I have been a long-time fan of tablets I have used them for work and play a lot over the years. Sadly though for the past few years, there has been a distinct dearth of tablets from brands other than Apple and Samsung that were worth spending any money on. We also had the arrival of folding phones which for me muddied the water of what the benefit of a separate tablet computing device actually gave. I have to admit I was swallowed up with the folding phones emergence and I am still very much in the camp of a folding phone being my device of choice. I currently use a Pixel Fold as my daily driver and at the time of writing, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of its successor the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (it should be dropping onto my doorstep in a few days). So with this in mind is there still a place both in my heart and also on my desk for a standalone tablet, or should the category just wither away and die and let folding phones take over? I am going to try and answer this question and some others whilst I review the newest kid on the block the OnePlus Pad 2.
Design and Hardware
The OnePlus Pad 2 is technically the third tablet to come out of the OnePlus design studio, they had the original pad that launched around the same sort of time last year and then came the Pad Go which I reviewed on the site right here. What OnePlus has done here is to take what they learned from feedback on both of these devices and then build it into the new Pad 2 as a result we do have some notable changes to the hardware
I have already covered the hardware in an unboxing video which can be found just below or if you want to read the article then take some time to do so now.
I was very impressed with the hardware of the Pad 2 but I want to just focus on a few of the significant parts that lept out at me. In addition I will also be looking at some of the optional extras that I was lucky enough to be provided with as this unit was given to me very kindly by OnePlus for review.
(Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own and have not been influenced by OnePlus who will not be given a preview of this review before it’s published. I have not been paid for this review, however, the items in the review have been provided at no cost to me.)
First things first is the size of the Pad 2, it has grown slightly from an 11″ screen to a 12.1″ screen now and this comes with some benefits to the rest of the design. By having a slightly bigger screen size the Pad 2 can now fit a massive battery (9150mAH) and it can also accommodate a better cooling system which in turn means a more powerful chipset. The size increase does of course have some downsides too though. It now has a bigger footprint than the previous design and this can be shown here by comparing this to the smaller Pad Go. The pad is also slightly thicker than the Pad Go and it is also a tad heavier as well. None of these aspects are really issues for me as I find that the size is a great size for a tablet and it is really nice to use for both work and play.
Coming onto play the next thing I want to highlight is the display on the Pad 2 as this is a great display as I mentioned above it is 12.1″ diagonal but it has an aspect ratio of 7:5 which makes it great for content viewing. It is also sporting a resolution of 3000 by 2120 with a PPI of 303. The panel will output anywhere between 30Hz and all the way up to 144Hz with various stops in between. It will also offer up to 900nits HBM but in normal conditions will go up to 600nits. All of this comes from an LCD panel which OnePlus is calling a Readfit display. Now I don’t want to gloss over the LED display part here as I was actually genuinely surprised that the panel was LCD after I got my first look at it. Had I not been told by the rep from OnePlus I would have assumed that this was an OLED display. It is a great display and one I have enjoyed using to consume content a lot I have also really enjoyed working on this display as well it is clear and vivid and the aspect ratio is really conducive to multitasking but more on that later…
Next up is the sound stage provided by the Pad 2. This is very good and more than enough for watching movies, YouTube and listening to music. The Pad 2 packs in six speakers to give a great range of sound and as the tablet is not a bit wider we get great distance between the individual drivers so we are able to get more of a stereo effect. In addition to the speakers’ physical setup, OnePlus has also sprinkled in some magic in the form of OReality Audio. This is the company’s take on what Dolby has been doing for years and offers you some preset sound settings some of which can be customised.
I have been using the Music mode whilst I am writing this review on the tablet now and I have been quite happy with my tunes blasting out. That being said you cannot always use your device with the speakers blaring out for everyone to hear or endure! This brings another nice feature that we are now seeing across OnePlus’s portfolio which is of course Spatial audio on Bluetooth headphones. Thankfully I have a pair of OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro which I have been able to use alongside the Pad2 and this creates a great audio experience when you use an app that supports this feature. I have used this setup on Disney+ whilst on an overnight trip and it was great.
That about sums up the key external point of design and hardware that I wanted to highlight. However, as suggested above there is a lot more going on inside the OnePlus Pad 2!
So the first internal feature I want to talk about is the chipset. OnePlus has been able to cram a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SOC into the Pad 2, bringing a lot of power to the table. I am not going to go into the performance of the chip as I don’t do benchmarking here, what I will say is that I have used a few devices with the 8 Gen 3 chipset and this is by far the biggest to date. This is relevant as the inbuilt graphic has to drive a bigger display than on a phone. the good news is that the Adreno 750 GPU is more than capable of the task and provides crystal-clear images regardless of what you are trying to do. I have already mentioned it is great for watching movies and videos. It is also a great platform for some light gaming, while handheld but it comes into its own when used with a controller setup like shown below.
