The best tablets for students

As a new university student, you may think the hard work has already been done. Exams are finished, and you’re waiting for those all-important results to find out whether you’re heading off to your first choice or maybe even further afield.   Once that’s out of way, the real hard work begins – deciding what you’re taking with you to your new student digs. New bedding, maybe even a selection of posters from your favourite films (warning: at least one person will have a Pulp Fiction poster in their room) – but what about the tech?   Should you take a PC or laptop with you, or is a tablet the way forward? Read on for more.

Many new students will be stuck choosing between a laptop or a tablet for doing course work, taking to lectures and generally studying in their room. Both items can cost a lot of money, so making sure you get the best for what you’re paying is key – and ensuring the technology is practical for you is a great way of doing that.

In terms of versatility and multi-tasking, it is generally down to personal preference. If you’re sitting at a desk focusing on a single piece of work, then the integrated keyboard of a laptop is a big bonus. However, tablets allow you to have several windows running that you can swap between with a simple swipe, and their smaller size means you can use them in awkward places.

When you need to do essays, a laptop’s built-in keyboard is likely to make your studies a little more comfortable – but nowadays Bluetooth connected wireless keyboards are making the gap between tablets and laptops ever smaller.

Whether a tablet for studies suits you is very much down to the course being studied. If higher processing power is required to run advanced software, or the course sees you heavily relying on Photoshop and inDesign, then you’re going to get more use out of a laptop. When writing essays only, a tablet might be the better option – allowing for flexibility and portability, as well as the opportunity to even handwrite on them with the use of a built-in pen utility.

Searching for the best tablet for university? We’ve prepared a list of the best tablets for students – covering everything from portability to battery life.

At 4gadgets, you can find the best Samsung tablets for students and the best Apple tablets too. Our refurbished tablets are always of the highest quality, and part of our promise is that every single device is thoroughly checked by our team of professionals.

We’ve picked out the best tablets for university below:

The Apple iPad Pro 12.9 is one of the best tablets for students who are studying creative courses. It’s one of Apple’s most powerful tablets, meaning that you get a tablet for your studies that can handle even the most demanding tasks.

There’s a beautiful HDR display, thanks to an exceptional liquid retina XDR screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a great resolution. An excellent device for photo manipulation and editing, this powerful tablet can even be paired with a keyboard and mouse to turn into one of the most portable laptops available.

One of the best Samsung tablets for students, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 LITE is an affordable Android device that despite having dated technology, still holds up well when it comes to performance.

It may not be able to compete with newer options, but the Tab S6 LITE can be used with the S-Pen, making it perfect for note-taking while in a busy lecture theatre.

Any option in the iPad Mini series is great if studying requires a lot of reading. Whether you’re learning literature or philosophy, iPad Mini tablets have a portable, light design and a sharp display that are perfect for long study sessions.

More recent additions to the iPad Mini series can use the Apple Pencil too, making it perfect for annotating and note-taking. Connect a Bluetooth keyboard and you may have one of the best tablets for university.

Combine what users love from the iPad Pro with an elegant, thin design and a lower price tag, and you likely have the best tablet for students. The Apple iPad Air 4 can manage demanding apps and multi-tasking with no problem.  The Apple iPad air 4 has a great battery life too – meaning you can get a full day of studying in before you settle down to binge-watch some Netflix or Disney+.

So, if you’re searching for the best tablets for students, then you can’t go far wrong by picking up an Apple tablet for your studies. Apple’s iPad is such a wide-spanning option that if you need something powerful, practical or portable, you’re able to choose a tablet that best suits your course and requirements.

At 4gadgets, nobody does refurbished tablets quite like us. Browse our entire range of Apple and Samsung tablets today and find a tablet to help you on your student journey.