OnePlus Pad review: Tablet that could give competition headache

OnePlus Pad review: OnePlus has finally breached the tablet bastion. With its first-ever OnePlus Pad, the company is not only trying to tap the potential of the Android tablet space but has also moved a step forward to offer a multi-device ecosystem - which has been dominated primarily by Samsung. OnePlus, an almost a decade-old company, has been slowly but steadily adding devices to its ecosystem. OnePlus Pad not just offers a large screen, sleek design, good performance and great battery life but is also available for less than Rs 40,000. However, there are certain things that are missing in this tablet. Can OnePlus Pad be a good option for those considering buying an Android tablet? Find out in the detailed review.

OnePlus Pad review: Design

One of the best things about OnePlus Pad is its design. Despite the fact that this is OnePlus' first attempt, it has managed to do justice with the design of the tablet. The pad has a metal body and is available only in the Halo Green shade, which is not just easy on the eyes but also stands out from other standard colour options available in tablets of other brands. The pad is slim, lightweight and comfortable to hold - making it quite fit for heavy daily usage.

For those who are fond of numbers: Height - 25.80 cm, Width - 18.94 cm, Thickness - 0.65 cm and Weight - 552 grams. Also, the pad comes with a 2.5D round edge, something the company claims has been used for the first time in a tablet, making it easier and more comfortable to hold.

The OnePlus Pad attracts smudges both on the metal body as well as on the display. However, accessories like the magnetic keyboard, about which we will talk later, can fix this to a certain extent. The tablet has a minimalistic design and you will only get a power button along with volume rockers. They are placed on the top and right side of the pad respectively if you are holding it in a portrait position and on the left and top of the pad respectively when you are using the magnetic keypad.

The camera has been positioned at the centre of the device (when held in landscape orientation). While it is perfectly fine when using the device in landscape orientation, I found my fingers rubbing the larger circular housing while using the tablet in portrait orientation.

Before moving on to display, there is no 3.5mm audio jack in this tablet — which can be a deal-breaker for some users. Also, there is no fingerprint sensor and no slots for SIM and MicroSD - which means that you will not be able to expand the memory of the device.

The OnePlus Pad is available in two RAM and storage variants - 8GB RAM + 128GB and 12GB RAM + 256GB. They are priced at Rs 37,999 and Rs 39,999 respectively.

OnePlus Pad review: Display

OnePlus Pad has a large 11.61 inches LCD screen and comes with the industry's first 7:5 ratio. This is one of the USPs of the device as the company has made it a point that the ratio makes the tablet ideal for reading and gives a more book-like feeling. OnePlus Pad comes with a uniform 6.7mm bezel on all sides and this looks pretty. It offers a screen-to-body ratio of 88 per cent. The screen is bright and crisp and not just browsing web pages but watching videos on the OnePlus Pad is also fun. It has a quad-speaker system which supports Dolby Atmos to offer decent surround sound quality. The audio is also loud enough and watching movies an entertaining experience.

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While some may miss an AMOLED display, the LCD display of OnePlus Pad is quite bright and vibrant. It offers a peak brightness of 500 nits and a refresh rate of 144Hz. The display is bright enough to use even outdoors. To save power consumption, the device automatically toggles between frame rates of 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz.

OnePlus Pad review: Performance and software

OnePlus Pad is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor and is capable enough to handle all your day-to-day tasks with ease. The tablet provides snappy performance and switching between apps is smooth. Even while using the split screen feature with multiple apps running in the background, I did not notice any lag. Though it is not made for hardcore gamers, it is still adequate enough for your average gaming sessions. I even ran some tests to check how the device would perform under sustained load and it showed good stability in Wild Life Stress Test.

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The OnePlus Pad runs on Android 13 out of the box with OxygenOS 13.1 skin. Those who have been using OnePlus smartphones will immediately connect with it. I feel that OnePlus should have provided a more desktop and Windows-like environment to make it more user-friendly for those who want to perform all the tasks of a laptop on the tablet.

The good part is that the company is committing to three years of OS updates and four years of security patches, making this device future ready.

As OnePlus is building its ecosystem, the tablet is loaded with features such as auto-connect which let users easily connect with smartphones. It will also let users share screens among the OnePlus devices. It has a Cellular Data Sharing capability which essentially means that you can easily access the 5G signal of your OnePlus smartphone.  

OnePlus Pad review: Camera

On the rear, OnePlus Pad comes with a 13MP camera and LED flash. Considering that it has just one camera, the circular housing looks rather large. On the front, you will an 8MP camera, which comes with 'Center Stage' and positions you at the centre of the frame during video calls. Both the cameras manage to click decent images.

OnePlus Pad review: Battery and charging

Another impressive feature of the OnePlus Pad is its large 9510mAh battery. I used the tablet for an entire day and was left with around 50 per cent of the battery. On top of that, it comes with a 67W fast charging that charges the device from zero per cent to 100 per cent in around 80 minutes.

OnePlus Pad review: Accessories

OnePlus is providing two accessories with the tablet - Stylo and Magnetic Keyboard. While Stylo is for those who really want to express their creativity and are interested in drawings, OnePlus Magnetic Keyboard is something that one should really go for.

The keyboard is quite easy to connect, thanks to the three-point pogo pin and the magnetic force is quite strong so you can easily use it even on your lap without any wobbling. The best part is that the magnetic keyboard has a leather-like texture and acts as a good cover for the tablet. Also, the keyboard has a comfortable layout and typing on it was just fun. I didn't miss my laptop even once while writing this review on OnePlus Pad using the magnetic keyboard. However, adding a dedicated function row would have made things much better. But you get basic system controls like volume and display brightness as a function layer on the number keys. The one thing I really liked is its integrated trackpad, which, despite being small in size, has several multi-finger gestures that are quite useful.

Unfortunately, the OnePlus Magnetic Keyboard offers only one viewing angle. It was too steep for me and took some time to get used to it. Also, the keyboard lacks a backlight.

OnePlus Pad review: Verdict

OnePlus Pad is quite a capable tablet that lets you perform each and every task you have been doing on your laptop. It can be a viable option for someone who travels often and is fed up of carrying a laptop. But you will have to ignore certain minor aspects like it has no fingerprint scanner, you cannot use a separate SIM, and memory is not expandable.