Which tablet to buy, and when an iPad is worth it

What I would look at first

These go to Amazon. If you buy, Ibrahin earns a commission and you pay the same price.

If you have an iPhoneiPad (A16)View on Amazonpaid link

Entry-level Android, updates until 2032Samsung Galaxy Tab A11View on Amazonpaid link

Mid-range Android, updates until 2032Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FEView on Amazonpaid link

Picked with this guide's criteria, without testing them. How it is decided

What has happened

Since 20 June 2025, European law requires that, if a manufacturer provides updates for a tablet placed on sale in the EU, it keeps providing them free of charge for at least five years after it stops selling that model. But that figure isn't on the shop label: it is on the European product information sheet, which the QR code leads to, and on each brand's website. Some publish it with a date:

Why it matters to you

A tablet without security updates still switches on, but every month it piles up flaws nobody fixes any more. In Spain people search for “iPad” 41% more than for “tablet”, as if the choice were iPad or the cheapest one; the difference that really matters is how many years it will be protected. This is how each brand publishes it:

• Samsung states on each tablet's page, under “Software Support”, the day until which it will get security updates: the Galaxy Tab A11 and Galaxy Tab S11, until 30 September 2032. On tablets, updates arrive every three months, not every month.
• Lenovo publishes it model by model in its update table (the Idea Tab, until mid-2029), and warns that if a model is not in the table, no Android upgrades are planned.
• Xiaomi says it typically provides at least two years of security updates from when the model first ships.
• Apple publishes no date per model, but its track record is long: the 2018 iPad Pro was still getting security updates in September 2026, almost eight years after launch.

What you can do

1. Choose based on what you already have

If you have an iPhone, the iPad is the natural choice: same account, most of your apps, and photos move without cables. For reading, watching videos and video calls, the iPad (A16) is enough.

If you prefer Android or want to spend less, Samsung states on each model's page until when it will get updates. The Galaxy Tab A11 is the entry model; the S10 FE and the S11 are the mid and high ranges.

If it is for work or study with a keyboard, look at the higher ranges (iPad Air or Galaxy Tab S11) and check whether the keyboard or pen come in the box. If it is for a child, they all have parental controls: Screen Time on the iPad, Google's Family Link on Android, Samsung Kids on Samsungs and Amazon Kids on Fires.

2. Avoid the traps of cheap tablets

• “18 GB of RAM (6+12)”. The first number is the real memory; the second is virtual memory, part of the storage the tablet uses as if it were memory. To compare, stick to the first.
• A brand that says nothing about updates. Google warns that the schedule depends on the manufacturer and that tablets without its certification may not receive system or app updates. If the brand doesn't publish it, don't count on them.
• A Fire tablet you think is a normal Android one. They run Fire OS, without Google Play, so you won't be able to install all the apps on your phone. Amazon provides security updates for at least four years from buying it new, sold by Amazon. On 8 October 2026 it announced the Alexa Tablets, which do run Android with Google Play, but it hasn't said yet how many years it will update them.
• A refurbished iPad that is too old. iPadOS 27 only runs on the iPad 9th generation or later, iPad Air 4th or later, iPad mini 6th or later and iPad Pro from 2020 onwards. An “iPad 2020 (10.2-inch)” is the 8th generation and no longer gets it.

3. Check any tablet in a minute with AI

Copy the full listing of the tablet you are looking at, paste it into ChatGPT, Gemini or whichever AI you use, and add this:

If you already have an Android tablet, go to Settings → About tablet → Android version and look at the date of “Android security update” (the name varies by brand). If it is more than a year old, it is very likely no longer getting updates; that last part is a rule of thumb, not something Google says.

The recommendation

With an iPhone at home, the iPad (A16). Otherwise, a Galaxy Tab, checking the “security updates” date on its page. And rule out any tablet that doesn't say until when it will be updated, however good the listing looks.

Sources

All checked on 9 October 2026.

• Current iPad models, Apple
• iPadOS 27 and compatible models, Apple
• Models compatible with iPadOS 26, Apple
• Identify your iPad model, Apple
• Apple security releases, Apple
• Galaxy Tab S11, Galaxy Tab A11 and Galaxy Tab S10 FE, Samsung Spain product pages, in Spanish
• Security update schedule, Samsung
• Android upgrade matrix, Lenovo
• Update policy, Xiaomi
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1670 on ecodesign of phones and tablets, Annex II, EUR-Lex
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1669 on energy labelling of phones and tablets, EUR-Lex
• Fire OS and Google Play Services, Amazon developer docs
• Software security update guarantee for Fire devices, Amazon UK
• New Alexa Tablets, Amazon (8 Oct 2026)
• Check and update your Android version, Google
• Play Protect certified devices, Google
• What is RAM Plus, Samsung, in Spanish
• Google Trends, search interest in Spain for “ipad” and “tablet”, 9 October 2025 to 9 October 2026.

Related

• Phones that last: what each brand promises
• Your PC can’t run Windows 11: what to buy without overpaying
• How to choose accessories that are actually worth it

Review

Responsible for publication: Ibrahin. Date: 2026-10-09. Last checked: 2026-10-09.