Best Tablet for College Students 2021: For Your Online Classes

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As online classes continue due to the pandemic, the need and the demand for devices and gadgets that can take on heavy workloads for school also rise. A great example of such devices that can offer versatility, productivity, and portability are tablets. So if you’re in the market for these gadgets, you will surely find the best tablet for college students in 2021 here.

In these trying times, it’s important for students who are required to study and learn remotely to have access to the best devices they can use for their school. Tablets can easily offer that plus so much more. The best tablets in the market can deliver smooth performances, a robust battery life, and a decent number of tools they can use for productivity and make studying a lot less stressful for them.

So whether you’re still on the fence about getting yourself a tablet or you’re already shopping for the perfect model for your online classes, this article will surely help you make a decision by the time you’re finished reading.

Why You Should Get A Tablet For Your Online Classes

Some of you may be wondering why you should pick a tablet over a laptop or your smartphone for school. While laptops are a lot more preferred by many (and for good reason), technology in tablets has advanced so much that they can now function just as well and sometimes are just as powerful, if not more.

These days, the built-in processors and hardware most mainstream tablets have like the Apple iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab offer plenty of power that will surely satisfy most college students’ necessities for school as well as other unrelated activities.

But a good reason for choosing tablets is the portability, affordability, and versatility it offers that some laptops just can’t. Tablets are thin, compact, and lightweight which makes them so perfect for anyone who is always on the go. So if you’re feeling a little cramped at your work desk, you can easily bring it over to a more comfortable spot in your home or anywhere else.

Another fairly good reason for tablets is that they’re just overall great investments and alternatives if you feel like laptops or desktops are not really needed in your lifestyle. They can easily do the job while offering a better and longer-lasting battery life, meaning you’ll have to plug them to charge a lot less.

On the other hand, smartphones lack power and the built-in hardware is often not enough to run certain apps needed for your online classes. In addition to that, do you really want to sit through your online classes squinting and looking at such a tiny screen?

So with that in mind, you’ll find below our top recommendations for the best tablets for college students in 2021.

Our Top Recommendations

1. Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Overview

Without a doubt, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is one of the best and most versatile devices I have come across in the market. It’s a powerful and amazing 2-in-1 machine that’s perfect for students who are on the go. Not to mention, it’s great if you’re slowly shifting from your laptop to tablets. It almost feels like there’s no difference at all.

While Apple and Samsung have their robust app libraries, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 has access to Windows, which really adds to that laptop experience some of you might miss when switching devices.

In addition to that, this device is amazingly lightweight and easy to carry around everywhere without adding too much extra weight. And if you’re planning to use it solely without its keyboard, you can just easily detach its type cover for even more portability.

Aside from those terrific attributes, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 comes with Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors at varying price points.

Personally, the i7 processor is quite tempting and is a great power boost that will ensure smooth performance all throughout the school year, the i5 is more than sufficient if you are not really planning on doing anything heavy on this device. But if you have the money to splurge and really want optimum specs, the i7 is what you should go for.

Check Out Our Full Review Of The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Here.

Features & Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.68 x 9.21 inches
• Manufacturer / Brand: Microsoft
• Item Weight: 1.10 lbs
• Wireless Communication Technology: WiFi, Bluetooth
• Screen Size: ‎12.3 Inches
• Screen Resolution: ‎2736 x 1824
• Operating System: Windows 10 Home
• CPU: Intel Iris Plus Graphics (i7, i5) / Intel UHD Graphics (i3)
• RAM: ‎4 GB (i3) / 8 GB (i5) / 16 GB (i7).
• Storage: 1TB SSD / 512GB SSD / 256GB SSD / 128GB SSD
• Batteries Used: ‎1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included)
• Battery Life: Up to 10.5 hours depending on usage.
• Front Camera: 5.0MP
• Rear Camera: 8 MP
• Colors: Platinum and matte black.
• Accessories: Detachable keyboard, Surface Pen (bought separately).
• Extra Special Features: Intel Iris Plus Graphics, Windows 10 Home OS, and 12.3 Inch PixelSense Display.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Where Can I Buy The Microsoft Surface Pro 7?

