The Best Tablets For College Students – Our Most Recommended Tablets For Taking Notes

Are you a freshman? Heading off to college? You might need some books and pen, right? I don’t think so. Well, we are living in 21th century where most of our tasks are assisted by computers and I don’t agree that it would be fine with just books and pen. In case you’re unaware, you’re going to have a lot to accomplish while being in college and for that you’ll need a tablet for your college purposes with which you can complete your tasks easily and efficiently.

So, in this buying guide, we have picked out some of the best tablets for college students which will help you to take instant notes in classroom and for completing other demanding works as well. You can also chillax awhile in the breaks with YouTube and Netflix.

Most of the tablets nowadays are optimized for general everyday use, but there is a number of tablets which are specifically intended to get work completed. They are 2-in-1 computers which can be used as laptop and tablet both. They are standalone traditional tablets until these keyboards are connected to them, means killing two birds with one stone. Most of them run on Windows operating system which I always recommend to the students and business professionals due to its versatility.

These 2-in-1 computers are comparatively low in price and offer same specifications as a full-fledged laptop and hence, it becomes a great deal for budget buyers. However, if you want to checkout laptops then we do have a dedicated buying guide for laptops for college students at our site Laptop Under Budget where you can get laptops recommendations for every budget and college majors.

The Best Tablets For College Students – Our Top Picks

1. Apple iPad Air (Latest Model)

Best Features

• Apple A14 Bionic
• Supports Apple Pencil
• Supports Magic Keyboard
• Touch ID
• 10 Hours of Battery Life

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The iPad Air is the latest iPad in Apple’s lineup of tablets. It packs the latest A14 Bionic chipset under the hood so if you are looking for the latest offering, the iPad Air is the tablet you should buy. The design is quite updated which looks more like an iPad Pro now but it’s a little thinner than the pros so it’s going to be easy for students to carry around in a backpack.

The display is now 10.9″ which is an upgrade over predecessors, as the previous iPad Air used to come with a 9.7″ display. It’s a Liquid Retina panel with TrueTone and P3 wide color gamut so colors are going to be super rich and vibrant. The intensity of brightness is excellent and it gives you the right amount of brightness in dark and day-light conditions. It does support Apple Pencil so note-taking is going to be very intuitive.

As far as performance is concerned, the iPad Air houses the latest Apple A14 Bionic which gives you that horses for everyday routine. It has power for all tasks whether it be a basic task or a heavy task like video-editing. It never lags and seems ready for any task you throw at it so yes it’s a very powerful tablet for modern computing needs.

Apple ditched Touch ID for Face ID which turned out to be a very bad idea so Apple brought back Touch ID again in the iPad Air but it’s located on the side. You get a USB-C port finally for charging and accessories which is excellent. Apart from that, the iPad Air has the latest Wi-Fi 6 so connectivity with wireless networks is going to be more stronger, secure, and faster.

Best Small Form-Factor Tablet – Apple iPad Mini 2021

The new iPad Mini is the latest offering from Apple, and it has got refreshment after a long time. It is small, and it houses an 8.3-inches display on the front. The display is super color-rich, and it has excellent viewing angles with true-tone color.

It looks like the iPad Air but in a smaller form factor. It is highly portable, and if you are looking for a small tablet for college purposes, this is the best choice. It has the new A15 Bionic chip under the hood, and it is 5G certified if you buy the cellular model.

It has a Touch ID on the side for unlocking and payments, and you get ultrafast Wi-Fi 6 connections. The iPad Mini now gets USB Type-C for charging and connecting accessories.

It supports the 2nd Gen Apple Pencil, but it does not support Apple Keyboard, but you will be able to connect other Bluetooth keyboards.

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2. Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Most Recommended

Best Features

• Excellent Versatility
• USB-C & USB-A Ports
• Ultra-Slim & Light
• All-Day Battery
• Kickstand Design

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Microsoft Surface Pro 7 has been a globally awarded and adorned convertible laptop/tablet right since its launch in the global market. Powerful beastly specifications, paired with a very compact, and ergonomic form-factor make this device a global pioneer in the arena of convertibles. Speaking about the specifications, it is powered by the 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor (also available with Intel i7 processor) under the hood.

