OnePlus Pad Pre-Orders are Live: We Have Some First Impressions

The first tablet from OnePlus, the OnePlus Pad, is now up for pre-order if the device has already caught your eye and you want to be one of the first to own it. At $479, this is a pretty affordable option with a solid list of specs and accessories that could make for a couch companion you’ll use long into the future.

OnePlus sent us the OnePlus Pad for review purposes a few weeks ago, so we’ve been living with it for some time. The plan is to get a full review of sorts in front of your eyes before long, but because the timing of it all is important (with pre-orders being open now) I figured you might be interested in a few first impressions and thoughts.

OnePlus Pad first impressions

The first thing I’d point out about the OnePlus Pad is its design, shape, and finish. By all means, this is a similar design to the iPad rather than anything currently available in the Android space. The almost-square design with the 2800×2000 resolution and the roundness to the corners, makes me think Apple first before Samsung. The OnePlus Pad wins over all of them in my book because of the softness to the touch around the edges. This tablet is a pleasure to hold.

The 11″ display is really good here. It is LCD and not AMOLED, which might turn some off, but the colors are bright and clear, brightness levels are good enough, viewing content at angles holds up, and the touch responsiveness is excellent. I’ve spent most of my time with it playing Pokemon Unite and it responds to all my frantic tapping and swiping. The 144Hz refresh rate is certainly a pleasure on the eyes as well.

Overall performance seems good too. Again, I don’t do a ton on tablets except some gaming and video consumption with a bit of Twitter on the side, so I’m not exactly trying to overheat a device like this, but it handled everything it needed to. It runs Twitch, Pokemon Unite, workout apps, reddit apps, two apps at once, YouTube, and Chrome without hiccup. The MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip inside can certainly do the job, at least for my tablet needs, along with the 8GB RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 storage.

On the software side of things, this does run OxygenOS in tablet form. It’s fine. You know I don’t love OxygenOS on phones, but on a tablet it works OK. Tablets, at least to me, don’t need to be much more than a clean big screen where you open a handful of apps and don’t need to manage the daily barrage of notifications and settings and such. On a phone, everything needs to be so precisely placed and functional because you have a limited amount of space and you need to be efficient. A tablet is more for entertainment vs. work, and OxygenOS is good enough there.

Oh and for updates, OnePlus is committing to 3 years of Android updates and 4 years of security updates, so things could get better and better as the Pad ages.

Some other notes:

• Battery life is pretty decent: I think I’ve charged the Pad a handful of times over these past couple of weeks. Longer gaming sessions don’t seem to quickly drain the battery and it also holds a charge for long periods when idle and not in use. This Pad I have hasn’t been charged in 1 day and 13 hours, but I have 78% battery remaining with 1.5 hours of screen on time.
• The magnetic keyboard is OK: OnePlus is selling a $149 magnetic keyboard that they also shipped to me to review. I don’t love it, but it can get the job done if you need to do a lot of typing on a tablet or just need to feel more productive. It’s a bit flimsy and it constantly pops up a message asking you to set it up, even though you did 15 times ago. If you get it for free from OnePlus, that’s great. I’m not sure I could recommend everyone add it, though.
• It has a camera: And have not used that camera. I actually wish OnePlus had left out the rear camera or at least made it a lot smaller and tucked it into a corner. As it sits, it is a big bulge in the middle of the back of the tablet and can get in the way.

So far, I think the OnePlus Pad is a solid tablet that most of you would find fun to use. It’s really good as a media consumption device, can hang with games, and is a portable size that you can use it all over your house or when traveling.

The OnePlus Pad is up for pre-order now and will ship over the next couple of weeks.

Pre-order OnePlus Pad ($479)