5 Best Android Tablets of 2026: OnePlus, Lenovo, Pixel Reviewed

I never understood the hype around iPads. Since the earliest Android tablets hit the market, I have been a loyal user, and I have never once felt the pull toward anything from that fruit-themed company. These devices serve beautifully as entertainment hubs for casual use, or they can transform into lightweight laptop replacements for travel.

No matter what you need from a tablet, I have tested nearly every Android model available. Based on my hands-on experience, here are the best options depending on your priorities. If you want to see how these compare to Apple’s offerings, take a look at our full guide covering all tablets on the market. Also, be sure to explore our other buying guides, including the Best Amazon Fire Tablets, Best iPad, and Best iPad Accessories.

The Best Android Tablet Overall

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Chevron Chevron Save to wishlist Save to wishlist OnePlus Pad 3 $700 Amazon $700 OnePlus

The OnePlus Pad 3 stands out as the best overall Android tablet I have tested. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, it delivers excellent performance for gaming, photo editing, and streaming 4K video. Its 13.2-inch LCD screen boasts a sharp 3.4K resolution, a 144-Hz refresh rate ideal for gaming, and 12-bit color support. While an OLED panel would be a nice upgrade, no tablet at this price point offers one, not even the iPad Air. The Pad 3’s LCD is among the best I have seen, remaining readable even in bright sunlight.

One advantage of the LCD over OLED is exceptional battery life. I have watched multiple movies during long flights and barely dipped below 50 percent charge. Thanks to 80-watt fast charging, you can reach 50 percent in under 30 minutes, with a full charge taking about 1.5 hours. Standby performance is also impressive. OnePlus claims up to 70 days with WiFi off, but in real-world use, I can leave it untouched for a week and still have 70 percent battery remaining.

What makes the Pad 3 the best choice for most people is its dual capability. It excels at content consumption (I watch most baseball games on it), but it is also a viable work device. OnePlus’ OxygenOS software offers the best multitasking UI for Android tablets. I actually prefer it to Apple’s iPadOS, thanks to Open Canvas. With this system, you can place three apps side by side, though it feels cramped. My preferred setup uses two apps side by side, with a third expanded at the bottom that I scroll down to access. For me, that means a text editor at the bottom in full-screen mode, with a web browser and secondary app above it. It is an effective workflow, but the OnePlus Pad keyboard is a notable drawback.

The keyboard, sold separately for $200 (currently unavailable in the US), has good key travel and a decent trackpad. However, it only works well on a perfectly flat surface. It is fine at a desk but nearly unusable on your lap. This limitation restricts the Pad 3’s productivity potential, and I hope OnePlus improves the design in future versions. That seems uncertain, as OnePlus is merging with Realme, and its future direction is unclear. The Pad 4 has already launched in India with minor chip and battery updates, but no global release has been announced.

The Luxury Android Tablet

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S11 and Tab S11 Ultra serve as the iPad Pro equivalents in the Android ecosystem. They feature flagship specs, and at just 0.20 inches thick (5.1 mm), the Ultra matches the iPad Pro’s sleek profile. They are slightly heavier, but the difference is negligible. Unlike the previous Tab S10 series, there is no middle “Plus” model. You choose between the 11-inch Tab S11 and the massive 14.6-inch Tab S11 Ultra.

Both run Android 16 out of the box, feature 120-Hz AMOLED displays, and hit a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. Samsung uses a MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ processor, which performs similarly to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite in the OnePlus Pad. Both models come with 12 GB of RAM (the 1-terabyte Ultra model gets 16 GB), and storage is expandable via microSD.