For multitasking, the device comes with an 8GB of RAM which is sufficient for most of the users, however, there is an option for 16 GB RAM if that isn’t enough for your work.  The storage on the tablet is backed by a 128 GB SSD which is now significantly faster and efficient than the previous generations. On the software front, the tablet runs on Windows 10 Home, which is considered to be one of the most productive OS of all time.

What makes this tablet ideal for college students is its convertible form-factor and ability to be used as a powerful desktop replacement. The device sports a 12.3-inch PixelSense screen, which has extremely high contrast and low glare so that the users can work throughout the day without straining their eyes. This convertible also supports a long list of compatible peripherals such as Type covers, surface Dock, wireless display adaptor, and more.

Finally, the device provides 10.5 hours of continuous usage on a single charge, making it ideal for students and for everyone who requires productivity on the go. All in all, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is one of the best tablets for college students who are looking for a portable and versatile driver that is much similar to a full-fledged laptop. 

3. Microsoft Surface Go 2 low budget pick

Best Features

• Battery Life up to 10 Hours
• Laptop Versatility
• Kickstand Design
• USB-C Port
• Windows 10 Home

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The Mircosoft Surface Go 2 is an excellent tablet for college students on a budget. It focuses on providing the Surface Pro experience at a much cheaper cost. The Surface Go 2 has been a great performer for students and productivity.

It has a 10.5-inch screen on the front that is bright and colorful. It supports Surface Pen, which lets you take notes and draw if you are a digital artist, but the pen is sold separately. The Surface Go 2 has a kick-stand on the back, so it makes a great combo with S-Pen, giving you a comfortable position for taking notes or browsing the web.

As far as battery life goes, the Surface Go 2 has one of the best battery lives in the segment. It lasts 10 hours on a single charge if you are taking notes and working on documents. The performance is decent, not the Surface Pro level, but excellent for a budget device, and it is 64% faster than its predecessor.

The design on Surface Go 2 is highly versatile and light-weight, which makes it suitable for those who need to carry their tablets, and it easily slips inside in a small sleeve. It weighs 544 grams, including a keyboard cover which is way lesser than the latest iPad with the Apple Smart Keyboard.

The Microsoft Surface Go 2 has a USB Type-C port, making it future-proof and suitable for accessories. The entry-level still does not have a USB-C connection. The tablet has a front HD camera, so video-calling and attending lectures are a breeze.

So, is the Microsoft Surface Go 2 an excellent buy for college students? Well, it is an excellent device for the price, and its lightweight design and versatility with Windows OS built-in makes it one of the best tablets for college students on a budget.

4. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 note-taking pick

Best Features

• Robust Performance
• S-Pen Included
• 120Hz Screen, HDR 10+
• Dolby Atmos Sound
• DeX Mode

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The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is the best Samsung tablet for students and it is yet another keyboard attachable tablet in our list that is backed by a long list of specifications and attractive features. The tablet sports an 11-inch IPS LCD display. The display on the tablet is of a resolution 2560 x 1600 pixels, which delivers cinematic vividness, detail, and deep contrast to a screen that fits in your hands.

Speaking about the innards of the device, it is powered by a Snapdragon 865+ Octa-Core Processor paired with a massive 6GB / 8GB of RAM for intensive app handing and heavy multitasking. Storage on the device is bolstered by internal storage of 128GB/256GB/512GB which can be further expanded via microSD card upto 1 TB. The tablet runs on Android 11, which is the latest and the most widely used mobile operating system.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is also one of the best tablets for photo-editing and photography, as it comes with a 13-megapixel primary rear camera, which can capture moments with great detailing. The tablet gets fully charged in slightly over 2 hours and can provide a backup of about 15 hours on a single charge. The tablet comes with several other productive features such as multitasking mode, seamless Samsung’s connectivity, and DeX which transforms your tablet into a PC. 

