if Apple fixed them. Except now it doesn't have to because Google already has, and the solution is really very simple.

The new Google Pixel Tablet comes bundled with a Charging Speaker Dock that acts as a stand, a charger and a speaker for the tablet, essentially turning it into a smart speaker with a screen, rather like the Amazon Echo Show 10 but still with the full functionality of an Android tablet.

It gives the Pixel Tablet a much less obtrusive footprint than the iPad’s Magic Keyboard, it should sound significantly better than a tablet alone, and it will have all of the smarts of a Google Nest speaker. And, unlike a device such as the Echo Show, the Pixel Tablet can of course be undocked and used as a standard tablet around and outside the house.

So, will I be buying a Pixel Tablet? I’m certainly tempted but it will ultimately depend on whether the Charging Speaker Dock works as well as suggested and how the tablet performs as an actual tablet, particularly in terms of picture and sound quality.

It will also depend on whether Apple mercilessly rips off the idea and produces its own speaker dock for the iPad. That would be fine by me, too.

MORE:

Always wanted a Dolby Atmos speaker system but never had the space? Buy the AirPods Max headphones

These are the best tablets you can buy right now

Apple’s iPads dominate the tablet market in the same way that Red Bull dominates Formula One and, like Formula One, it’s going to take something very special for anyone else to get a look in. However, while we'll likely be waiting a long time for Red Bull to get a serious challenge, Google’s new Pixel Tablet might just be special enough to make people think before they buy an iPad.

The Pixel Tablet's specialness doesn’t lie in its core specs, though those are certainly worthy of being detailed. For us, the most important element is the 11-inch (10.95-inch if you want to be picky), which has a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a pixel density of 276 pixels per inch.

That’s more or less what you get from the current iPad and iPad Air, which feature 10.9-inch screens with a 2360 x 1640 resolution and 264ppi. The Pixel Tablet also has a claimed peak brightness of 500 nits, just like those two iPads.

Unlike the iPads, which have a near-4:3 aspect ratio, the Pixel Tablet has a more movie-friendly 16:10 ratio, which obviously appeals to us at What Hi-Fi?. That’s not really what makes it special either, though.

No, that special thing is the Charging Speaker Dock that, rather surprisingly, comes bundled with the Pixel Tablet.

As the name suggests, this dock doesn’t only handle charging duties, it’s also a speaker. Plonk the Pixel Tablet onto it and it essentially turns the duo into a smart speaker akin to the Amazon Echo Show. In theory, that’s great for movie-watching, as you won’t have to rely on the tablet’s built-in speakers, but it should also make it a great option for the kitchen or bedroom. In fact, if you think that sounds like a great solution for the kitchen and the bedroom, you can buy a second Charging Speaker Dock so that you can dock the Pixel Tablet in multiple rooms.

The Pixel Tablet features the Tensor G2 chip that debuted in the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro phones, which should make it over-powered for typical smart speaker duties, but lest we forget that this is also a fully functioning tablet in its own right, capable of playing games, controlling your smart home and a whole lot more.

We’re also pleased to see that Google has apparently put some extra effort into ensuring the Pixel Tablet delivers a satisfying media consumption experience, which is something that previous Android tablets have often struggled with. Google says it’s “worked closely with the Android team so the apps you love – like Disney+, Spotify and more – look better and are easier to browse on the big(ger) screen”.

All told, the Pixel Tablet has the potential to be the best Android tablet yet, and it could even give the iPad and iPad Air a run for their money. Of course, we’ll wait until we’ve been able to conduct a comprehensive, comparative review before we deliver a definitive verdict, but if you don’t want to wait, you can pre-order the Pixel Tablet now for £599 ahead of the official launch date of 20th June.

MORE:

Google has also announced new Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold phones

These are the best tablets you can buy right now

Can the Pixel Tablet defeat the current iPad?

OnePlus’ ethos has always been more phone for less money, and while that is still the case with the OnePlus 11 5G, the definition of less money has changed since the brand’s first Android smartphone was released almost a decade ago. 

However, with prices that still undercut the likes of Samsung and Apple, and with flagship-level specs, build quality and features, it's easy to see the appeal of OnePlus' latest handset. If you’re after a 6.7-inch smartphone with a cutting-edge processor, you’ll be hard-pressed to beat the OnePlus on the specification-per-pound/dollar metric. But does that make the OnePlus 11 the best smartphone for AV enthusiasts? Not quite, but it certainly makes a convincing case for itself. 

Price

The OnePlus 11 comes in at £729 / $699 / AU$1199 which, by modern flagship smartphone standards, is fairly reasonable. That gets you 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but you can alternatively opt for a 16GB of RAM and 256GB storage model for a total price of £799 / $799 / AU$1399. In a strange move from OnePlus, it looks like the base model only comes in the Titan Black finish, while the upgraded model only comes in Eternal Green.

The closest Android competitor at this price point is the Samsung Galaxy S23 (£849 / $799 / AU$1349), and while we’ve only spent some brief hands-on time with that device, we can say for sure that it packs a smaller, lower-resolution screen. On the iOS side of things, the iPhone 14 is the closest competitor at £849 / $799 / AU$1399. However, that too features a lower resolution, lower refresh rate and smaller screen, although specs on paper aren’t everything, as we very well know by now.

Build

We find the OnePlus’ unique design to be somewhat subjective. While the textured rear glass looks slick and adds much-needed grip to this fairly hefty handheld, the ludicrously large circular camera cluster is nothing short of an eyesore. OnePlus has attempted to integrate the metal housing into the frame of the phone in a fluid design reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy S21, but it doesn’t detract from the clunky bulging optic module that takes up around a quarter of the phone’s rear. 

Flipping over to the front of the device, you’ll find a 6.7-inch display that curves very slightly over the edge for a minimalist, thin-bezel design. There is a single hole-punch camera tucked into the top left of the display, keeping content mostly free of obstructions – unlike Apple’s notch approach.

The OnePlus 11’s metal and glass construction feels solid and adequately weighty without verging on cumbersome, and it features the return of the iconic switch that can alternate the phone between ring, vibrate and silent modes after it was missing from last year’s 10T. Overall, the OnePlus feels suitably luxe for the price, with a pleasant blend of high-end materials.

Features

The OnePlus 11 5G packs in practically all of the top-end Android smartphone features you’d expect. We’ve already mentioned the expansive 6.7-inch size of the screen, but it’s also got a QuadHD+ resolution (1440 x 3216) with a pixel density of 525ppi. It reaches a claimed peak brightness of 1300 nits (practically on par with the iPhone 14) and it features a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and gameplay. The display also supports HDR in the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats, which is a really nice touch when you consider that Samsung only includes HDR10+ on its more expensive Galaxy S23. It's a lot for your money. 

The phone even extends its impressive feature set into the audio department with support for Dolby Atmos on the device’s “Dual Reality” stereo speaker arrangement, as well as through headphones. You won’t find a headphone jack on this phone, as is the case with practically all modern smartphones (apart from Sony’s Xperia line), but you do have Bluetooth 5.3 with support for LE, A2DP and aptX HD codecs. You can also plug a wired headset into the USB-C port via a third-party adapter.

Onto the non-AV-oriented features of this phone, there’s the aforementioned camera cluster, which consists of three lenses: a 50MP main lens, a 32MP telephoto lens and a 48MP ultra-wide lens, which means you should be covered no matter what you’re shooting. The 11 features Hasselblad branding on the rear camera array, as OnePlus has partnered with the camera company for many of its recent models. Snapping a shot with the OnePlus provides us with a decent image, although the Pixel 7 and iPhone 14 are still the ones to beat in the smartphone camera game.

The OnePlus also gets Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which keeps the OxygenOS (based on Android 13) system running smoothly. We are yet to encounter any bugs or glitches with the OnePlus 11, but the OxygenOS is a tad cartoonish for our liking. Thankfully, there don't appear to be any unnecessary bloatware apps preinstalled on the system, which frees up the internal storage space for apps, photos, movies and music. 

