Buying Guide: The Best Tablets for Kids in 2022 in the UAE
Kids want tablets. Mine has had one since they were pretty small. First, it was a music player helping to lull them to sleep at night. Then, it was the indispensable movie theater for long plane and train rides. After that, it became a vehicle for Marvel Unlimited, the infinite comics app. Now, it's a platform for drawing fan art.
But tablets are fragile, expensive gadgets with potentially unlimited access to the internet, both issues that challenge parents. A good kid tablet is different from a good adult tablet: While you want a grown-up tablet to be slim, light, and fast, you want a tablet for kids to be cheap, rugged, and protected.
Our picks here are some of our favorite tablets for children, chosen for a balance of affordability, durability, and age-appropriate features. Whichever tablet you get, be sure to buy a case and some kid-friendly headphones. These small investments will pay for themselves.
1. Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2021)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Excellent parental controls | - App store lacks some popular comics apps and games |
| + Library of brand-name kids' content | - Not enough power for action gaming |
| + Two rugged case options | |
| + Long warranty |
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2021)
Why We Picked It
Amazon's Fire HD 10 Kids and Kids Pro(Opens in a new window) models (both $199.99) combine a capable tablet, a rugged case, and a curated content library for a one-stop, ready-made entertainment solution that's ideal for kids ages 3–10. The 10-inch screen is perfect for displaying picture books and comics, and parental controls help you keep your kids safe as they read, watch, and browse. Very few tablets intended for kids are worth bothering with; the Fire HD 10 Kids is more than worth its price tag, and is our Editors' Choice for children's tablets.
Apple iPad (2021)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Powerful performance | - Dated design |
| + Multi-year OS upgrades | - Tinny speakers |
| + Solid front-facing camera |
Apple iPad (2021)
Why We Picked It
The ninth-generation iPad for 2021 doesn't deliver any surprises, but it doesn't need to. Starting at $329, it’s Apple’s most affordable tablet, yet it easily outpaces Android models that cost twice as much. And while it may look the same as last year's iPad, there are some major changes under the hood, including a more powerful processor, double the storage, and improved cameras. It's just the right size and price for most people, earning our Editors' Choice award and making it the tablet we recommend most out of Apple's lineup.
Lenovo Tab P11 Plus
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Sharp display | - Unimpressive cameras |
| + Loud, clear speakers | - No promise for OS updates after Android 12 |
| + Perky performance |
Lenovo Tab P11 Plus
Why We Picked It
Android tablets appear to be staging a comeback, and the Lenovo Tab P11 Plus (starting at $259.99) leads the charge in the budget-friendly category. This stylish slate has a top-notch 11-inch display, excellent speakers, and enough power to get you through a long day of work into a quiet evening of binging Netflix. We'd like to see Lenovo commit to software updates beyond Android 12, but that's about our biggest complaint. So while the Tab P11 Plus isn't quite as strong a performer as the $329 iPad, it's an excellent alternative for non-Apple users, and our Editors' Choice award winner for affordable Android tablets.
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Superb OLED | - Ho-hum compute performance |
| + High-quality front and rear cameras | - No audio jack, or 4G or 5G |
| + Comes with keyboard cover and kickstand | - Stylus supported, but costs extra |
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook
Why We Picked It
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet? Isn't that the 10.1-inch tablet with keyboard and kickstand we praised in May 2020 and have been touting ever since as a super value? Well, yes, and that cute detachable Chromebook is still a bargain, but the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook (starts at $429.99; $499 as tested) is something else altogether—a larger 2-in-1 tablet with an ultra-colorful, ultra-high-contrast, 13.3-inch OLED touch screen. You can find faster and cheaper conventional Chromebooks, but the new Duet outshines the recently reviewed HP Chromebook x2 if you'd like a tablet that doubles as a laptop. It earns an Editors' Choice award as a premium Chromebook detachable.
Alcatel Joy Tab 2
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Handles basic tasks with ease | - Cameras perform poorly in low light |
| + Good battery life | |
| + Strong LTE connectivity | |
| + Excellent audio for the price |
The Bottom Line:
The Alcatel Joy Tab 2 is an excellent alternative to Amazon’s Fire lineup, with a clean Android experience, strong LTE connectivity, and impressive audio quality.
