iPad Vs. Android Tablets: Which One Should You Choose In 2024?

Tablets have occupied a place in our every day, digital lives for over a decade, but it's hard to argue the dominance of the iPad. In Q4 of 2023, Apple's tablet shipments represented 40% of worldwide sales, while the other top four Android tablet manufacturers combined amounted to just under 39%. But while those numbers tell a story, do consumer choices tell the full tale, or are Android tablets better than their sales volumes imply?

While Apple keeps pushing the boundaries of what can even be called a tablet, equipping their top-end iPads with the latest, desktop-class M-series chips, the iPad's software experience hasn't changed all that much over the years, except some extra multitasking features large enough to warrant splitting the tablet version of iOS into its own operating system called iPadOS. Meanwhile, although the tablet version of Android remains mostly the same as the phone version, manufacturers like Google and Samsung have added things like taskbars and more robust split-screening to their tablets.

So, which tablet offers the best bang for your buck in 2024? Spoiler: the answer depends on who you are and what you plan on using a tablet for. But to help you understand the differences between devices, we'll break down each ecosystem's offerings by performance, app selection, features, price, and more.

Look, there's no sugarcoating it: Apple's iPad lineups simply blow Android competition out of the water when it comes to performance. The latest iPad Air has Apple's desktop-class M2 chip inside, while the extremely thin iPad Pro has the M4, which hasn't even made it into a Mac yet. Considering that the very best Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, is still rocking last year's top-end smartphone chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, there's really no competition here. Even the cheapest iPad, which costs $349 still outperforms the majority of Android tablets in its price range.

However, raw specs aren't the whole story. Yes, the iPad excels at intensive tasks like gaming and video editing, but outside of certain applications, Apple has thus far deigned to unlock a lot of the capabilities afforded to the iPad by its beefy spec sheet. There's no full desktop mode with windowed apps like you'll find on Samsung's most affordable tablet, nor can you run the kind of professional software on a seventh-generation iPad Pro that you can on a MacBook. All that horsepower under the hood doesn't translate to real-world use.

Even so, it's undeniable that if performance is what's most important to you, the latest iPad Air and iPad Pro are hands down the best-performing tablets on the market, tearing up benchmarks against the best Android tablets. The only devices that give them a run for their processing power are Windows PCs crammed into tablet form factors such as the ASUS ROG Flow Z13. If you're after pure computing power, you might be better off with one of those than an iPad Pro since it can run games and professional software, but we're getting outside the scope of this article with that comparison.

No matter which tablet you buy, it's ultimately only as useful as the apps it can access. Without third-party apps, your fancy new iPad or Android tablet is nothing but an expensive slab. App selection is an advantage the iPad has long enjoyed over its Android-powered competitors, but the tides are turning.

While Android's tablet app selection has grown over the years, it remains leaner compared to what's available in the App Store on iPadOS. The iPad is well-known for the wide range of creative apps it has access to, which has attracted many visual artists, musicians, writers, and other creative types to its ecosystem. Those apps are plentiful on iPadOS, and some of the most popular apps for artists, like Procreate, are not available on Android. Others, though available, are not optimized, and something you want to avoid on your Android Tablet. Luckily, there are browser-based alternatives for many apps.

However, things are starting to look up for Android apps. At time of this writing, most of the most common apps that most people will use most have a robust tablet experience. Meanwhile, apps that were previously exclusive to the iPad, such as Good Notes for stylus-based handwritten notes and LumaFusion for robust video editing, are now available on Android tablets. Another Android benefit is the ability to sideload apps. While Apple is recently being made to support third-party app stores in certain regions, Android has always embraced apps from alternative sources, meaning you can get apps that aren't available in the Google Play Store, because they violate the rules or, like Epic Games and "Fortnite," rely on sideloading as a distribution model.

Another important aspect that may influence your tablet choice is the user experience. How much friction will you encounter in day-to-day use, and how pleasant will the experience be overall? When it comes to making a pleasing user experience, Apple is well versed, and the iPad is no exception to the seamless experience Apple users have come to expect. Apps are generally fluid and modern-looking, while the overall experience of navigating iPadOS is fluid and intuitive in most situations.

The experience of using an Android tablet is less polished in most cases. While they're not the majority, you're more likely to encounter apps that haven't been updated in many years, leaving them with an out-of-date look that can be confusing from a user experience perspective and visually unappealing. Other apps that aren't optimized for large screens look empty when stretched to tablet proportions, and their phone-centric interfaces can be aggravating to use on a larger scale. Additionally, there are more likely to be confusing menus and hidden settings on Android that may deter those who don't want to spend a lot of time learning the ins and outs of their devices. However, those rougher qualities mean a more customizable experience. 

You can customize every aspect of an Android device, and tablets are no exception. Plus, while the iPad forces power users to wear kiddie gloves when it comes to things like file management, Android works more like a traditional computer, allowing full file access and app sideloading from the Internet. The inability to do these things on the iPad is not because any iPad is incapable of doing so, but because Apple has decided for its users that they are not allowed to use it like a real computer.

While some people buy a tablet to have an extra screen for Netflix, YouTube, and web browsing, power users know that it's hard to get the most out of a tablet without accessories. Cases with kickstands will let you prop your tablet on a desk or table while keyboards can make productivity work a lot easier, and USB accessories can help you turn that glass slab into a laptop replacement.

Apple has long provided a robust range of accessories from the iPad. Most notable is the Magic Keyboard, which has received plenty of praise over the years for its sleek design and functionality. Then there's the Apple Pencil, which despite having a confusing array of options is often lauded by those who use the iPad for visual art or handwritten notes and was recently released in a Pro variant. However, Apple's accessories are rather expensive. $349 for the new Magic Keyboard is a hard number to swallow, and $129 for the Pencil Pro is a lot to fork over for a stylus. Thankfully, Apple also enjoys a robust third-party accessory ecosystem, with brands from Logitech to Dbrand making accessories every iPad user should have.

Things are a bit leaner on the Android side. Thanks to the fragmentation of the Android tablet market, there's no singularly dominant tablet that accessory manufacturers can invest in designs for, so most opt not to release accessories for products that won't see widespread adoption. It's often up to the tablet manufacturers themselves to produce accessories for their products, and some are better about doing so than others. Samsung, for example, makes a broad range of keyboard cases and screen covers for its Galaxy Tab S line, but they're just as expensive as Apple's.

While both Android and iPadOS have their major strengths and weaknesses, an iPad of one variety or another will be the best tablet for most people. The combination of fluid software, industry leading hardware, and user experience — especially for those already in Apple's walled garden ecosystem — all curated by a single entity in Apple is a winning combination that the fragmented Android market can't compete with. In addition, the iPad is better supported with first- and third-party accessories, and there's a version of it available at a variety of price points from high to low. However, that doesn't mean there's no place for Android tablets.

Despite the iPad's lead in certain areas, there are those for whom an Android tablet will be more useful than an iPad. Those who don't own any other Apple products may find the iPad hard to integrate into their digital lives, and those who love customizing every aspect of a device will find Android more freeing in that regard. Additionally, those who want to do things like stream games, sideload apps, and more generally have freedom over their own experience rather than have that experience dictated by the manufacturer will be happier with an Android tablet.