Battery life on the OnePlus is solid, with a 5000mAh cell powering the device. It’s backed up with OnePlus' SUPERVOOC 100W charging technology, which claims to charge the device from one to 100 per cent in just 25 minutes. Charging is super speedy indeed, thanks to the included fast charging plug, which is something of a rarity these days. However, it's wired charging or nothing with the 11, as it does not support wireless charging despite the company including this feature in last year’s OnePlus 10 Pro.

Picture

There’s plenty to like when it comes to the OnePlus 11’s display, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering its specs. We set the phone to the cinematic picture setting, running at QHD+ resolution for our testing, as we believe it's the optimal set-up for watching content on this display. Firing up Drive on Netflix, the strengths of the OnePlus are immediately apparent, with plenty of texture detail in The Driver's skin, even when he's cloaked in shadow during the tense opening scene.

Black depth is also very solid, with the AMOLED panel producing true blacks. This adds a convincing depth to the night sky, as well as the segments of the car interior that are entirely obscured by shadow. This pairs well with the decent handling of contrast, notably when a beam of light hits The Driver’s silver jacket creating a reflective glow while retaining a solid amount of detail from the jacket’s material.

Outlines are sharp and well-defined against the background, and skin, clothing and environmental textures all retain a good amount of detail. The OnePlus’ display is much larger than the iPhone 14’s but it's also more pixel-dense, and it largely appears to put that extra density to good use, delivering lots of integral detail despite the more cinematically large screen.

The OnePlus isn’t quite perfect, though, and it becomes very obvious that the iPhone outperforms it when they are placed side by side. The iPhone produces a slightly crisper image with more balanced colours. The OnePlus features a bold and punchy display that looks great in some instances, but it's apparent that subtlety isn’t its main priority, as the iPhone’s picture feels much more authentic in comparison.

The iPhone also demonstrates its capabilities when it comes to contrast during this opening scene of Drive as a night-time aerial shot overlooking the LA streets pops much more on the Apple phone. This is thanks to its ability to pull out more pinpoint bursts of light from the street lamps and car headlights that pierce through the night sky and shadowy streets.

The OnePlus tries to make the most of its big, bold and sharp screen, but it generalises a bit too much and misses some of the necessary nuances that are needed for a truly cinematic experience. That being said, you will absolutely have a pleasant experience watching content on the 11’s display, especially if you enjoy a bit of punch to your picture. 

Sound

Sound quality is undoubtedly the weakest aspect of the OnePlus 11, as it fails to impress when it comes to both the speakers and headphone performance. Starting with the supposedly Atmos-enabled speakers, we don’t hear the spatial prowess that OnePlus is claiming they are capable of. The thumping electronic soundtrack of Drive sounds slightly thin and lifeless, although switching to Tidal to play The XX’s Crystalised, we do get a hint of dynamics. We're well aware that there are no smartphone speakers that can be described as objectively good, but some are better than others, and the iPhone's are better than the OnePlus', particularly in terms of depth and dynamics.

Headphone performance, while obviously better, is similar in character, as the OnePlus presents music with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. There isn’t much in the way of dynamics and drive here – something that's apparent when Crystalised hits its supposed crescendo, which fizzles out on the OnePlus. Once again, the iPhone shows up the OnePlus’ shortcomings, as there is much more texture to the vocals and instruments, as well as a touch more energy to keep the track engaging. Overall, the OnePlus isn’t unpleasant to listen to through either the speakers or headphones, but it doesn't particularly impress either.

Verdict

When it comes to affordable smartphones, the cheaper options are getting better and better. Just look at the Nothing Phone (1), or the Sony Xperia 10 IV, which proves that solid AV performance on a smartphone doesn’t have to cost the Earth. That being said, the OnePlus signifies a step up from these devices, with a nicer build, better cameras and top-tier day-to-day performance that truly makes it a solid choice if you’re after your next Android smartphone.

With a screen that’s easy to enjoy thanks to it being impressively specced for the price, and an underwhelming but inoffensive audio performance, the OnePlus 11 offers a lot for the money, and that’s really its main draw. OnePlus set out to create a flagship device that undercuts the competition when it comes to pricing, and it has mostly succeeded in its mission.

SCORES

• Features 5
• Picture 4
• Sound 3

MORE:

Read our review of the Nothing Phone (1)

Also consider the Google Pixel 7

Read our iPhone 14 review

Best smartphones for movies and music

Apple could launch an iPad Pro with an OLED screen as early as 2024, according to display supply chain analyst Ross Young.

In a tweet to his subscribers, Young – a trusted source who currently tops the Apple Track rankings – claimed that "Apple will introduce a 13.3-inch OLED MacBook Air in 2024 along with its 11-inch and 12.9-inch OLED iPad Pros".

It's not the first time the display guru has weighed in on this subject. He previously suggested that Apple is working on a "two-stack" OLED panel. This hybrid screen tech could slim down the next iPad Pro, boost peak brightness, and extend battery life (per flatpanelshd).

The current 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2022) uses a Liquid Retina XDR (mini LED) display. If it's anything like the five-star iPad Pro (2021), it's sure to deliver stunning picture quality... but an OLED-toting iPad could be even better.

As seen in some of the best TVs around, OLED panels offer super-high contrast ratios and 'true' black levels. So far, Apple has restricted the use of OLED displays to selected iPhones and Apple Watch devices due to their high costs, but there's been talk of a solution for a while now.

Back in January, Korean IT site TheElec tipped Apple to launch – you guessed it – an OLED-toting iPad Pro in 2024.  The two tech giants were said to be collaborating on "10.86-inch OLED panel".

Could Apple be about to place a huge order for iPad-sized OLED displays? It's not out of the question, especially when you consider that Apple's rumoured AR/VR headset could also feature OLED displays.

MORE:

These are the best iPads you can buy

And here are the best tablets

Pick up an Apple tablet at a bargain price with the best iPad deals

Want to take your films on the go, but find that your smartphone's screen just isn't cutting it? If you're serious about portable AV, then a tablet should be your next investment, especially if you're a frequent flyer or often find yourself on long road trips.

It seems like manufacturers are leaning into the AV capabilities of tablets more than ever, with Apple launching its first OLED iPad with Dolby Vision and Atmos support; it's practically a handheld TV if you think about it. Samsung also has an OLED-clad tablet with the Tab S9 Ultra which supports HDR10+; both of those tablets are on this list alongside other, more affordable options from Apple and Amazon.

While we judge primarily on picture and sound performance, we can't negate the fact that tablets are also becoming powerful tools for productivity tasks and digital art creation too. Some models on the market are truly living up to the "laptop replacement" challenge, which is something to consider when selecting your next (or first) tablet.

You'll notice a few tablets that are absent from this list; namely the Google Pixel Tablet and most recent Apple iPad and iPad Air. The former makes our also consider list, while we're yet to review the latter two – though we have high hopes based on the performance of their predecessors.

Speaking of reviews, its worth noting that each model on this list has been put through our rigorous testing process by our expert team of reviewers. Each iPad, Fire and Galaxy tablet on this list has been given a What Hi-Fi? seal of approval, and you can find out more about how we test tablets below.

With all of that out of the way, here are the best tablets we've tested that are available now:

The best tablet overall

Apple unveiled an updated 11th-generation iPad in early March 2025, but until we've had an opportunity to test it – and while its predecessor is still available – the 2022 iteration remains our top choice.

This model marked the biggest change the standard iPad had undergone since the first one was introduced way back in 2010. This is most evident in the design, this 10th-generation tablet having shed its predecessor's monochromatic shell in favour of bright hues and squared-off edges.

So has Apple brought its darling first tablet into the modern age? Or are we witnessing an iPad identity crisis?

In some ways, the iPad's 10th generation feels like a major overhaul, and in others, it feels like a simple refinement. The design certainly makes this feel like a generational shift as we wave goodbye to the home button and Lightning connector; however, the minor (yet still appreciated) upgrades to picture and sound aren’t indicative of a next-generation product.

We commended the iPad that came before it thanks to its already winning performance, commenting that a design update was overdue. Now with an even better AV experience packed into a slick new design, the standard iPad has its time to shine again and is easier than ever to recommend – if you can stretch to its elevated price tag.

Read the full Apple iPad (2022) review

The best cheap tablet

When it comes to buying new tech there are a lot of false economies, but Amazon’s Fire range of tablets isn’t one of them. If you want the best performance-per-pound model, look no further than the Fire HD 8.

