Which Tablet is Right for You as a Musician? Tablet for Musicians – 3 Great Options
With more tablets going on the market, we as musicians have so many options to choose from if we’re looking for a digital replacement for sheet music. Today I’m sharing the best, highest quality tablets for musicians, whether you prefer Apple, Android, or Windows.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
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Apple
If you’re a fan of the Apple ecosystem and products, the iPad is definitely the tablet for you. iOS is also home to the best sheet music reader: Forscore. Let’s take a look at a few different iPad models:
| iPad Pro 12.9″ 5th Generation (2021) | iPad Air 4 (2021) | iPad 9th Generation (2021) | |
| Price | From $799 | From $599 | From $329 |
| Screen Size | 12.9 inches | 10.9 inches | 10.2 inches |
| Storage Options | 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB | 64 GB or 256 GB | 64 GB or 256 GB |
| Port Type | USB-C | USB-C | Lightning |
| Apple Pencil Compatibility | Apple Pencil 2 | Apple Pencil 2 | Apple Pencil 1 |
| Rear Camera(s) | 12MP Wide, 10MP Ultra Wide | 12MP Wide | 8MP Wide |
| Front Camera | 12MP TrueDepth with Center Stage | 7MP Ultra Wide with Center Stage | Ultra Wide with Center Stage |
| Headphone Jack | No | No | YES |
| Connectivity | Wifi or Wifi & 5G Cellular | Wifi or Wifi & 5G Cellular | Wifi or Wifi & 4G Cellular |
iPad Pro: My Experience
I own the iPad Pro 12.9″ 4th Generation from 2020. The specs aren’t quite as fancy as the 2021 model listed above, but it’s still super fast, and I love it!
The 12.9 inch display is, in my opinion, the perfect size for reading sheet music. It’s very similar to a physical piece of sheet music, and fits nicely into a backpack or bag. I know many tech reviewers say it’s too large, but I think it’s a great size for musicians!
The Apple Pencil is a must for musicians. It’s so easy to write on the iPad without my palm getting detected! I was able to quickly adjust from writing with a pencil on paper to the Apple Pencil on the iPad.
Forscore
Forscore is hands-down the best sheet music reader app available! It runs fluidly without many bugs, and has so many customization options. Many musicians purchase an iPad simply to use forscore, even if they aren’t otherwise Apple fans.
Forscore is exclusive to iOS. With the pro subscription (which I don’t even think is necessary), you can use Forscore as a cloud sharing option for your scores between all of your Apple devices.
Drawbacks to the iPad
If you’re not already accustomed to the Apple file organization system (or lack thereof?), you might feel a little confused by the iPad.
Copy my iPad Setup!
I love using Finder on my MacBook, but iPads and iPhones aren’t quite as straightforward. The Files app has helped a bit (I especially love that cloud services like Google Drive can be integrated!) but I still think it’s a bit difficult to understand what is downloaded to my iPad, and where exactly those files are located.
Android
The best line of Android tablets on the market right now is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8. Let’s compare the three different models:
| Galaxy Tab S8 | Galaxy Tab S8+ | Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra | |
| Price | From $699.99 | From $899.99 | From $1099.99 |
| Screen Size | 11 inches | 12.4 inches | 14.6 inches |
| Storage Options | 128 GB or 256 GB | 128 GB or 256 GB | 128 GB, 256 GB, or 512 GB |
| Port Type | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| S Pen Compatibility | Yes (ships with it) | Yes (ships with it) | Yes (ships with it) |
| Rear Camera(s) | 13MP and 6MP Ultra Wide | 13MP and 6MP Ultra Wide | 13MP and 6MP Ultra Wide |
| Front Camera(s) | 12MP Ultra Wide | 12MP Ultra Wide | 12MP and 12MP Ultra Wide |
| Headphone Jack | No | No | No |
| Connectivity | Wifi | Wifi or Wifi & Cellular | Wifi |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Line Overview
Samsung generally makes some of the best tech for Android, and the Tab S8 line is their most premium tablet. The S8+ model is probably the closest competitor to the iPad Pro 12.9 inch display, but the S8 Ultra is one of the largest tablets you can buy. That large screen would be great for a musician who can’t play very close to their stand and needs to read everything large! It also has great specs.
Want to learn more about this tablet? Read my overview of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 line!
MobileSheets
MobileSheets is the best sheet music reader app available for Android and Windows. It’s not quite as fluid as Forscore, and it’s a bit buggier, in my experience. However, It’s a great option on this device!
Watch an overview of MobileSheets in my Surface Book 3 video!
Windows
My boyfriend has the Surface Book 3, which is a great hybrid between laptop and tablet! We’ve made a few different videos and blog posts about the Surface Book 3 as a tablet for musicians.
If you’re looking for less of a tablet and more of a laptop, the Surface Pro 8 is a great option. Let’s compare the two Microsoft Surface options.
| Surface Book 3 | Surface Pro 8 | |
| Price | From $1,599.99 | From $999.99 |
| Screen Size | 13.5 inches or 15 inches | 13 inches |
| Storage Options | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Port Type | Surface Connect Port (also option to charge via USB-C) | Surface Connect Port (also option to charge via USB-C) |
| Surface Pen Compatibility | Surface Pen | Surface Slim Pen 2 |
| Rear Camera(s) | 8 MP | 10 MP |
| Front Camera(s) | 5 MP | 5 MP |
| Headphone Jack | YES | YES |
| Connectivity | Wifi only | Wifi and LTE |
Surface Book 3
The large screen size of the Surface Book is great for musicians who can’t get too close to their music stand. It’s definitely more of a laptop than a tablet–great if you like the file organization of a laptop over a tablet!
The Surface Book 3 is out of stock on Microsoft’s website, and I doubt it’ll come back in stock again, since it came out a couple years ago. It’s also the most expensive option I’m sharing today. It’s also very heavy with the keyboard attached!
It is, however, available on Amazon!
Surface Pro 8
The Surface Pro 8 was released in fall 2021, so it has more updated specs than the Surface Book. It is a bit smaller though, and is definitely more tablet than laptop.
The screen size is still nice though: 13 inches, competing with the iPad Pro 12.9 inch model. If you’re a fan of Windows and are okay with using MobileSheets, the Surface Pro 8 would be a great alternative to the iPad Pro.
Other Tablets for Musicians
Of course, there are so many other tablets out there to choose from! O Depending on your needs, the best tablet for you as a musician could be completely different from any of the ones I talked about today.
Want to see specs and facts for today’s tablets? Check out Tablet Feast’s 2023 Tablet Statistics for everything you need to know!
Tablet for Musicians: The Best 3
The roundup? The best three tablets for musicians would have to be the iPad Pro 12.9 inch model, the Samsung Tab S8 Ultra, and the Surface Pro 8. Depending on your needs and tastes, there’s a tablet for any musician!
One of the drawbacks of shopping for a tablet for musicians is that we need a large screen to read from, but we don’t need crazy advanced specs. Many of the tablets with screens large enough to read as a paper sheet music replacement are just crazy expensive. What if there was some Kindle-like option that just ran forscore and other music apps? Hmm…
Once you’ve got your tablet, you’ll want to feel comfortable performing with it! Read my article all about performing from a tablet here!
Do you own a tablet for reading sheet music? If so, what do you use? Let me know down in the comments!
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