Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro Laptop (16-Inch) — Upgrade Pick
Samsung deal price: $1,350 ; street price: $1,650
What we like: Our upgrade Windows laptop pick. Has the biggest, best-looking display we’ve encountered in a tested Windows laptop, yet it still weighs under 3.5 pounds. Has long battery life, lasting nearly 15.5 hours in our tests. Has snappy keyboard with a number pad, a gigantic, reliable trackpad, and sturdy build quality.
Other things to know: Expensive, but you get the quality you pay for. Samsung includes too much unnecessary software. Comes with Intel Core Ultra 256V processor, 16 GB of memory, and 1 TB GB SSD (more than our recommend specs of 512 GB SSD).
Read more: The Best Windows Laptop
Huion Inspiroy 2 M Drawing Tablet — Top Pick
Amazon deal price: $64 ; street price: $80
What we like: Our top pick for the best drawing tablet. Smooth pen surface is a pleasure to draw on. Comfortable stylus provides excellent tracking with no latency. Has plenty of hotkeys (eight) for you to program as you like, along with a dial and a pen holder with replacement nibs. Setup is easy, and the drivers are fairly user-friendly.
Other things to know: Features 8.7 by 5.4 inches of usable workspace. The design is boring. Lacks wireless support and touch input. Recurring deal. Available in black or green.
Read more: The Best Drawing Tablets
HP Chromebook Plus Laptop (15a-nb0033dx) — Worth Considering
Best Buy deal price: $350 ; street price: $500
What we like: A Chromebook worth considering if our big-screen pick is unavailable (which it is). Fast-enough and reliable. Long battery life. Also a good choice if you want a number pad.
Other things to know: Compared with our big-screen pick, has a smaller, lower-resolution, dimmer display with a standard 60 Hz refresh rate; as a result, scrolling and other animations don’t look as smooth.
Read more: The Best Chromebook
Acer Aspire Go 15 Laptop (AG15-32P-39R2) — Worth Considering
Amazon deal price: $250 ; street price: $300
What we like: Another laptop under $500 worth considering if you need the cheapest viable laptop. Surprisingly not bad for the price. Has fast-enough performance and a passable 15.6-inch 1080p display. Keyboard and trackpad work fine. Can charge via USB-C.
Other things to know: Display has a yellow tint and doesn’t get very bright. Comes packed with bloatware. Battery life doesn’t quite last a full workday. Comes with Windows 11 in S mode, but you can switch out for free.
Read more: The Best Cheap Laptops Under $500
Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro Laptop (14-Inch) — Runner-Up
Best Buy deal price: $1,050 ; street price: $1,350
What we like: Our runner-up Windows laptop pick. Thin, light, and portable. Has enough battery life to last a full day of work or classes. Has a satisfying backlit keyboard, accurate trackpad, slightly better webcam, and top-notch build quality. Display supports touch input, has 120 Hz refresh rate, and 2880×1800 resolution.
Other things to know: Battery life falls a few hours short of our top pick’s, it’s more expensive (currently by about $200), and Samsung packs in too much bloatware. Comes with Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor, 16 GB of memory, and 512 GB SSD.
Read more: The Best Windows Laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus Laptop — Top Pick
Best Buy deal price: $380 ; street price: $550
What we like: Our top pick for the best Chromebook. Offers the best combination of features and price of all the models we’ve tested. Fast enough for everyday tasks. Battery will last a full day of work or classes. Has a tall, 14-inch touchscreen display and surprisingly good speakers.
Other things to know: Portable size but heavy and cumbersome to use as a tablet. The webcam produces a dim image even with Google’s new Improve Lighting feature enabled. Specs include Intel i3-1315U processor, 8 GB memory, and 128 GB SSD storage. Street price has risen recently.
Read more: The Best Chromebook
Acer Chromebook Plus 516GE (CBG516-2H-59S4) — Worth Considering
Best Buy deal price: $350 ; street price: $600
What we like: A Chromebook worth considering for streaming games. The best of the so-called gaming Chromebooks. The only model with an Ethernet port to provide a reliable internet connection. Vivid 16-inch, 2560×1600 display with a 120 Hz refresh rate. Responsive, comfortable RGB keyboard.
Other things to know: Every gaming Chromebook we’ve tested on Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now has exhibited frustrating hiccups over Wi-Fi on a 500 Mbps internet plan, so we don’t recommend them for streaming games over Wi-Fi. Specs include 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD.
Read more: The Best Chromebook
Apple iPad (11th Generation, 128 GB) — Top Pick
Best Buy deal price: $280 ; street price: $330
What we like: Our top tablet pick for most people. Large 11-inch touchscreen, fast performance, a USB-C port, and plenty of color options. Great all-around tablet that can handle pretty much any task. 128 GB is a great jump from the previous 64 GB least-expensive model. Solid battery life lasted for about 10 hours of continuous use. Touch ID sensor unlocks the device.