The next bit I want to cover is the battery. As I have already mentioned the battery has a little bit more space due to the bigger chassis however it has not increased in size over the original Oneplus Pad. The battery is still a 9150mAh size and will charge at up to 67W when using a SuperVooc charger from OnePlus. I don’t have the appropriately sized SupperVooc charger to test the charging speed but I have been using a GAN charger and the Pad 2 will charge very fast allowing me to get from 0 to 100% in just under 1hr 30 mins. If using a OnePlus charging brick then the officially measured time is 81 minutes according to their own internal testing.
While this isn’t an amazing step up from the OG Pad it is nice to see that it hasn’t gone down and that the charging speed remains consistent. I am also really happy that you can leave this device to sleep for a really long time and pick it up again knowing that you should have some power left. This was one of the features I liked about the Pad Go in my review. Also of note is that there is no significant heat build-up within the tablet when it’s charging. The one thing that I would like to pick fault with is the location of the charging port. While having it mounted on the die is not by any means the worst place it does mean that handheld gaming is not really a viable option when charging. This must have been a designer-based decision for the inclusion of the optional keyboard accessory. It is not a bad thing but just something I would like to mention.
The next thing and indeed the last is the build quality of the tablet. The Pad 2 is built very well with no indication of torsional twisting or flexing when it is held in one hand. The rounded-off edges of the case make it a joy to hold. the texture of the Aluminium body is grippy and not an absolute fingerprint magnet either. Whilst the bezels on the front are larger than some people would like they are useful being that size as it stops accidental screen touches when you are holding it.
If I had one complaint, I would have to say that this is not a light tablet especially when you include the optional accessories. The tablet feels very similar in weight to my Macbook Air Pro when I am carrying it around. Its bare weight is 584g but once you add the Smart keyboard case then you are including another 800g. Include the Stylo 2 at a tiny 1 gram and you are carrying a total of 1.385 kg, my MacBook Pro weighs in at 1.6kg. Dont get me wrong I like the reassuring heft to it but this is worth bearing in mind for those looking to purchase.
So that brings me nicely onto the optional accessories that can be purchased (or can be free depending on offers). First up and I think this one is an essential extra, is the Smart Keyboard case. This is a two-in-one affair and it allows for the tablet to be used as a laptop replacement to a degree. it comes in two parts the first is the keyboard itself which is one of the best typing experiences I have had on a tablet keyboard case. the keys are well spaced and they have a solid feel to them. They have just enough travel to keep most people happy. It is a relatively standard layout but it now has an extra row that has been added to the top in the form of shortcut keys. this was not present in the previous version. the actual keyboard base is solid as well and this can be used with relative ease when on the lap. However, that is not the only way it can be used, as inside the Smart Keyboard is a hidden battery and some Bluetooth connectivity. This means that you can also use this as a removable keyboard separate from the tablet. So if you are on a Plane, train or automobile and you need to get some work done then you can remove the keyboard from the tablet and then have just the keyboard on your lap and the tablet screen positioned somewhere else. This is very convenient when I have been writing this review as I have been doing the majority of this on the Pad 2 itself, in either my office or my recliner in my lounge. In the latter setup, I will have the screen on a separate piece of furniture and the keyboard on my lap as this is the most comfortable position for me to use it.
Another thing that has grown from the previous folio-style keyboard is the trackpad. This is now a massive 8640mm surface area which is a significant increase in size. It is bigger than my Pixel Fold in its folded state! Now if I am being entirely honest, I had some issues with the trackpad on my device. So much so that it required a new one to be sent from OnePlus, for some reason on the first trackpad, I got there was no discernable click from the trackpad and this created all sorts of problems effectively rendering it useless.
Fortunately, after some email exchanges with OnePlus Tech support, I was sent a replacement unit and the issue was solved. I have asked some other reviewers who received their devices at the same time as me and they have had no similar issues so it may have just been a glitch on mine. As you would expect you can use the trackpad for all the normal gestures and swipes that you would expect and it does have a nice feel and responsive click to it. It also does not get in the way too much when I have been typing and I haven’t had issues with accidental presses with my palm.
There is another feature on the keyboard which the eagle-eyed would have seen from the pictures. In the bottom right-hand corner, there is an NFC logo. This is to indicate the position where you can hold your OnePlus phone to initiate a wireless connection between the Pad2 and the Phone allowing you to screen share your phone and also take control of the phone on the Pad 2. It also allows you to access content from the phone’s storage and shares the Mobile data connection. I will cover this a bit more in the software section of the review as it is mostly software-based.
I mentioned that the Smart Keyboard was a 2 in 1 accessory. This is because the standing element of the keyboard is a completely separate component to the keyboard. The stand is a panel that has a central hinge going across it at the halfway point. This hinge will allow you to fold the backplate into various different positions.