2. Apple iPad Pro M1 (12.9″, 2021)

Overview

A huge contender and rival of the Microsoft Surface Pro series is the latest tablet release of Apple, the iPad Pro M1. While they’re vastly different from each other, it’s hard not to compare when both of them are striving to be the best of the best in the tablet industry. The Microsoft Surface Pro excels in functionality as it can perfectly act as a pseudo-laptop due to its access to Windows 10.

However, one of the biggest selling points of this year’s iteration of the iPad Pro is that it is now running with the same chip as the Macbook Pro and the iMac. This means that you will surely get some next-level performance out of this powerful machine that can easily go toe to toe against some of the best laptops and even desktop PCs in the market right now and for the years to come.

And if you want to switch it up, you can easily pair the iPad Pro with Apple’s magic keyboard or Apple Pencil for more variety and a more laptop feel. Despite its amazing specs, admittedly, this wasn’t my first choice due to its really high price point. Most students will find that the iPad Pro is just not practical if you’re on a limited budget.

But I do highly recommend getting this tablet if you’re studying digital art or any art and graphics-related courses. This will surely be a great investment for you as Apple has the best app library for tablets that will benefit artists like Procreate.

If you feel like the 12.9-inch screen is a little too big for your liking, the Apple iPad Pro M1 also comes in with an 11-inch screen variant that feels a little more compact.

Check Out Our Full Review Of The Apple iPad Pro M1 Here.

Features & Specifications

• Product Dimensions: ‎11.04 x 8.46 x 0.25 inches
• Manufacturer / Brand: Apple
• Item Weight: ‎2.65 pounds
• Wireless Communication Technology: WiFi, Bluetooth
• Screen Size: 12.9 inches
• Screen Resolution: Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion technology and True Tone.
• Operating System: iPadOS
• CPU: Apple M1 chip 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
• RAM: 8 GB and 16 GB.
• Storage: 128GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB.
• Batteries Used: ‎1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included)
• Battery Life: Up to 10.5 hours depending on usage.
• Front Camera: 12MP Wide and 10MP Ultra Wide cameras with Smart HDR and 4K video at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps.
• Rear Camera: 12MP Ultra Wide TrueDepth front camera with Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting, and Smart HDR 3.
• Colors: Silver, Space Gray.
• Accessories: Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard (all bought separately).
• Extra Special Features: TrueDepth camera system, Apple M1 chip, Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Where Can I Buy The Apple iPad Pro M1 (12.9″, 2021)?

3. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus

Overview

If you’re in the market for an Android tablet, you can’t really go wrong with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. According to Samsung, this is their most advanced Galaxy Tablet yet and they’re not making any light claims on that.

Personally, aside from its really steep price point, the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is a pretty tough Android Tablet to beat in terms of its powerful specifications and impressive features that will surely provide one of the best performances you’ll see in such a compact device.

While Samsung might have lagged behind just a little when it came to producing a tablet worthy of rivaling the likes of Apple’s iPads, it’s safe to say that this particular model is definitely one of the best out there in the market. Especially if you’re a college student.

To put it simply, this can easily go toe-to-toe with Apple’s latest release, the Apple Ipad Pro with the M1 chip. That’s how good the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus is. In addition, you don’t have to pay any additional costs for the supporting accessories. The S Pen is included in the box once you purchase this unit which is really great, unlike the Apple Pen which you need to buy separately.

However, what still makes the iPad superior is Apple’s App Store, which provides you access to the best app libraries for a tablet known in the market. But if you’re not too picky about these kinds of stuff, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus will not disappoint you.

Check Out Our Full Review Of The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus Here.

Features & Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 0.22 x 7.28 x 11.22 inches
• Manufacturer / Brand: Samsung
• Item Weight: 2.01 lbs.
• Screen Size: 12.4 inches
• Screen Resolution: ‎2800 x 1752 Pixels
• Operating System: Android 10.0
• Wireless Communication Technology: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus
• RAM: 8 GB.
• Storage: 128 gb, 256 gb, and 512 gb. (expandable up to 1 TB of storage)
• Batteries Used: 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included)
• Battery Life: Between 14-15 hours of battery life depending on usage.
• Front Camera: 8MP
• Rear Camera: 13MP + 5MP
• Colors: Black, Bronze, Mystic Navy, and Silver.
• Accessories: S Pen (included), keyboard, and bookcover.
• Extra Special Features: Included S Pen, Samsung DeX, Bixby, Super AMOLED screen, and quad speakers tuned by AKG with Dolby Atmos surround sound.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Where Can I Buy The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus?

