It’s 2017 now and as consumers want more from tablet manufacturers, the consumer electronics market bubbles into new trends on all sides. One in particular is the kids tablet trend and even though you may think that there’s plenty to go around, this side of the market is actually scarce. We understand that most parents want the best parental control features on the tablet that they’ll let their children use, and they’ll even prefer it if it has added extras on it also. So we’ve scoured around to find any noteworthy tablets for kids and see if they give the best deals that any parent would want.

Here are 5 of what we think is the best tablets for kids in the market today:

1. LeapFrog Epic – Designed for children below 5 years old, this chunky tablet offers a very simple and robust design Android-powered UI. Its lifespan is somewhere between 2 – 4 years which should be enough to entertain a child for a certain period of time, so don’t expect it to perform beyond its technical capacity. You can download in-house apps from LeapFrog; however, they are quite expensive, and apps from Amazon Appstore is much cheaper which works with this device pretty well. The resolution has low quality with only 1024 x 600 dpi despite having a 7-inch screen display and the colors are also muted. One advantage the LeapFrog Epic has is that it allows you to create multiple user profiles for different kids (in case you have more than one user for it). Its key features include a chunky design, 5 hours of battery life, simple UI, LeapFrog apps are educational which is helpful to kids and it costs $154.7.
2. Amazon Fire HD 6 Kids Edition – Chose from either pink or blue chunky case for the Amazon Fire HD 6 Kids Edition with unlimited Fire For Kids content store, high quality and performance as well as its one-of-a-kind accidental damage warranty guaranteed for 2 years! Amazon included most of the features and performance package in this Kids Edition tablet which is probably why there is an additional premium payments for accessing Amazon Store; however, the trade-in is absolutely worth it! The 6-inch 1280 x 800 IPS display has high pixel quality, but since it’s lesser than the standard 7 inches android tablets, reading smaller text was somewhat difficult. Battery life has a decent 8-hour run to it, but it will be cut in half if you play games on it most of the time. You will have full access to fun and child-friendly content in the Fire for Kids app which is great for their appetite for learning.
3. Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition – If you’re not happy with the Fire HD 6 Kids Edition from Amazon, then you can get the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. Apart from the longer battery life which will last for 12 hours, the bigger 8-inch display and 32GB internal storage; you will also get a free 1 year subscription to the Fire For Kids service which includes lots of TV shows and books that are specifically for children. With a sturdy bumbper case and other features its got, you’ll certainly be satisfied with what you’ll get for your money.
4. Kurio Smart – The Kurio Smart has similar design with Lenovo’s Yoga Tablet 2 which has a detachable keyboard. But while the design is impressive it’s features, however, are just basic. The makers of the Kurio Smart has ditched any USB port and preferred to use instead the HDMI port, which will allow kids to connect it with a bigger screen for any homework tasks; still its 1280 x 800 display will not be enough for multitasking. It isn’t particularly powerful either. Its Inter Atom quad-core processor is like paper tiger, it has got all good specs on paper but does poorly in actual performance. A maximum of 3 or 4 tabs could be opened when you use it to browse sites on the web and gaming is good, just don’t play games that require your tab to perform higher than its normal rate. You can use the Kurio Smart for 6 – 7 hours at a single charge as well.
5. iPad Mini 2 – If you want a budget-friendly tablet with great specs and features, then the iPad Mini 2 is for you. Although not specifically build for children, you can let them use it provided you envelop it with an impact protection case. The educational OSMO starter kit would be a great add-on with the iPad Mini 2 if you have extra cash to buy it. The tablet runs on Apple’s iOS 9 which has great parental features that will make it safe enough to let your kids handle it on their own. It enables you to control the Safari web browser to restrict any adult content from popping up as well as install new apps. Additionally, the app also allows you to block all access to music and podcasts with explicit content, and/or TV shows with adult content or themed. You’ll have access to thousands of apps, eBooks and games with Apple’s App Store. Although the Apple iPad Mini 2 is priced at $414.7 you can be sure of its great quality both in physical specs and software features.