The OnePlus Pad is the company’s first entry into the tablet market, priced at $479. It seems to target users who are not looking for high-end tablets like Samsung’s Galaxy S8 lineup or Apple’s iPad Air or Pro. Despite sporting a well-designed hardware and an excellent screen, the tablet’s experience is hampered by Android’s limitations on large screens.
Pros
- Great screen
- Well-designed hardware
- Stylus works well
- Excellent battery life
Cons
- Android ill-suited for large screens
- Terrible multitasking experience
- Keyboard and trackpad aren’t the best
Hardware
The OnePlus Pad features a striking metallic green color and a large 11.6-inch display with a thin 6.7mm bezel. The screen ratio is 7:5, making it more comfortable for users to use compared to the common 16:9 ratio. The tablet is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 Cortex-X2 processor running at 3.05 GHz, paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Accessories
The tablet offers a $149 keyboard folio and a $99 OnePlus Stylo pen as optional accessories. The keyboard folio is lightweight and easy to attach, but the typing experience is marred by an unreliable space key and a trackpad that doesn’t reject edge input well. The OnePlus Stylo, on the other hand, offers 4,096 levels of pressure and 60 degrees of tilt, making it a versatile tool for drawing or taking notes.
Software Experience
The OnePlus Pad runs Android 13.1 with Oxygen OS, offering a few custom apps and features for users who also own a OnePlus phone. These include seamless cellular data sharing and auto-connect features for notifications, text messages, and phone calls. Unfortunately, the overall experience is hindered by the lack of Android apps optimized for larger screens and poor multitasking functionality.
Performance and Battery Life
The tablet’s performance is generally responsive, with apps and websites loading quickly. However, scrolling and gaming can feel slightly choppy despite the screen’s high refresh rate. Battery life is a strong point for the OnePlus Pad, lasting about 10 hours during a normal work routine, including app usage, gaming, video watching, and music streaming.
The OnePlus Pad offers a mixed bag of pros and cons, making it difficult to determine its target audience. Die-hard Android fans may prefer a Samsung tablet, while OnePlus phone users may appreciate the seamless integration between devices. The tablet’s strengths lie in its battery life, display, and stylus, but its shortcomings, particularly in software experience and multitasking, may make it a less attractive option for some users.
