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This is it. The very best tablets you can buy this holiday season.
Xiomara Blanco
Xiomara Blanco is an associate editor for CNET Reviews. She's a Bay Area native with a knack for tech that makes life easier and more enjoyable. So, don't expect her to review printers anytime soon.
Eric Franklin led the CNET Tech team as Editorial Director. A 20-plus-year industry veteran, Eric began his tech journey testing computers in the CNET Labs. When not at work he can usually be found at the gym, chauffeuring his kids around town, or absorbing every motivational book he can get his hands on.
ExpertiseGraphics and display technology.Credentials
The iPad Mini with Retina Display is the iPad Air in a smaller, cheaper package that's just as capable as its larger brother. Also, thanks to its smaller screen, the tablet's pixel density is one of the highest yet on any tablet. This is not only the best version of the iPad so far but, thanks to its incredible apps options and robust media ecosystem, it's the best small tablet, period.
Thanks to its vast ecosystem of apps, great performance, and a fantastic screen, the iPad Air retains Apple's title for the best tablet money can buy. Though other contenders from Google and Amazon are beginning to mount stronger competition, the iPad Air weathers the storm.
The Nexus 7 is still the best small tablet you can buy. It has a gorgeously bright screen, the latest version of Android, and zippy performance. Best of all, it starts at only $229.
Amazon's best tablet yet, the Kindle Fire HDX has the right price, fast performance, and a bucketload of features. It's also packed with more media-based ecosystem goodness than any other tablet, including Apple's and Google's best.
An improvement in nearly every way to the 2012 version, the new Note 10.1 has a generously bright and sharp screen, good performance, and a brand-new stylus interface. If the high price doesn't scare you off, this is the stylus tablet to get.
The Nook HD+ is a 9-inch tablet with a 1,920x1,200-pixel-resolution screen and access to the Google Play store for only $149. Its specs are a bit long in the tooth, but that low price earns it a place on this list.
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