Best Windows 10 Tablet 2021

Best Windows 10 Tablet Windows Central 2021

There are many Windows 10 tablets on the market, and it can be hard to sort through all the rubbish, especially if you rely on it to work from home. But we love Windows, and we love tablets. More importantly, we want you to be using the best you can buy. Here are our picks for the best Windows 10 tablets on the market right now, with the Surface Pro X being our top pick for best overall.

Best Overall Windows 10 Tablet: Surface Pro X

Source: Windows Central

The Surface Pro X is everything we’ve ever wanted out of a Windows 10 tablet. Rocking a custom-built Microsoft SQ1 or SQ2 ARM processor on the inside, this is a device that has LTE built-in and instantly wakes when you tap the power button, just like a tablet should. It has a huge 13-inch display with a screen resolution of 2880×1920 for crisp and clear image quality. It has super thin bezels along the sides and a slim 7.3mm chassis with a built-in kickstand.

Ports include two USB-C and one Surface Connect port for fast charging. It also has an upgradable SSD, so if you ever need to swap out your drive for a new one, you can do just that without having to break open the entire device to do so. Battery life is pretty good, with usage lasting around seven to eight hours on a single charge. Thanks to the ARM processor, it consumes little to no battery when you put it to sleep. So it should get you through a day just fine.

You can get the Surface Pro X configured with either 8GB or 16GB of RAM, and 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage out of the box. Like any other Surface Pro, it also has an optional pen and keyboard accessories, with support for wireless charging the pen inside the keyboard cover itself.

This is our pick for the best Windows 10 tablet as it’s the closest thing to a real tablet, something that we think can rival the iPad in form factor and functionality.

• Instant wake
• Good battery life
• LTE built-in
• Super thin and light

• Not the most powerful
• No headphone jack
• Compatible with new accessories only

Best Overall Windows 10 Tablet

Surface Pro X 13″

A device that does it all

If you like Surface Pro but are looking for a smaller PC, look at Microsoft’s new Surface Go. It’s cheaper too.

Best Windows 10 Tablet for Power: Surface Pro 7

Source: Windows Central

Featuring an incredible 2736×1842 3:2 display, 10th gen Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processors, up to 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD, you can’t go wrong with the Surface Pro 7 for photo editing and more. It’s a sturdier alternative to the Surface Go, with a larger 12-inch screen and beefier internal specifications.

This is the tablet for those that don’t just browse social media and check email. It can be obscenely powerful if you configure it to be as such. Even on the entry-level model, you should be able to get by with medium to heavy multitasking, a few light edits in Photoshop, and home video editing at 1080p.

It’s considerably more expensive than the Surface Go. Just like the Surface Go, it also doesn’t come with the Type Cover bundled at that price. Considering the display’s size, you’re going to want to buy the Type Cover to take advantage of everything the Surface Pro 6 has to offer.

Battery life on the Surface Pro 7 can depend on the tasks you’re doing. It should get you through a workday with no problem; however, thanks to the 10th gen Intel processors that are much more battery efficient in routine tasks. It also finally has a USB-C port, meaning you can charge either with Microsoft’s proprietary Surface Connect port or through USB-C. It also supports fast charging too!

Microsoft also has the Surface Pro 7+ for sale, though that product is for commercial customers only. The Surface Pro 7+ features Intel’s 11th-generation processors, paired with Intel’s new Iris Xe graphics for a huge boost in GPU performance. Get this if you need to do video editing or light rendering work while on the go.

The 8 Best Windows Tablets of 2021

From gaming to drawing, there’s a tablet for you

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here . We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

Windows 10 has proven to be a quick, versatile operating system, and you can see it in action on the best Windows tablets. While Apple iPads and Android tablets are well-established in the mobile-device space, Windows has excelled more at bridging the space between touchscreen tablets and traditional laptops. Just look at the success of the Microsoft Surface line of 2-in-1 laptop-tablet hybrids. They’re great for anyone looking for the productivity of a full keyboard-equipped laptop with an option for the portability and more casual, hands-on use of a tablet.

Going along with the flexibility of Windows tablets is their considerable variety. Sizes range from portable, streamlined devices to bigger machines with beefier hardware. Some are priced to be affordable while others have you paying for luxury. Much of it depends on what you’re primarily using the tablet for, whether it’s work, art, or play. Odds are it’s a combination, so we’ve created this guide to help you navigate the features to look for in picking out the right Windows tablet for your needs.

