Apple iPad 10.9" 10th Generation Pink 2022

The iPad 10th Gen is the sweet spot. Buy it refurbished, enjoy the modern design and USB-C, and don't look back unless you need more storage or serious horsepower.

The A14 Bionic surprised us. In our database it lands in the 15th percentile for raw CPU grunt, which sounds rough on paper. But iPadOS is so well optimized that you'd never guess it. Apps fly open, Split View is smooth, and even games like Genshin Impact run at respectable settings. The 4GB of RAM is the real bottleneck. You'll notice Safari tabs reloading if you jump between a few heavy apps. For a student writing papers or someone binging shows, it's perfectly snappy. Just don't expect to edit 4K video timelines without some stuttering.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE is the main Android rival and gives you a higher refresh rate screen and included S Pen. But iPadOS still has better tablet apps and longer software support. The real competition is Apple's own iPad Air M4. That thing has a vastly more powerful M-series chip, more RAM, and a laminated display that feels premium with the Pencil. If you can find a refurbished Air for under $500, it's the better long-term buy. The Xiaomi Pad 6 is a solid budget pick if you just want a media machine, but its software support is a ghost town compared to Apple's five-plus years of updates.

This is where things get interesting. Prices across vendors swing wildly from $240 to $699. The Geek Squad Certified Refurbished units at Best Buy are the sweet spot, often landing around $300. At that price, this iPad is a steal. You get 95% of the iPad Air experience for hundreds less. Just avoid paying anywhere near $699. At that point you're in iPad Air territory and should just get that instead.

The iPad 10th Gen is the iPad most people should actually buy. It finally ditched the home button for an all-screen design, swapped Lightning for USB-C, and moved the front camera to the landscape edge. That last bit is a bigger deal than it sounds. Video calls actually look natural now instead of making you stare off to the side. The A14 Bionic chip isn't the newest kid on the block, but it chews through everyday tasks, streaming, and even light gaming without breaking a sweat. Just know that 64GB of base storage is tight in 2025, and the RAM situation means this isn't a multitasking monster.

If you're an artist or heavy note-taker who cares about pen feel, skip this. The non-laminated display creates a slight gap between the Pencil tip and the screen that's hard to unsee once you've used an iPad Air or Pro. Grab a refurbished iPad Air M1 or M2 instead. The laminated screen and 2nd gen Pencil support are worth the extra cash for that use case.

Get the refurbished 10th Gen iPad if you want a reliable tablet for browsing, streaming, note-taking, and casual work. It's the best value in Apple's lineup right now, especially at refurbished prices. The landscape camera and USB-C make it feel modern, and the A14 chip has plenty of life left. Just be honest about your storage needs. If you plan to load up on games or keep a big photo library, hunt down the 256GB model or look at a refurbished iPad Air instead. For everyone else, this is the easy recommendation.