OnePlus is having a good run with its devices this year and the latest, OnePlus Pad 2, is no exception. It is one of the best Android tablets you can buy but can it replace your Windows laptop?
The software experience
A massive 12.1-inch display meets skinny bezels on the OnePlus Pad 2. The bezels are wide enough to hold the tablet without touching the screen. Weighing less than 600g, the Pad 2 is wrapped in aluminium, giving it a premium finish. You will find all the ports and buttons on the device except an alert slider, which is popular on OnePlus phones. Compared to the first OnePlus Pad, the grey finish is sombre and there is nothing much that needs to be said about the design.
The large screen on the OnePlus Pad 2 allows split-screen apps to run simultaneously
You can attach the Pad 2 to the OnePlus Pad Smart Keyboard to get the maximum out of the tablet. Running the show is OxygenOS 14.1 on top of Android 14. You will get three Android upgrades and four years of security upgrades. The Pad 2 has no fingerprint sensor (in the power button), making you rely on face unlock and passcode. It’s a bad miss because a fingerprint scanner always helps on a tablet. The keyboard comes with a row of function keys, like helping you take screenshots. On the keyboard, there is an option for NFC.
Staying with software, you can swipe down from the top to access all the setting tiles but there is not a big bunch of customisation. As far as multitasking goes, the tablet does well. When you are working on an app full-screen, long press the bar at the bottom of the screen to bring up the app dock. Swipe down the middle of the screen with two fingers, you will have the option to select another app to work side by side. Swipe in from the right, to bring up the app holder from which you can load another app that can float on the screen. A helpful addition: Say you are working on two apps side by side and then move to a full-screen app; the tablet remembers the combination. Workflow between your OnePlus phone and tablet can also be managed.
There are AI features and some more will be coming later in the year, like AI Summary and AI Speak.
Keyboard and stylus support
The OnePlus Pad 2’s optional Stylo 2 stylus vibrates to simulate the feeling of pen on paper
You can combine the tablet with a keyboard cover, which needs to be bought separately. It’s a good quality keyboard that has keys well spaced out. There is a respectable amount of key travel. But there is no backlighting on the keyboard. The desktop convertible option works well as long as you have a table or a flat surface. But don’t try to work with this setup on your lap. It’s not like the Magic Keyboard from Apple, which is sturdy. Winning OnePlus a brownie point is that the bottom part of the keyboard can be detached but you can still work with it because the connection is via Bluetooth. The touchpad is massive and sensitive, complete with two-finger swiping.
The Pad 2 comes with stylus support in the form of OnePlus Stylo. The new Stylo 2 stylus is now made with a leather-like material, comes with more levels of pressure and sensitivity and and a linear motor inside that makes the tip vibrate to give you that feeling of a pen writing on paper.
Overall performance
The display is quite big and sharp. The expansive 12.1-inch display delivers 3K visuals. With 303 PPI, every pixel is elevated to a peak brightness of 900 nits for ultra-bright, vivid detail. In portrait mode, the display looks wide and in landscape mode, the display appears tall, making it fit multitasking workflows. Surprise: It’s an IPS and not an OLED display. But I won’t complain about the picture quality. There is support for Dolby Vision and HDR10. The screen can move between a refresh rate of 30Hz and 144Hz ensuring extra smoothness. This also comes in handy while gaming. The display is quite bright, so hurrah to gaming.
The Pad 2 comes with a powerful set of stereo speakers and support for OReality Audio. You can tweak the sound balance to a good degree. Usually, I stream music via headphones but if you want, the speakers can do justice to any movie.
In the performance department, it’s all about power. Driving the machine is Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and you get the Adreno 750 GPU. It’s an exceptional Android tablet for gaming and you will be able to play top-of-the-line titles at high graphic settings. There is no stutter at all. Go ahead and play Genshin Impact at 60fps.
Even if you detach the keyboard from the tablet, you can keep working on it because of Bluetooth connectivity
Should you buy it?
How many episodes of House can you binge-watch? The 9510mAh battery can get you around 6.5-7 hours of screen-on time (for streaming, browsing as well as office-related work). That’s just about okay but you do get 67W charging support that can juice up in 80-85 minutes. I wouldn’t get into the camera department in detail because it’s not the most important part of a tablet. On the back is a 13MP snapper and on the front, 8MP selfie shooter. The tablet is a fantastic upgrade over the original OnePlus Pad. Can you replace your Windows laptop? If you are playing with documents, basic video editing and a few Excel files, this is a good enough tablet-keyboard-stylus setup. But once you move into Adobe Premiere Pro and coding zone, a laptop will be a better option. Sleek and minimalist, OnePlus Pad 2 is a dream tablet for the Android community.
At a glance
Device: OnePlus Pad 2
Price: Upwards of Rs 39,999
High notes
Excellent software implementation
Premium hardware
Keyboard accessory (needs to be bought separately) is of good quality
Muffled notes
Apps on Play Store still need to catch up with tablet software optimisation
