Being able to make notes directly into a tablet using a stylus to editing live docs, is a tech innovation that can improve productivity for everyone, from college to work and scrapbooking. The best tablets with a stylus also enable you to draw as well as take notes, using pressure sensitive pens.
In this guide I’m focusing on tablets that come with stylus included, which is why you won’t find an Apple iPad in here – you need to pay extra for Apple Pencil 2. If you want Apple, read our iPad generations guide. By buying a tablet that comes with a stylus you’re saving money, and in the case of my top pick, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, you get the S Pen included; this is one of the best stylus around at the moment and comparable to Apple Pencil.
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The tablets I’ve selected below are specifically capable of doing two things, note-taking and drawing, which means they have a different set of criteria to just either or; for example read my guide to the best drawing tablets aimed at creating art and the best e-ink tablets designed for writing.
Best tablets with a stylus: quick list
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The best tablets with a stylus pen in full
Best tablet with a stylus overall
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is a good alternative to the iPad, and shows how the best Android tablets with pens have really come on leaps and bounds. It’s a fantastic tablet for artists, with a huge, bright and sharp screen, plenty of processing power and, crucially, Samsung’s own S Pen included in the box. But while I love the large display, if you need a smaller tablet just for notes and doodling you may find it too big – in which case skip to No.2 on my list, the older Galaxy Tab S7.
But the good stuff is worth having. Our Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra review revealed this to be an Android tablet with stylus that has a lot of functionality for your money, including a 120HZ AMOLED display, 8GB, 12GB or 16GB RAM and the excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. The power you get is undeniable, and that gorgeous display with its better-than-ever refresh rate is a treat to draw on.
Larger but also razor thin, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is the best Android tablet with a stylus for drawing and note-taking, and one of the best tablets full stop. At launch it would have cost $1,199.99 / £1,099 for a12GB RAM / 256GB model, which was expensive, but these days it sells for around $999 / £899 as the even larger, even more powerful even more expensive S9 Ultra (see below) has surpassed it – but for value and overall performance, I’d still recommend the S8 Ultra.
Keep in mind the ‘Ultra’ is Samsung’s iPad Pro equivalent, if you want a Samsung for a little less or a smaller device, consider the Tab (think iPad Air) and FE+ (consider this iPad Mini) – this is across the board, so you can apply this logic to the S7+ and the S9 Ultra below, that both have Tab and FE+ models.
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Best budget tablet with a stylus
Older and less powerful than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, the Galaxy Tab S7+ is still a great option if you’re after one of the best tablets with a stylus for Android users but don’t have loads of money to spend. With the S8 and the S9 now on sale, prices for the S7 range are falling even lower.
It may not match the power of newer models, but the Galaxy Tab S7+ is still an accessible device that’s slim and has a good battery life, at least if you run it in 60Hz mode – turn on 120Hz mode and it drains fast (but for note-taking, 60Hz is fine). The screen is sharp and vibrant, and its colour display is one of the best around.
This tablet also comes with its secret weapon: the S Pen. This little stylus is on par with Apple Pencil, and is great to use. The 4,096 pressure sensitivity means you can use the stylus like a traditional pencil or brush, ensuring digital life drawing is exceptional. This is an older gen version of the S Pen, so if a good stylus is a must, particularly for drawing, then I’d opt for the new S9 Ultra, the XPPen at No.3 or the LG Gram further down my list.
The Galaxy Tab S7+ may be less powerful than the Tab 8 Ultra, the newer tablet with a stylus from Samsung, but that shouldn’t mean you ignore this slightly older model if you’re after a budget tablet for note-taking.
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Best tablet with a stylus for drawing
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I really like the new XPPen Magic Drawing Pad. Unlike other tablets with a stylus that are generalist devices, this is made by drawing tablet brand XPPen, which means you’re getting the same tech as found in the best desktop pen displays for art, but in an Android-powered mobile tablet.
The screen is fantastic for drawing, slightly flexible and compliant while its anti-glare, etched texture coating ensures it can be used outdoors or in the home. Combined with the stylus that delivers over 16K levels of pressure sensitivity (the best on this list) this really does feel like a mobile drawing tablet.
Being Android has its pros and cons, firstly it’s light on battery use and offers access to the Google Play Store for drawing (and note-taking) apps – I’d recommend ArtRage Vitae if you’re buying this as a drawing tablet more than for notes. The downside is Android apps can be limited, so you may prefer the Windows experience of the LG Gram that can run more powerful apps (and comes with a Wacom stylus for digital art).
While I’ve selected the Magic Drawing Pad as the best for, well… drawing, it’s lightweight, slim and small build (it measures 27.9 x 19.2 x 0.69 cm and weighs 599g) means it’s also excellent as a note-taking pad, features all Google productivity apps, and has access to the best note-taking apps. Oh, and it can be used for video streaming and light gaming… bonus.
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Best tablet with a stylus for note-taking
The Boox Tab Ultra C is a specialist tablet designed specifically for note-taking. Like the XPPen Magic Drawing Pad above, there’s room for specialist tablets like these, that focus on doing one thing very well. In the case of the Boox Tab Ultra C it’s making and editing notes, ideally suited to work and study. It’s streamlined focus on notes and journalling means the battering lasts for days.
This note-taking device differs to many e-ink tablets because it has a good colour display, which means it’s not only a great note-taking tablet but good for showing slides and talks created from your notes, or reading books, comics and manga in your downtime or travel.