The Fire HD 8’s low price – we’ve seen it drop as low as £55 during one of Amazon’s many sales – means managing expectations when it comes to pretty much all areas of the tablet. There’s more plastic here than anything else, the processor can’t cope with top-tier games, and the screen can be quite reflective, but it has more than enough to deliver the basics.

The 8-inch screen is bright and punchy, and blacks are good considering it’s backlit. Colours look natural, and while the overall picture performance is a long way behind what you’ll get from an iPad, it’s still very good for this price.

The two speakers, which are on the top edge so you don’t block them with your hands, are nothing to write home about, but they’re engaging enough if you don’t have a pair of headphones to plug in. Doing so will reward you with a more balanced and composed performance, though.

If an iPad is out of your price range and you don’t need high-end specs, Amazon’s Fire HD 8 is excellent value for money.

Read our full Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review

The best premium tablet

Apple delivered its thinnest and lightest iPad to date with the M4-powered Pro, and we deemed this OLED-embued marvel to be a new benchmark for portable cinema – which is no small claim. This ultra-powerful tablet is crammed with features while remaining remarkably slender, and its picture and sound performance are both in a league of their own.

To address the elephant in the room, yes, this is a very expensive tablet, and if you plan on using it purely for watching videos and listening to music, you might find that you've paid for features you're not using. That being said, if you're after a tablet that is a capable productivity machine, or perhaps a portable digital art studio, then the iPad Pro will certainly meet your needs.

A big part of its appeal is the M4 chip. It also features the first OLED display in the iPad lineup, with Apple leveraging Tandem OLED to enhance brightness. It results in a tablet that delivers supreme contrast, rich and balanced colours, and crisp details –making it easily the best-looking tablet on the market.

Sound is also a highlight, with speakers that deliver an open and spacious sound; although they don't differ greatly when compared to the previous generation iPad Pro in most ways. Headphone performance, on the other hand, is a step up with additional warmth, richness and weight compared to its predecessor, without infringing on its existing dynamic prowess.

Put simply, this is the best tablet that money can buy, but only for those with deep pockets. Some may find it overkill for just movies and music, but if picture and sound performance is paramount (which we believe is certainly the case) then the latest iPad Pro is your best bet.

The best Android tablet

Samsung's Galaxy Tab range now includes an S10 Ultra, but we're yet to review that particular model and the S9 Ultra remains available at a knockdown price.

With its 14.6-inch screen it's even more of a whopper than the iPad Pro (above), but despite the extra inches the Samsung is only marginally heavier, thanks in no small part to its skinny but sturdy aluminium frame.

The headline feature here, though, is obviously that massive AMOLED display. There’s no denying its picture is punchy and vibrant, with excellent depth to the blacks, but it lacks authenticity. Switching the colour profile to the ‘natural’ setting helps, but it still looks soft and lacking in detail compared to the iPad’s Mini LED screen. It’s adept when it comes to motion, though, which is just as well considering how noticeable any shortcomings on that front would be.

Despite the slim dimensions Samsung has found space inside the S9 Ultra for an AKG-tuned quad speaker array, which, thanks to the physical separation of the drivers, sounds nice and spacious. It’s fairly full-bodied, too, you just have to be careful not to block them with your hands when you’re holding the tablet. Unfortunately the same can’t be said once a pair of headphones are connected, whereupon things generally sound flatter and less enthusiastic.

The iPad Pro is better, but if you want a big screen and prefer Android to Apple, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a decent option.

Read the full Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra review

The best small tablet

Apple's iPad Mini 6 is no longer the latest in its Mini line-up, but while it's still available to buy – and until we've had a chance to review the 7th-gen version – it remains our favourite small tablet.

The iPad Mini 6 is a huge improvement on its predecessor and just the ticket if an 8-inch tablet is what you’re after. It's small enough to carry around in a jacket pocket while offering a viewing and listening experience that’s way beyond that of even a large mobile phone.

The bezel has shrunk right down meaning that, while the device remains the same size as the previous generation, the screen itself is actually bigger. The picture quality is better too. The 500-nit LCD panel is less leaky for light than before, making videos look punchy and exciting.

Its sound has moved on leaps and bounds too, with a vastly improved level of dynamic expression to now match Apple's trademark crisp sense of timing. There are also speakers on both ends of the tablet for the first time, meaning that you get a sense of cinematic sound even without headphones.

Throw in a super-slick user experience, the rather handsome looks, USB-C recharging and the interesting addition of Apple Pencil support and you’ve got yourself a little winner. It's just a pity there's no 3.5mm headphone socket, of course.

Read the full Apple iPad Mini 6 review

The best cheap small tablet

The Amazon Fire 7 tablet is cheap. Really cheap. And let's face it, with the cost of living shooting through the roof, how many people have a wad of cash sitting around for an iPad? Maybe it's time to embrace the budget options, and Amazon’s plucky little starter tablet is here to try and ease you into the budget tab lifestyle.

It's important to remember, though, that cheap and good value are two very different things. The Fire 7 certainly ticks the first box, but how does it fare on the second?

The Amazon Fire 7 is the plucky underdog in the tablet world: it doesn’t have a gimmick, it doesn’t have class-leading specs and it won’t have you throwing out your iPad any time soon. But it doesn’t need any of those things because it occupies such a unique space – and that's being a functional and entertaining tablet for roughly the price of half a tank of petrol. On that front, it's a winner.

Read the full Amazon Fire 7 review

Also consider

• Google Pixel Tablet: Google's hybrid device delivers a solid picture performance and an engaging sound experience, but it's more suited to life as a smart display for your kitchen than a tablet.

How to choose the best tablet for you

There are lots of thing to consider when choosing the right tablet for you. What screen size do you want? Bigger-screened tablets make films, photos and TV shows look more impressive and are better suited to gaming, but they're heavier, less portable and usually more expensive.

Which operating system are you after? Android is more open than iOS, but it's not quite as slick or as simple an ecosystem. Or are you happy with Amazon's Fire OS? Members of Amazon Prime might well be, but if you rarely shop at the retail giant, you'll likely find it unsuitable and potentially even irritating.

How much storage do you need? Android devices usually come with slots for memory cards so you can add in extra capacity, which could be useful if you've an extensive library of films, music and photos. With an Apple tablet you're stuck with the internal storage. Bear in mind, though, that the rise of streaming means that most people need less storage than they used to.

The best tablet for you will come down to how you want to use it. If you're gaming, you'll want one with tons of power and long battery life, while if you're only sending the occasional email, you can save yourself some money and get yourself a cheaper model.

How we test the best tablets

Narrowing down the expansive tablet market into a small selection of tablets that we would recommend is harder than it sounds. Thankfully, here at What Hi-Fi? we have years of expertise and plenty of resources to ensure that we can rigorously test these options so we can recommend them to you with confidence.

Thanks to our dedicated testing rooms found in Bath and Reading, alongside our knowledgeable and experienced team, we can conduct thorough tests to explore what these devices can do. Our main area of focus is picture and sound, meaning that these tablets all must excel at delivering a quality AV experience; but features, cameras, battery life and software are all also key factors when it comes to testing these tablets.

In order to combat any personal preference or bias, each product we review is given a group consensus before any verdict is made. This step in the process also ensures that we haven't missed anything during the initial testing phase, as well as approaching the performance from different viewpoints to get a more holistic view of the device overall.

All of these tablets are also compared to others within their price ranges; this helps to contextualise the device within its category and enables us to consider if we would recommend it over its competition. It's important to remember that no product exists in a vacuum, so looking further than the device itself is crucial.

Our Best Buys are a collection of products that we believe provide the best experience at their price points, and ones that we would recommend you buy with peace of mind, knowing they have the What Hi-Fi? seal of approval.

You can check out our full range of Best Buys if you're looking of more approved tech recommendations.

F.A.Q

iPad OS, Android or Fire OS?

Which operating system appeals to you will likely depend on your budget and your other devices. If you have an iPhone and AirPods, then we wouldn't blame you for opting for an iPad, as the iPad OS is very similar to the iOS system you'll find on your phone.

