Size matters—when it comes to screens for watching streaming video. When you’re watching a piece of fine visual art, whether that’s Roma or The Christmas Chronicles, the bigger the screen, the more impact it has. Not all of us can find room for a 65-inch 4K TV, but we can all find space for something larger than a phone. That’s where a tablet comes in.
Using a tablet for streaming makes a lot of sense. You can find a ton of apps. It saves your phone battery and isn’t as bulky to carry around as a laptop. Tablets come in a bunch of sizes and prices. You just need to find the one that best fits the way you watch.
(Hint hint: These make excellent last-minute Christmas gifts, too! Prime Members, you still have time to take advantage of that free 2-day shipping, just sayin’.)
The Standard
Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad hits the sweet spot for most people. It has a great display and two speakers, enough horse power to stream HD content without hiccups, and still has a headphone jack—an increasing rarity. The 32 GB Wifi version lists at $329, but you can often find it for less. There’s also an LTE version if you don’t want to be dependent on free WiFi when you’re out.
The Android Alternative
If you’re staunchly anti-Apple, you have lots of crappy Android tablets to choose from. Skip the cheapies and get the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. With its 10.5-inch screen and built-in speakers that can handle Dolby Atmos sound, it beats the 9.7-inch iPad in most categories—but you’ll pay more for it with a starting price of $550. Another advantage it has is memory: the base model comes with 64 GB and you can add a microSD card to expand that to 400 GB.
Amazon's Way
When you want a tablet that you don’t have to worry about losing or destroying when you go to the beach, get the Amazon Fire HD 8. For just $80 (often less), you can stream from the most common services, like Prime Video and Netflix. The screen isn’t that much bigger than a phone and it only comes with 16 GB of storage (expandable with a microSD card) but at this price it’s handy to have one just so you don’t have to take your phone out at the pool. It also doubles as a pretty good Kindle for reading ebooks.
Buy the Fire HD 8 Tablet | 8" HD Display, 16 GB, Black on Amazon.com
Over The Top
Apple’s latest tablet, the iPad Pro, is serious overkill for streaming. But what glorious excess it is. Available in 11 or 12.9-inch models, the iPad Pro can stream 4K HDR video and has 4 built-in speakers. It’s a joy to watch something on an iPad Pro. The screen essentially takes up the entire device, pushing video to the edges. But there are downsides: there’s no headphone jack and it uses USB-C instead of a Lightning port that the iPhone and other iPads come with. And that price tag: the 11 inch starts at $749 for 64 GB of storage, while the 12.9 inch costs $949 for the same amount of memory. Gulp.
With several excellent tablet options out now, it’s time to put away your phone and cue up a movie on a bigger screen. Bring on Kurt Russell!
Michael Gowan impatiently waits for somebody—anybody!—to stream the complete Moonlighting series. You can follow him on Twitter @zebgowan.