TL;DR: The OnePlus Pad certainly brought a breath of fresh air to Android Tablets. Great Screen, nice processors, accessible price, and an ecosystem in the making.
As I have mentioned before, when I heard of this tablet, I knew I had to get it. Tablets had not gathered my interest since they were that kind of solution that solved no problem. Nowadays, my perspective and the scenario has changed. A tablet nowadays can satisfy the needs of most standard users. While I still need my laptop, this could do wonders for a short trip. Or save you time pulling out stuff instead of booting up the laptop.
These are my first impressions of the tablet, and then after some time of use I’ll write the final review concluding if it met my expectations after the ’new’ shine fades away.
The Good #
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The screen takes the cake here. It’s beautiful and sharp.
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The price point makes it a rough contender against the other tablets. Specially when it comes to the tablet with the better screen.
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OnePlus fast charging included in the box (in some regions). I can’t ever have enough OnePlus Chargers and signature Red Cables.
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Runs games pretty decently.
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The split screen multi tasking is pretty handy.
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There’s a lot of screen real estate to customize.
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I’ve been using it as an extra monitor for my home PC, I recommend using Space Desk for that, it’s super easy to set up and does wonders. That app deserves it’s own standalone post.
The Bad #
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The features I was looking forward to were not available at launch. Some of them seem to be unrelated to the pad itself, since it’s the OnePlus phones that are behind in that software update. They will be available when the OxygenOS 13.1 update rolls out.
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No cellular slot… While that would be fixed by the cellular data sharing feature that is not released yet, it just stings a little for a release.
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No 12gb/256gb option at launch. It’s day one and I’m already using half of the storage.
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Screen size is unique, I haven’t found a screen protector that fits. I hope this gets a paperlike screen protector… But any screen protector will suffice
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You really have to tweak into the settings to get the most out of the tab.
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My battery life is not great, but this is likely because I’m always going to run the tablet in High Performance mode.
The Stylo #
I am having a blast with the Stylo stylus. I can’t really draw but it’s been fun messing around and replacing every single app icon with a doodle.
Now, personally I would only recomend getting the stylus if you are into drawing or want to take notes. It feels very nice to write on the screen with it. Besides the native ‘Notes’ app, you can doodle around using Clip Studio or HiPaint. It’s really fun. I’ve also been using it to take notes and make annotations at work.
The Genshin Impact Benchmark #
The game runs pretty decently. I can notice some drops in the frame rates and the lack of controller support for android is pretty upsetting. I think it runs it nicely enough to play in short bursts. I wouldn’t do a long play session on this.
I think it’s very important to show mid-game gameplay instead of the first 10 minutes of the tutorial that you’ll see everywhere, since combat gets more hectic and fast.
The Honkai Star Rail Benchmark #
Now even though they’re games that are closely related, I feel that Star Rail runs just a little better than genshin. It might be because it’s a smaller, less demanding game. I’m okay with this though, I can just leave it running. This is a game I would do a long play session in. It’s worth it.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross Benchmark #
I wasn’t going to record footage for this game but wow am I pleased on how smooth it runs. No frame drops, no stutters or anything. It really made me pick up the game again, very nice! I can’t wait to try more variety.
The Verdict (so far) #
I am very pleased with this Tablet. It has almost everything I wanted from an Android Tablet and I can’t wait to make more use of it as time goes on! This tablet falls onto a very niche category that I’m not sure I can recommend it to everyone. In most cases you’re better off with an iPad, honestly. Just because they are light years ahead in their ecosystem. And if you were looking for an android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab reigns supreme.
However, the OnePlus Pad fights in the best value category against the regular base model iPad and soon the Pixel Tablet. Keep in mind you’d be getting 128GB of storage instead of 64GB at that price range, and that the high refresh rate screen is only available in the pro models of the iPad.
I haven’t looked into the Pixel Tablet specs but honestly I just can’t find the appeal of a glorified google nest hub. Despite that, I hope it does really well in the market so Android gets more advanced in the tablet department.
Sources:
I got this amazing wallpaper from https://www.deviantart.com/sevenics