Android tablets are the perfect choice for playing any of thebest games on the Play Store, and in 2024, there are more choices than ever. While most Android tablets have the hardware to handle light gaming, identifying the features suitable for the job is difficult.
The number of purpose-built gaming tablets can be counted on one hand; out of these, only the Razer Edge appears on this list. However, plenty of flagship models are gaming tablets in all but name, despite missing out on dedicated features found on thebest gaming phones.
We’ve picked out the best gaming tablets by identifying the ones that offer great refresh rates, battery life, resolution, and processing power. Best of all, the hardware found in these tablets means they’re also suitable for multitasking. Even if you’re gaming on a budget, you’ll find suitable options on this list for playing plenty of Android games.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
Xiaomi Redmi Pad Pro
OnePlus Pad
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+
Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (2024)
Razer Edge
Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2
Top tablets for gaming
All-around excellence, at a price
If your goal is serious gaming on an Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S9 covers all the bases. Processing power, a killer display, and a long-lasting battery help this model live up to its price for gamers.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 is an impressive all-around premium tablet. It’s expensive but powerful enough to deliver the goods for any tablet-based Android gaming application. The 11-inch, 2560x1600 AMOLED display at 120Hz is well-suited to gaming, and there are excellent colors to boot. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU performs very well for gaming, and the base 8GB of RAM can be upgraded to 12GB if you’re truly hungry for memory.
Battery life also makes this tablet a contender; the Tab S9’s 8,400mAh battery is excellent and supports 45W fast charging. It also has 128GB of built-in storage that can be upgraded to 256GB or expanded via microSD. With a mouse and a keyboard, Samsung’s DeX Mode turns this tablet into something laptop-like — and, like the even pricier Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, the S9 is a strong multitasker (although the Ultra’s much bigger screen gives it a clear advantage when displaying two apps side-by-side). Water and dust resistance are a nice touch, too.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 review: Premium, powerful, pricey
With an AMOLED display and great performance, the only question surrounding the Tab S9 is whether it’s worth $800
Other than the price, the Tab S9’s few gamer shortcomings include poor haptics and no 3.5mm headphone jack. While it may be tempting to upgrade to the more powerful Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, you’ll struggle to notice a noticeable difference in gaming performance. If you want to save some money, theTab S9 FEis cheaper, but its Exynos 1380 chipset can struggle with demanding games.
Spend big, get big
Android games will look phenomenal on this premium tablet’s humongous display, and there’s more than enough processing power to go around. But all that excellence comes at a luxury price, and this tablet might be too big for some to use comfortably.
The pinnacle of Samsung’s tablet line lives up to its price tag in many ways. Its massive high-resolution display and four built-in speakers pair well with gaming. A huge battery and 12 gigs of RAM don’t hurt either, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset can chew through any games on its plate.
The Tab S9 Ultra’s monumental, 14.6-inch, 1848x2960 AMOLED screen is a clear selling point for gamers. Ironically, however, certain Android games optimized for phones might look out of place on such an enormous screen. Other games might be hard to play on this expansive display, at least if you’re using the screen and not a controller. However,grab one of our favorite Android controllers, and you’ll have no trouble settling back in your chair while still being able to make out your game when resting on a table or your lap.
For multitaskers, the Tab S9 Ultra’s split-screen feature offers plenty of gaming possibilities while watching a video, reading a walkthrough, or chatting, especially with so much display. With a mouse and a keyboard, Samsung’s DeX Mode transforms this giant tablet into something approaching a large laptop. The 11,200mAh battery is appropriately hefty for this tablet’s size, although its 45W charging doesn’t live up to the much less expensive OnePlus Pad’s 67W charging.
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A killer media machine, but you’ll pay for the privilege
However, the haptic feedback leaves something to be desired, and there’s no 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, although the Tab S9 Ultra is water and dust-resistant like the Tab S9. For the price, we recommend making the most of the Tab S9 Ultra by pairing it withone of the most graphically demanding games for Android.
Affordable excellence
The Xiami Redmi Pad Pro is one of the best value gaming tablets thanks to its huge 10,000mAH battery, Dolby Vision-enabled display, and a rich quad-speaker setup. It’s a fantastic array of hardware, but this comes at the cost of awkward software.
From a gaming perspective, there’s a ton to like about the Xiaomi Redmi Pad Pro, including its Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, 12-inch QHD+ display that maxes out at 120hz, and beefy quad-speaker setup that competes with tablets twice the price. Speaking of price, this is some of the best value hardware we’ve seen on any tablet, although it struggles to handle the most demanding games.
