10 Best Tablets With Stylus Pen For Drawing & Writing | 2025 Edition

Which are the best tablets with a pen? After very few tablets came with a stylus initially, the selection is much bigger now. Each year, lots of devices that support an active stylus are released. Some run Windows 11, others Android, and after some hesitation, all iPads now support an Apple Pencil. I’ve reviewed almost every tablet that has been released since 2008 and here are the best ones you can buy with a pen.

At the beginning of this list, you’ll find a rough overview of the tablets that I currently recommend. Further down, you will find more information and you can compare them in detail. My detailed reviews are linked for each. Additionally, you can watch my videos about each tablet.

We start with our top recommendations, which are also very expensive. Further down, more affordable models are listed. All tablets that I recommend here are very suitable for handwritten notes and drawings. For most people, an entry-level to mid-range tablet is sufficient. However, the expensive models are worth it for professionals.

Best tablets with a stylus: An Overview

Here is a quick overview of my recommendations.

• Best iPad with a stylus: Apple iPad Pro M4 (on Amazon*). Super accurate display for artists, top tier performance and great accessories, best tablet out at the moment.
• Best Android tablet with S Pen: Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra (on Amazon*). Samsung’s flagship tablet with a massive 14.6’’ AMOLED display and excellent hardware. It comes with the S-Pen and is great if you want a massive slate.
• Great iPad Pro alternative: Apple iPad Air M3 (on Amazon*). Top performance, slower display than the iPad Pro but still fantastic for notetaking and drawing.
• Smaller S10 Ultra alternative: Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ (on Amazon*). It’s just like the S10 Ultra but smaller. The S10+ is slightly cheaper and “only” 12.4’’. With the included S-Pen, this is another excellent pen tablet.
• Best 8-inch tablet with pen: Apple iPad Mini (on Amazon*). Apple’s smallest tablet and also our top 8’’ tablet pick, the mini packs great hardware and a good writing experience without major sacrifices. 
• Best Windows tablet with stylus: Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (on Amazon*). Windows 11 and the general great quality of this device makes it a great pick for anybody looking for a full laptop experience on their tablet.
• Great mid-range tablets with S Pen: Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE & FE+ (on Amazon*). For a lower price, Samsung removes the OLED display and flagship chipset of the S10s. The FE tablets are great for taking notes and entertainment, not so much for gaming.
• Best mid-range iPad: Apple iPad 11 (on Amazon*). The cheapest iPad. The display has a small air gap when using a stylus, but otherwise it’s incredible value. 
• Cheapest tablet with pen we recommend: Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 2024 (on Amazon*). S-Pen, a decent display and good speakers. The Tab S6 Lite is the best entry level pen tablet thanks to its price.
• Cheaper Surface Pro 11 alternative: Microsoft Surface Pro 12” (on Amazon*). The cheaper 12 inch alternative to the full Microsoft Surface Pro 11, it sacrifices some performance and premium features to reach a lower price tag.

Best Tablets With Stylus: All Details

Let’s check them out in more detail. You’ll find videos of all these tablets embedded below and links to our detailred reviews too.

Apple iPad Pro M4: Best Tablet With Pen Overall

The new iPad Pro with Apple’s M4 chip is basically the dream machine for anyone who wants the best possible tablet experience. Apple switched the display technology to tandem OLEDs this year (2 OLED displays sealed together for higher brightness), and it’s easily one of the nicest screens you’ll find on any tablet – it’s super bright, has excellent contrast, and is extremely color accurate, which is why artists and designers love it.

The M4 chip itself is ridiculously fast no matter whether you’re working in Photoshop, editing 4K video, or just sketching in Procreate. Base storage starts at 256GB, but goes all the way up to 2 terabytes. RAM starts at a base of 8GB which is enough for nearly anything, but models beyond 1TB storage get a bump up to 16GB of RAM. 

The Apple Pencils are as good as ever, and the new Apple Pencil Pro adds extra tricks like haptic feedback and a new squeeze gesture that makes it feel even more natural to use. The catch is the price: once you factor in the Pencil and maybe a keyboard, you’re nearing 2000 dollars. And like all iPads, there’s no expandable storage. But if money isn’t a concern and you just want the best stylus tablet experience on the market, this is it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra: Best Android-Tablet With S Pen

If the iPad Pro is the best all-around premium tablet, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is the Android equivalent – just bigger. Its 14.6-inch AMOLED display is enormous, sharp, and buttery smooth at 120Hz. Watching movies on it feels more like a mini home theater, and for drawing you get a huge canvas that rivals some dedicated pen displays.

Samsung includes the S Pen in the box, which is a nice change from Apple’s extra-cost Pencil, and it works with virtually no lag. You get pressure sensitivity, tilt support, and even some clever software extras like handwriting recognition and quick shortcuts in Samsung Notes.

