Best Tablets in Australia (2026)

The iPad Air M4 launched in March 2026 and is the most capable iPad Air yet. Apple has upgraded from the M3 to the M4 chip - the same processor that debuted in the iPad Pro - bringing a significant leap in CPU performance, GPU capability, and Neural Engine throughput for Apple Intelligence tasks. The 13-inch Liquid Retina display is the same excellent panel as before: bright, colour-accurate, and great for everything from creative work to streaming. Apple Pencil Pro support means designers and note-takers are well served, and the Magic Keyboard Folio turns it into a genuine laptop alternative. The 128GB Wi-Fi model listed here costs well over a thousand dollars less than the iPad Pro while delivering performance that genuinely rivals it in everyday use. The trade-offs are the same as always - no OLED display, no ProMotion 120Hz, and no expandable storage - but for most Australians who want a premium iPad experience without the Pro price tag, this is the one to get.

The Galaxy Tab S12+ replaces the Tab S11 in this slot. The S11's Australian listing was down to its last unit, and the S12+ is the newer generation, sold and shipped by Amazon AU. It sits between the standard and Ultra models: the 12.6-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen is a good step up from the S11's 11 inches, yet at 5.3mm and 553g it is more than 150g lighter than the Ultra, so it still works on the lap and in a bag. Expert Reviews measured an HDR peak of 1,452 nits and close-to-accurate colour in the Natural profile. Inside is MediaTek's Dimensity 9500 with 12GB of RAM, which Expert Reviews found about 20% quicker than last year's Tab S11 Ultra in Geekbench 6, enough for Photoshop, which now runs on Android tablets for the first time, and for demanding 3D games. Battery life is the other headline: the same outlet's looping video test ran for 16 hours 14 minutes. The S Pen is in the box, there is a microSD slot for cards up to 1TB, and Samsung now sells its trackpad Pro Keyboard for the Plus as well as the Ultra. The catches are price, since this generation costs noticeably more than the last, no Wi-Fi 7, and 45W charging that takes about an hour and a half to fill it.

The second-generation Idea Tab Pro is the big-screen Android tablet to buy if you want room to work without paying for an iPad Air or a Galaxy Tab S11. The screen grows to 13 inches and 3.5K resolution, still at up to 144Hz, with a paper-like anti-glare finish that cuts reflections under office lights and makes handwriting with the included Lenovo pen feel less like writing on glass. It is bright enough for a sunny room at 600 nits typical and 800 peak. The bigger change is inside. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 replaces the first model's MediaTek chip and is a clear step up for multitasking, split-screen study and mainstream games, and this Australian model pairs it with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, plus a microSD slot that takes cards up to 2TB. Four JBL speakers with Dolby Atmos make it a good lounge-room streaming screen as well as a desk one. The compromises are the familiar ones for the price: it is an LCD, so blacks look grey in a dark room next to the OLED Samsungs above it, there is no cellular version, and Lenovo's Android update window is shorter than Samsung's or Apple's. The keyboard is extra. For study, note-taking and streaming on a big screen, it is the value pick.