Best Overall: Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Excellent detachable keyboard design

Adds a USB-C port

Design mostly unchanged

Cost of hardware and accessories adds up

Microsoft has dramatically expanded its stable of Surface products since the original tablet’s launch in 2012, but the Surface Pro 7 may be the best of the bunch for the most people. The Surface Pro line has always focused on packing powerful laptop performance within a portable hybrid device, and the latest iteration’s premium hardware maintains the high bar. Loaded with up to a 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB solid state drive (SSD), it delivers a fast, responsive experience, especially when it comes to productivity tasks. Its integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics also allows for a decent level of gaming and media work.

Design-wise, the Surface Pro 7 doesn’t deviate too much from the previous model. It uses the Surface line’s standard-setting detachable 2-in-1 configuration, featuring a sturdy kickstand that holds the tablet up at a 165-degree range of angles. You can then snap the magnetically attaching Type Cover keyboard onto the bottom. As our reviewer points out, it’s an essential accessory that ranks among the best for tablet-based typing, but unfortunately Microsoft continues to sell it separately rather than include it in the Surface Pro’s cost.

The Pro 7’s 12.3-inch display and 1.7-pound weight are also unchanged from the Pro 6—still much more portable than a typical laptop. New to the Pro 7, however, is a USB-C port, a much-needed addition in terms of modern inputs.

“The Surface Pro 7 transitions effortlessly from productivity to creativity to entertainment in a way that’s hard to replicate on any other device.” — Jonno Hill, Product Tester

Best for Business: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet

Impressive «3K» display

Durable Gorilla Glass screen

Battery life on the low end

Lenovo’s 3rd-generation ThinkPad X1 Tablet is a very powerful 2-in-1 detachable geared toward professional use but with a lot of versatility. The top-end configuration runs Windows 10 Pro on a 1.9-GHz 8th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM, with up to 1 TB of SSD storage space.

Those are fine specs for a laptop, and you can spend a lot of time typing on the large included keyboard with the tablet resting back on its kickstand. But detach the 2-pound tablet and you can carry around a vibrant 13-inch in-plane switching (IPS) display with “3K” resolution at 3000 x 2000 pixels.

It’s designed and tested to be durable, built with Gorilla Glass in the screen and sturdy weather-resistant materials all around. The tablet also comes with a ThinkPad Pen Pro stylus that clips to the side. It’s perfect for artists, designers, architects, or any professions that call for drawing, signing, or note-taking. Battery life is a bit on the short side, hurting its portability, but the inclusion of two USB-C ports supporting Thunderbolt 3 is a fairly rare and forward-thinking feature for a tablet.

“Buying my own Lenovo 2-in-1 was a smooth experience, and when I had a question out of the gate, I was able to reach a Lenovo rep and have my needs addressed right away.” — Anton Galang, Product Tester

Best for Drawing: Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16

Built for professional artists and designers

Top-of-the-line drawing pen

Beautiful, color-accurate 4K screen

Digital tablets for drawing have been around a long time, and Wacom is no stranger to the field. The MobileStudio Pro is the company’s “mobile pen computer” for professional artists and designers, a Windows 10 tablet with serious performance and a serious price tag. It comes in 13-inch and 16-inch versions, with 3840 x 2160-pixel 4K resolution on the 16-inch screen. Now in the product’s second generation, the top-end model has been upgraded to an Intel Core i7-8559U processor with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. It also includes an advanced Nvidia Quadro P1000 graphics chip to handle both 2D and 3D work, along with a RealSense 3D-scanning camera.

Of course, a drawing tablet is nothing without the drawing instrument itself, and the MobileStudio Pro includes Wacom’s deluxe Pro Pen 2. It supports tilt, multitouch, and an astronomical 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity—far more than the typical stylus on the market. As you’d expect, it’s accurate, responsive, and feels great against the tablet’s screen. There is also a customizable touch ring and eight shortcut buttons to the side of the display, and the whole thing is flippable for the convenience of right- or left-handed users. A fully adjustable stand is sold separately, but it may be worthwhile for anyone already investing in the tablet as their professional creative studio.

Best Always-Connected: Microsoft Surface Pro X

Always-ready LTE connectivity

Slick, slim, lightweight design

Excellent webcam for video conferencing

Not the strongest performance

If you’re trying to choose which Microsoft Surface is right for you, the Surface Pro X stands out with unique features for the modern professional. Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm to create a custom ARM-based processor for the device, recently updated as the SQ2. It offers smooth performance for your work tasks and extra-efficient battery life listed at 15 hours. It also allows the Pro X to be “always connected,” tapping into fast LTE Internet anywhere you might need it.