Inside, the Tab S10 Ultra is powered by a high-end chipset and plenty of RAM, so you won’t have trouble with performance whether you’re sketching, gaming, or multitasking with Samsung’s DeX desktop mode. The downsides are obvious: this thing is massive and not exactly easy to carry around. The big screen also drains the battery faster, and like most flagship tablets, it doesn’t come cheap. But if you want the biggest possible Android tablet with an excellent stylus experience, nothing beats it.

Apple iPad Air M3: Best Pro-Alternative With Pencil

The iPad Air has always been the “almost Pro,” and that’s still true with the new M3 version. Performance-wise, it’s basically identical to last year’s iPad Pro, so it’s still a very powerful tablet that can handle drawing apps, multitasking, and games without breaking a sweat.

The main difference is the screen. Instead of OLED, you get a more standard LCD panel with an unfortunate 60HZ refresh rate. That means the image doesn’t look quite as sharp or vibrant as the Pro, and stylus strokes don’t feel as instant. But unless you put them side by side, most people won’t notice. 

The Air is also cheaper, which makes it a good choice if you want Apple Pencil support and plenty of performance but don’t need the absolute best screen technology. For students or casual digital artists, it’s probably the sweet spot in Apple’s lineup.

Microsoft Surface Pro 11: Best Windows-Tablet With Stylus

For anyone who wants a tablet that can replace a laptop, the Surface Pro 11 is the one to look at. Unlike the iPad or Samsung tablets, this runs full Windows 11, so you can install desktop apps like Photoshop, Blender, or even full coding environments. The latest model comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip instead of an Intel chip, meaning limited compatibility with certain x86 apps, and it’s paired with a fanless design that keeps it thin and light. The 13-inch display is sharp, bright, and works well with the Surface Slim Pen, which offers good pressure sensitivity and low latency. There’s also an OLED option. 

The cameras and speakers on the Surface Pro 11 are also surprisingly good, and can easily rival or beat out premium Windows laptops, and the Surface Type cover genuinely feels great to type on. The Surface Slim Pen and original Surface Pen are both supported.

The big advantage here is flexibility: you can use the Surface as a tablet for note-taking or sketching, then attach the Type Cover keyboard and it’s basically a laptop. The downsides are the usual Surface trade-offs — the keyboard and pen are sold separately, and the battery life isn’t as strong as an iPad. It’s also not as sleek or optimized for touch apps as iPadOS or Android. But if you need Windows and want a device that can handle serious work as well as stylus input, the Surface Pro 11 is hard to beat. Just make sure your apps are actually supported by the ARM processor.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+: Great S10 Ultra Alternative

The Galaxy Tab S10+ is basically the more practical version of the Ultra. You get a 12.4-inch AMOLED screen with the same 120Hz refresh rate, but the smaller size makes it a lot easier to carry around and hold in your lap. It still comes with the S Pen, so you don’t have to pay extra to draw or take notes, and the pen performance is just as good as on the Ultra. 

Under the hood you get similar flagship-level hardware, so you’re not missing out on speed. In fact, for a lot of people, this size is probably the sweet spot — big enough to enjoy movies or draw comfortably, but not so huge that you need a desk to use it.

The main compromises are the obvious ones: you lose some screen real estate compared to the Ultra, and the battery is a bit smaller, though still good for a full day of use. The trade-off is a lower price, which makes the Tab S10+ one of the best Android tablets if you want high-end hardware and a great pen without going all in on the Ultra.

Apple iPad Mini: Best 8-Inch Tablet With Pen

The iPad Mini is one of those devices you either love or ignore completely. It’s tiny by tablet standards at just over 8 inches, but that makes it incredibly portable—you can slip it in a jacket pocket or small bag, and it feels great to hold in one hand.

Performance is great thanks to the A17 Pro chip and 8GB RAM, and the screen, while not OLED and only 60HZ, looks sharp and bright. The Apple Pencil works very well here, and the smaller size actually makes it feel more like carrying a little digital notebook than a tablet. Of course, the compact screen is also the main limitation. If you’re trying to do detailed illustration work or serious multitasking, the Mini feels cramped pretty quickly. And it isn’t exactly cheap for its size, which makes it a niche pick. But if you want something super portable for sketching, jotting notes, or reading, the iPad Mini is still the best small tablet out there.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE and FE+: Best Mid-Range Tablet With Stylus

Samsung’s FE models (short for “Fan Edition”) are the toned-down versions of the S10 line, meant to hit a lower price while still offering a premium feel. The regular S10 FE has a 10.9-inch LCD screen, while the FE+ stretches that out to 12.4 inches. You don’t get AMOLED here, and the chipset isn’t quite as powerful as the ones in the flagship S10 tablets, but the basics are still very solid.