All-in-all, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is the best tablet for students irrespective of their age and major, making it one of the best tablets for note-taking 2021.

Read our Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 review for more.

Best Tablet For College Students on a Budget – Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite

The Tab S6 Lite is the latest offering from Samsung. It focuses on providing most features from the original Tab S6 at a much lower price to make it affordable for students. The first highlight that every student would love is the support for S-Pen at this price segment, and the exciting part about it is that it comes within the box, making it usable for taking notes right out of the box.

Under the hood, the tablet packs the Exynos 9611 octa-core processor, which lies in Samsung’s mid-range family of processors that focuses on efficiency while delivering maximum battery-life. The overall interface and performance are fluidic and seams seamless with the One UI that is based on Android 10. It should run heavy games like PUBG, Call of Duty at extreme FPS on medium graphics settings. (If you play games and looking for more recommendations, do check our list of best gaming tablets)

Coming to the display, this is where the Tab S6 Lite gets dull. There is enough space with a 10.4″ screen on the front, but it’s not AMOLED. Yes, Samsung cost cuts here by providing a TFT screen that doesn’t seem as vibrant as the Super AMOLEDs.

So, if you care about getting an AMOLED on your tablet, then you should probably get the Tab S5e or the original expensive Tab S6 that sits at the top in the Galaxy Tab lineup. Still, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is a great value, and it is one of the best tablets for college students on a budget.

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5. Apple iPad Pro 11″ Best-all rounder

Best Features

• Robust Performance
• S-Pen Included
• 120Hz Screen, HDR 10+
• Dolby Atmos Sound
• DeX Mode

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Apple iPad’s need no introduction in the arena of tablets. These devices run on the most refined and clean OS created till date. Running on the iPad OS 13.4, the tablet comes with a large 11-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2388 x 1668 pixels. The display works on Apple’s most advanced display technology which has a 120Hz refresh rate and is the brightest and least reflective in real-world usage.

Apple claims that the new iPad Pro is faster than 92%  portable notebooks sold in the last 12 months which is insane considering the form factor of the device, and all that made possible with the help of brutally powerful A12Z Bionic which is lying under the hoods of new iPad Pro.

In simple words, the new iPad Pro delivers incredible responsiveness and is powerful enough to handle complex actions like editing 4K videos and multitasking with ease. The device comes with 6GB of RAM and comes with varied storage options up to massive 1TB which is again a huge plus for users who easily get out of storage real quick.

It comes with a single USB Type-C port and it packs a lot of Apple’s proprietary features such as FaceID, and also supports SIM if you opt for the cellular version. The tablet supports a really large number of apps for all productivity and entertainment purposes, therefore, making a way in our list of best tablets for college students.

As far as note-taking is concerned, the iPad Pro now supports the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil which is way more practical and easy-to-use than the previous generation. Unlike its predecessor, the 2nd Gen Pencil sticks to the side of the iPad and charges wirelessly while placed in there. Switching between pen and eraser is now seamless with just a tap on the Apple Pencil so you don’t have to reach for an eraser tool on the screen every time.

The bottom line is that if you have $700 in your pocket to spend, then no tablet comes even close to the new iPad Pro in terms of usability and performance. It’s a total winner and takes the crown for the best tablet for note-taking 2021. 

6. Apple iPad 10.2″ Best budget pick

Best Features

• A13 Bionic Chip
• Apple 4-Core Graphics
• Apple Pencil Support
• Keyboard Cover Support
• Wi-Fi & Wi-Fi+Cellular

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Here comes the latest iPadOS-based Apple iPad 10.2″, which is a smaller, more compact, and cheaper alternative to the aforementioned Apple iPad Pro and iPad Air in the list. This tablet for students sports a 10.2-inch Retina Display, which comes with a resolution of 2160 x 1620 pixels. Thanks to its smaller screen size, the display on the tablet generate very accurate colors and has a bright and vivid viewing angle.