However, you don't have to be locked into an eco-system. For example, you can have a Samsung phone and still get a lot from an iPad. Fire OS is a touch trickier as it features on Amazon's cheaper tablets. It's based on Android, but it doesn't have the Google Play store, so be warned that not all apps are supported.

Ultimately, none of these operating systems have any fundamental flaws, so unless you have a preference or want device synergy, then don't let it influence your decision too much.

What are the options for watching and listening to content on your tablet?

You'll likely be relying on streaming services and video-on-demand services for watching and listening to content on tablets. Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Paramount Plus all have robust mobile apps for streaming content, or you can buy films through Apple, Google and Amazon's online storefronts.

Music is a similar affair, with Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and more available on most app stores. You can, of course, download your films and music onto your devices if you have a digital content library, although you may need to download an app to play these files.

What screen size is best?

We've included tablets big and small on this list. Tablets like the iPad Mini and Amazon Fire 7 offer a more portable size that can transported with ease, while the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra are bigger-screen behemoths.

Ultimately it will depend on your preference, the smaller tabs will be easier to carry around, while the bigger ones will offer a more cinematic experience.

Recent updates

28th March 2025: Removed the Apple iPad Air (5th Generation) from the 'also consider' section as it has been discontinued and only refurbished models are available to buy.

• Find out how to get the best picture and sound on your tablet
• Listen to the best headphones around

The iPad has officially hit double digits with its latest iteration. First introduced back in 2010, this iteration marks the biggest change the standard iPad has undergone yet. This is most evident in the design, this 10th-generation tablet having shed its monochromatic shell in favour of bright hues and squared-off edges.

So has Apple brought its darling first tablet into the modern age? Or are we witnessing an iPad identity crisis?

Price

Apple’s cheapest iPad is tenuously hanging onto that designation as it joins the growing list of Apple products to receive a price increase. The 10th Generation iPad starts at £499 / $449 / AU$749 for a disappointingly stingy 64GB storage configuration with wi-fi-only connectivity. 

This means that the new, baseline iPad is £130 / $120 / AU$200 more expensive than the previous generation iPad. Ouch. However, that's not the end of the story, as much like the iPhone 14, the previous generation is sticking around as a cheaper alternative to the new device. 

Other iPads are still more expensive, with the Mini, Air and Pro all boasting more premium price points, so it's a double-edged sword. The iPad 10th Generation is still the cheaper option, especially if you want the modern design and features we’ll touch upon shortly, but the price hike is a tough pill to swallow. 

For the bulkier chunk of change required to pick up this pad, you do get some beefier internals, including a processor upgrade to Apple’s A14 Bionic. This is the same chip found in the iPhone 12 series, and it remains blisteringly fast despite being a couple of years old. Other upgrades include 5G support on the cellular model and a camera megapixel boost from 8MP to 12MP. 

Build

Here’s the most substantial aspect of the 10th Generation iPad’s existence: this model is the first major design overhaul we’ve seen since practically the first generation iPad. Sure, there have been variations with slicker and lighter chassis, but the traditional rounded slab with chunky bezels flanking the screen and housing the spherical home button has been the dependable iPad style we’ve come to know and get slightly bored of.

Not anymore, as the iPad has now been thrust into the modern age, bringing it in line with its sibling devices. The basic iPad is now uncannily similar to the more expensive iPad Air, with its smoothed-off flat edges and narrow bezels for what Apple calls an “all-screen” design. The 10th Gen also follows suit by ditching the Space Grey of bygone years for Silver, Yellow, Blue and Pink hues. Our Pink review model is outrageously bold in the best way, and the pop of colour really brings some fun to the iPad’s design. 

Another big design upgrade to the iPad comes in the form of a screen size boost. The iPad has gone from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches – certainly not an earth-shattering improvement, but paired with the slicker design it feels like a bigger improvement than it looks on paper. The iPad’s new dimensions are 25 x 18 x 0.7cm (height x width x depth), and it's 10 grams lighter than its predecessor at 477g.

One aspect of the 10th Gen’s design is actually an exclusive new feature that outdoes its more expensive brethren. The front-facing camera has been repositioned to the left-hand side, putting it in optimal positioning when the tablet is held in landscape orientation. It's a small change, but an appreciated (and overdue) one when we use it for video calls.

Features

The 10th Generation iPad finally adopts USB-C for charging and data transfer. Productivity fans rejoice as this means that the entire iPad line-up (apart from the last generation iPad) has ditched Apple’s proprietary Lightning port. This opens up a world of possibilities for connecting external storage devices and accessories, opening up the iPad as a platform.

The only annoyance with the switch to USB-C is Apple’s decision to only support the first-generation version of the Apple Pencil, which charges via Lightning. That means that digital artists who want this cheaper iPad will be condemned to a life of adapter-based misery. The second-generation Pencil charges magnetically on the other flat-sided iPads, so we are left befuddled as to why Apple hasn't taken the seemingly obvious opportunity to ditch the old stylus. 

Luckily, Apple’s other headline accessory makes a lot more sense. The Magic Keyboard Folio is an optional extra, but it's a stylish and quality feeling case, kickstand and detachable keyboard combo that even includes a laptop-style trackpad. It feels great to type and work on, but at the eye-watering price of £279 / $249 / AU$489, you have to be seriously dedicated to making this iPad your primary productivity machine to justify it.

Of course, we're most interested in video and sound performance, so let’s dig into that larger screen. While the display gets a size bump, it also has a slight resolution increase to match. The new 2360 x 1640 resolution means that pixel density is unchanged, at 264ppi. The display technology is the same on paper, too, featuring an IPS-type LCD panel with an LED backlight and claimed peak brightness of 500 nits. It’s a shame that Apple hasn’t seen fit to increase the display’s sharpness or brightness along with its size, but it isn’t surprising – every model in the current range bar the Mini has a 264ppi pixel density, and even the current Air is capped at 500 nits.

The new 10.9-inch iPad is alone among the latest iPads, though, in having an un-laminated screen, which means there's a small gap between the glass and the digitiser; although this isn’t a major turn-off for the device, it does result in a hollow-sounding and feeling tap when interacting with the display.

Picture

As mentioned, the new iPad's screen specifications are practically identical to those of the previous model, despite the 0.7-inch size increase, but there is slightly more to it than that.

Our old reliable Blade Runner 2049 test offers great insight into the capabilities of this tablet. The murky and violent opening shines on this screen, with sharp edges and impressive detail in both the brighter outside scenes and the dingier interior shots. Areas of Sapper Morton’s dimly lit farmhouse retain some texture despite being cast entirely in shadow, and even with the almost solid wall of fog outside the minimal windows, there’s still some detail that can be picked out. 

It's actually in the colours that we notice the biggest difference from last year's model. The orange glow from the doorway is much richer and bolder on the 10th-gen model than the 9th, bringing a warm glow to the image that immediately draws the eye. Skin tones, too, are slightly punchier, but there’s no sacrifice to authenticity. Instead, it simply ekes out a little more vividness where appropriate without harming the overall balance.

The new iPad handles blacks better than its predecessor, too. Deeper and darker, they give more defined outlines to objects, highlighting the already slightly more pronounced details.

While each of these upgrades is slight in isolation, they combine to create a noticeably better picture, improving on what we already considered a five-star image in last year’s model.

Sound

Starting with speaker sound, here is where we see the biggest improvement since last year’s model. Thanks to Apple splitting up the pair of speakers and relocating one to the other edge of the device, we can now enjoy a much better-defined and better-separated stereo sound.

Put simply, the iPad sounds better than ever when listening via the built-in speakers. Vocal performances are clear, there's enough weight for convincing bass, and the sound is much more balanced and spacious overall. While a decent wireless speaker will of course sound better, the iPad's speakers won’t have you dreading the tinny audio you often suffer on mobile devices when your headphones aren’t in reach.

Speaking of headphones, the upgrade when listening through cans is more modest. Unfortunately, the headphone socket has been culled on this new iPad, leaving just the USB-C port for wired audio, and Bluetooth for wireless.