4. Apple iPad Air 4

Overview

If you really want to get your hands on an Apple iPad but can’t afford the Pro variant, the Apple iPad Air 4 is the next best thing. It’s basically a more affordable and more lightweight version of the Apple iPad Pro lineup. It also improved the outdated specs and addressed the issues the previous iPad Air had.

There are definitely some corners cut of course in order for this device to maintain a more budget-friendly and mid-range price point, but I find that the Apple iPad Air 4 is still a pretty solid machine to use for your studies. I would even dare say that some of you might have a difficult time choosing between splurging for the iPad Pro or opting for the iPad Air 4 instead. It’s that good.

It’s very well-made and apart from the M1 chip and the 120 Hz refresh rate on the iPad Pro, you won’t really miss much unless you’re very power-hungry. Instead of the M1 chip, the iPad Air 4 is powered by Apple’s A14 chipset. Yes, the very same chipset your iPhone 12 has.

It’s not as powerful as the M1 chip obviously, but the A14 chipset isn’t too bad either if you don’t need to do heavier tasks like video editing on your tablet. But the A14 chipset means that this particular model can still handle most tasks with ease. Such tasks can range from streaming high-quality videos to running even the most demanding apps for your school or other unrelated activities like gaming.

All in all, the iPad Air 4 is a good middle-ground for students who have limited funds and don’t need a lot of power but still want to benefit from the robust app library Apple has for their tablets.

Features & Specifications

• Product Dimensions: ‎9.74 x 7 x 0.24 inches
• Manufacturer / Brand: Apple
• Item Weight: 1 lbs.
• Wireless Communication Technology: WiFi, Bluetooth
• Screen Size: ‎10.9‑inch
• Screen Resolution: ‎2360 x 1640
• Operating System: iPadOS
• CPU: A14 Bionic chip with Neural Engine
• RAM: ‎4 GB
• Storage: 64GB / 256GB
• Batteries Used: ‎1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included)
• Battery Life: Up to 10 hours depending on usage.
• Front Camera: 7MP TrueDepth front camera with Smart HDR.
• Rear Camera: 12MP Wide camera with Smart HDR and 4K video at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps.
• Colors: Green, Rose Gold, Silver, Sky Blue, Space Gray.
• Accessories: Magic keyboard, Apple Pencil (all bought separately).
• Extra Special Features: Liquid Retina display, 4K video recording, Touch ID.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Where Can I Buy The Apple iPad Air 4?

5. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE

Overview

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE is a more affordable option for those who can’t afford the flagship Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. There are obvious downgrades in this model in comparison to its predecessor but overall, it is still a very powerful device that should be able o run any apps for school without a fuss.

However, do keep in mind that the S7 FE only has the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset, along with either 4 GB or 6 GB of RAM as your options. Those aren’t particularly bad, but they’re certainly not the most advanced or latest specs you will see in the market.

On the bright side, unlike cheaper variations of flagship tablets some brands provide, the S7 FE offers the full Galaxy Tab experience. This means you’re getting the same screen size as the S7 Plus, as well as the newly added DeX feature, which is Samsung’s new technology that enables you to use a desktop-like interface on your tablet.

In addition to that, the S7 FE also includes the S Pen upon purchase.

Features & Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 0.25 x 7.28 x 11.21 inches
• Manufacturer / Brand: Samsung
• Item Weight: ‎1.34 pounds
• Screen Size: 12.4 inches
• Screen Resolution: 2560×1600 px
• Operating System: Android 11.0
• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G
• RAM: 4 GB or 6 GB
• Storage: 64 GB or 256 GB.
• Batteries Used: 1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)
• Battery Life: More than 24 hours depending on usage.
• Front Camera: 8 MP
• Rear Camera: 5 MP
• Colors: Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, Mystic Green, and Mystic Pink.
• Accessories: S Pen (included), Book cover and keyboard are sold separately.
• Extra Special Features: S Pen, Book cover and keyboard, free access to Samsung Mobile TV Plus, Samsung DeX.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Where Can I Buy The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE?

6. Microsoft Surface Go 2

Overview

The Microsoft Surface Go 2 is the second generation of the original Surface Go lineup. It addressed and really improved all the issues a lot of people had with the first generation. Now, the Surface Go 2 comes in with beefier battery life, a slightly larger display, and an overall upgrade in terms of performance, making it perfect for anyone with work from home setups and online classes.

