6 Best 8-Inch Mini Tablets Review & Comparison | 2025 Edition

Which is the best 8 inch tablet? Since there is such a large selection, it can be hard to get an overview. We’ve been reviewing tablets for over fifteen years now, and we particularly enjoy using 8 inch tablets. In this guide, we’ve listed the best small mini tablets that you can buy right now.

At the beginning of this list you get a quick overview of our recommendations. At the top are the better models, which are usually more expensive. And further down are the cheaper models, which are also good, but not top class. Further down in the article you can find out more details about the respective devices.

We’ve reviewed all of these in detail and you can find links to each of the reviews linked further down 😊

The Best 8-Inch Mini Tablets: An Overview

• Best 8-inch tablet: Apple iPad Mini 7 (on Amazon*). Apple’s compact iPad is the king of the 8-inch class. With its sharp 8.3-inch display, premium design, powerful A17 Pro chip, and top-tier software support, it’s in a league of its own. It also supports the excellent Apple Pencil Pro. However, the display has a few issues, and it’s also super pricey.
• Best for Gaming: Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 (on Amazon*). Lenovo’s third-gen Legion Tab is the most powerful 8-inch Android tablet right now. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 12 GB RAM, 256 GB storage, and a 144 Hz display make it a beast for mobile gaming. It’s got great battery life and even supports a stylus, making it appealing for non gamers as well. The speakers are also surprisingly powerful for its size.
• Budget 8-inch Gaming Powerhouse: Alldocube iPlay 70 mini Ultra (on Amazon*). This 8.8-inch tablet is surprisingly capable for its price. It offers a 2.5K screen, Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, and 12 GB RAM, but don’t count on long-term software updates. We like that it supports a Micro-SD card as well.
• Best for Outdoor Use: Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5 (on Amazon*). This rugged 8-inch tablet is built for a rough lifestyle. It’s water-, dust-, and shock-resistant, comes with a protective case, and includes an S Pen. Performance is mid-range, but it’s hard to find anything more durable than this. The bright and sharp display is also a real highlight.
• Best Budget Display: Xiaomi Redmi Pad SE 8.7 (on Amazon*). This affordable tablet features a 90 Hz display that’s brighter than the iPad Mini’s, supports 4G LTE via dual SIM, and has great battery life despite packing an older chipset. It’s great as an E-Reader alternative, considering that it costs about as much as a Kindle Paperwhite.
• Solid Entry-Level Option: Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 (on Amazon*). A basic 8.7-inch tablet with decent performance, a bright screen, and excellent software support. Just don’t expect stylus input or super long battery life.

All Details: The Best 8-Inch Tablets Tested

Let’s check all of them out in more detail.

Apple iPad Mini 7: Still the Best 8-Inch Tablet

Apple’s iPad Mini remains the gold standard for compact tablets. It features a sharp 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone, noticeably more power than most competition, and ships with iPadOS 18 and will continue receiving updates for years. Only Lenovo’s Legion Tab Gen 3 puts up a fight, but it falls short in software longevity.

What makes the iPad Mini stand out is how comfortable it is to hold. The 8.3-inch screen is just the right size for one-handed use, while still being great for productivity or media. The display hits 500 nits of brightness, offers strong colors and contrast, and has a crisp resolution of 2266 x 1488 pixels. Unfortunately, it still only runs at 60 Hz and suffers from the jelly scrolling curse that has plagued iPad Minis for generations.

The build is top-notch: an aluminum unibody, solid speakers, USB-C port, and a power button with integrated Touch ID. It also supports the Apple Pencil Pro, which attaches magnetically and charges wirelessly on the side.

Performance-wise, it’s unmatched. The A17 Pro chip from the iPhone 15 Pro is backed by 8 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of storage. It’s also the first iPad Mini to meet the requirements for Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI system. There’s even an optional cellular model with 5G as well.

Games run flawlessly, even at the highest settings. Creative apps like Adobe Photoshop perform great too. Honestly, the iPad Mini 7 is still in a class of its own. If you want the best small tablet out there, this is it, especially if you grab the Pencil Pro and a decent keyboard case to turn it into a portable digital notebook. Of course, 60HZ is a bit disappointing for such an expensive device.

Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3: Compact Gaming Beast

The Legion Tab Gen 3 is one of the few Android tablets that can truly challenge the iPad Mini. It has a slightly larger 8.8-inch display, gaming-focused hardware, and even a PC mode. It also supports the Lenovo Tab Pen Plus stylus. We were seriously impressed during testing.

The 2560 x 1600 IPS screen supports HDR, gets up to 500 nits of brightness, and beats the iPad Mini with a whopping 165 Hz refresh rate. You can drop it to 120 or 60 Hz to save battery. Speaking of which, the Legion Tab Gen 3 lasted about 8.5 hours in our battery test – 3 hours longer than the iPad Mini 7.

A standout gaming feature is the built-in game assistant. You can tweak performance settings and enable bypass charging, which powers the tablet directly via USB-C without charging the battery. This reduces heat buildup and extends battery lifespan during long gaming sessions or when docked.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and 12 GB RAM deliver serious power. Benchmarks show it neck-and-neck with flagship devices like the Galaxy Tab S10+, and it even outperforms the iPad Mini in 3D Mark. We have no trouble running demanding games at high settings. Storage is a solid 256 GB.

Our only gripes? No 5G option and no microSD card slot. But otherwise, this is an excellent Android gaming tablet with a gorgeous, smooth screen, strong speakers, and powerful internals. We would go for this if you’re a mobile gamer or are interested in game emulation.

