Apple iPad (2021)
Apple’s iconic iPad family covers everything, from the laptop-replacement iPad Pro to the affordable but spunky base model iPad. You won’t find any Android tablets with performance and user-friendliness on par with the base model 2021 iPad, which still has several years of continued software updates lined up.
We swear, we’re not against iOS or Apple products, which are largely great but also somewhat of a known quantity at this point. Apple’s electronics genius is on full display in the tablet sector, so we’d be remiss not to draw your attention to a big discount on a device that’s already a good value at full price. As one of thebest tablet deals this Prime Day, now’s as good a time as ever to go over to the dark side and see what Apple’s budget-friendly but surprisingly powerful tablet can offer.
Android works exceptionally well on smartphones, and there are plenty of great Android tablets frommanufacturers like Samsungthat do a good job of porting the experience over to a larger, wider screen. You’ll find moretablet-friendly Android appsthan ever, and that selection will surely improve as foldables blur the lines between smartphones and slates. But Apple’s spent years trimming the hedges around its walled garden and streamlining the user experience in a way Android can’t yet match.
To be clear, this isn’t the newest base model iPad. The10th-generation iPad impressed usin our hands-on review, and while we haven’t yet done a full write-up on this 2021 version, we’ve got some experience with it. It’s not too different from the newer one. The Apple A13 Bionic inside doesn’t exactly wow in terms of benchmarks compared to its contemporaries, but it’s a fine chip with decent performance and good efficiency.
While the A13 isn’t quite a powerhouse, and 3 GB of RAM doesn’t seem like much, Apple’s heavily locked-down ecosystem and immensely refined operating system pull a lot of weight. When it comes to everyday use, the base model iPad feels every bit as quick as many Android tablets with higher prices and more powerful hardware.
This uneven playing field comes almost entirely down to the software Apple implements and the software it allows on the Apple Store. iOS’s famously low overhead lets it run surprisingly smoothly not only on a recent, relatively powerful chipset like the A13 Bionic but also ensures a smooth experience on several-year-old hardware. Despite a (somewhat overblown) hiccup here and there, Apple does an excellent job keeping its tablet OS bloat-free and capable of extending the iPad’s lifespan beyond any Android tablet yet released.
And unlike the various budget-friendly Android tablets you might not have heard of (many of which are quite good), you know exactly what you’re getting with the base model iPad. you may be confident you won’t wait forever for apps to load, and when they hit the screen they’re basically guaranteed to work perfectly. You won’t be able to play the hottest 3D games at 120 FPS, but there are a ton of fun titles that run surprisingly well. But the real reason we’re here recommending an Apple iPad today is that you really can’t beat it at just $249. However, if you still aren’t sold, there are plenty ofPrime Day tablet dealsto be had.