Speaking about the innards of the iPad 2021, it is powered by Apple A13 Bionic chipset with Quad-Core Graphics paired with 3GB of RAM for multitasking and app handling. The tablet also comes stuffed with a pair of really good cameras. It sports an 8 MP iSight primary camera which can record 1080p Full HD Video and a 12 MP secondary front-facing camera.

As far as storage on the iPad is concerned, it comes with a variety of storage options varying between 32GB / 128GB capacity. The tablet has great ergonomics and comes with very pleasing aesthetics, making it ideal for everyday usage for a college student.

Finally, the best selling point of the iPad 2020 is its battery backup which can easily provide 10 hours of continuous usage on a single charge. All in all, the latest iPad 2021 Model is the best tablet for college to buy in 2021.

Read our iPad 2021 review for more.

7. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Cheapest pick

Best Features

• Narrow Bezels
• Octa-Core Processor
• Dolby Atmos Sound
• Expandable Storage
• Built-in Kids Mode

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The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is the latest offering from Samsung, and it is an excellent cheap tablet for students who don’t want to spend much. It has an 8.7″ HD screen on the front that seems big enough and spacious. The best part is that it’s an LCD screen, which is excellent at this price point.

So, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is the best on the display segment with its colorful screen. There is no announcement regarding stylus support from Samsung for this tablet, although students can use an aftermarket one and do note-taking tasks.

The tablet has a great metal build and seems premium in hand with the boxy form factor. With the lightweight design and slim profile, it becomes easy to slip this tablet into the bag or sleeve and carry it around without feeling any substantial weight. Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite houses the MediaTek Helio P22T octa-core processor and 3GB RAM on the base variant that powers the tablet and takes care of all the multi-tasking tasks that you would do.

The base variant is excellent but is relatively underpowered. For students, we recommend the 4 GB RAM variant as most of you have to deal with multiple documents while taking notes simultaneously in the classroom. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is the best tablet for college students on a budget that offers a big colorful screen, a nice build, and a battery that lasts long.

7. Samsung Galaxy Tab A7

Best Features

• Exynos 9611
• 10.4″ IPS LCD
• MicroSD up to 1TB
• Dolby Atmos Speakers
• 10 Hours Battery Life

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The Samsung Tab A7 is the newest offering from the manufacturer that focuses on the budget tablets category. It comes at a super affordable price and offers a big 10″ screen with Dolby powered speakers, so for entertainment purpose, the Tab A7 is a superb contender.

It is for those students who don’t want to spend much and still want a 10-inch tablet. The tablet packs Snapdragon 662 processor paired with 3GB RAM, which offers light users decent performance.

It doesn’t come with S-pen, although you can buy a stylus separately if you do note-taking. Despite being a budget tablet, the Tab A7 still houses a microSD card slot, and the storage can be expanded up to 1TB, so running out of storage is not a problem here.

Overall, the Tab A7 is one of the best budget tablets for students who want a large tablet without spending much.

9. Fire HD 10

Best Features

• Hands-Free with Alexa
• Dual-Band Wi-Fi
• USB-C & Fast Charging
• 12 Hours Battery Life
• Dual Speakers

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Amazon’s Kindle although being famous for providing economical and feature-packed performance-based tablets, this time the brand has come out with a really strong and able set of multi-purpose tablets, under Fire series. One such offering for the company is the Fire HD 10, which is one of the best tablets in Amazon’s Fire series of tablets. The tablet comes with a decent built and gives a soft-touch finish.

The Fire HD 10 sports a 10-inch HD IPS LCD which comes with an anti-glare coating on top of it. Unlike most of the other tablets in the segment, this comes with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Speaking about the innards of this device it is powered by a 2.0 GHz Octa-Core processor paired with 2 GB of RAM. Storage on the tablet varies from 32GB / 64GB, which can, however, be expanded upto 512GB via a microSD card. It runs Fire OS 5 out of the box and is, therefore, ideal for both everyday usage and reading purposes for the students.

The Fire HD 10 also comes with a personalized voice assistance system under Alexa, which makes it easy for users to give voice commands and questions for quick and reliable answers.