Why We Picked It
Good, affordable tablets are hard to find. With the exception of Amazon’s Fire lineup, most cheap tablets fail to impress. The Alcatel Joy Tab 2 ($119.99), however, is an exception to the rule. It’s not extraordinarily powerful, and its display isn’t noteworthy, but it’s perfectly suitable for a basic tablet. The Joy Tab 2 performs well with basic tasks such as streaming and web browsing, has excellent battery life, and connects to Metro by T-Mobile via LTE when you're on the road. Kids mode, smooth media streaming, and crisp audio make it a great, inexpensive way to keep children entertained.
TCL Tab 10 5G
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Quality screen for the price | - Disappointing Android upgrade commitment |
| + 5G support | - Only 32GB of built-in storage |
| + Good performance and battery life | - Lackluster cameras |
| + Decent stereo speakers | |
| + MicroSD support |
TCL Tab 10 5G
Why We Picked It
TCL's Tab 10 5G ($299.99) stands out from the crowd of Android tablets thanks to its long battery life, snappy performance, and 5G support. We're not fans of its paltry 32GB of storage or TCL's weak software upgrade commitment, but the Tab 10 5G easily blows competitors like the Nuu Tab 10 ($299.99) out of the water and offers a much better value than TCL's pricier Tab Pro 5G ($399.99). If you need fast cellular connectivity from your tablet, it's a good bet, though the Wi-Fi only Lenovo Tab 11 Plus ($259.99) remains our Editors' Choice winner because of its more affordable price and sharper display.
Apple iPad mini (2021)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Excellent performance | - No multi-user option in iPadOS |
| + Long battery life | - Pricier than previous model |
| + Works with second-generation Apple Pencil |
Apple iPad mini (2021)
Why We Picked It
The iPad mini has long suffered from middle child syndrome, never seeming to garner as much attention as the more affordable iPad or the productivity-minded iPad Pro. The sixth-generation iPad mini might change that. It’s been redesigned to look like Apple’s premium iPad Pro line, with the same A15 chipset that powers the iPhone 13 Pro, double the storage of its predecessor, a slightly larger display, second-generation Apple Pencil support, and the option for sub-6GHz 5G connectivity. Its battery can easily get you through the day, too. All of these upgrades come at a price, however, as the tablet costs $100 more than its predecessor, starting at $499. Ultimately, the $329 base model iPad remains our Editors' Choice winner for most people, but the mini is an excellent alternative if you're looking for something smaller and more powerful.
Amazon Fire 7 Tablet (2022)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + More affordable than most tablets | - Sluggish performance |
| + Better specs and battery life than predecessor | - Limited app selection |
| + Hands-free Alexa support | - Low-res display |
| + Expandable storage | - Poor cameras |
Amazon Fire 7 Tablet (2022)
Why We Picked It
Amazon has updated its entry-level Fire 7 tablet for the first time since 2019 with new hardware and software features, bumping the starting price to $59.99 in the process ($10 more than the previous model). These improvements are worth the minimal price increase, but don’t expect a tablet experience on par with an iPad or a more powerful Android slate. Of course, the 2022 edition of the Fire 7 Tablet is more affordable than most cheap tablets on the market, so that performance difference isn't a surprise. If all you want is a cheap entry point to Amazon’s content and services, the Fire 7 Tablet, along with the pricier and bigger-screened Fire HD 8 ($89.99), are perfectly adequate starting points.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2020)
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| + Inexpensive | - Limited app compatibility |
| + Long battery life | - Sluggish performance |
| + Excellent audio | |
| + Hands-free Alexa support |
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2020)
Why We Picked It
Amazon has sold its low-cost Fire tablet lineup for years now, and it isn't shy about making it clear that it's a way to enjoy Amazon content on the go, letting the company offer a quality product for a relatively low price. The Fire HD 8 ($89.99) is a cute, easy-to-use 8-inch tablet that works entirely within Amazon's walled garden. For basic streaming video, picture books, kids' games, and Zoom calls, it's the best sub-$100 tablet available today, with a faster processor and more RAM than the 2018 model. But because Amazon restricts the Fire HD 8 to its own inadequate app store, you don't get nearly the range of services you'll find on other Android and Apple tablets.