Alldocube iPlay 70 mini Ultra: Budget Gaming Hero

If you want a gaming tablet with a smaller budget and can accept some trade-offs, the Alldocube iPlay 70 mini Ultra is a good option. With this tablet you get an 8.8-inch display, long battery life, and gaming-ready specs. But you also lose out on stylus support and consistent software updates.

There’s no active pen input here, so forget about drawing or handwritten notes. And with limited software support from Alldocube, this Android 14-based tablet likely won’t get future OS updates or regular security patches.

That being said, if your main focus is browsing, streaming, and gaming, it’s fantastic value. Powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and 12 GB RAM, it handles Genshin Impact at 60 fps and Fortnite at around 70–80 fps on medium settings in our gaming tests. Less demanding titles are a breeze here.

The 8.8-inch IPS display offers 2560 x 1600 resolution, 144 Hz refresh rate, and a pixel density of 343 ppi. It’s super sharp, and at 500 nits, bright enough for indoor use. Build quality is also solid with a full metal chassis and super light 335 g body.

There’s even a couple bonuses: It has a fast USB-C 3.1 port that supports external display output and even a microSD slot in case the 256 GB internal storage isn’t enough. Battery life is great too with around 6 hours of gaming, and nearly 9 hours in our video playback test. Just keep in mind you’re probably stuck on Android 14 forever.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Active5: Rugged Workhorse

You might have overlooked the Galaxy Tab Active5 in your search for a compact tablet, but it deserves your attention, especially if you need a sturdy device. It’s waterproof, dustproof, shock-resistant, and even meets US military durability standards. Despite its tough exterior, it’s a fully functional Android tablet with S Pen support and up to 8 years of software updates (for the Enterprise Edition).

Weighing just 333 g, the Tab Active5 is IP68 certified and MIL-STD-810H rated. Its 8-inch LCD screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and runs at 1920 x 1200 with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It also comes with a built-in waterproof S Pen. The display is very usable even outdoors thanks to its 600 nits peak brightness.

Performance is average, though. The Exynos 1380 chip is passable but lags behind the competition. You can choose between 6 or 8 GB RAM and 128 or 256 GB of storage, plus it comes with a microSD slot. The 5G version supports both physical SIM and eSIM. There’s also a customizable shortcut button and a fingerprint sensor.

You get a 13 MP rear camera with 4K video and a basic 5 MP front camera. Just don’t expect great sound. The speakers are weak, and that limits its value for entertainment. But if you need a tablet to take into battle, this is the one.

Xiaomi Redmi Pad SE 8.7: Budget Display Champ

The Redmi Pad SE 8.7 is Xiaomi’s compact budget entry in the 8-inch category. It impresses with a fluid 90 Hz display and up to 600 nits of max brightness. While the hardware is quite outdated, it’s still enough for everyday use.

Powered by the older MediaTek Helio G85 chip, it lags behind the iPad Mini and Legion Tab Gen 3 in benchmarks. But in real-world use, the difference isn’t huge, especially when compared to something like the Galaxy Tab A9. It’s available with 64 or 128 GB of storage and 4 or 6 GB RAM, and supports microSD cards up to 2 TB. We heavily recommend buying the 6GB model if you are doing anything vaguely demanding.

The 8.7-inch display has a modest 1340 x 800 resolution, but thanks to 90 Hz refresh rate, it still feels smooth. Outdoor brightness is excellent, even compared to premium devices like the iPad Mini. Colors and contrast are surprisingly good too, thanks to 10-bit color depth.
The downsides? The plastic build feels a bit cheap, and the buttons are a little rattly. It also only has USB-C 2.0, though you do get a headphone jack. The cellular version includes dual-SIM support and can even make phone calls.

You get a 5 MP front and 8 MP rear camera, plus Xiaomi’s new HyperOS (based on Android 14), which is reminiscent of iPadOS in look and feel. Battery life is impressive—over 10 hours in our video loop test, which beats the iPad Mini by a wide margin.
This is one of the best value options in this list—especially if you want solid battery life and a bright screen without spending too much.

Samsung Galaxy Tab A9: Pretty reliable

If you’re after a simple, well-rounded tablet with decent performance and don’t care about using a stylus, the Galaxy Tab A9 is pretty solid. The main drawbacks are its short battery life (under 7 hours) and 60 Hz screen.

That said, the 8.7-inch LCD is perfectly fine. Resolution is only 1340 x 800, which is typical for this price range. It does support Widevine L1, so you can stream HD content on Netflix and other platforms. There’s no active pen support here, so the S Pen won’t work. On the plus side, the display gets up to 550 nits.

The MediaTek Helio G99 chip and up to 8 GB RAM provide solid everyday performance. You get 64 or 128 GB of storage, expandable up to 1 TB via microSD. The build quality is surprisingly good, and the port selection includes USB-C 2.0 and a headphone jack. No fingerprint scanner, but you do get basic face unlock. You can even run demanding games like Genshin Impact on lower settings if you want.

The cameras are basic but functional: 8 MP on the back, 2 MP on the front—fine for video calls, but not much else. The standout feature is Samsung’s software support. The Tab A9 ships Android 15 and will probably receive security patches for another 2 years, which is rare for a budget tablet.

If you don’t need a stylus and can live with the 60 Hz refresh rate, the Galaxy Tab A9 is a very solid Android tablet for browsing, streaming, and basic tasks.