What makes a children’s tablet a children’s tablet? It starts with the software found on it. Think of a simplified user interface and included (educational) software that is focused on children. There are manufacturers who pay attention to this and market special devices that are fully equipped with children in mind, such as Deplay and Kurio. In addition, there are manufacturers who market ‘normal’ tablets that can be put into a special children’s mode with a few actions. Think of Samsung and realme. There are also normal tablets without a child mode that are compatible with the special Google Kids Space app, which is in principle also a child mode. This app is available in the Play Store, but is not ‘compatible’ with every tablet or smartphone.
Both with the standard interface of special children’s tablets and with the enabled children’s mode of other tablets, a greatly simplified, colorful interface is presented. In this mode, the icons are extra large and you can only choose from child-friendly apps. There is also a special children’s browser in this interface that only provides access to child-friendly websites, and video players that only link to children’s content. Parents should be able to set what their children can and cannot see, but also add or remove apps. Screen time is also important. Setting all these options is done in the normal or special parent mode of the tablet.
Management features from Kurio, Samsung and Deplay
Furthermore, children’s tablets must be able to withstand a blow. There is a good chance that a tablet will fall out of your child’s hands and if that happens, it must be able to withstand it. The dedicated children’s tablets come standard with large rubber covers. Such covers are usually also available for standard tablets with a children’s mode, but you will have to purchase them separately.
There is a lot of search for children’s tablets and when I do my own research I end up in a jungle of obscure devices and am bombarded with brands I’ve never heard of, lousy specifications and vague manufacturers who apparently use the word ‘software support’. ‘ do not have in their dictionary. The vast majority don’t even bother to answer the phone or answer emails, but the tablets are for sale at major retailers or appear quite high in Google search results.
Ultimately, I was able to get in touch with some manufacturers and found some tablets that were actually supported and included at least Android 13 (GO): the Kurio Kids Tablet Premium and the Deplay Kids Tablet Pro 10”. I have compared these tablets to cheap tablets that are not specifically aimed at children, but do have a children’s mode and are still supported by the manufacturer for a long time: the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 series.
In addition, as I wrote earlier, it is possible to set a family mode or parental controls on many tablets. Setting up and configuring this takes a little more time than getting started with tablets that already have a child mode on board. In this review and the accompanying Best Buy Guide page, we mainly pay attention to special children’s tablets and tablets with a children’s mode that are approximately the same price. Samsung recently announced that it would be releasing a ‘Kids edition’ of the Tab A9. This variant comes standard with all children’s accessories and has the children’s mode turned on by default. It is not yet known how much that model will cost in the Benelux.
