The best tablets: iPads are great, but have you tried literally anything else?

Amazon's biggest and most iPad-y tablet to date, the Fire Max 11 is "the bougie-on-a-budget tablet we’ve been waiting for," said Mashable contributor SaVanna Shoemaker. It's got a crisp 11-inch display, 8MP cameras that support 1080p video, and some pep in its step thanks to an upgraded octa-core processor — plus plenty of storage that you can expand by up to a whole terabyte. Its biggest downfall is its limited app selection (all Fire tablets suffer from this malady), but that wasn't enough to keep it from winning a Mashable Choice Award.

Read Mashable's review of the Amazon Fire Max 11.

The anti-Apple (and Amazon) community can rock with Samsung's new flagship tablet, the Galaxy Tab S9, a premium and polished Android device that includes a compatible stylus — what a concept. Its 11-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate is the other highlight of its spec sheet, and what makes it especially great for entertainment (along with some built-in speakers that support Dolby Atmos). While it's not nearly as fast as one of the newer iPad's chips, its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip can zip between projects.

The newly updated Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids has a faster processor, a better front-facing camera, and a longer battery life than its predecessor, but comes in at $10 cheaper. Mom and Dad will love that new price tag — and the fact that it still has intuitive parental controls baked right into its operating system, making screen time limits, age filters, limited access to specific apps, and schedules easy to find and customize. (There's also a two-year worry-free guarantee in case of accidental drops or spills.) Kids won't even notice those guardrails because there's that much content to explore; it includes a year's worth of educational (and ad-free) books, shows, movies, games, and apps via Amazon Kids+.

The standard Fire HD 10 Kids is geared towards little tykes ages three to seven, while the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is designed for ages six to 12.

If you're maintaining an in-person/at-home hybrid work model, a convertible laptop/tablet is an ideal accompaniment. The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is a sleek model with a detachable keyboard that was released in the fall of 2022, and it's easily the best option if you're keen to stick to a Windows operating system. It features a 12th-generation Intel processor, a 10MP rear camera that can record 4K video, a built-in kickstand, and a 13-inch PixelSense Flow Display with a 120Hz refresh rate. As the cherry on top, you can get up to 19 (!) hours of battery life out of it if you bump up to the 5G model; the WiFi-only version caps out at 15.5 hours, which is still fantastic.

Content creators can get plenty done on the go with the featherlight and ferocious Apple iPad Air, another winner of our coveted Mashable Choice Awards. Its M1 chip (also found on an older MacBook) provides enough oomph for editing 4K videos, and even some legit gaming. Overall, it's "elegant, powerful, and versatile enough for both casual users and professionals," writes senior editor Stan Schroeder.

Slightly bigger than the standard iPad, the iPad Air's 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display features True Tone, P3 wide color, and an anti-reflective coating, so all your work, art, and entertainment will come through with vivid visuals. It has the same 12MP wide rear camera and 12MP Ultra Wide front camera as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, plus Center Stage support for professional video calls. There's also a Touch ID sensor built into its home button for extra security.

Read Mashable's review of the 5th-generation Apple iPad Air.

The new Google Pixel Tablet is a just-OK tablet on its own. Its real asset is the charging speaker dock that comes with it, which turns it into a smart display or a desktop TV when it's plugged in: "It just…works, especially if you’re like me and don’t want two or three big-ass monitors on your desk," said Mashable tech and games reporter Alex Perry. It's a weird little device, but a useful one nonetheless. You'll find a smooth Google Tensor G2 chip with 8GB of RAM under its hood and 8MP cameras on the front and back of it.

Read Mashable's review of the Google Pixel Tablet.