Choosing a Tablet for Video Calls with Family

Why the right tablet makes family calls easier

Video calls have become the everyday way to keep up with children and grandchildren, whether they are ten minutes away or ten thousand miles. Done well, a call feels almost like sitting in the same room. Done badly, it is a blurry face, a crackly voice and a lot of shouting at the screen. The difference usually comes down to the device you are holding.

A tablet is often the sweet spot for over-55s. It is bigger than a phone, so faces are easier to see and buttons are easier to press, but lighter and less fiddly than a laptop. If you are choosing one mainly for keeping in touch with family, a few practical points matter far more than the specifications on the box.

Screen size: go bigger than you think

The single biggest upgrade for comfortable calls is screen size. Someone on a 10 or 11 inch screen is roughly life-size and easy to read, while on a 7 or 8 inch screen you will find yourself leaning in and squinting at facial expressions.

A few things to weigh up:

• 10 to 11 inches is the practical sweet spot for most people. Big enough for a clear picture, still comfortable to hold on your lap for half an hour.
• 12 inches and above is wonderful if the tablet will mostly sit on a table or a stand, but it can feel heavy in the hand after a while.
• Under 9 inches is best kept for travel or as a second device, not your main calling screen.
• Brightness matters as much as size. If you often call from a sunny conservatory, a screen that can go bright will stop you looking like a silhouette.

If you can, visit a shop and hold a few in your hands. Weight and balance are very personal, and a tablet that feels tiring after ten minutes will quietly put you off making calls.

Sound, camera and keeping steady

A good picture is only half the call. Poor sound is the more common complaint, and it is usually caused by holding the tablet too far away or by background noise.

Look for a tablet with speakers on both ends rather than just one side, so voices sound even and clear. A case with a built-in stand is genuinely worth the extra cost: it holds the tablet at eye level, keeps both hands free and stops that drifting camera angle that makes grandchildren complain they can only see your ceiling.

On the camera side, anything reasonably modern will be fine for calls. What matters more is position. Sit with a window in front of you rather than behind you, and place the tablet roughly at eye level. If your family says you look dark, the fix is almost always lighting rather than a new device.

Wi-Fi, which is usually the real culprit

Most calls that freeze or turn blocky are not the tablet's fault. They are a Wi-Fi problem, and it is worth sorting before you spend money on an upgrade.

Where is your router? If it lives in a hallway cupboard and you call from an upstairs bedroom, the signal has to travel through walls and a floor. Moving the router into the open, or adding a simple Wi-Fi extender, often transforms call quality for a fraction of the price of a new tablet.

• Choose a tablet that connects to 5GHz Wi-Fi as well as 2.4GHz. It is faster and less prone to interference from neighbours' networks.
• Test a call from the exact chair you will normally use, not just from the room where the router sits.
• If your broadband struggles, ask your provider about your package before blaming the device.
• A wired connection is not practical on a tablet, but sitting closer to the router is.

Simple controls and a familiar setup

You want a tablet that gets out of the way. That means large, clear icons, a straightforward way to answer a call, and a system that does not reorganise itself overnight.

Practise two or three things until they feel automatic: how to start a call, how to answer one, and how to end one. Everything else can wait. It also helps to set up the tablet so calls ring loudly and visibly, with notifications turned on, so a call from a grandchild never slips past unnoticed.

A few practical touches make a real difference:

• Increase the text size and icon size in the display settings during setup.
• Turn off silent mode so calls always ring through, even if other alerts are quiet.
• Save family members as favourites so they are one tap away rather than buried in a contacts list.
• Set up a shared charging spot in the house so the battery is never flat when the call comes in.

Storage, battery and what you can sensibly ignore

For video calls, you need very little. Basic storage is perfectly adequate, because calls are streamed rather than saved. Do not be talked into paying for extra capacity you will never fill.

Battery life matters more. Aim for a tablet that comfortably lasts a full day of light use, and expect that video calls drain it noticeably faster than reading or browsing. Most people find a routine of charging it overnight, or after lunch, works well.

What can you ignore? Processor speeds, camera megapixel counts and screen resolution numbers sound impressive but make almost no difference to how well a grandchild's face comes across. Spend your budget on screen size, sound quality and a good stand instead.

The best tablet is the one that sits charged, connected and ready by your favourite chair. Get the Wi-Fi right, choose a screen you can comfortably see, add a stand, and the technology will quietly disappear, leaving you free to enjoy the conversation.