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Cooking has become a refuge in my digital day. There may be smart ovens, smart fridges, even smart toasters, all around our kitchens, but the fundamentals of cooking remain deliciously analog. Steel blades slice on wooden cutting boards, iron pans heat over fire -- does it get any more analog than fire?
The processes may be forever analog, but the digital world is increasingly in our kitchens. We search recipes, watch videos of unfamiliar techniques, and share results with social media friends. Our phones can do all this, but after months of testing I've come to love the tablet in the kitchen.
The larger screen means I can set it on a stand well away from water and flame and still see what I need to see. Virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant mean I can keep interacting with my tablet even while I'm getting messy, cutting up a chicken, kneading dough, or rolling out cookies.
While the kitchen tablet is an obvious upgrade to make, which tablet is not so obvious. Unfortunately, unless you're really dedicated to Android, Apple has the upper hand in the tablet market. While Android phones can compete (in my view far exceed) with iPhones, the Android tablet market has just never taken off. Apple's hardware is better, more solidly built, faster, with better screens, and the software selection blows Android out of the water.
There are a couple of Android tablets worth considering if you're on a budget, or just don't like iOS, but for most people, iPads are going to be your best choice in the kitchen and out.
### The Best Tablet for Your Kitchen: iPad (2019)
Apple's latest iPad is my favorite kitchen device. It strikes the best balance between form, function, and price. It's not perfect, but it's close enough for $329. You get the all-day battery life the iPad is justly famous for, the solid A10 processor with more RAM than previous models, and a screen large enough to read even when it's perched on a counter a few feet away.
To get the best experience in the kitchen I suggest cranking up the font size in Safari and iBooks for easier reading at a distance. If you want your tablet to double as a music player, grab a Bluetooth speaker like the JBL Link 20 and stream Spotify from the iPad to a speaker while you cook.
The iPad isn't waterproof. It isn't even rated for water resistance. For that reason I highly recommend grabbing a stand. The [Prepara adjustable stand](https://www.amazon.com/Prepara-IPrep-Tablet-Stand-Stylus/dp/B00ERE36R4){: rel=nofollow} is a solid choice, and it includes a stylus (you wouldn't want to draw with it, but it works as an alternative to greasy fingertips. If you want something simpler, the [Stump Stand](https://www.amazon.com/Stump-120V2BK-Stand-Black/dp/B004TSAMFM){: rel=nofollow} works well.
While the entry model iPad is my top pick, it does have some shortcomings. My gripes with the iPad don't really affect its performance in the kitchen, where it holds its own against more expensive iPads, and bests the Android-based tablets I tested.
However, if you plan to use your iPad beyond the kitchen, whether for browsing the web on the couch or watching movies on your next flight, there are a couple drawbacks to keep in mind. The biggest is that the Pencil support is limited to the first-generation Apple Pencil, which is still full price and awkward to charge. You'll also need to tote around an extra lightning cable because this iPad has not yet adopted the more universal USB-C charging standard.
### The iPad Pro: A Worth-It Upgrade
My kitchen tablet does double duty as an all-around family device. My wife uses the Apple Pencil to sketch quilt designs, my kids play Mario Kart, and I attach the keyboard and get work done on it. If your iPad is going to lead a similar double life, and you can afford it, I suggest upgrading to one of the Pro models.
You get a more powerful processor that makes for snappier apps and a bigger screen that makes it easier to see videos from across the kitchen. The wider screen, combined with Apple's new iPadOS gives the screen real estate and tools to pair applications side by side. You can have your favorite cookbook open alongside your web browser. Flick your finger down from the top right corner to control your music and you've pretty much hit peak kitchen tech in my view -- everything you need, nothing you don't.
The screen on the Pro models is much sharper, and brighter as well. The True Tone display makes food photography even more mouth watering, especially I noticed, with cookbooks in the iBooks app, where I could see a marked difference between the displays. On the iPad Pro colors were brighter, blacks richer, and the sharpness made for clearer images.