The screens are bright and sharp, the S Pen is included, and performance is perfectly fine for note-taking, streaming, or light creative work. 

These tablets are especially good for students because you still get Samsung’s great software ecosystem, long battery life, and optional keyboard covers at a much more reasonable price. The biggest downsides are the lack of OLED, so contrast and color depth aren’t as strong, and the fact that heavy 3D games or pro-level art apps won’t run quite as smoothly. But if you just want a dependable, pen-friendly Android tablet without spending flagship money, the FE models make a lot of sense.

Apple iPad 11: Cheapest iPad With Stylus

Apple’s standard iPad is the cheapest way to get into Apple’s tablet ecosystem, and it’s incredibly good considering the price. The 11-inch display is sharp and bright enough for everyday use, though unlike the Air or Pro it isn’t laminated to the glass. That means there’s a tiny gap between the stylus tip and the pixels, which you’ll definitely notice if you’re serious about drawing. It doesn’t make the tablet unusable by any means—lots of people happily sketch and take notes on it—but it’s one of those compromises that explains why this model costs less. 

Performance is solid thanks to Apple’s A-series chip, though it’s not in the same league as the M-series processors in the Air and Pro. For schoolwork, note-taking, or casual sketching, it’s more than fast enough, but even heavy iPad games like Fortnite don’t struggle here. If you already own an iPhone or other Apple device, the ecosystem integration is another big plus. If you’re a professional artist you’ll probably want one of the more expensive iPads, but for everyone else this one is hard to beat.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 2024: Cheapest Tablet With Pen We Love

If you just want an affordable Android tablet with stylus support, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is still the best budget choice. The 2024 refresh updated the processor, so performance is decent for day-to-day use, though you’ll notice some lag in heavier apps compared to the S9 or S10 models due to the meager 4GB of RAM. The 10.4-inch LCD screen is sharp and works well for note-taking, reading and drawing.

Like Samsung’s higher-end tablets, the S Pen comes included, and while it doesn’t have quite the same fancy software tricks, it’s basically just as good for writing and artworks. Battery life is solid, and the stereo speakers are surprisingly nice for a cheaper device.

The main trade-off is performance, but if your budget is tight and you still want proper pen input, the S6 Lite offers way more than you’d expect for the price. Honestly, if you’re only planning on taking notes in Samsung Notes or drawing, there’s little reason to go for the more expensive models.

Microsoft Surface Pro 12”: Cheaper Surface Pro 11 Alternative

The Surface Pro 12 is essentially the budget-friendly version of the Pro 11. It has a slightly smaller 12-inch display and comes with the weaker Snapdragon X Plus chip. It’s still going to be fast enough for browsing, notetaking and basic video editing.

Like the Pro 11, it supports the Slim Pen and can be paired with a keyboard cover, giving you the same hybrid tablet-laptop flexibility at a lower price point. The compromises are clear: the screen isn’t as high-end, performance is more modest, and the build isn’t quite as premium. The speakers and webcam specifically feel significantly worse. But if you like the idea of a (smaller) Windows tablet with stylus support and don’t need cutting-edge specs, the Pro 12 saves you a good chunk of money while keeping the overall Surface experience intact.

Which is the best choice for you?

Which is the best tablet with a pen for you? This varies from person to person, as everyone has different preferences and wants to do different things with their devices.

First, you should ask yourself which operating system you need or prefer. Do you need one with Windows 11, which can run programs not available for other systems? Or do you want an iPad because you also use an iPhone? If you have a Galaxy Note smartphone, a Samsung tablet could be interesting for you, as the features are largely the same.

Then consider how much money you want to spend. Of course, if you have no limit, then you can get excellent tablets like the iPad Pro, Microsoft Surface Pro 9, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S9. But they are also very expensive. If you don’t need that much performance, cheaper ones might be sufficient.

Read: The Best Samsung Tablets In Our Comparison

You should also think about the display size. Tablets like the iPad Pro or Microsoft Surface Pro 9, which are 12 to 13 inches, can hardly be carried without a backpack or laptop bag. On the other hand, the iPad Mini fits into many jacket pockets and handbags.

How I review tablets

To get comparable test results, I always test tablets the same way. I usually start with standard benchmarks to test the performance. Then comes a battery test to see how long the devices last. I always run an HD video on a loop at medium brightness. Then I use the devices privately – to watch YouTube and Netflix, to surf the internet, but also to work with apps like Microsoft Word.

If the tablet supports an active pen, I naturally test that too. This is of course the case with the models in this best list. I check whether the stylus supports different pressure levels. Does the pen need a battery or does it have a rechargeable battery? And how can the battery be charged?

I mostly use pens to take handwritten notes. If the tablet supports it, I also like to edit photos with it in programs like Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Photo. Additionally, I check whether the palm is recognized and ignored while writing or drawing.

Questions and Answers