Engadget
Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale is starting to wind down, but there are still a handful of good iPad deals to be had. The company's second Prime Day-style sale this year has knocked down the prices of many Apple tablets, as well as slabs from other tech giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft. To help those looking to upgrade from an older iPad or just get a bit of holiday shopping done early, we've sorted through the offers to find the ones that are most worthwhile. Here are the best iPad deals, plus the best deals on other tablets, that we're still seeing for Amazon's October Prime Day event.
Apple's most affordable tablet, the 10.2-inch iPad, is on sale for $249 right now. It may have an old-school design that won't work with all the latest iPad accessories, but it's still the best iPad for people on a budget, as it has most of the crucial features you'd expect from an Apple tablet. It earned a score of 86 from us for its solid performance, sharp screen, TouchID-capable Home button and good battery life. The only major downside to this model right now is that it still sports Apple's old Lightning port rather than USB-C.
The new base iPad has dropped to $399 for October Prime Day. It has an updated design that makes it look more like an iPad Air or Pro, with slim bezels and no Home button. We gave it a score of 85 for its improved performance, new landscape-oriented front-facing camera, USB-C charging and solid battery life.
Apple's iPad Air is on sale for $500 right now. It's arguably the best iPad for most people thanks to its solid performance rendered by the M1 chipset, big 10.9-inch display, USB-C charging and second-generation Apple Pencil support. M1 might not be the latest Apple chipset, but it's powerful enough to handle pretty much any task you throw at it — and since the Air works with keyboard accessories, it could be a decent laptop replacement when on the go.
The Apple iPad mini has dropped to $400 for October Prime Day. It's the best small tablet on the market right now and really your only option if you want a true one-hand-friendly iPad. It's powered by Apple's A15 Bionic chip and sports a TouchID-toting power button, solid cameras, a good battery life and a USB-C port for charging.
The Google Pixel Tablet is down to $409, which is a new low and $90 off Google's list price. If you need more space, the 256GB version is down to $509. The Pixel Tablet doesn't quite topple Samsung's Galaxy Tab S9 (which isn't on sale) strictly as a tablet, but its big selling point is its included charging speaker dock. Hook the slate up to that, and it becomes a smart display similar to Google's Nest Hub Max. Its display, processor and design are all up to the mark as well. The device earned a score of 85 in our review this past June.
Amazon's Fire 7 tablet is on sale for $40 for October Prime Day. It's the cheapest Fire tablet in the lineup, and it's really only a viable option if you have a strict budget to adhere to since other Fire tablets provide much stronger performance. The Fire 7 includes a 7-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, up to 32GB of storage and up to 10 hours of battery life.
The Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet has dropped to $60 for Prime Big Deal Days. It's a solid step-up from the Fire 7 if you can spend a little bit more money. You'll get an 8-inch HD touchscreen, a hexa-core processor, a 5MP rear-facing camera in addition to the selfie cam and a battery that should last up to 13 hours on a single charge.
For a bit more than that, the Fire HD 8 Plus adds an extra gigabyte of RAM (for 3GB total) and wireless charging support. It’s down to $70, which is $5 more than its all-time low still $50 off its normal street price. This tablet still isn't blazingly fast, but the extra memory can make navigating Fire OS just a bit smoother. And if you grab Amazon’s wireless charging dock, you can use the tablet like a smart display.
The 2021 Fire HD 10 tablet has dropped to $75 for Prime Day. One of the more powerful slabs in Amazon's lineup, the HD 10 provides a 10.1-inch FHD touchscreen, an octa-core processor, up to 64GB of internal storage and a 12-hour battery life. This year's Fire HD 10 is up for pre-order now and it includes a 25-percent bump up in performance, an improved front-facing camera and a lighter design.
Amazon's new Fire Max 11 tablet is on sale for $150 for Prime Day. The slab has an 11-inch 2000 x 1200 touchscreen, an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, up to 128GB of built-in storage and up to 14 hours of battery life. It can also work with a detachable keyboard and stylus, so you could use it like a 2-in-1 laptop.
The Kids versions of various Amazon tablets are also discounted. The Fire HD 8 Kids and Kids Pro are each down to $75, while the Fire HD 10 Kids and Kids Pro are down to $120 apiece. Each of those deals matches an all-time low. As a reminder, these tablets come with the same base hardware as their "normal" counterparts, but add a protective case with a built-in kickstand, two-year warranties, simpler default software and a year's subscription to Amazon's Kids+ service, which includes a selection of child-friendly content. The Kids models have more substantial rubbery cases, while the Kids Pro are meant for bigger kids and use slimmer, hard plastic cases.
Speaking of 2-in-1s, the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is down to $1,800 for a high-end configuration with a Core i7-1265U CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. While that's still a good chunk of change, it's about $100 off this model's typical street price. The Surface Pro 9 isn't all that different from its predecessors, but it's hard to do better if you want a tablet that works like a laptop. Currently, it's the top Windows pick in our tablet buying guide. Just be aware that there's no stylus or keyboard included with this deal.
Your October Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Fall Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
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