When you buy a new tablet, you probably already know what specifications you want to pay attention to. Depending on how you plan to use your tablet, you’ll probably want something with a significant amount of RAM, as well as a device with enough storage to meet your needs. Having a chipset (CPU and GPU) powerful enough to deliver the performance you need is also another important factor to consider. All of these components are important to have a tablet that works well and lasts a long time.
However, with so many different screen types currently available, as well as different resolutions and even brightness levels, it’s also important to know which display specs are worth paying extra for. Not everyone will need the highest resolution or even the fastest refresh rate, but that doesn’t mean these specs are worth ignoring just to save a little extra money. Each of the specifications we’ll cover in this article can greatly affect the way you use your tablet, and in some cases, they can even completely change the way you feel.
Pixels per inch
While resolution is an important specification to keep in mind, it’s actually pixels per inch (PPI) that you want to consider when choosing your next tablet, because the resolution of a tablet’s screen relative to the screen size of the tablet itself actually changes the PPI drastically. If your PPI is higher, you get a clearer, sharper image because the pixels are closer together and harder to spot individually. Alternatively, a lower PPI means the image may not appear as sharp or clear.
Having a sharp image can be important, especially if you plan to use your tablet for entertainment purposes. A higher PPI and sharper image can also be extremely important for creative users who plan to use their tablet for artistic purposes. Many high-end tablets will also show a higher PPI. The Liquid Retina displays found in iPads like the iPad Air often feature at least 264 PPI, providing a crisp, clear image, which has likely helped the iPad remain one of the highest-rated tablets on Amazon.
For tablets, the sweet spot for optimal PPI will be between 250 and 300 PPI. This means having a tablet with a high enough resolution that even between 11 and 13 inches it provides a PPI above 250. You can calculate the PPI yourself using the following formula: PPI = √(Width² + Height²) / Diagonal Size. Alternatively, you can always use online PPI calculators to help you get an idea of the PPI the tablet offers before purchasing it.
Panel type
Another important feature that you will need to pay attention to when choosing a new tablet is the type of display panel. There is a big difference between a tablet using an OLED screen and an IPS screen. While both can look great, they each have their pros and cons. Each individual pixel of an OLED display provides its own light, delivering brighter colors and darker blacks. This makes them perfect for crisp, clear images with wide viewing angles.
However, they also suffer from the risk of burns caused by the use of static elements. This is less of an issue than it used to be, thanks to advances in display features that can help clean up pixels, but it’s still recommended that users know ways to prevent OLED burn-in on these displays. On the other hand, an IPS panel uses LCD technology, which means that the pixels are illuminated by a single backlight. This provides better vision in brighter environments.
IPS displays are also known to offer better text clarity and burn-in protection compared to OLED displays, although they are not as strong in terms of colors and viewing angles. If you plan to watch a lot of movies or videos or play games, opting for an OLED display will provide a crisper, sharper picture. Meanwhile, those who read a lot of text or work on documents on their tablet will likely find an IPS panel more appealing, especially if they need to view the same documents for extended periods of time.
Refresh rate
The refresh rate of your screen is basically the measurement of how quickly the screen refreshes the image presented on it. A higher refresh rate results in faster image refresh, so you’ll get much smoother motion as well as reduced motion blur. A higher refresh rate is ideal because it can make your tablet snappier and more responsive, especially in gaming and entertainment-based uses.
However, there are times when you can spend more for a refresh rate that’s too high for your needs. Depending on the price range you’re looking at, tablet refresh rates can range from 60Hz to 144Hz. The high end of the spectrum here is designed more for gaming devices, and while it can be useful, it can also lead to increased battery consumption and is often reserved for the more expensive tablet offerings on the market. For most users, 120Hz will provide the most stable and smooth performance for the price.
However, just getting a tablet with a high refresh rate doesn’t guarantee that it offers the best performance out of the box. This is one of those areas where understanding what other specs your tablet offers will be key, as you’ll want to make sure the tablet’s chipset is powerful enough to actually utilize your screen’s refresh rate. Understanding the difference between 120Hz and 144Hz can help you determine whether or not you need to spend the extra money to reach that higher end.
Sustained brightness
The last display spec you want to consider when looking at a tablet is how bright it can get. This measurement is particularly important for viewing the tablet in bright environments, as you want to be able to use your tablet without the image being too difficult to see. However, there are technically two brightness levels you want to keep in mind: peak brightness and sustained brightness.
Peak brightness is the maximum amount of light a screen can emit for a very short period of time. For example, the Ultra Retina XDR display on the 11-inch iPad Pro offers peak brightness of up to 1,600 nits when viewing HDR content. However, the display won’t run at 1,600 nits all the time. Instead, it’s set to run at 1,000 nits of sustained brightness at full screen, a feature the company has offered on its Ultra Retina XDR displays since 2024.
Companies often measure peak brightness based on a very small portion of the screen – sometimes even just the brightness of a single pixel – and not all tablets break down the differences as clearly as Apple does with its iPad Pro. So it’s important not to get too distracted by the overly high numbers you might see next to a maximum brightness specification. Instead, we recommend looking for any information on the sustained brightness offered by the screen, as this will give you a much more realistic idea of what you’re working with.
