OnePlus Pad: Five Things You Need to Know Before You Buy

OnePlus has just launched its first tablet called the OnePlus Pad in India. It packs some premium muscle in terms of hardware, and sure looks the part for a device priced from Rs. 37,999 onwards. OnePlus has also launched three accessories along with it — a keyboard case, simple folio case, and a stylus. We have already given our first impressions of the tablet when OnePlus first announced it back in February 2023, and we are currently in the middle of testing it. For all those eager to get their hands on it right away, we decided to put together a little checklist of the top five things you need to know about the OnePlus Pad.

1. Premium design

The OnePlus Pad has a premium-looking design and is just 6.5mm thin. This means it’s just about thick enough to house the USB-Type C port or for comparison’s sake, is a lot thinner than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, or an Apple iPhone 14 Pro. The OnePlus Pad is fairly light at 552g, but it’s still heavier than an Apple iPad Air (462g).

OnePlus’ first tablet features a unibody design with a plastic strip that runs along the entire edge of the rear panel, which allow for radio connectivity. There’s 2.5D glass on the front with a thin bezel all-round. The single Halo Green colour that it’s available in also appears quite premium, and the centred 13-megapixel camera module on the back makes the tablet look very unique when compared to the competition.

The OnePlus Pad has a metal unibody design

2. Vivid display

The OnePlus Pad has a 11.61-inch LCD display with a resolution of 2,800 x 2,000 pixels. It also has a rather high 144Hz refresh rate which is adaptive, allowing it to switch between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz when needed, which in theory should help save power. The display also has a 144Hz maximum touch sampling rate which seems a bit low for serious gaming. The tablet also supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, and is equipped with a quad-speaker setup.

3. Strong specs

Inside the OnePlus Pad, is a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC which is commonly found in premium smartphones. The SoC has an ‘ultra’ core that’s clocked at 3.05GHz and an ARM Mali-G710 MC10 graphics processor, so there’s enough power for handling day-to-day apps and gaming.

The tablet is available in two variants. The base variant offers 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage and is available at Rs. 37,999. The second variant comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and is priced at Rs. 39,999. Since the price difference between the two isn’t much, it makes better sense to go for the top-end variant. 

The OnePlus Pad has an LCD display with a 144Hz refresh rate

4. Accessories

In the box, OnePlus only bundles a 100W Type-A USB charger and a Type-A to Type-C cable. However, the charging rate of the device is capped at 67W. All of the advertised accessories have to be purchased separately. OnePlus has launched three of them which include the OnePlus Magnetic Keyboard priced at Rs. 7,999, OnePlus Stylo pen priced at Rs. 4,999, and the OnePlus Folio Case which is available at Rs. 1,499.

The OnePlus Magnetic Keyboard has a faux-leather case so it also doubles up as a folio cover to protect the tablet’s display and body when folded. The compact keyboard is also accompanied by a small trackpad which the company claims is well-optimised for its OxygenOS software. The keyboard case connects to the tablet via three pogo pins.

The OnePlus Stylo is a stylus which charges when placed on the magnetic area on the top of the tablet, and can be used for sketching or taking notes using select apps. Lastly, there’s the OnePlus Folio Case, which like the keyboard, magnetically attaches to the back of the tablet and offers basic protection.

The OnePlus Magnetic Keyboard doubles up as a case and also offers a trackpad

5. A Few Misses

Despite its premium looks, the OnePlus Pad does miss out on a few features one would expect at this price point. There’s no 3.5mm headphone port which could be down to design choices, as it is very slim. Also missing is a fingerprint reader but OnePlus has provided 2D face unlock for basic authentication. Another important detail that the OnePlus Pad lacks is cellular connectivity, so a direct Wi-Fi connection or connecting it to a personal hotspot are the only way to stay connected to the Internet on the move.

Stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for the full review of the OnePlus Pad, coming very soon.