In essence, the Surface Go 2 follows the same blueprint as its predecessors like the Surface Pro 7. It has the same principles but for a much lower price compared to Microsoft’s flagship model.

However, the base model of the Surface Go 2 might feel a little inadequate in terms of power if you have heavier tasks in mind. Thankfully, there is an upgraded option for the Surface Go 2 which has the Intel Core m3 processor. It’s a significant leap from the mediocre Pentium Gold CPU that powers the base model.

Personally, the Intel Core M3 might still not be enough if you’re more power-hungry or need to do more demanding tasks with your tablet for school. But if you have lighter requirements, this should be more than enough to make finishing school works comfortable for you.

Features & Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 0.33 x 9.65 x 6.9 inches
• Manufacturer / Brand: Microsoft
• Item Weight: 1.20 lbs
• Wireless Communication Technology: WiFi
• Screen Size: ‎10.51 inches
• Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1280 Pixels
• Operating System: Windows 10 Home
• CPU: Intel Core M3 Processor / Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y
• RAM: 4 GB / 8 GB
• Storage:  64GB eMMC / 128GB SSD
• Batteries Used: ‎1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included)
• Battery Life: Up to 10 hours depending on usage.
• Front Camera: 5 MP
• Rear Camera: 8 MP
• Colors: Platinum, Black, Poppy Red, and Ice Blue.
• Accessories: Detachable keyboard, Surface Pen (bought separately).
• Extra Special Features: Built-in kick-in stand.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Where Can I Buy The Microsoft Surface Go 2?

Before You Buy

Now that we have covered our top picks for the best tablets for college students this 2021, here are some friendly shopping tips you might want to keep in mind as you decide on which tablet to go for.

Plan Your Budget Carefully

It comes as no surprise that tablets often come at a hefty price. After all, these are premium devices that act as an alternative to your laptop. Not to mention, a lot of cheaper tablets in the market might not be sufficient or powerful enough to support a college student’s daily tasks for school.

You might think you’re saving more money on buying a cheaper model but you might actually end up spending more if the tablet breaks easily or you realize that it just simply lacks the right hardware needed for your school works. So if you’re planning on investing in a tablet soon, it’s best to save up for one that will truly offer you great value and will last you for plenty of years.

Consider The Accessories You Need

Tablets usually need other accessories so you can have a better user experience. Such accessories include pens or detachable keyboards.

Some of you might find these accessories unnecessary, but these detachable keyboards can really help when you need to regularly type to take down notes during classes. The same goes for the pens. If you have plenty of art classes that require drawing or sketching, you’ll find that using a pen is a lot more convenient than using your fingertips to create digital art.

Fortunately, a few brands in the market include these accessories in the overall package while some you’ll have to buy separately.

So if you’re on a tight budget or have a very limited spending amount, it’s best to get a tablet that already offers its accessories included in the box when you purchase it.

Make Sure The Specs Are Powerful Enough

Depending on the classes you’re taking, one of the most important things you need to consider when investing in such a high-end device as tablets are the specs it has built into its system. The last thing you want is to be disappointed that your newly purchased gadget is lacking the hardware needed to run your daily tasks for school.

So before you invest, I highly recommend looking up what kind of processors or hardware are the most updated in the industry right now. For example, tablets like the Apple iPad Pro with the M1 chip are as powerful as a lot of high-end laptops you’re seeing in the market right now. The same goes for Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 with its i7 model and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 Plus.

But these flagship tablets also have more affordable variants with lesser specs that still work as solidly. So if you’re not that desperate for power, then these models are worth looking into.

Conclusion

Overall, tablets are great investments for college students no matter what kind of classes you’re taking. They’re more affordable and lightweight alternatives for anyone who feel like a laptop is too much or too expensive for their needs. Tablets also offer a lot of versatility while almost running with the same powerful hardware we’re used to experiencing in our computers without the added weight.

So if you were still contemplating whether a tablet is for you or you were looking for the perfect model, I hope this article was able to help you make a decision.

Do you already own a tablet? Did your favorite make it to our list? What do you think about them? Let me know in the comments section below if you have any insights, experiences, or suggestions to share. I would love to hear all your thoughts!

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