All in all, the Fire HD 10 is one of the best cheap tablets for students who are temporarily looking for a tablet for taking notes and E-reading purpose, alongside for binge-watching with Amazon Prime Contents.

10. Lenovo Chromebook Duet

Best Features

• Magnetic Keyboard Design
• Dual-Tone Design
• Super Fast & Secure
• 10-Hours Battery-Life
• Google One Membership

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The Lenovo Chromebook Duet is an excellent device for students and business people who need to carry their daily driver to places. It is light-weight and houses a detachable keyboard design that doubles up this tablet as a laptop. The keyboard sticks with the tablet with a magnetic mechanism which is seamless so when you need to type anything just plug it with the tablet for a laptop-like feel. It’s built for productivity so yes the battery life has to be long-lasting and you get 10 hours of screen on time so that’s excellent.

The design is elegant and looks minimal as you would expect from a device that is intended for productivity. The bezels are thin and the corners are round which makes it look quite similar to iPad Pro. The back is unique as you get a dual-tone design that is made of aluminum alloy so yes it does give a premium touch to it.

When it comes to performance, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet never lags because it is intended for light tasks such as presentations, spreadsheets, internet-browsing, and entertainment. It serves its purpose perfectly and it has all the right set of specifications to make it a purposeful machine for students.

It boots up in a couple of seconds and it always seems ready when you need to work. Apart from that, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet comes with a free 1-year Google One membership which includes 100GB cloud storage.

More Recommendations

11. CHUWI UBook Tablet with Keyboard

• Battery-Efficient Processor
• Windows 10 Home
• U-Shaped Kickstand
• USB-C Port
• 4096 Pressure Sensitivity Levels

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CHUWI UBook is a 2-in-1 touchscreen convertible tablet/laptop with a solid design and compact form-factor. The laptop has also been a global bestseller when it comes to a convertible laptop. Speaking about the specifications, the device comes with the latest Intel Gemini-Lake N4100 Quad-Core Processor paired up with an 8GB RAM for fast and efficient performance. Multitasking on this device is very well handled by the processor-RAM duo.

Speaking about the other specifications, it sports an 11.6-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1280 pixels. For the storage, it comes with a 256 GB SSD storage options, for faster, efficient, and reliable file transfers. The laptop being a convertible, can be detached from the keyboard and used as a tablet. Therefore, it comes with a long list of connectivity options that include USB Type-C which doesn’t let its users compromise on productivity.

Apart from all the sets of powerful specifications, it comes with a premium form-factor and built. Accordingly, it comes with a full magnesium alloy body weighs less than 1.7 lbs with the keyboard attached and only 0.6 inches thin. The tablet also comes with a pen to support handwriting. This makes the editing of documents and images ease.

Thanks to all these aforementioned specifications and features, the CHUWI UBook is evidently the best convertible windows tablet for college students.

Processor	Intel Gemini-Lake N4100 Quad-Core Processor
RAM	8 GB RAM
Storage	256 GB SSD
Display	11.6-inch IPS LCD with 1920 x 1280 Resolution
Camera	Rear – 5MP | Front – VGA
Operating System	Windows 10 Home
Battery Life	6 hours
Weight	1.7 lbs with keyboard

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12. Lenovo Yoga Book

• Thinnest & Lightest
• Theatre -Like Multimedia
• 360° Hinge
• Halo Keyboard
• Long Battery Life

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The Lenovo Yoga Book is one of the most exciting devices in the consumer market on which you can type, write, and copy your physical notes directly on the screen. The other part of the device which is connected to the screen with a stylish watchband hinge is where you can draw or take digital notes. While typing, that part turns into a touch keyboard where you can type on your documents and files.

The design is pretty solid and feels premium than the price it comes for which is really great for students who are looking for something significant for their everyday wear and tear. As far as inbuilt ports are concerned, the Lenovo Yoga Book comes equipped with a Micro USB port for juicing up the device, a 3.5 mm jack and microSD card slot for further storage.