Our Editors' Choice overall for an inexpensive tablet is the bigger Fire HD 10. It has a faster processor and more RAM, giving it better performance all around, although it uses the same limited app store.
The Best Tablets for School
The best tablet for school is probably a base model iPad. The iPad's dominant role in the tablet landscape means it's supported by most schools, many teachers will have them, and it will be easy to get tech support. Other tablets may not be able to run the third-party apps that schools demand, or even fill out the right web forms. The worst offenders here are Amazon's Fire tablets, which are inexpensive and popular but aren't designed for productivity.
If an iPad won't do for your school, you're probably going to want something with Chrome OS. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet in this roundup fits the bill, but it can be hard to find in stock because it's such a great value. Head over to our roundup of the best Chromebooks for kids for more recommendations.
Specs Still Matter
Don't assume a tablet for a kid should be a piece of junk. Sufficient hardware specs can help you find a tablet that works well enough to avoid frustrating meltdowns. Let's start with screen size and resolution. An 8-inch, 1,280-by-800-pixel display is good for reading comics and watching videos, so use that as your baseline.
Pay close attention to storage specs, too. We recommend 32GB of built-in storage (or more) rather than 16GB. This amount of storage enables you to install more apps and take more pictures and videos. A microSD card slot can't hurt, either, especially if you want to download movies to watch on long trips.
Look for 2GB of RAM or more. This amount of RAM helps apps launch and run more smoothly, particularly if there's anything else running in the background.
Battery life is another factor to keep in mind—you don't want the tablet to die in the middle of a long car ride. Carrying a backup battery can help.
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids
The Best iPad for Kids
The most recent iPads have really come down in price and deliver tremendous value for what you pay. An iPad will always have the best tablet apps, will grow with your kid, and can double as a pseudo-laptop for schoolwork. Apple's operating system, iPadOS, has tools to let you monitor your kids' tablet use and keep an eye on what applications they're using and for how long. Apple also has parental controls that can block apps, filter content, and prevent purchases—which you should use to keep your kids from spending money without your permission.
The iPad has by far the best ecosystem of accessories for productive and creative kids of any individual tablet model: cases, keyboards, and the Apple Pencil stylus. It's versatile and extendable.
As you probably already know, iPads also let kids use iMessage and FaceTime to talk to other friends or relatives who have Apple devices, without you having to get the kid a phone.
The rest of this roundup is primarily for people either with very small children, people who are entirely in the Android ecosystem, or people who don't want to spend $300 or more on an iPad.
Set Your Kids on Fire
Amazon's inexpensive Fire tablets have been family go-tos for years. They are inexpensive and have a Kids Edition that comes with a rubber case and a no-questions-asked, two-year guarantee. The 8-inch Kids model (based on the standard Fire HD 8) costs $132.99 as of this writing.
The Amazon Fire 7 (2022)
Amazon's tablets have a simplified interface, strong parental controls, and Kids+, which is basically a giant bucket of content for kids. A Parent Dashboard lets you keep track of what your children are doing and restrict their screen time. You can put multiple user profiles on the tablets, as well.
Falling Back on Android
For many years, my family didn't use an iPad or a Fire. We used an Android tablet. Here's why.
My family was all-in with Google services; we communicated through Hangouts and my kid had a G Suite email account that I supervised. If you primarily use Google cloud services and Android apps, an Android tablet can get you what you need for a little less money than an iPad, and it's not locked down to Amazon services the way a Fire tablet is.
In terms of parental controls, Android has restricted user profiles that can also prevent accidental purchases and filter Google Play apps. But if you intend to let your kids use one of these tablets out of your sight, you should really consider installing some parental control software.
Toy Tablets: Best Avoided
Companies such as Fuhu, Kurio, and Leapfrog have made their names with highly restricted tablets that come preloaded with kid-friendly software and, by default, don't offer access to the open internet. By and large, though, these tablets haven't been updated for years and are running old, insecure versions of Android that we no longer recommend, so do your research before buying.
While you're shopping for Junior, check out our lab-tested picks for the best kids' phones and the best kids' laptops. For a broader selection of tablets for older kids and adults, take a look at the best tablets we've tested overall.