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Last Updated on February 9, 2021
The perfect scene for any cozy night of relaxation has three elements: a warm bed to snuggle in, a tasty snack to munch on and a good movie to keep you entertained. One catch though – not everyone has the luxury of having a TV in the comfort of their bedrooms. And sure, you might suggest using a laptop but come on, they can be pretty unwieldy, cumbersome and even noisy if your laptop’s fans tend to go into overdrive. Cue in tablets – with their compact build, often more than decent battery life for just movies and beautiful screens, they’ll make the perfect addition for anyone’s movie marathon.
Now one little catch: the market is absolutely flooded with all sorts of tablets that look the same and claim to do similar things, but a deeper examination will reveal a myriad of subtleties. Some will have clearer screens, some come fitted with better speakers and some are equipped with batteries that are built to last the entire day.
So, to help you get your bearings straight, we’ve reviewed the top 5 tablets in the market right now for you to peruse at your leisure. Just read on and make your selection!
Best Tablet for Watching Movies of 2020
1. Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch, Wi-Fi, 64GB) – Space Gray
Offering an unparalleled viewing experience like no other, the iPad Pro’s 12.9-inc liquid retina display with true tone and wide color will absolutely give you a run for your money. From bringing out the most scenic of shots and bringing out all the nuanced details of an iconic Tarkovsky shot, watching movies (or anything else really) on the iPad Pro will leave you wanting for nothing more.
And if you plan on not using a pair of headphones or earphones, its four stereo speakers will offer you an equally immersive experience that will perfectly complement your home cinema escapades. And if you’re concerned about the iPad dying on you mid-way through a dramatic scene then fear not – with its 10-hour battery life, it’ll easily be able to run even the full Lord of The Rings Trilogy in one, lengthy sitting!
Better yet, if you ever feel like doing a little more with your iPad Pro beyond just watching movies, you’ll be pleased to know that it also happens to be one of the best productivity tools out there in the market. With its A12X Bionic chip and 1TB of storage (if you choose to opt for it), even the most graphically demanding of games like PUBG, Dead Trigger and Asphalt 8 will run as smooth as silk here.
It also goes without saying that for more ‘work’-related tasks like photo editing and presentation making will equally, be a breeze with the iPad. All this comes at the price of a steep cost but if you’re willing to invest in the iPad, we are absolutely confident that it will last you for a long time to come – plus, the resale value of Apple products will make it easy to sell later down the line if you see fit!
2. Lenovo Smart Tab M10 HD 10.1″ Android Tablet 16GB
Perched perhaps on the complete opposite side on the ladder of price is the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 which offers users a far more palatable price tag while still delivering everything you might need for a great movie streaming tablet. Now while its 10.1-inch screen manages to cram a decent resolution of 1280 x 800, this honestly just cannot compare to the iPad.
But hey, after all you are paying just a tenth of the price, you’d normally pay for an iPad Pro so take this with a grain of salt. We must emphasize that this isn’t by any means a deal breaker – you’ll still be able to watch any kind of movie and do it justice. You just won’t get as crisp a viewing experience as you would with the more expensive alternatives.
Its speakers are quite solid as well on that note, with a booming Dolby Atmos sound system, you won’t have to reach for the headphones anytime soon.
Now beyond its capabilities as a movie watching tablet, you’ll be able to do a lot of other tasks with this tablet thanks to its 8GB of RAM and 2GHz 8032 Processor. Games and anything else will do just fine here and with its storage capabilities going up to 64GB, you’ll easily be able to store a ton of media.
Finally, its battery life being respectable too, averaging out around 8-hours under normal usage so don’t worry about plugging it in or getting yourself a power bank if you tend to only watch movies exclusively with this device.
3. Fire HD 10 Tablet with Alexa Hands-Free, 10.1″ 1080p Full HD Display
Another solid entry to the tablet world that offers an excellent blend between price and function is Amazon’s Fire HD 10. Coming in either marine blue, punch red or solid black, its brilliant 10.1-inch HD display manages to cram in a resolution of 1920 x 1200 which offers any viewer a solid movie-watching experience for anyone through its over 2-million pixels.
Glare is also kept to a minimum while good viewing angles will be a presence no matter how you position your tablet. This paired with Alexa means that you’ll be able to prop your tablet on your desk or bed and never need to move an inch. Through just the command of your voice, you’ll be able to select movies, pause, rewind, and so on. And all this paired with its remarkable Dolby audio system ensures that you’ll be able to turn your cozy bedroom into a mini cinema within moments.