Talking about the innards of the tablet, the Lenovo Yoga Book houses Intel Atom x5 – Z8550 processor under the hood which is not so powerful and one of the reasons for providing limited processing power is battery life which is why the Lenovo Yoga Book is able to provide whopping 12 hours of battery life on a single charge.

Students in search of a tablet for binge-watching and movies-on-the-go, the Lenovo YogaBook’s crystal clear high definition display is perfect and with the Dolby Atmos speakers, the movies will blast through ears.

Hence, the Lenovo Yoga Book is flawlessly the best overall package for students whether the primary requirement is note-taking, reading or binge-watching.

Processor	Intel Atom x5-Z8550 Processor
RAM	4 GB RAM
Storage	64 GB
Display	10.1 Inch IPS LCD with 1920 x 1200 Resolution
Camera	Rear – 8MP | Front – 2MP
Operating System	Android 6.0 Marshmallow (upgradable to 7.0 Nougat)
Battery Life	12 Hours
Weight	1.52 lbs

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13. Samsung Galaxy Tab A

• Exynos 7904 Chip
• 10.1″ TFT Screen
• MicroSD up to 512GB
• Dolby Atmos Speakers
• 10 Hours Battery Life

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Samsung Galaxy Tab A is the perfect all-purpose tablet for almost everyone, especially for students. It has got a lot of unique and useful features which makes it a perfect tablet for productivity as well as multimedia-based usage.

The best feature of this tablet is, it comes with a large and color-rich 10.1-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. It comes with Samsung’s proprietary Exynos 7940 Octa-Core chipset paired with sufficient 3GB of RAM for efficient multitasking.

It features an 8 megapixels rear camera which is capable to take pretty great quality photos and videos and its 5 megapixels front camera is also ideal for video calling. It runs Android 9.0 Pie straight out of the box and it is also in the queue to receive the latest Android updates.

For storing all your work files, favorite movies, and games, it provides 32GB of inbuilt storage in the base variant and it also features a microSD card slot to further expand its storage. The tablet stays juiced up for over 10 hours of continuous usage on a single charge.

Processor	1.8 GHz Samsung Exynos 7940 Octa-Core Chipset
RAM	3 GB RAM
Storage	32 GB / 64 GB / 128 GB
Display	10.1 Inch IPS LCD with 1920 x 1200 Resolution
Camera	Rear – 8 MP | Front – 5 MP
Operating System	Android 9.0 Pie
Battery Life	10 hours
Weight	1.03 lbs

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14. Fusion 5 Ultra Slim Windows Tablet

• 10.1″ IPS Display
• Windows 10 OS
• Intel Quad-Core CPU
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
• Dual-Speakers

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Fusion 5 tablet is one of the latest and not so popular brands in the arena of tablets. The brand is not so popular and well-known because of its recent inception. Otherwise, the tablet boasts a really interesting set of specifications for the asking price.

The tablet runs Windows 10 out of the box and is powered by the Intel Quad-core processor paired with 2GB of DDR3 RAM. The tablet comes with a faster 64GB SSD of internal storage. The tablet also supports great graphics in it as it is powered by an HD Graphics inside.

Sporting a large, 10.1-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800, the tablet makes it easy to use and perform productive tasks such as document editing/reading and more. Apart from all these regular features, the tablet comes with a detachable keyboard and boasts Mobile Office internally.

It supports all the latest connectivity standards and comes with thumping stereo speakers. The entire device is bolstered by a 6000mAh Li-Po battery, which is expected to provide a battery backup of over 6 hours on a single charge.

Processor	1.44 GHz Intel Atom Z8350 Quad-Core Processor
RAM	2 GB RAM
Storage	64 GB
Display	10.1″ IPS Touchscreen Display with 1280 x 800 Resolution
Camera	Front
Operating System	Windows 10
Battery Life	6 Hours
Weight	1.3 lbs

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That’s it! These were our Experts’ recommended top 10 best tablets for college students. We tested all of them and found all the goods and bads of them to point them out in this tablet buying guide so that you can make an informed decision to buy the best tablet for yourself within your budget.