Going via the wireless route with the Mark Levinson No.5909, we find that the subtle background ambience in Exile by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver is more clearly expressed on this newer model. These small details add extra depth to the track and round out an already impressive display of dynamics and timing. Much like the picture, headphone performance is subtly upgraded, but once you notice the slightly bolder and more detailed aspects, it becomes apparent that the 10th Gen is a refined upgrade. 

Verdict

In some ways, the iPad 10th Generation feels like a major overhaul, and in others, it feels like a simple refinement. The new design certainly makes this feel like a generational shift as we wave goodbye to the home button and Lightning connector; however, the minor (yet still appreciated) upgrades to picture and sound aren’t indicative of a next-generation product. 

We commended the iPad that came before it thanks to its already winning performance, commenting that a design update was overdue. Now with an even better AV experience packed into a slick new design, the standard iPad has its time to shine again and is easier than ever to recommend – if you can stretch to its elevated price tag.

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

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Apple has recently refreshed its iPad line-up with a pair of new Pros and a redesigned 10th-generation iPad. However, rumours have surfaced of a bigger iPad that might be making its debut next year. Currently, the largest iPad that you can buy is the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but a new iPad that's speculated to feature a 16-inch display might just dethrone this. 

According to a report from Wayne Ma from The Information, this gargantuan iPad could shake up the tablet scene in the first quarter of 2023, so this super-sized iPad could be imminent. This 16-inch Apple tab has already piqued our interest, as although we love the 2021 iPad Pro and 5th Generation iPad Air, a bigger-screen iPad could be the ideal portable AV device for movie fans on the go. There are no suggestions as to what we can expect from the specs quite yet – however, we can speculate that this titan of a tablet will use Apple’s M2 processor found in its current crop of Pro level iPads. 

There have been plenty of rumours surrounding larger iPads in the last year, including predictions of a 14-inch iPad variant from industry analyst Ross Young, as well as reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggesting that Apple wishes to “blur the lines” between its iPad and MacBook divisions. There’s no word on naming yet, with the Pro moniker having just been refreshed with the latest duo – could this be the iPad Pro Max or iPad Plus?

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A new iPad is here! After much speculation as to when – and even if – Apple was going to launch a new iPad this year, press releases have confirmed that the 10th generation iPad (2022) is coming later in October.

The iPad is Apple's entry-level tablet that sits below more premium options like the iPad Air and the iPad Pro. We're now on Apple's 10th generation of iPad, following the 9th-generation model that we gave five stars to in our official iPad (2021) review.

We haven't gotten our hands on an iPad (2022) just yet, so you'll have to stay tuned for our full review of this latest model, but Apple has not been shy about revealing tons of information about what's coming with the all-new iPad (2022)...

• Apple has revealed the iPad 10th generation
• There is also a new iPad Pro (2022): release date, price, features and specs

iPad (2022) release date 

The iPad (2022) is available to pre-order now and can be in owners' hands from 26th October. It comes just over a year after the previous, 2021 iPad, which launched on 24th September.

This kind of announcement and release cadence is pretty standard for iPad and Apple products at large, so there are no big surprises here really.

iPad (2022) price 

The iPad (2022) starts at £499 / $449 / AU$749, which is considerably higher in all territories than the launch price of the iPad (2021) – £319 / $329 / AU$499. For an entry-level tablet, this year's iPad is getting a bit less entry-level as it ups the price across the globe.

As with the iPad Pro's price, the UK and Australia are seeing a large price increase, while those in the US are seeing a less substantial but still meaningful increase.

While prices are rising, it is important to note that the iPad (2022) does have a bunch of new features and upgrades over the iPad (2021), and global inflation and the ongoing chip shortage are surely contributing to higher prices too.

iPad (2022) design

Rumours about a major design refresh on the iPad have come true: the iPad (2022) will be sporting a new look.

The biggest changes to the design of the iPad include a screen size bump from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches alongside some slimmer bezels and a variety of new, vibrant colour finishes, including bright blue, pink and yellow.

There's no Home button to be found on the iPad (2022), but you will get Touch ID functionality from its top button. The new iPad's front-facing camera has been moved from the top to the side for a better angle for video, too. Last but by no means least, you are also getting a USB-C charging port.

This isn't a radical redesign exactly, but it's hard to complain about a fresh new look, a larger screen, better camera placement and a more universally friendly USB-C port.

The iPad (2021) could look a bit dated in terms of Apple hardware, with its Home button and thick bezels, while the iPad (2022) feels more in line with what we've come to expect from other Apple devices like iPad Pro.

iPad (2022) display

The big news here is that the new iPad's screen is slightly larger than its predecessor's, going from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches thanks to slimmer bezels and the lack of a Home button. Accordingly, there is a slight increase in resolution too, to maintain the iPad's familiar 264ppi density.

Other than the size bump, not much has changed with the display on the new iPad. You're still getting a True Tone LED-backlit IPS display with 500 nits of max brightness, but that's no bad thing. In our review of the iPad (2021), we praised the tablet's superb picture quality.

Apple is known for making excellent displays, so while the lack of major display changes might raise an eyebrow or two, the display of the iPad (2021) is bound to look great. And really, an upgrade to a mini-LED display like that on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is likely out of the question for an entry-level tablet.

iPad (2022) specs

In terms of hardware, the iPad (2022) introduces a number of key upgrades. 

Firstly, you're getting Apple's A14 Bionic chip. The A14 is, on paper, expected to be around 30 per cent faster than the chip inside iPad (2021), though isn't as fast as Apple's M1 or M2 chips found in more expensive iPads and Apple laptops. It's not as beefy as the A15 Bionic chip powering the latest iPhones either.

Then, you're getting 5G support, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6 and Apple's AirPlay 2 – nice but largely standard features in the Apple ecosystem in 2022. All told, this means a faster device with better connections and more robust wireless connectivity. Of course, we'll have to get our hands on an iPad (2022) to see how it actually performs.

iPad (2022): early thoughts

This might not sound like a massive update to iPad – and it isn't. But considering Apple's tendency to shuffle around some internal components and sell that as the next generation, there seems to be a lot to appreciate here.

A bigger screen, trim look, more capable hardware, and USB-C port headline the changes brought by the iPad (2022), and considering how much we loved the iPad (2021), these tweaks feel like welcome additions.

If you're in the market for an everyday, reliable tablet, there's little reason not to consider the 'standard' iPad. iPad (2021) owners probably needn't rush out to upgrade, mind you. And if you aren't an iPad fan, this one probably isn't bringing any revolutionary features to the table that will change your mind.

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There was speculation that Apple would host another event this year after its annual September iPhone event to unveil new iPads, but Apple has just gone ahead and published a number of press releases announcing the next generation of iPads instead, including the iPad Pro (2022).

For the uninitiated, the iPad Pro is Apple's flagship tablet, aimed at users interested in having a powerful, capable tablet that can be used for more professional applications – for video editing, image editing and illustrations, for example. Accordingly, iPad Pros come with premium features and premium price tags compared to other iPads.

We loved the iPad Pro 12.9 (2021), giving it five stars in our review, so we are eagerly anticipating getting our hands on the latest model soon. You'll have to hold tight for our full review and in-depth comparison between the iPad Pro (2021) and iPad Pro (2022), but as it stands, there is already plenty we can gauge about the new model from the information Apple has shared.

Read on to learn more about Apple's latest Pro tablet...

• Apple announces new iPad Pro (2022)

iPad Pro (2022) release date 

Apple's iPad Pro (2022) is available to pre-order now and will launch on the 26th October.

This comes more than a year after the launch of the iPad Pro (2021) on May 21st 2021, but it's more or less in line with Apple's release cadence, and pre-orders going live about a week before a full launch is par for the course for Apple.

• Read our iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) review

iPad Pro (2022) price 

iPad Pro (2022) starts at £899 / $799 / AU$1399 for the 11-inch model, while the 12.9-inch variant starts at £1249 / $999 / AU$1899.

Compare that with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021) that started at £969 / $999 / AU$1649 and you'll see that the UK and Australia are seeing a pretty significant increase in price, while folks in the US aren't paying any more for the new Pro.

In general, US pricing tends to be a bit more aggressive than it is in other regions for iPad Pro, but seeing no price increase in the US at all while other regions are seeing hundreds added on is a bit surprising.