It doesn’t forfeit anything too when we turn to processing power. With a quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM while this isn’t by any means the best in the market, it still is more than adequate to give competitor products at the same price range a run for their money. Storage space shouldn’t be an issue as well given its 64 GB option though if you plan to download hundreds of HD movies, you might need to opt for cloud storage.
But what about its battery you ask? Well no red flags here from we can tell. 10-hours of solid usage should be just about adequate for any user out there.
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 10.5″, 128GB WiFi Tablet Cloud Blue
Now if you’re looking for something flashier and don’t mind forking out a little more money then the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 would make an excellent alternative product. Coming with either 128GB or 256GB along with a 2.84GHz Octa-Core processor and 6GB of RAM, you’ll quickly realise you have more than just a movie watching tablet on your hands.
You have a mini PC that’ll be able to do anything you ever wanted to do with a tablet. Gaming? Easy. Making videos? No problem.
But of course, when it comes to watching movies you can absolutely place your faith in its 10.5-inch which delivers an eyewatering resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. This coupled with its cinematic quad speakers powered by AKG along with its whooping 15-hours of solid battery life practically brings the theatrical experience to your very own doorstep.
And if you intend on using this tablet on the go while travelling or outside of your home where you know you won’t have a steady connection to the internet, you can always opt for the LTE option of the Tab S6.
With this, not only will you not have to ever worry about an unsteady internet connection running your Netflix stream, but you’ll even be able to make calls and send texts on the fly.
5. Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro Tablet with 10.8″ 2.5D Display
Though slightly cheaper but offering just as every bit a high-end experience as the Samsung tablet above is the Huawei MediaPad M5 Pro. Coming with a curved glass display stretching 10.8-inches which holds a high resolution display of 2560 x 1600 along with minimal bezels, any user will stand to benefit from its unique 82% screen-to-body ratio that’ll keep eyes better locked on whatever is unfolding on the screen.
Its quad stereo speakers produced by Harman/Kardon also complement the amazing viewing experience you’ll have by providing a clear, lush soundscape to give you an immersive experience that’ll have you looking behind and around in wonder throughout any movie.
Beyond the comforts of your bedroom or living room though and under the M5 Pro’s metal body you’ll find that it packs a highly respectable 4GB of RAM along with a 2.1 GHz processor and 64GB of SSD memory. Sure, it isn’t at the top of the competition, but you can rest assured that you won’t ever face any problems running any ordinary application or running even the most demanding of games.
Its battery is also something to behold – averaging out at 12-hours and requiring a little under 3-hours to fully charge, you’ll find the M5 Pro to be suitable for not just home use but for the beyond as well.
Three Things to Look for in a Movie Watching Tablet
The Screen
By far the most essential element of any tablet destined to be treated as a movie-watching device is its screen. It doesn’t matter whether you have the fastest processor or even the best audio system, if your screen is terrible, you’re in for a bad time. To ensure that you don’t set yourself up for disappointment, the absolute bare minimum you should strive for is a HD 720p screen which most tablets, and the ones on our list, should be equipped with.
And if you’re willing to go the extra mile in order to give full justice to whatever it is you are watching then keep an eye out for 4K and Retina displays – they’re the best you can get in the market right now when it comes to tablets.
The Storage
When the phrase HD and movie are used in the same sentence, you can be sure that they’ll be a huge burden on your tablet’s storage capacity. With most movies averaging around 4GB in size at HD, you should be able to see how even 64GB tablets (which are respectable in their own right) will struggle to store an impressive list of titles.
On this note, you’re left with a few options which you should base on your needs and budget. First, you can choose to opt for a tablet that has a ton of storage as we see in the iPad Pro’s 1TB option. Second, you can pay extra for online cloud storage services like on Google Drive or DropBox. And third, if you’re feeling particularly stingy, you can restrict your movie repertoire to just a few titles at a time and constantly replace them as you do away with what you’ve already watched.
The Battery
Absolutely nobody wants their tablet to de midway through a heart-wrenching scene or thrilling-twist. Nothing could be more immersion-breaking and annoying as this. So, to prevent this from ever happening, make sure you get a tablet that will be able to last the full length of your intended movie sessions. You won’t have a problem with this if you stick with our list but keep this in mind if you decide to look beyond.
Oh, and sure you might say – if I’m at home, can’t I just connect my tablet to a power socket? Well technically of course you can but think about it: having an annoying, dangly wire sprawled about and restricting the angles you can hold and use your tablet has the potential to be hugely annoying!