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Best Overall
Apple iPad Mini (2024, 7th Gen)
Best Android Tablet for Kids
OnePlus Pad
Best Budget Kids Tablet
Fire HD 10 Pro Kids
Best for School
Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 (11 Inch, MediaTek)
My Children’s Favorite tablet is a good flat rock. Get the right one and it’ll do everything from launching toy cars to hop-skip-jumping its way across a pond. If you must go digital—well, after years of testing, we’ve tried almost every kid-focused tablet out there. These are our favorite picks.
Depending on the tablet, you can also moderate content—we have guides on how to use parental controls on your devices and how to use Amazon Kids+, Amazon’s content platform. If you’re still hunting for kid-related educational ideas, check out our favorite kid podcasts, our guide to the best STEM toys, and the best kid gift subscriptions.
Updated November 2024: We updated our picks to include the latest-model Fire Tablets and Kindles, and updated prices throughout.
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Photograph: Brenda Stolyar
Best Overall
Apple iPad Mini (2024, 7th Gen)
The iPad Mini strikes the best balance between size, weight, and content available for kids. We suggest setting it up with the stand so your kids don’t drop it, but overall the Mini is compact and perfect for watching the wealth of online kids content. Apple has thus far not created a kids content ecosystem, which ironically makes iOS the best platform for accessing everything—Amazon Prime, PBS Kids, and Disney+ all have iOS apps. (This is a matter of taste, but we very much dislike all the advertising on YouTube Kids and the endless upselling of Google Kids Space.)
It can be unnerving to let a child have control of $500 device, though. It’s expensive and pretty large for younger, smaller hands. If you have younger children who might have trouble holding the Mini, see our budget pick below.
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Photograph: OnePlus
Best Android Tablet for Kids
OnePlus Pad
If you want a quality tablet that’s not an iPad, take a look at the OnePlus Pad (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s the first-ever tablet from the phone maker, and it runs Android 13 out of the box, so there are a lot of improvements in making the Android experience on a tablet really great. Like the iPad, it can be tough to hand an almost $400 tablet to a kid (see below for a cheaper pick), but if your kids are older, I think this works well.
It’s not a bad way to get school work done, and the battery has excellent standby time and can get through close to a full day. It gets three years of OS updates and four years of security updates, so it’s reasonably future-proof. Our main complaint is the lack of headphone jack. OnePlus did put out an update to this in 2024, but the improvements are minor and as long as this one is still around, it’s a cheaper option that’s fine for kids.
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Photograph: Amazon
Best Budget Kids Tablet
Fire HD 10 Pro Kids
Amazon’s Fire tablets are an affordable alternative to iPads. In addition to decent hardware, Fire tablets include one year of Amazon Kids+, the company’s content subscription service for kids, which makes it easy to find age-appropriate games or apps for your kids.
There are several versiond and sizes of Fire Kids tablets. The main difference between the Pro and regular versions is the content available by default. We’ve tried all of them and recommend the Fire HD 10 Pro Kids Edition ($200) for older kids, who will be more comfortable holding it and will benefit from the slightly more mature content included by default with the Pro version. The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition ($140) is our pick for younger kids (think 8 and under).
Buying into the Amazon ecosystem does limit you to Amazon content, but the selection of books, games, and videos in Amazon Kids+ is varied and includes some gems. Unfortunately, it’s also constantly changing, so beware that your kids’ favorite book may suddenly disappear. You can filter and monitor it to your heart’s content via Amazon’s parent dashboard. And the two-year worry-free warranty is unbeatable, especially if your child tends to smash or drop things and you need to replace it. Also note that Amazon frequently puts these on sale for as much as 50 percent off. There’s no reason to pay full price unless you really need it now.
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Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster
Best for School
Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 (11 Inch, MediaTek)
Many school districts will provide your child with one, but if yours doesn’t, Chromebooks are our top pick for kids in school. This Lenovo is a good pick for younger kids. It’s powerful enough to handle a decent amount of web pages, play videos, and run kids games, and the detachable keyboard means they can use it like a tablet when they need to. Chromebooks can also run many Android apps, though sometimes they don’t quite work as well as they would on a tablet.
Older kids (say fifth grade and up) might benefit from a more powerful Chromebook like the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 ($279). We like the Acer 515 for its speedier processor, extra RAM, and SD card slot. Check out our Best Chromebooks guide for more options.
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Photograph: Adrienne So
Best for Reading
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids (2024, 12th Generation)
As with most Amazon hardware, the kid devices are worth the price for two things: the content and the warranty. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids has a two-year, worry-free replacement guarantee, a cute case, and a year’s subscription to the Amazon’s Kids+ platform, which sorts through Amazon’s huge selection to present your kid with age-appropriate characters and themes. You can somewhat control this content selection through the website interface.
It’s very easy to white-list free library books into your kid’s profile. With tons of free books available, a safe, secure Kindle might actually save you and your bookish kid money in the long run. You can save $50 by opting for the regular Kindle Kids ($120), but the screen isn’t nearly as nice as the Paperwhite version, and it’s not waterproof. Again, the devices are frequently on sale, so don’t pay full price.
If you don’t want to join the Amazon ecosystem, or if your kids are really into comics and graphic novels, we like the Kobo Libra Colour (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for its color E Ink screen, which handles comics much better than a Kindle. (Despite making a color Kindle for adults, there’s currently no Kids version, and the regular color version is having issues, so you’re better off with the Libra Colour). At $220 it’s a bigger investment and probably best suited for older, more responsible children.
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Photograph: Nena Farrell
Best for Video Calling
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen)
I’ve picked the Echo Show 8, but any smart display you already own is probably the best way to do video calls with relatives. That way there’s nothing to hold up. (Calling with a tablet works just fine, though the grandparents might see more of the ceiling fan than your kids, if your kids get tired of holding up the iPad.) The third-generation Echo Show 8 is the middle child in Amazon’s Show family and it’s a good size for the kitchen or living room. We also like the Google Nest Hub Max. It’s a good all-around smart display with a 10-inch touchscreen and decent camera. It dropped support for Google Meet and Zoom though, so you’ll have to use Google Duo for your video calls.
Prep Your Pad
Photograph: Stephen Simpson/Getty Images
When considering which device is best for your child, you’ll want to take price, durability, ease of use, and safety into account. We find Apple devices to be among the easiest on which to set up parental controls. Simply get your child their own Apple ID, set up Family Sharing, add them as family members, and set rules for them.
Amazon’s tablets for kids come in a close second. It’s easy to log in to the Parent Dashboard on Amazon.com to change age filters and to block or add content. But no matter the device, there are safeguards you can take to protect your kids from coming across inappropriate content. We walk you through how to childproof your devices and streaming services here.