It's important to know that you do get a mini-LED display on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro that you don't get on the 11-inch model, which helps to explain the gap in price between the two Pro models.

• The best iPads you can buy: big and small, budget to premium

iPad Pro (2022) design 

We weren't expecting much in the way of design changes to a new iPad Pro, so it comes as no surprise that the iPad Pro (2022) has no major changes to its design over the iPad Pro (2021). There may well be minor changes that become evident as we put the two models side by side, but you can generally expect the new Pro to look and feel the same as last year's.

Rumoured changes to the iPad Pro (2022)'s design included a glass back, wireless charging support, and the inclusion of a new four-pin connector, but none of these updates appears to be coming with the new Pro – based on what Apple has revealed so far, anyway.

• Best iPad deals: cheapest iPad Air, iPad Pro and iPad Mini prices

iPad Pro (2022) screen 

The iPad Pro (2022) is slated to come with much the same display as the iPad Pro (2021). The 11-inch Pro has a Liquid Retina LED-backlit IPS display, while the 12.9-inch Pro has a Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED backlit IPS display.

However, using a similar display isn't necessarily a bad thing. We said that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2021) had “stunning picture quality” and noted that the viewing experience was punchy, crisp, and dynamic. Apple has made a name for itself by offering up gorgeous displays on its devices for years, so while we can't say yet for sure, we wouldn't expect the display in iPad Pro (2022) to be any different.

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iPad Pro (2022) features 

New features on iPad Pro (2022) are relatively limited, but there are some meaningful upgrades on offer here.

Perhaps the biggest change comes down to the inclusion of the M2 chip. Apple claims the M2's CPU is 15 per cent faster than the M1 in last year's Pros, while also noting that the M2's CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine together can process 15.8 trillion operations per second – a 40 per cent increase over the M1's capability.

The M2 chip, according to Apple, also enables ProRes video capture on iPad Pro (2022). Now, Pro users will be able to shoot, transcode and edit ProRes footage all directly on the iPad. Increased efficiency courtesy of a new chip can improve battery life, but Apple is claiming up to 10 hours on a single charge with the new Pro, which is exactly what we found with the iPad Pro (2021) in our testing.

For fans of the Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro (2022) is coming with a new 'hover' feature where the tool can be detected up to 12mm above the display. You'll now be able to see previews of your marks before you actually make them, too, and Apple also promises greater precision in general.

Apple is also introducing Wi-Fi 6E support on iPad Pro with iPad Pro (2022). The new Pro is supposedly capable of download speeds of up to 2.4Gb/s, making it twice as fast as iPad Pro (2021). Of course, we'll have to test this to verify these claims, but in the world of internet speeds, your mileage will vary depending on where you live and what your connection is like.

Lastly, iPad Pro (2022) is launching with iPadOS 16, the latest dedicated iPad operating system that introduces a number of changes and improvements. Some highlights of iPadOS 16 on the new Pro include Stage Manager, a new way to multitask; desktop-class apps; and 'Reference Mode', which enables the 12.9-inch Pro to match colour requirements of workflows in a professional colour grading environment.

iPad Pro (2022) camera 

The camera setup of the iPad Pro (2022) isn’t radically different than that of previous Pros. The iPad Pro (2021) sports a 12MP wide camera and a 10MP ultrawide camera rear configuration, and the iPad Pro (2022) has that same setup too.

While 'the same' might not sound especially exciting, in our review of the iPad Pro (2021) we said that the iPad Pro "takes perfectly good photos and videos" and that the rear camera array was "of a high enough quality to enable lots of interesting and useful app-based features, such as document scanning and augmented reality experiences." 

• iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13: is it worth upgrading to Apple's new iPhone?

iPad Pro (2022) initial thoughts 

To reiterate, we haven't gotten our hands on iPad Pro (2022) just yet, so we can't tell you exactly how it stacks up against other tablets or previous Pros in real life. That said, the speculation was that the iPad Pro (2022) was going to be a modest upgrade over its predecessor, and that seems very much to be the case.

Without rumored features like a glass back and wireless charging, the new iPad Pro looks, on paper anyway, very similar to the iPad Pro (2021), with upgraded internal components and a couple of new features courtesy of iPadOS 16.

If you're in the market for an iPad Pro and live in a region where the price hasn't increased substantially, the new iPad Pro seems like the Pro to buy.

We'll be keeping this page updated as we get our hands on the new iPad Pro, so stay tuned.

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Much speculation has surrounded whether Apple would run another full-scale event this year to announce new iPads, and finally, this question has been answered: Apple has dropped a new press release announcing an all-new iPad Pro (2022), following up the iPad Pro (2021). 

You can pre-order the new iPad Pro (2022) today, with the tablet shipping from the 26th October. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at £899 / $799 / AU$1399, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at £1249 / $999 / AU$1899. This is a fairly large price increase in the U.K. and Australia over the iPad Pro (2021) pricing, while folks in the U.S. aren't seeing any increase.

Once again coming in 11-inch and 12.9-inch flavors, the headline of the new iPad Pro is that it's packed with Apple's in-house M2 chip, which Apple promises is 15% faster than the M1 in terms of CPU power, alongside ProRes video capture, Wi-Fi 6E, and a suite of Apple Pencil-related upgrades, too.

The M2 chip has an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU that works in tandem with Apple's 16-core Neural Engine to process 15.8 trillion operations per second, which Apple notes is a 40% increase over the M1, while Apple also promises 50% more memory bandwidth on the M2 chip over the M1. 

ProRes video capture is another new feature on iPad Pro (2022) enabled by the M2 chip. Though the new Pro is sticking with the old iPad Pro's camera setup with a 12MP wide camera and a 10MP ultrawide camera, now you'll be able to capture and edit video on the go using Apple's ProRes video codec. The iPad Pro contains four studio-quality mics and four-speaker audio with Dolby Atmos support.

Outside of cameras and the M2, the new Pro is also coming with a big upgrade for Apple Pencil users. Now, Apple Pencil is able to be detected up to 12mm above the display and will allow users to see a preview of a mark before they actually make it on top of providing greater precision during sketching and illustration in general, according to Apple.

Then, Apple is also now supporting Wi-Fi 6E on the new iPad Pro. Apple is promising download speeds of up to 2.4Gb/s a second and twice the speed of the previous generation of iPad Pro. Plus, Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad Pro (2022)s will also support more 5G networks across the globe, too.

Lastly, the new iPad Pro (2022) will ship with iPadOS 16 that promises a new suite of features, including a new multi-tasking system in Stage Manager; desktop-class apps; and 'Reference Mode' you can use to match color requirements for more professional work, among other changes.

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Everything you need to know about the new iPad Pro 2022

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Apple's 10th generation iPad (2022) is finally official. Cupertino made the announcement earlier today, highlighting the new tablet's "all-new" design and "vibrant" (eye-searingly bright) colours.

The big news, however, is that its Liquid Retina display is up from 10.2- to 10.9-inches. That's the same size display as the current Apple iPad Air (5th Generation). 

The iPad (10th Generation) also gains a Touch ID button on the side, the same A14 Bionic chip as the iPad Air, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, 5G on cellular models and a USB-C port.

The cameras have had a tickle, too. There's an ultra-wide 12MP front camera located on the "landscape edge" of the iPad for improved video calling, plus a 12MP back camera capable of capturing 4K video.

Apple announced the new iPad alongside an all-new, two-piece Magic Keyboard Folio, a new Apple TV 4K with A15 Bionic chip, and a next-gen iPad Pro (2022) said to be "supercharged" with the same M2 chip found in the Macbook Air.   

The new iPad is available to order from today, with availability in stores beginning Wednesday, 26th October.

We like the current 9th gen iPad (2021) a lot, awarding it five stars for its "excellent picture quality" and "refined sound", so it'll be interesting to see how the new model matches up to rivals.

Apple sounds very confident in its claim that the A14 Bionic chip means the new iPad is "up to 5x faster than the best-selling Android tablet", but we hope to bring you a full review in the near future...

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Apple could launch a new iPad Pro – complete with M2 chipset – as soon as today, reckons one analyst (via macrumours).

