Stronger than it looks

Until now, if you wanted an Android tablet, with a few exceptions, you had to choose one of two options. You could go for a pricey premium tablet or a cheap tablet (and honestly, you get what you pay for). OnePlus introduced the original OnePlus Pad last spring and changed its tune. For a very reasonable price, you could get a tablet that was the essence of the OnePlus brand and the devices it claims to deliver — fast, fluid, and beautiful. Less than a year later, OnePlus is back with a sequel to that device that packs even more value into a similar package.

The OnePlus Pad 2 takes noticeable steps forward in this regard, with a few minor steps back here and there. Interestingly, this generation of the tablet is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which is currently the chipmaker’s flagship processor. Meanwhile, OnePlus has kept the tablet priced the same, which is no small feat. It also gives customers a real option between super expensive and super cheap. How does it all work? I’ve been using a OnePlus Pad 2 review unit provided by OnePlus for a few days now, and here’s my full review.

Aside from the processor, which is a definite step up in the hardware department, OnePlus has been conservative when it comes to the physical hardware. The tablet has a similar form factor to last year’s — you still get a 7:5 aspect ratio, which is great for productivity tasks like writing. You also get a tablet that’s a bit wider and a bit taller (by about 10mm each way) and weighs only about 30 grams more.

Last year’s tablet came in an attractive “Halo Green” color, which earned the “Halo” nickname thanks to the circular etching on the back of the tablet. There’s no such etching on this tablet, and the color is a much more boring “Nimbus Gray” than green. The camera module is still a bit raised, circular, and sticks out the back, but the overall hardware you’re looking at isn’t anything special.

When you hold the tablet horizontally, the power button is on the left side of the tablet, while the volume button is on the top. Similar to last year’s tablet, the volume button remains the same regardless of orientation. The power button also lacks a fingerprint sensor, which is a downside, but the biometric face authentication works pretty well, so I can’t complain too much about that.

The front of the tablet has a resolution of 3000 x 2120 pixels, which is a tad more dense than last year’s tablet. It still has the same 7:5 aspect ratio, though, which is really nice once you get used to it. The screen is an LCD panel, which isn’t amazing, but it does have six levels of variable refresh rates from 30Hz to 144Hz. Overall, it’s a similar display to last year’s, except this one is a 3K display.

While the LCD isn’t the best when it comes to deep blacks and high contrast ratios, it’s hard to notice on the OnePlus Pad 2 because the display has excellent color reproduction. The tablet is great for content consumption like watching movies and playing games (which is what most tablet users do). Using an LCD helps keep costs down and is a really small price to pay (no offense) for a tablet that’s otherwise great at what you plan on doing with it.

The speakers on this device have the potential to get pretty loud, which is always a good thing when you’re using a tablet to consume content. Many people use in-ear headphones and surprise, there’s no headphone jack here, but if you have to rely on the speakers, not only are they loud, they cover a wide range of frequencies. You don’t get super deep bass, but you do get decent low-end coverage.

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This is even more impressive considering how thin this tablet is. It’s just 6.49mm thick, which is seriously impressive considering the size of the device’s battery, as well as its audio capabilities. OnePlus, and Chinese manufacturers as a whole, have one of the most impressive skills in squeezing an extraordinary amount of technology into some of the thinnest devices in the industry. From phones to tablets, they’re leaders in making super-slim phones and tablets. Compared to my Pixel Tablet (see our full review ), those 1.5mm are a big step up, making the device easier to hold and generally feel less cumbersome.

On the software side, you get a nice, clean build of Android with the usual OnePlus customizations and features. The most notable one is OnePlus’ “Open Canvas,” which is still one of the best multitasking schemes you can find. First introduced in the foldable OnePlus Open, Open Canvas lets you run up to three apps at once. Instead of stacking them all on top of each other and squeezing one on top of the other, you can expand each app to its full size, while others fade from the screen, leaving only a thin strip visible. Simply tap inside that strip, and the canvas will shift to that app. Tap another strip, and it will shift back if you want.

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You can have all of your apps on the screen at the same time, stacked together if you want, but if you need to spread them out, you can do that. You can either have three apps in three columns, or two columns with two apps in one, or two rows with two apps in one row. The software is versatile enough to accommodate either configuration, and the ability to switch between three full-size apps unlocks a lot of multitasking potential. All tablets should emulate the OnePlus software, period.

The OnePlus Pad 2 has the same size battery as last year’s tablet — 9,510mAh and 67W SuperVooc charging. You can charge the battery to 24% in just ten minutes and to 64% in 30 minutes. A full charge will take about an hour and 21 minutes. OnePlus, by the way, ships a charger in the box.

As for battery life, with heavy use, the OnePlus tablet will last a day, but barely. With my mixed usage, which includes some media consumption, some writing and web surfing, and some gaming, I had less than 20% by the end of the day. I wouldn’t say I’ve used the tablet long enough to get a good idea of ​​battery life, but I’ll definitely update this review if/when I can come to a more definitive conclusion.

When it comes to performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen processor and 12GB of RAM (according to reviews) make this a monster of a performer. Games like “Call of Duty: Mobile” and “Genshin Impact” run perfectly on default settings.

As for Geekbench, the tablet returns single-core and multi-core scores of 936 and 4518, respectively. Also, keep in mind that this is a OnePlus tablet and can be significantly faster, so with high-performance mode enabled, those scores jump to 1282 and 4825, respectively. That’s not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, but it’s worth keeping in mind. It’s also worth noting that my gaming tests were done with high-performance mode disabled.

Like most other tablets on the market, the OnePlus Pad 2 has a pair of cameras. One faces you, the other on the back. The 8-megapixel front-facing camera lets you do things like video calling and face unlocking — and it works well for those purposes.

On the flip side, while I still firmly believe that no one should ever take photos with a tablet—even for scanning documents—this tablet does have a camera. It’s not a terrible camera, but it’s not particularly great either. It’s almost certainly not comparable to the quality of the camera you have in your hand, pocket, or purse right now.

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I sincerely hope this is the last photo you’ll ever have to look at from a OnePlus Pad 2. Here’s my analysis of the OnePlus Pad 2’s rear camera: It works well — it’s OK. Use your phone instead. I don’t care what kind of phone it is; the camera is probably better. Use it.

The OnePlus Pad 2 is available on OnePlus.com and Amazon — though the latter doesn’t go on public sale until the end of the month. It starts at $549, but there’s a temporary $50 discount through August 29, 2024. You can also trade in any tablet in any condition for another $50 at OnePlus.com.

The tablet also has a trio of accessories you can buy — a Smart Keyboard, a “Stylo” (also known as a stylus), and a folio case, priced at $149.99, $99.99, and $39.99, respectively. OnePlus has a ton of deals you can take advantage of right now, including deals on accessories and other bundle deals with the OnePlus Nord 3 Buds and OnePlus Watch 2R.

Overall, it’s a great tablet that really packs more punch than you might expect given its hardware. OnePlus has packed a top-of-the-line processor into a device that focuses on “fast and fluid performance” (because that’s OnePlus’ motto, after all), and it’s had to make a few compromises — namely the display, cameras, and hardware design. Those compromises don’t compromise performance, though.

If you don’t want to spend a fortune on a tablet for media consumption, but don’t want to skimp on processor power, this is a good place to start. If you don’t mind adding a keyboard, stylus, and/or folio case, you’ve got a great Android tablet that will last you a few years at least.