The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset and 6GB RAM are enough to handle most Android games, and even demanding titles like Genshin Impact are playable on lower graphics settings. Regardless of what you’re playing, the 10,000mAH battery will last you all day; in our testing, we reached 10 hours of screen time by the time the battery level hit 20%.
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The versatile slate can do anything but high-res 3D gaming
The biggest drawback of the Redmi Pad Pro is the software. HyperOS comes packed with bloatware, overcomplicated inter-device connectivity features, and lackluster multitasking tools. However, none of these will hinder your gaming experience.
Compelling budget proposition for tablet gamers
For a reasonable price, the OnePlus Pad has many attractive features for any tablet gamer: a high-resolution 11.6-inch screen, a fast processor, and an ample battery with fast charging. The Pad has a few quirks, but it also offers value.
The OnePlus Pad has plenty to like from a gaming perspective, especially in light of the tablet’s competitive price. The 11.6-inch display LCD sports a 144Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 2,800x2,000 pixels. That 7:5 aspect ratio sets it apart from similar tablets on the market and could work well with certain games — or, it could be annoying for games optimized for 16:9.
Performance from the Dimensity 9000 CPU with 8GB of RAM is good for tablet gaming applications. Gamers will also appreciate the Pad’s capacious 9510mAh battery and 67W fast charging, which quickly fills that big battery backup. The four built-in speakers are powerful, but unfortunately, there’s no headphone jack.
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A welcome addition to the Android tablet market, despite a few questionable choices
OnePlus' Oxygen OS has some quirks, but it does include a split-screen mode that could come in handy for gaming while multitasking. The Pad lacks a fingerprint sensor, and some might object to the unusual camera bump on the back. The pictured keyboard case is not included by default either, this will set you back an extra $150.
An all-around great, cheap tablet, although slightly underpowered
The first low-cost Galaxy tablet in over two years, the Tab A9+ delivers the signature OneUI experience that users love, on top of surprisingly good build quality for something so cheap. Taken as a whole, it’s one of the best entry-level options in a long time, and powerful enough for casual gaming.
Samsung doesn’t release many low-cost tablets, and the US had to wait even longer than the rest of the world for the Tab A9+. After such a long time since the Tab A8 and A7 Lite, we’re grateful to see Samsung move on from the now slow-as-molasses Unisoc and MediaTek SoCs, instead opting for the Snapdragon 695. The chip’s neither new nor high-end, but performs admirably in day-to-day use.
It’s even just powerful enough to take effective advantage of Samsung’s renowned Android implementation, which is better tailored for tablets than arguably any other. You can even do a little multitasking on the A9+ (although we do recommend the 8GB RAM version for that), something unimaginable with its predecessors.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ review: ‘Good enough’ is still pretty good
A midrange tablet that neither stands out nor falls flat
Like many cheap Android tablets, it sports a headphone jack and microSD card slot. Unlike its most direct competitors, though, it actually looks and feels a lot like a premium device. And while it’s not explicitly clear how many OS upgrades it’ll get (which is a little odd, honestly), the Tab A8 got 3 new Android versions and at least 4 years of security patches, so you can expect the same for the A9+.
It won’t do if you plan on playing resource-intensive 3D games, but it’s today’s best entry-level tablet and does just fine with less demanding titles.
Not affordable, but its hardware cant be beat
If you’re willing to branch out into another ecosystem, the 2024 iPad Pro is the best gaming tablet you’re able to buy. While it’s even more expensive than the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, you get a stunning OLED display and a M4 Apple silicon chip capable of handling any iOS game.
The Apple App Store has a larger selection of games than Android, so switching to iOS isn’t a bad decision from a gaming perspective. The iPad Pro (2024) is Apple’s latest high-end tablet, and while it costs an eye-watering $1,300, its M4 chipset can handle any game on the App Store.
The Ultra Retina XDR display is essentially two OLED displays stacked together. It’s bright and punchy, surpassing any Android tablet on this list. It has 1,000 nit peak brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate, so you can play high-framerate games in all their glory.
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The iPad Pro 13-inch (2024) has inspired me to do so much more with the iPad
Of course, this all comes at a cost, and being an Apple product, there’s a little more on top of that. While the 13-inch screen is perfect for gaming, you may shave off $300 by opting for the smaller 11-inch model instead. The performance is identical, but the display isn’t quite as impressive.
Designed for gaming, but an awkward design holds it back
If the prospect of using a well-designed attachable controller on a high-performance device excites you — and the unorthodox aspect ratio and relatively small screen size don’t bother you — the Razer Edge is worth considering as a mobile gaming device. On the other hand, many high-end Android phones would perform similarly if paired with the Razer Kishi V2 controller.
The Razer Edge is engineered for gaming, with good performance and an excellent attachable controller included, but the reason this gaming tablet doesn’t top our list of the best gaming tablets is that it struggles to function as a regular Android tablet.