Yesterday, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman tweeted that, "the [iPad Pro] launch should be tomorrow". As per his previous tweet, "the launch" seems to refer to the long-rumoured 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets.

But why Apple hasn't sent out any invites? Well, that's likely because the announcement will consist of a press release rather than a virtual event hosted by Tim Cook at Apple Park.

Talk of a new iPad Pro has been swirling around for months now. If the rumours are true, Apple's next flagship slate is expected to feature the same, ultra-powerful M2 chip found in the 2022 MacBook Air and 13-inch Macbook Pro.

Other additions could include MagSafe wireless charging support, minor improvements to the camera and battery life, and a new four-pin connector designed to accommodate a new range of accessories. No major design changes are expected.

We loved the iPad Pro 12.9 (2021), giving it five-stars in our review, so we're eagerly anticipating a refreshed version of this stellar tablet. We could even see Apple reveal the new Pro alongside the rumoured 10th Generation iPad (2022). 

So, what time will the Apple press releases drop? Nobody knows for sure but based on previous Apple announcements, keep your eyes peeled around 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST / 4am AEDT.

Any new iPad Pro is likely to face stiff competition from Google's upcoming Pixel Tablet (2023), which is expected to be powered by the same Google Tensor G2 chip found in company's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones.

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Get the lowdown on the latest iPad: iPad Air 2022: release date, price and more

The iPad Air (5th Generation) – aka the iPad Air 5 and iPad Air 2022 – is a big deal. That’s almost entirely because, in a move predicted by next to no one, Apple has decided to cram into its supremely slim and lightweight chassis the awesomely powerful M1 processor.

The intention is clearly to make the Air a sort of iPad Pro Lite that will satisfy the creative types for whom the full-fat Pro models are expensive overkill.

But what’s in it for those of us whose interests lie primarily in the consumption of the creative endeavours of others? According to the spec sheet, the screen and speakers are the same as those that adorned the iPad Air 4. So are there undocumented changes in these departments or is this simply the same AV experience as before, and would that be such a bad thing?

Price

The new iPad Air 5 (2022) price starts at £569 / $599 / AU$929. Somewhat surprisingly, that means the new model is £10 cheaper in the UK than the iPad Air 4 was at launch, while in Australia it's slightly more expensive. The price in the States has stayed the same.

That price will get you a 64GB wi-fi-only model. The 256GB wi-fi-only model will set you back £719 / $749 / AU$1159.

Adding cellular to whichever storage option you choose will add a cool £150 / $150 / AU$230 to the price.

Design

The iPad Air 5 is available in five colours, just as the iPad Air 4 was, but, Space Grey aside, they're all slightly different to the colours they replace: 'Silver' is now 'Starlight', which appears to be a slightly less stark and cold hue; 'Rose Gold' is now a slightly subtler 'Pink'; 'Sky Blue' is now a richer, more vibrant 'Blue'; and 'Green' has now been replaced by 'Purple'. We thought the green finish of last year's model was rather lovely but perhaps buyers didn't agree. Green can't be that unpopular though, as Apple has just launched it as a new option for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro phones.

Colours aside, the design of the iPad Air 5 is essentially identical to that of the iPad Air 4, with the only difference on the spec sheet being a 3g (0.02lb) increase in weight. Dimensions remain 248 x 179 x 6.1mm (9.7 x 7 x 0.2 inches), and that makes this a very svelte proposition. As before, there's no home button and only slim bezels, with the screen very much taking centre stage.

As before, there are speakers on the top and bottom edge when the tablet is held in portrait mode, which means they work in a traditional left and right stereo configuration when it’s in the movie-friendly landscape orientation. The single-lens camera is the same as before, too, at least in terms of hardware, and it sticks out from the same top-left corner of the tablet’s rear, just as it did on last year’s iPad Air 4.

The front-facing camera has had an upgrade though, from 7MP to 12MP, but it’s still fairly well hidden in the black bezel along one of the iPad’s shorter edges. That camera placement is actually a missed opportunity, as it means that the camera is quite a long way off to the side when you’re using the tablet for video calls in the preferable landscape mode. This uncharacteristically poor design decision by Apple means it can appear to the person on the other end of the call as if you’re trying to avoid eye contact.

Features

The big news on the features front is that the new iPad Air is powered by Apple’s super-fast M1 processor, which features in the company’s desktop Macs and MacBooks, as well as the iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch versions). In short, this is now the most affordable M1-powered product you can buy and, according to Apple, that makes it 60 per cent faster than the iPad Air in terms of CPU performance, and twice as powerful from a graphics perspective. 

So why has Apple decided to pack a Pro-level processor into arguably its most lifestyle-oriented iPad? Seemingly to increase its credentials as a productivity and creativity device so that it can bridge the gap between the fairly media consumption-oriented iPad and iPad Mini and the heavyweight Pro models. One suspects that Apple noted a lot of iPad Air 4 users who were making use of its Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil 2nd Generation compatibility and decided to give them the performance to match their ambitions.

The M1 isn’t only powerful, though – it’s also efficient, so battery life remains around 9-10 hours of constant use despite the performance upgrades.

Of course, our prime concerns are the picture and sound quality and the specs suggest that nothing has changed here. Apple’s own data sheet indicates that the new iPad Air has the same two-speaker sound system as its predecessor, as well as the same display, with no changes to size (10.9 inches), resolution (2360 x 1640), pixel density (264ppi) or peak brightness (a quoted 500 nits).

It's always a shame when specs stay static across device generations, but the iPad Air 4 was a superb video playback device so it’s little surprise that Apple hasn’t sought to make big changes here.

Picture

Playing It in 4K Dolby Vision from the Apple TV app, there’s an extraordinary degree of similarity between the performances of the new iPad Air and its predecessor. And we do mean extraordinary: it’s extremely rare to see this level of consistency between two samples of the same device, let alone from one generation to the next.

While it might seem disappointing that there’s been no obvious upgrade here, there’s simply nothing to complain about in the picture quality. The image is supremely authentic and natural, with an unquestionable colour balance, oodles of detail and crisp definition. Motion is handled adeptly without any hint of active processing and blacks, while not OLED-inky, are plenty deep enough and packed with detail. There’s a satisfying HDR punch to the sundrenched exterior scenes, despite the 500 nits limit to the brightness, and plenty of dramatic contrast in the scenes that take place in the terrifying tunnels beneath the cursed town.

Interestingly, it’s when we switch to 1991’s Cape Fear, delivered in HD and standard dynamic range, that the new iPad Air produces a better picture than the outgoing model. There are broad, familial traits, from the cinematically warm but natural colour balance to the clean, controlled handling of the comparatively low resolution source material, but the new model is noticeably brighter, not only in obvious highlights such as the lights of a diner and the sparkle from a piece of jewellery, but across the whole image, which is brighter and punchier without looking exaggerated. This is an image that simply pops from the screen that little bit more, drawing you even more effectively into the action.

These characteristics carry over when you switch to Blockers in standard HDR10, suggesting that the consistency offered across the two devices when playing Dolby Vision is down to the outgoing model’s existing adherence to the format. With SDR and standard HDR, though, Apple has found room for improvement, increasing impact.

In summary, this is the best tablet picture performance made just a little bit better when viewing non-Dolby Vision content.

Sound

The changes in the audio department are even more slight, to the extent that you’d be very hard pressed to hear any difference at all. Again, though, that’s something about which it’s hard to complain, because the iPad Air was already an excellent-sounding tablet.

While it takes a bit of effort to teach yourself to hold the iPad in landscape without blocking the speakers, it’s effort worth making, as the side placement enables the Air to produce an impressively open and spacious sound that’s surprisingly involving with music and a really atmospheric boon to movies. We’re obviously not talking about sound that wraps around you, but the degree to which effects stretch beyond all four sides of the tablet is very impressive and very enjoyable.

There’s plenty of punch and detail, too, and enough dynamic range to deliver a surprising amount of drama. Bass doesn’t extend incredibly deep, as you’d expect, but neither is the delivery lightweight, and the bass that is there is tuneful and controlled. It is worth mentioning here that the tablet does vibrate a fair bit when pushed to high volumes, though.