Other things to know: Only supports the 1st-gen and USB-C Apple Pencil models. Digital illustrators might need a more expensive iPad.
Read more: The iPad Is the Best Tablet
Amazon Fire HD 8 Android Tablet (12th Generation, 32 GB) — Budget Pick
Amazon deal price: $55; street price: $100
What we like: Our budget Android tablet pick. Same 8-inch display, MediaTek processor, and 13-hour battery life as in its predecessor, with more RAM for slightly faster performance and a marginally higher-megapixel rear camera. Ideal for streaming video or using as a family tablet.
Other things to know: Ad-supported lock screen. 1280×800 screen resolution is much lower than on our other picks, so text and images are visibly less sharp. Running content-heavy websites or multiple apps can cause lagging and freezing. On sale in the 32 GB size.
Read more: The Best Android Tablets
Apple MacBook Air (15-Inch, M3, 2024, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) — Former Pick
Best Buy deal price: $900; street price: $1,050
What we like: A former pick. A version of our upgrade MacBook pick with an older processor, this is last year’s model of the bigger sibling to our top pick, with a larger screen, a larger touchpad, and better speakers. Keeps cooler and performs better than the 13-inch one during long, intensive tasks.
Other things to know: Has the same two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe port, and headphone jack as its smaller sibling. Deal price on all colors.
Read more: The Best MacBooks
Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet (32 GB) — Budget Pick
Amazon deal price: $65 (deal on blue or purple); street price: $120
What we like: Our budget pick for the best tablets for kids. Solid option for watching videos. Durable and more drop-resistant than our top pick. Good parental controls. Two-year warranty.
Other things to know: Worse screen and a much more limited app selection compared to our top pick but a fraction of the price. Deal is for the 32 GB in blue or purple.
Read more: The Best Tablet for Kids
Apple iPad Air (13-Inch, M3, 128 GB) — Upgrade Pick
Amazon deal price: $680 ; street price: $740
What we like: The larger version of our budget pro tablet pick that we recommend for a bigger digital canvas. Same powerful M3 processor as the last-gen iPad Pro, plus an improved FaceTime camera. Solid, bright screen. Works with most iPad Pro accessories including the Pencil Pro.
Other things to know: More expensive than its predecessor. Doesn’t support Apple’s Magic Keyboard. Lacks iPad Pro features like 120 Hz OLED screen and FaceID; unlocks via fingerprint sensor instead. Deal on all colors with 128 GB of storage. Not the lowest price we’ve seen (was $670 in May) but still a good deal.
Read more: The iPad Is the Best Tablet
Apple iPad Air (11-Inch, M3, 128 GB) — Upgrade Pick
Amazon deal price: $480; street price: $550
Best Buy deal price: $480 ; street price: $550
What we like: Our upgrade tablet pick. Delivers iPad Pro power without the iPad Pro price. Same powerful M3 processor as in the last-gen MacBook Air. FaceTime camera is great for work calls. Compatible with Apple’s more full-featured accessories. Linking a mouse, keyboard, and monitor unlocks a macOS-like desktop.
Other things to know: Also our budget pro tablet pick. We found a much larger difference between the iPad Air’s display and the iPad Pro’s display than we did between that of the Air and that of the entry-level iPad. Solid 128 GB base storage. Deal isn’t as good as previous sales for Costco members.
Read more: The iPad Is the Best Tablet
Huion Inspiroy H640P Drawing Tablet — Budget Pick
Amazon deal price: $27; street price: $35
What we like: Our budget pick for the best drawing tablet. Feels similar to pricier models in both stylus tracking and drawing experience. Features six programmable hotkeys. Comfortable, full-size wireless pen comes with eight replacement nibs.
Other things to know: Not quite as sleek as our other picks. Not wireless. Charges via Micro-USB. The buttons on the tablet rattle — only a little, but still.
Read more: The Best Drawing Tablets
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra Tablet — Worth Considering
Samsung deal price: $850 ; street price: $1,200
Best Buy deal price: $850 ; street price: $1,200
What we like: A pro tablet worth considering if you’re looking for an Android tablet. 14.6-inch 120 Hz AMOLED display with 16:10 aspect ratio. Huge home screen lets you go wild with app widgets and still probably have some room to spare. Samsung’s custom version of Android unlocks useful features for the included S Pen stylus. A good choice for office work.
Other things to know: More expensive than many laptops. Not so good for more intensive tasks such as editing photos or videos. Completed some tasks significantly slower than the iPad Air. If you want to type on the tablet, you’ll likely also want the Book Cover Keyboard.
Read more: The Best Pro Tablets
