Deals: the best Samsung, Google and Amazon tablet deals from Black Friday

29 November 2024

In a separate post we covered smartphone deals, here we will focus on tablets. These will be mostly Android as Apple isn’t really taking part in the Black Friday sales, but there are a couple of Windows tablets in here as well.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ launched recently with the Dimensity 9300+ chipset, which was pretty much the only upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+ is $150 cheaper and while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 isn’t as fast as the Dimensity, it’s hardly slow. And you get the same 12.4” 120Hz OLED display with S Pen and IP68 rating.

The Tab S10 series stops at 12.4” and goes no lower, but the Galaxy Tab S9 is still around if you prefer an 11” tablet. This one also has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and note that these slates have microSD slots, unlike their Galaxy S cousins.

Another 11” option, well, 10.9”, is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE. It’s a mid-range tablet with an Exynos 1380 and a QHD+ 90Hz LCD, but you still get S Pen support and an IP68 rating. DeX too, though without the external display support because of the USB-C 2.0 port.

This is also available in a 12.4” size, still with a 90Hz LCD, the Galaxy Tab S9+ FE.

Alternatively, Google’s Pixel Tablet is down to under $300. Its Tensor G2 chip is also more of a mid-range offering at this point, but it does beat the Exynos 1380, especially in terms of graphics. The display is a 10.95” IPS LCD running at only 60Hz.

Samsung has two tablets in the $200 range – the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) and the Galaxy Tab A9+. Both are around the same size with 10.4” and 11” LCD, respectively (60Hz and 90Hz). Performance is about equal (Exynos 1280 and Snapdragon 695, but the Tab S6 Lite has DeX (on its own display only, there’s no video out). On the other hand, the A-series slate is cheaper – you can get a pretty big microSD card for the price difference.

The 11” LCD offerings continue with Amazon’s Fire Max 11. This one costs around the same as the Tab A9+ and has essentially the same pixel density (212ppi vs. 206ppi), but the displays are different. The Amazon slate has an IPS panel with 15:9 aspect ratio, while the Samsung has a 16:10 display. Both are great for streaming, though note that with the Fire tablets you will either have to use Amazon's app store or install the Google Play Store yourself.

The Amazon Fire HD 10 is cheap enough to be a stocking stuffer at just $75 for the 3/32GB variant (note that this is with ads). It’s not a powerful tablet, but the 10.1” FHD+ display (16:10) is a good quality panel and you get stereo speakers.

The Amazon Fire HD 10 is also available in a Kids Pro variant. This one is pricier at $110, but this removes the lockscreen ads and includes a slim protective case. If the little one still manages to break it, you can make use of the 2-year worry-free guarantee – just send it back to Amazon.

If kiddo can settle for a smaller 8” tablet the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro also comes with a case and 2-year worry-free warranty at $75. Both tablets also include a free 1-year subscription to Kids+ – basically, curated kid-friendly content on tap. There are games and educational apps, books and videos and more.

Okay, now we will start stretching the definition of “tablet” a bit. The first one is pretty standard – the Microsoft Surface Pro (2024) is an ARM-powered slate that runs Windows 11 and comes with Copilot+ AI features. You can pick the Snapdragon X Plus variant (10-core CPU), which has an LCD. The Snapdragon X Elite version (12-core CPU) uses an OLED panel instead, both measure 13” in size.

The Asus Zenbook Duo is technically a laptop, but it has a clamshell design with two 14” OLED touchscreens (and a wireless QWERTY keyboard that tucks inside). It’s not a foldable like the Zenbook Fold, but this means that the displays are protected by glass and there is no crease. This is another Windows machine with the Intel Core 7-155H Ultra (the Core 9 Ultra is an option too).

Is the Razer Edge a tablet? Sort of, but it’s smartphone-sized with its 6.8” 144Hz FHD+ OLED display. It runs Android on the Snapdragon G3X Gen 1 (with a cooling fan) and has Wi-Fi only connectivity. The Kishi V2 Pro controllers are detachable – you can use this for game streaming or for some native Android games.

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