Of course, hearing the iPad Air at its best involves connecting a pair of headphones. To go wired and you’ll need to invest in a USB-C headphones adapter – the official Apple one will set you back £9 / $9 / AU$15. Plug that into a pair of Grado SR325x cans and the sound is fabulously clean, punchy and energetic. We’ve long applauded Apple’s dedication to neutral, balanced sound, and the new iPad Air doesn’t deviate from that approach. This is all about hearing your music (and movies) as intended, without overt exaggeration or colouration, and that’s just how it should be.

Verdict

While the iPad Air 5th Generation is undeniably an improvement over the iPad Air 4, its key upgrades are to its processor and front-facing camera. Those upgrades are each great in their own right, but for us what really matters are the picture and sound performance, and in these areas it’s pretty much business as usual.

There’s nothing wrong with that, though, as the iPad Air is supremely talented in these areas and more or less untouchable by other tablets in its price range. There’s an argument that the standard iPad is the better performance-per-pound proposition for the pure content consumer, but the new Air is the model to go for if you can afford it.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 5

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These are the best tablets 2022: cheap to premium tablets for movies and music

The Amazon Fire 7 tablet is cheap. Really cheap. And with the ever-inflating cost of living weighing heavy on our minds and wallets, you may not be so inclined to drop iPad money on a tablet at this moment.

Enter the Fire 7, a tablet that isn't concerned with expensive gimmicks or promising to be a productivity machine. It has a screen, speaker and even a couple of cameras – and that's all you really need. That being said, there's a distinction to be made between cheap and good value, and thankfully the Fire 7 ticks both boxes thanks to being an admirable performer at this price. In fact, it took home a What Hi-Fi? Award in 2022 as the best budget tablet (its pricier sibling, the Fire HD 8, currently sits on that particular throne).

Of course, the Fire 7 won't rival the iPad Pros and Galaxy Tabs of the world, but frankly, it doesn't have to, and we respect that. At the end of the day, we're concerned as to whether this plucky underdog of the tablet world can create an enjoyable AV experience on the go, and it's good news on that front.

Price

For your £65 / $60 (it is not currently available in Australia), you get a 7-inch screen, 16GB of storage, a quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM, and a charging cable. There’s even a wall adapter in the box – a rare luxury these days. You can also get a version with 32GB for an extra £10 / $20, but both versions are user-expandable with a microSD card so the lower-capacity model may well suffice.

Amazon has to keep the price down somehow, so as standard the Fire 7 tablet comes included with lock-screen ads. However, for a fairly small extra outlay you can purchase a variant without ads. Therefore the most expensive configuration you can purchase, with 32GB of storage and no lock screen ads, is £80 / $95. 

Just to contextualise, and using the cheapest model of each respective device, you can get one iPad 10th Generation for around £325 / $329 / AU$599, or five Amazon Fire 7 tablets for the same price. While it may not be a like-for-like comparison, it does help to put into perspective how cheap this tablet really is. 

Design

The Fire tablet features a simple, inoffensive design that just gets the job done. The front features a 7-inch display with a webcam, and on the flip side is a soft-touch plastic back emblazoned with an Amazon logo, with a rear facing camera tucked in the corner.

Around the sides there is a lock button, volume controls, 3.5mm headphone port (something that even the most expensive Apple tablet, the iPad Pro, doesn’t have), USB-C charging, a mono speaker and a microSD card slot for expanding the storage. It’s available in three finishes: black, rose (pink) or denim (blue).

Features

It’s clear that the Fire 7 won’t rival productivity beasts such as the iPad Pro or iPad Air, but it does feature some things that even these high-end tablets don’t. As mentioned, the Fire 7 has the lesser-spotted 3.5mm headphone socket for wired audio and a micro SD card slot for expanding the storage by up to 1TB. 

Amazon’s software is a heavily modified version of Android that somewhat resembles the user interface of the Fire TV streaming devices. There are no Google Play services here though, and no Play Store. Instead, you get the Amazon Appstore, which covers basics such as Netflix, Spotify and Disney Plus. However, Google and Apple apps are nowhere to be found. This means that Apple TV, Apple Music and even YouTube are all missing – there is a slightly messy workaround for YouTube, with a downloadable link to the webpage that sits in your app library, but that’s not ideal.

Amazon’s mostly useful virtual assistant, Alexa, is baked into the software. You can ask it to open apps, check the weather and play TV shows and movies. It's the Alexa we all know and tolerate; and overall it's fairly cohesive with the software experience.

The operating system, however, can be sluggish, obviously handicapped by the modestly-powered internals of the system. At the same time, it's manageable if you’re patient and willing to learn the slightly quirky layout and can deal with occasionally sluggish animations and loading times.

There are also 2MP cameras on both the front and rear of the device. There’s absolutely no need to take photos with the Fire 7, so the rear camera should be more or less superfluous, but the one on the front is of course useful for video calls.

Picture

Right off the bat, we have to acknowledge that the Fire 7 features a standard-definition display. Its resolution is 1024 x 600, with a pixel density of 171ppi, but numbers on a spec sheet don’t always paint the whole picture.

Firing up the latest Bond adventure, No Time To Die, the visuals aren’t perfect, but for a tablet as cheap as the Fire 7 there’s surprisingly little to complain about. It’s clearly not as bright as the more expensive Fire HD 8, but what it lacks in outright punch it makes up for in highlight shading and subtlety, with the bright white snow and iced-over lake retaining surprising amounts of detail and avoiding a mass of overblown and featureless white.

At the opposite end of the contrast spectrum, the Fire 7 lacks the black depth and shadow detail of its sibling, though it’s far from terrible in these regards, and for colour reproduction it’s actually better, delivering the candles of Bond’s hotel room with a much more authentic orange hue than the Fire HD 8 can muster. Skin tones occasionally look just a touch more flushed than they probably should, but the generally good Fire HD 8 actually looks slightly jaundiced by comparison.

The warm, vivid and punchy display of the Fire 7 lends itself particularly well to animated content. Pixar’s Turning Red on Disney Plus embraces this, with its whimsical and bright aesthetic glowing on the Fire’s display. The fact that the Fire 7’s speciality is animation is also more important than you may think, with this tablet being particularly targeted at children.

The display does lack somewhat when it comes to detail, obviously hampered by its standard definition display, with some grainy and blocky textures that aren’t easy to ignore. This can lead to a bit of flatness in some images, such as the establishing shot of Bond entering the stunning Italian city of Matera, but while this can break immersion a tad, the Fire 7 tablet still has a much better display than the price would suggest.

Sound

The Fire 7 is something of a mixed bag when it comes to audio, depending on if you’re using the speaker or wired headphones.

Using the mono loudspeaker is to be avoided if possible, with Billie Eilish’s Bury A Friend sounding hollow and thin, lacking substance in bass and sounding compressed. Vocals do at least push through here, with Eilish’s lyrics coming across mostly clear. This extends into film- and TV-watching on the Fire tablet, with dialogue piercing through the overall hollow and featureless-sounding loudspeaker. This makes it a passable choice if you’re in a tight spot and need some entertainment, but we hope for your sake it's a short episode and not a feature length film. 

On the contrary, wired headphone performance on the Fire 7 is actually surprisingly enjoyable, as long as you’re keeping your expectations in check. Using Bury A Friend once again, this time the Fire produces solid bass and times well enough that we find ourselves tapping along. The mid sections also fill out, losing the hollow and thin sound for a richer and more spacious arrangement. It still lacks detail and texture compared with more premium tablets, with some instruments sounding flat but, overall, headphone performance on the Fire 7 is very solid. 

Verdict

The Amazon Fire 7 is the plucky underdog in the tablet world: it doesn’t have a gimmick, it doesn’t have class-leading specs and it won’t have you throwing out your iPad any time soon. But it doesn’t need any of those things because it occupies such a unique space, and that's being a functional and entertaining tablet for roughly the price of half a tank of petrol.

SCORES

• Features 5
• Picture 5
• Sound 4

MORE:

See all the current What Hi-Fi? Awards winners

Read our review of the next-model-up Amazon Fire HD8

Also consider the flagship Amazon Fire HD10

These are the best tablets for movies and music

• Want more choice? Check out our long list of the best tablets