OnePlus Pad review: A polished and a refined first attempt

OnePlus launched its first ever Android tablet at a price of Rs 37,999 in India. While Android tablets haven’t upped their game in a while, OnePlus Pad has proved to be a blockbuster that checks a lot of boxes. Here’s the detailed review of the OnePlus Pad.

OnePlus Pad is launched in two storage variants. The 8GB RAM + 128GB internal storage variant will cost you Rs 37,999 whereas the 12GB RAM and 256GB internal storage variant is priced at Rs 39,999.

In terms of the design, this tablet busts the myth that the Android tablets cant be as good as an iPad or a Windows device. It looks like an iPad in many aspects and is oddly reminiscent of what OnePlus did with its first smartphone.

OnePlus Pad features an 11.6-inch LCD panel that offers a 144Hz refresh rate, FHD+ resolution and 500 nits brightness. It is a buttery smooth display, even more than the iPad Pro and feels like a premium device.

It is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset that offers a performance of a flagship Android device. One of the best features of the tablet is its ability to multitask. It has good things from the legacy OnePlus ecosystem coupled with a tablet experience.

One thing that the company has done with the tablet that Samsung and Apple still haven’t got it right is the placement of the front camera. The placement is spot on and also comes with center focus feature so that you are always in the center of the frame.

For photography, it comes with a 13MP rear camera that supports EIS and can record videos at 30fps. For selfies and video calls, it comes with an 8MP front-facing camera.

The tablet houses a 9,510 mAh battery that supports 65W SuperVOOC charging tech. You can add on a keyboard and a pencil that looks just like an Apple Pencil.

What OnePlus needs to work on? 

OnePlus should work on bringing biometrics or the touch ID feature in the power button, just the iPad Air. This can be a game-changer for the brand. 

This is the first attempt by OnePlus in this particular space and it looks like OnePlus is finally building on its ecosystem. Samsung has tried doing it but some of its devices are expensive. On the other hand, Apple has its own ecosystem but let's just put it this way- iPad OS and MacOS, no matter how refined are not everyone's cup of cutting chai. 

Verdict 

If you are comfortable with Android and you like the OnePlus software experience on their smartphones, then the OnePlus Pad is a safe bet. It is a polished and a refined first attempt by OnePlus. That said, Google needs to do a lot of work to enhance the tablet experience for Android devices and it seems like that improvement is inevitable given the recent announcement pertaining to the Pixel tablet at Google IO.
All in all, in under Rs 40,000, if you are getting a tablet that is ready to take on an iPad on several counts, then the OnePlus Pad is perhaps the best Android tablet currently available in the Indian market.

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