The Pro X also breaks some new ground on the design side compared to the rest of its Surface family. It’s more sleekly shaped, touted as the thinnest Surface Pro at 0.28 inches. Slimmed-down bezels surround the attractive 13-inch PixelSense screen. Even its 5MP 1080p front-facing camera is surprisingly sharp, among the best you can find on a tablet or laptop. It helps make the Surface Pro X an ideal tool for video conferencing on the road—and with the AI-powered Eye Contact feature, you’ll always look like you’re looking right at the camera while you’re naturally looking at the screen. Finally, a pair of USB-C ports provide more options for connectivity.

As usual with Surface machines, the keyboard and cover are sold separately, but it’s comfortable, backlit, and worthwhile to own. It also has a convenient built-in storage slot for the Surface Slim Pen (if you opt for one) that charges the stylus wirelessly so it’s ready to write whenever you are.

Best Compact: Microsoft Surface Go 2

Portable and sturdy

Good mix of performance and battery life

Not for more intensive tasks

The Surface Go 2, compared to the Surface Pro and other big siblings, is the runt of Microsoft’s touchscreen family—but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s the closest of the group to a pure tablet, very travel-friendly at 1.2 pounds in weight and a third of an inch thick. Its 1920 x 1080-pixel, 10.5-inch screen is larger than the original Surface Go’s without increasing its overall measurements, thanks to thinner bezels around the display. It’s the most compact Surface product and, importantly, the most affordably priced.

The Surface Go 2’s low price and tiny size, though, is just the starting point. Upgrading the hardware and adding key accessories like the Type Cover keyboard and a Surface Pen add to the price tag, weight, and overall amount you’ll need to tote around. But it’s hardly a burden, especially in comparison to 2-in-1s that work more as laptops than tablets. Plus, you’re still getting plenty of productive power for such a portable device. You can equip it with a fast and energy-efficient Intel Core m3 processor for a bump in performance without taking a hit in battery life. The result is a premium tablet that can be carried around all day and can take on any task, for a price that likewise won’t weigh you down.

Best Portability: Lenovo Miix 630

Super long battery life

Comes with keyboard and stylus

Limited app availability

Long battery life is a big part of portability, and Lenovo’s Miix 630 tablet-laptop hybrid can go an astounding 20 hours without a charge. This is thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile PC platform, a very thin, very efficient chip typically used on smartphones. It cuts down battery drain as well as size, weight, and noise, since it doesn’t need a fan for cooling. It also integrates a speedy Snapdragon X16 LTE modem that allows for 4G Internet connectivity all the time, anywhere you go. Even on the road, without access to Wi-Fi or a power cord, you can keep on working or playing for hours at a time.

In terms of its detachable 2-in-1 design, the Miix 630 looks similar to Microsoft’s Surface Pro. The kickstand, though, is part of the included keyboard case rather than attached to the back, so you can’t use the stand to prop up the tablet on its own. But the Miix 630 still feels great as a tablet in your hands, with a 12.3-inch 1920 x 1280-pixel screen and 1.7-pound weight. It also ships with a Lenovo Digital Pen for writing and sketching, adding even more value to a nice little on-the-go bundle.

Best Budget: Chuwi UBook X

2-in-1 detachable hybrid design

With the Chuwi UBook X, you don’t just get a Windows tablet for an affordable price—you also get laptop functionality with a full keyboard and an active stylus pen for notes and sketches. Mimicking the Microsoft Surface design of an adjustable rear kickstand and magnetically detachable keyboard, the UBook X is plenty sturdy, even without the premium-level build quality. Its 12-inch display has a resolution of 2160 x 1440 pixels, amounting to a 3:2 aspect ratio that provides a bit more height than standard widescreen when in landscape orientation.

The UBook X runs on a quad-core Intel N4100 processor, a fairly dated chip that allows for decent battery life. Combined with its integrated Intel UHD 600 graphics and 8GB of RAM, you can’t expect to play graphics-heavy games or do significant media editing on the device, but it works just fine for basic productivity tasks and entertainment. As a whole, the UBook X holds nice value primarily for casual tablet use rather than as an intensive professional machine.

Best Splurge: Microsoft Surface Book 3

Powerful performance and graphics

Effective, high-quality design

Long battery life with keyboard

Less portable as a tablet

Microsoft’s Surface Book 3 is the tablet that comes the closest to being a full Windows laptop—and a powerful one at that. It’s a premium machine that you can deck out with more premium hardware than ever, all the way up to a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and a whopping 2TB of SSD storage. Going well beyond smooth performance for any productivity apps and multitasking, it even includes a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q discrete graphics card that can take on multimedia editing and fairly high-end gaming. You take advantage of that GPU only when connected to the keyboard base, though, not when using the tablet on its own. The keyboard also provides extra battery life ranging up to a listed 17.5 hours on the larger model.