But let’s focus on note-taking. This tablet comes with a nice 4K pressure level stylus, fine for notes and sketches, and has some nice note-taking features to make good use of it, for example you can use split-screen to browse websites and take notes as you read. You can also open and annotate on top of PDFs easily. Both of these features were picked up by our writer in their Boox Tab Ultra C review.
The colour display isn’t just a gimmick, using colour for notes is a no-brainer and means you can transfer your workflow from paper to digital. There’s also a lot of storage out of the box (128GB) and room to add a MicroSD card to read and save files. One downside is the Boox Tab Ultra C is restricted to Android 11, which is an older OS, but an e-ink tablet doesn’t really need all the features of newer updates; fundamentally you’re getting a lightweight, speedy and intuitive tablet designed for note-taking.
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Best tablet with a stylus for kids
The new Lenovo Tab M11 isn’t the most powerful tablet on my list, neither is it the largest, but this neat little device is ideal for kids. Its MediaTek Helio G88 processor combined with just 4GB of RAM and 128GB of memory isn’t too striking, but it’s enough to handle note-taking apps, web browsing, video streaming and some core Android art apps, such as Sketchbook.
For young children the Lenovo Tab M11 is just enough, particularly its good 400 nits of brightness, 11-inch display and four robust speakers. Out of the box the Lenovo Tab M11 comes with Kids Space installed, which offers child-friendly apps, games and videos to help learning and it also includes options to manage content and set screen time limits from another device.
To help with learning Lenovo has included some interesting software features, such as the option to use the camera to scan docs and turn them into PDFs and Google Lens that can scan and translate languages – great for homework.
The Lenovo Tab Pen is decent, with 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels and tilt support, but it’s not ideal just for digital art. As a good allrounder the stylus does its job, particularly for notes. Sadly it’s a battery stylus, which is an older way of doing things.
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While the Lenovo Tab M11 is cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+ (at No.2), it’s not the best budget tablet because overall, taking into account specs and stylus, the Samsung is better for a slightly higher cost. (If you want a Lenovo, see my Also Tested section for the more expensive P11).
One thing the M11 does hold over the Tab S7+ is the promise of future Android 14 and Android 15 OS upgrades up until 2028, including security patches, so you know it’s made to last even if it is under-powered. Overall, the Lenovo Tab M11 is a cheap tablet with a stylus designed for children, and this is where it works best.
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Best tablet with a stylus for media
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra has lived in the shadow of iPad Pro, and there’s a reason why it’s here and not Apple’s high-end tablet – the Samsung comes packaged with its S Pen (Gen 2) stylus while Apple charges extra for Apple Pencil 2. The S Pen, built on Wacom tech, is an excellent stylus.
If you’re after a tablet that can do just about everything thrown at it, then Samsung’s premium Android device is the best around outside of Apple. Its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor is more than capable, whether creating digital art, watching 4K movies or 3D gaming. The Dolby Atmos surround sound is great on the ears and the 14.6-inch OLED, 120Hz display is wonderful, and can replace your work monitor if required.
As it’s an Android 13 tablet you get access to all of Google’s productivity apps for work and note-taking, including Docs, Sheets and Slides – in fact, if you’re in the Google ecosystem for work the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra can replace your laptop.
When it comes to drawing, the display is excellent and colours are vibrant, though it’s glossy display can’t match the tactile bite of the special XPPen Magic Drawing Pad above, and it lacks the anti-glare coating of iPad Pro. But you do get access to all of Google Play’s best art apps, including ArtRage Vitae, Krita and Clip Studio Paint. The S Pen performs well for art, it’s precise and nice to hold over long periods of use, lines transition from thin to thick and back is smooth and small dots and circles are accurate.
Overall the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra is a powerful, large and impressive tablet for notes and drawing that can do much, much more. If you need a large tablet with a stylus for drawing and note-taking, and want to use it for media and gaming, this Samsung is the one.
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Best hybrid tablet with a stylus
The LG Gram 2in1 16-inch is a beautifully stylish laptop with enough power to run design and art apps as well as the best note-taking software. It’s a little more expensive that some other 2-in-1 laptops, such as the HP Envy x360 but it makes my list ahead of cheaper options because it’s so light and slim (this LG weighs just 1.4kg and is 0.67 inches thin). This weight ensures when it’s flipped to tablet mode the LG Gram 2in1 16-inch feels good to use, and its WQXGA resolution 16-inch display is large enough for art and complex notes and graphs.
As with other tablets on my list this comes with a stylus, and here this 2-in-1 impresses, as LG has adopted a Wacom pen as its default enclosed stylus. This a 4,096 levels of pressure stylus just like those that come with the Wacom One drawing tablets, so you’re getting a quality – reliable – pen with this 2in1.
The Intel Core i7 processor is a proven workhorse and delivers speed and agility, especially for note-taking and productivity apps. The integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics isn’t always considered the best for art apps or photo editing, but combined with the Intel Core i7 and the large 16GB of RAM, this does the job.
The real criticism here is the latest 2023 LG Gram 2in1 16-inch isn’t a huge leap over the older 2021 model, but nine months since release the price of this newer 2-in-1 laptop is often below $900 / £1,000, so it’s a bit of a bargain. There’s also a 14-inch model if you want an LG Gram that’s slightly smaller and more affordable. Either size, however, remain my preferred hybrid tablet with a stylus.
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Best Chromebook tablet with a stylus
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