The other advantage of the iPad Pro comes when you take it out of the kitchen. The speed boost of the faster processor becomes apparent when browsing the web or playing games. And if you do any drawing you'll really appreciate the thinner air gap -- that's the space between the pixels of the screen and the glass that covers it, it's much less on the iPad Pro -- which makes it feel more like drawing on paper.
### The Fire 8 HD and Fire 10 HD: Best Budget Option
If you want a screen in your kitchen and you don't want to spend a lot of money, Amazon's Fire tablets are your best bet. Skip the 7-inch model, it's not much bigger than your phone and the screen is difficult to read at any more than arms length. The 8 and 10-inch models are nicer, I happen to like the 10 the best of the bunch.
One great plus to the Fire 10 HD is Alexa. Thanks to some recent software upgrades Amazon has rolled out, you can treat your Fire tablet like any other Alexa device. It won't wake up by voice command, but once you've got it out of sleep mode, Alexa is there to do your bidding. Ask for recipes, search videos, set timers, and play music without ever lifting a finger.
Bear in mind that the Fire 10 HD isn't the fastest device around. It's adequate for most tasks, browsing the web, watching video, but it's nowhere near as fast as even the entry-level iPad. The screen is also not nearly as sharp, but that's to be expected in a device that retails for less than half of what you'll pay for the cheapest iPad.
The other thing to keep in mind with the Fire devices is that they heavily push Amazon services. There's no Android Play Store, rather you download a more limited selection of apps through Amazon's own store. There are ways around this, but they require some tech expertise.
### The Galaxy Tab 5s: Best Pure Android Tablet
If you want an Android tablet without the Amazon, the Galaxy Tab S5e is your best bet. This is Samsung's answer to the iPad. It can't compete on battery life unfortunately, but it's powerful enough to hold its own again the iPad.
In fact this might have been my top pick were it not for the Achilles's heel of Android tablets: software. You can use Google Assistant, which is my favorite of the smart assistants, but there just aren't many Android apps that take advantage of the larger form factor in truly useful ways. While nearly every app I tested did work, many were still just scaled up phone apps.
It was a painful reminder that the Galaxy Tab S5e, while a nice piece of hardware, struggles to get past the old "it's a bigger phone" criticism of tablets.
That said, if you take the time to hunt out tablet-friendly apps, or only plan to use a web browser and ebook reader anyway, then the Tab S5e is the Android device to get.
### How We tested
I tested seven tablets, three iPads, three Fire tablets, and two Android tablets. I also called in a few stands, to make sure I didn't end up with a tablet in a puddle of water.
I started with battery tests because no matter how nice your tablet experience is, if it doesn't last through dinner it's useless. To test battery life I streamed a video through the web browser and looped it until each device died. For most part, I ended up with results very close to what the manufacturers claimed, which was encouraging. The exception to this rule was the Galaxy Tab S6, which did not make the cut.
Next I tested out how far away I could read the screen and how much I could enlarge the font and still get the info I wanted on screen. I also browsed my collection of digital cookbooks, called up saved recipes in Evernote, and browsed the web for new recipes.
The last aspect I looked at was digital assistants. If you want a dedicated smart device in the kitchen, have a look at our guide to [smart speakers](https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/the-best-wireless-kitchen-speakers-some-of-which-are-more-like-tiny-tvsandnbsp-article). None of the options here best those when it comes to digital assistants. Still, Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant are all there if you need them. Google Assistant is the best of the bunch in my testing, returning the most useful results the fastest. Alexa is the next best and Siri, which it may have popularized the assistant, seriously lags behind at this point.
### The Takeaway
If you want a dedicated kitchen tablet without breaking the bank, grab the new Apple iPad. If you want a new tablet that will spend some time in the kitchen and some time doing other things, consider spending a little more for the iPad Pro. The nicer screen, faster processor and version 2 Apple Pencil make the Pro the better, if more expensive, device. If you budget is tight, the Fire 10 HD is the way to go. It's not fancy, and you'll have to deal with Amazon's customized Android experience, but at this price, there's really no other options. If you want an Android tablet, grab the Galaxy S5e, again there's really no other choice.
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