Is the OnePlus Pad the iPad of Android tablets?

(Image credit: OnePlus)

published 10 February 2023

No, it's not an iPad – but it could be one of the best tablets that isn't. The new OnePlus Pad is the company's first ever tablet, and it's a bit different from your average Android one. Pricing and availability haven't been announced yet – which means we can't really say how it compares to rivals such as Samsung Galaxy tablets – but the combination of OnePlus's reputation, the attractive design and a decent spec has certainly got me intrigued.

You're looking at a 144Hz display, which should be good for gaming, and an unusual 7:5 aspect ratio. Inside there's a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor and up to 12GB of RAM. The battery is a whopping 9,510mAh for up to 14.5 hours of playback, and there's Dolby Atmos audio too.

The best of both worlds?

The OnePlus Pad appears to be taking inspiration from both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab. There's an included pen, called the Stylo, and an Apple-esque magnetic keyboard too. And like Samsung and Apple, OnePlus has been working on features that tie its phones and its tablets together, so for example if you have a OnePlus phone you can use its personal hotspot automatically. That means it'll be a great partner for devices such as the OnePlus 11.

That phone is one of the key reasons this tablet is so interesting. As we said in our review, "OnePlus has positioned itself as another of those smartphone manufacturers racing ahead of the rest" and OnePlus is very good at delivering premium features without the matching price tag. So while the official pricing announcement is still a couple of weeks away, I'll be amazed if the OnePlus Pad isn't priced extremely competitively. This is definitely one to watch.

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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).