The display portion of the Surface Book 3 detaches from the keyboard with the push of a button, leaving you with a roomy 13.5-inch 3000 x 2000-pixel tablet, or an even bigger one at 15 inches and 3240 x 2160 pixels. The 15-inch size in particular feels large to hold in your hands, but at 1.8 pounds without the keyboard, it’s not much heftier than other Windows tablets. This innovative convertible design has hardly changed over the Surface Book’s iterations, but it works for the discerning audience it was built for.

Designers and media creators will appreciate the upgraded internals, along with the unique benefits of having a large screen that you can set on your lap and draw on with a precise stylus pen while running the top creative apps.

Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the best Windows tablets are found within Microsoft’s Surface line of hybrid devices. The diverse catalog includes some 2-in-1 laptop-tablets that tout powerful hardware while others favor travel-friendly features, but the Surface Pro 7 offers the most attractive balance of performance, portability, and value for most buyers. Lenovo also makes a 2-in-1 ThinkPad X1 Tablet with a 3K display and durability that’s great for business users.

How We Tested

Our expert reviewers and testers put Windows tablets through a comprehensive set of tests. First and foremost, we evaluate them on design, focusing specifically on weight, thickness, and overall portability. Other important factors we look at are screen size and resolution, specifically video, images, and text. Audio and wireless connectivity play a part in evaluating the multimedia experience. For objective performance, we use benchmark tests like PCMark, Cinebench, 3DMark, and others.

For Windows tablets, we also pay a great deal of attention to productivity; testing if the tablets can act as a substitute for a laptop in terms of word processing, image editing, and games. Finally, we consider the price tag, evaluating the value proposition based on the competition to make our ultimate recommendation. All of the Windows tablets were purchased by Lifewire; none were provided by manufacturers.

About Our Trusted Experts

Anton Galang is a Lifewire writer and reviewer who first started covering tech products in 2007 with PC Magazine. Based in Chicago, he currently works on a Windows 2-in-1 tablet-laptop from Lenovo.

Jonno Hill is a lifelong tech lover who built his first computer in middle school. He has a background in design, motion graphics, and video production and has written for PCMag.com and AskMen.com in addition to Lifewire.

Rajat Sharma has been writing about technology for over six years now, and has reviewed hundreds of gadgets (across multiple categories) over the course of his career so far. Before joining Lifewire, he worked as a senior technology journalist with The Times Group and Zee Media Enterprises Limited, two of India’s biggest media houses.

What’s the difference between Windows tablets and Apple or Android tablets?

Windows tablets run on Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system, which is designed for use on both tablets and full PCs (and points to why it’s showcased so well on Microsoft’s own Surface tablet-laptop hybrids). Apple pioneered the modern tablet industry with the iPad, which now comes in several varieties and runs on its own iPadOS. iPads can use apps only from Apple’s app store, while Google’s Android OS is more flexible—the Google Play store has the largest app selection of them all, and other companies like Samsung and Amazon have their own app stores depending on your Android device. Windows tablets can run apps from the Microsoft Store as well as any standard PC program.

Can you play games on Windows tablets?

A wide selection of games designed for tablets and mobile devices are available for download on the Microsoft Store. You might also be able to install traditional PC games, particularly if you have a 2-in-1 laptop, but your mileage will vary depending on your machine. Most tablets aren’t equipped to handle the heavy 3D graphics of the latest big-name titles. Reducing the settings to lower graphics quality may help, provided you have a fast enough processor and GPU. The powerful Microsoft Surface Book 3, for example, benefits from an advanced dedicated graphics card, but only when the tablet is docked to the keyboard.

What to Look for in a Windows Tablet

Display — The most crucial component of any tablet is the screen, and a number of factors come into play when determining a display’s quality. Probably the most important is resolution, the number of pixels that make up an image, with a higher density meaning crisper, sharper images. But bear in mind that higher resolutions won’t matter as much on smaller tablets, so 1080p may look as sharp on an 8-inch model as «3K» does on a 15-inch tablet.

Performance — There are few things more irritating when you’re using a tablet on the go than an interminable wait for web pages to load or applications to start. Like laptops, Windows tablets are dependent largely on CPU in most use cases, though if you intend to game a lot on your tablet, GPU is also critical. In terms of load and boot times, getting and SSD rather than a traditional hardware can be crucial.

Size — The advantages of a larger display are obvious, but you should bear in mind that one of the best features of a tablet (as compared to a full size laptop) is how portable and easy to carry around it is. If you’re looking for a full-fledged productivity machine, maybe you do need a 15-inch screen, but for the hybrid role tablets were initially designed to fill, an 8-inch screen can actually be a boon.