Looking to spend a little quiet alone time this Holiday season with nothing but a crackling fire, warm blanket and your favourite book? Well, why not upgrade that book to one of our top 5 Tablets of 2015 so you can have hundreds of books at your finger tips, or maybe take a little break and do some after-Christmas bargain hunting on your favourite websites?
We’ve rounded up our top 5 Tablets and E-Readers from the past year to bring you an easily shoppable list you can use yourself or leave out for Santa (or your family) this December, you know, to drop a subtle hint.
Make sure to check out our other Tech Gift Guides including Wearables, Entertainment, Smart Home and Audio. You’re sure to find something for everyone on your list!
Tablets and E-Readers
1. Amazon Fire (From $49.99-$229.99 USD)
If you’re looking to do a bit more with your e-reader than just, well, reading, the Kindle Fire will be the most inexpensive and power packed tablet you will find. It has a 8″ display, 8 GB or 16GB of internal storage and free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content. You can also expand the storage for up to 128GB of space. Unlike it’s paperwhite cousin, the Fire HD has a full colour, HD display and front and rear facing cameras. It comes in 4 different options – The Fire original with a 7″ display and 171ppi resolution, whereas the HD versions come in 6, 8 and 10.1″ displays with 252, 189 and 149ppi displays. They come in a range of different colours, are Wi-Fi enabled and have an 8 hour battery life. So if you want to read your favourite books and browse the internet, this is the way to go.
2. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ($119.99 USD)
The original eReader is still on the top of our list. Amazon’s newest edition of the Paperwhite is the perfect tech gift for anyone who loves to read. It comes with a 6″ high resolution display, built-in light, Wi-Fi and absolutely no screen glare. If you’ve ever tried to read a tablet on the beach, you know what we mean when we say this is a key selling point for us! It also has access to the largest selection of books, most at $2.99 or less.
3. Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 (From $349.99 USD)
If you’re not much of an Apple fan, the Galaxy Tab S2 packs in quite a few of the same features at a lower price. This tablet comes in 2 different sizes, 8″ and 9.7″ and comes with 32 GB of flash memory, 3 GB of ram and weighs in at only .85 lbs. It has 8 hours of battery life, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, expandable memory and an 8MP camera for photos on the go.
4. Microsoft Surface 3 (From $479.99 USD)
At the most expensive of the bunch, the Microsoft Surface 3 has been getting a lot of praise from the tech community lately. It comes in 64 or 128 GB versions and is available with or without LTE. It runs on Windows 10, has 128 GB of Flash Storage, 4 GB of ram and weighs 1.37 lbs. It combines the versatility of a laptop with the portability of a tablet in one and has a variety of awesome accessories including a docking station, keyboards, pens and wireless display adaptors.
5. Apple iPad Air 2 (From $549.00 USD)
The newest version of the iPad comes slimmer than ever and packed with even more features. It has a 10 hour battery life, 8MP camera, FaceTime HD camera, Wi-Fi, 16-128 GB of storage and a 9.7″ retina display. Available in silver, space grey and gold, what more could you ask for?
Everyone in the house has a tablet except for me. I think it’s time that I get one 🙂
Yes Robin! You deserve to have one too 🙂
I have an ipad 2 from a few years ago but I think it needs an update!
I love my iPad Air 2. I typically don’t leave the house without and it’s so great for blogging on the go! Any tips for which one would be most user friendly for a woman in her mid-70s who is obsessed with Nextdoor and Twitter??
That’s great Roxy! The iPads are always a favourite 🙂
As for a recommendation, personally I find Android tablets to be very easy to use – the Samsung Galaxy would be a great choice since you can have a twitter widget on the main screen 🙂
I love my iPad! It’s seriously the best thing ever haha great list and recommendations!
That’s awesome to hear Keating! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
A Kindle Fire is at the top of my wishlist! I had one of the first ones and they’re amazing.
Amanda
Trulyyoursa.com
Its such a great price Amanda and comes with so many features! I’m sure you’ll love it!
Kindle fire would be nice or iPad would be nice gift this christmas.
We completely agree Patrice!
I love my my tablet for pictures
Ohh I’ve never thought to use my tablet for photos – great idea Tara!
I love my kindle fire! I am hoping to upgrade in January though!
They look amazing this year Branson! And they’re at such a great price point 🙂
I have the Samsung and I am fine with that…can only work on one at a time, my laptop and my smartphone. 🙂
Very true Claudette! 🙂
Since I’m a big Apple fan I’d probably get the Apple iPad Air II. Something to consider this Christmas and with the anniversary right around the corner.
You bet Jonathan! It would make a great gift 🙂
i love my Kindle and my iPad so i would also recommend those items
That’s great Michelle! We’re glad to hear you love both!
I am a big fan of Microsoft and Lenovo products 🙂
The Microsoft Surface looks pretty awesome Rika, are you going to get one?
I don’t really like the kindles that they offer. Acer and asus makes good tablets too!
Thanks for letting us know Mai! I haven’t personally seen the ones from Acer and Asus 🙂
We almost bought the fires for my kids, but we’re apple people.
It’s hard to break away from Apple isn’t it Heather? haha
I’ve been thinking about the Amazon Fire. I need to replace my ereader!
I’m sure it would be a wonderful addition 😉
I have the Amazon Fire and I love it!
That’s great Cecile, we’ve heard really good reviews about the new ones!
I have a Kindle Fire and I love it. Trouble is, my kids love it too. 😉
Haha, you’re going to have to get them one of their own!
I bought a Kindle Fire earlier and I love it, too. My husband has an iPad mini.
The Fire is definitely a favourite here! And for the price, you can’t beat it!
I have the iPad air and a Samsung Galaxy as well as the Kindle Fire – I love my tablets! Kaz
Haha WOW! You have your bases covered Kaz! Which one is your favourite?
I bought Samsung Galaxy and its great and I really like it.
I love my Samsung Galaxy phone so I’m sure I would love the tablet as well! Glad you love yours!
The kindle fire ticked me off – you can’t use instagram from it. The app isn’t compatible. So how is it then a fully integrated tablet?
Interesting Pricilla, I didn’t know that! Is you’re Kindle one of the new ones? Maybe they have upgraded it this year to include instagram?
I have a tablet and I just love it, my daughter loves her Kindle Fire, great holiday gift ideas
Yes! Especially since the Kindle is at such an affordable price point 🙂
My husband just recently bought me a new Samsung tablet. I was a bit skeptical about it at first. Now I enjoy using it for just about anything.
That’s great Bismah! I don’t use mine all that much except for travel 🙂
Great list of tablets! We all have iPads in this house. I just can’t use a google tablet after issuing apple for so long….
Fair enough Courtney! I could never go back to a PC after having a MacBook! I haven’t made the switch to iPhone yet though…haha
This is a great post. We love iPads in our house but my other half recently purchased an Android tablet and loves it!
Louise
http://eatsleepblogrepeat.co.uk
Thank you for sharing. I have a kindle fire on my Christmas list. I have friends who have it and are very happy with it as an alternative to just their smart phone, it’s bigger but its so much more cost effective than the iPad or Galaxy Tab. Also it hooks up with the amazon fire TV plug in – also on my wish list, so that you can connect to the internet and watch catch up TV using you kindle fire as a super remote. The concept sounds fab – I hope the reality live up to it 🙂 Merry Christmas
Great review, I have a Galaxy and thinking of getting Microsoft Surface, versatility of a laptop with the portability of a tablet in one, thanks!