The bundled, high-qualityKishi V2 Procontroller with pass-through charging is the biggest point in the Edge’s favor and places it in a category of its own compared to competing tablets — although it’s expensive compared to someother Android gaming handhelds. No other tablet on this list offers snap-on controllers, so this offers a fantastic gaming experience straight out of the box.
Performance for native Android games is very good, thanks to the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1. In terms of storage, the Edge holds 128BGB out of the box, with microSD expansion capacity up to 2TB. Its 5,000 mAh battery is smaller than many of the other batteries on this list, but then again, so is the display. One standout feature worth mentioning is that the Kishi V2 Pro controller includes a headphone jack.
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For a purpose-built gaming device, it’s lacking
The Edge’s 6.8-inch OLED display runs at an attractive resolution for the size — 2400x1080 — with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz and well-defined colors and blacks. However, the 6.8-inch screen is tiny compared to other Android tablets; it’s not a good choice if you enjoy playingstrategy games like Civilization VI or Total War: Medieval II. Many games also don’t support the Edge’s 20:9 aspect ratio, making an already small screen smaller by adding black bars on either side of the game. Plus, the Edge’s curved screen corners can cut some content off at the 20:9 aspect ratio.
The display you want at an affordable price
The Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 has a first-class display at a fair price and reasonable gaming performance to boot. Expandable micro SD storage is another plus for gamers.
If an excellent display is your biggest ask for tablet gaming, Lenovo’s Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 has you covered. For just a wallet-friendly price, you’ll get an impressive 11.2-inch OLED display at 2560x1536 pixels running at 120Hz with excellent contrast and color. That’s hard to beat for the cost, although display visibility drops off in direct sunlight.
The Tab P11 Pro’s four built-in speakers produce solid sound output, although (like so many other tablets these days) a 3.5mm headphone jack is nowhere to be found. Other gaming-friendly features on this modestly priced tablet include a generous 8,200 mAh battery that fully charges in less than two and a half hours with the included 20W charger, as well as a microSD slot that allows expanding the 128 GB of built-in storage to 1TB.
Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2 review: A tablet worthy of your next bingewatch
Your eyes will thank you after your next 8-hour marathon
The Tab P11 Pro can handle demanding games, although you may have to turn down your graphics settings. However, the MediaTek Kompanio 1300T CPU may experience some slowdowns under heavy load. The base model’s 4GB of RAM is reasonable for the price point, but this tablet has some trouble with multitasking. An extra 2GB of RAM is available, but our review discovered a CPU bottleneck that prevented that upgrade from achieving its full potential.
Tablets that provide the best gaming experience
There are very few gaming-first tablets — The Razer Edge is the only current one, and its actual tablet experience isn’t anything to write home about. There’s also a much larger selection of phones with high-end processors.Andthere’s an ever-expanding selection of gaming handheldslike the Steam Deck and ROG Ally.
There’s no such thing as a perfect gaming handheld, and I’m okay with that
In a constant search for perfection, there is peace to be found in imperfection
So we don’t foresee a lot of people buying an Android tablet exclusively for playing games. And instead of rounding up exclusively slates that can push the most polygons, we put these recommendations together to help people track down a supremely useful tablet, first and foremost, that also offers the performance for the level of mobile gaming you engage with.
Which Android tablet’s best for gaming?
Unsurprisingly, Samsung’s Tab S9 and S9 Ultra top our list. They’re nearly perfect Android tablets, with barn-burning performance, fantastic displays, and an excellent software presentation. They’ll both get 4 years of Android updates in total, with at least an additional year of security patches. If you’re looking for a pure tablet, get the smaller Tab S9. In contrast, the S9 Ultra and its 14.6" screen can essentially replace a full-size laptop, given the right accessories.
You can spend considerably less and get almost comparable performance, though, if you opt for the OnePlus Pad. We’re big fans of OnePlus devices' typically great price-to-performance ratio, and its top-level tablet’s no exception. And while its OxygenOS Android skin hasn’t always been stellar, it’s notably better now than it was.
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This Android gaming console is well worth the price
Recently, we’ve bumped a few poor-performing or overpriced options in favor of one entry-level model and one that sits right between the midrange and high-end. Samsung’s long-awaited Galaxy Tab A9+ is the tablet to buy if you only have about $200 to spend, and its Snapdragon 695 SoC does well with games that don’t ask too much of it.
Apple’s iPad Pro (2024) is a different story, as few competitors come close to its performance. However, it’s too expensive to use just for gaming; if you plan on only using your tablet for gaming, the Razer Edge should be your gaming tablet of choice.