The top half of the panel contains several magnets that align with magnets in the back of the Pad 2. This is how the back panel attaches and also how the panel supports the weight of the tablet. This setup allows for a large range of angles to be achieved when you are using the stand and the keyboard together. I have found that you can have the set-up as shown in the image below and this is the most conducive for typing and still being able to use the last accessory the Stylo 2.
The Stylo 2 is OnePlus’s take on a Stylus for its tablet lineup. As far as I am aware it will only work on Pad 2 as there was a different Stylo for the original Pad. The Stylo 2 will not work on the OnePlus Open internal display as far as I have been advised. I have not had the chance to test this so your mileage may vary. The Stylo 2 has got an internal battery that will recharge wirelessly when you “dock” the Stylo 2 on the top right-hand edge of the screen.
The Stylo 2 will also detect up to 16,000 levels of pressure to allow you to get the pressure of the screen just right when drawing and writing. When writing the Stylo 2 will vibrate ever so slightly to recreate the feel of using a pencil on paper. It can also be used as a laser pointer when being used in conjunction with a presentation. For the most part I have been using the Stylo 2 as a mouse-style device as I find that I can get a slightly higher level of accuracy with it.
I have tried to do some drawing with it but I am by no means an artist so I decided to skip this test. One thing I did like is that I was able to use the Stylo to take notes with the screen off. previously this has been something I have only found on Samsung kit so it is a nice feature to see here. How much I would use this in my day-to-day life is still up for debate.
Normally I would now go into the camera section of a review but, I am not going to give it much time here as let’s be honest no one will use the camera for taking photos as you don’t want to be that person.
The rear camera is a 13MP sensor which will record video at up to 4K at 30fps. It also has EIS on board as well if you really want to use it for photos/video when moving. Here are some pictures from the rear camera for your viewing pleasure.
Not too shabby I am sure you would agree but not something I would use to capture photos with unless I had no other option.
What is more important and will be vastly more useful is the front-facing camera which is an 8MP sensor that will record at up to 1080p 30fps and also includes EIS. The front camera is also used for Face Unlock but this is just regular 2D Face Unlock not the depth-sensing 3D version. This does mean that it doesn’t pick up a lot of the time which is a bit annoying. Facial recognition is the only biometric unlock option here as there is no fingerprint sensor. I do feel that this is a bit of a miss but for most people, it won’t bother them.
I also included a few images from the front camera as well as a quick video clip to show what video calls would be like.
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- Mid depth of field
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- Max depth of field
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- Lowest depth of field
Really if you want to get photos onto your pad 2 the best way is to take them on another device and then transfer them either through the OneTouch Transmission option (taping the NFC point on the keyboard if you have it) or using nearby share.
Now moving to the software lets see what makes Pad 2 tick under the shiny hardware skin.
Software
The software is very what we have to come to know from OnePlus. We have got Android 14 on board with Oxygen OS 14.1 UI over the top. As far as UI’s go this is one of the better ones especially as OnePlus has brought the excellent Open Canvas elements across from the OnePlus Open.
Open Canvas makes multitasking on a large-scale device like a foldable or a tablet a much more fluid and enjoyable experience. It allows you to expand the useable desktop space virtually by having windows that can be slid out of sight until needed. It also supports the normal Split screen functions that you would expect but has the added benefit of having up to 3 active apps at any one time.
I have included a few screenshots below so you can get an idea of what it looks like.
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- Apps side by side
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- Overview mode
As you can see you can have the apps appear as 3 normal size apps side by side and you can switch between them as above. Pinching in with 4 fingers on the screen will give you an overview mode as well.
Or you can have one full-screen app with the others sitting just below the main app but still easily accessible.
What I found really cool is that if you are using something like YouTube then it will continue playback while you can be using another app. The only time I couldn’t get this to work was when I had two apps trying to play media at the same time which is understandable. i have found this really useful whilst writing this review as it has allowed me to have the OnePlus page open for reference and the WordPress app running alongside it in addition to having my Gmail app open as well. You can also fully interact with the apps even when they are in the overview view which is awesome to see.
Here is a quick screen recording of the app switching in action.
Pretty sweet I think.
However, there are other quite cool software tricks in the OnePlus Pad 2, I am of course talking about the previously mentioned OneTouch Transmission function. This allows you to use the NFC on the Smart Keyboard to initiate a screen-sharing mode on the Pad 2 with a compatible OnePlus Phone. However, screen sharing is just one fo the things that it can do. Once the process has started and the phone is being displayed on your Pad 2 you can then use the Pad 2 to control every aspect of your phone in a window. You can use this “phone ” to interact with any of your apps and even use it to make calls and share the data connection with the Pad 2. I’ll be honest this last one I was never able to get to work probably due to an error on my part but the functionality is there. I was however able to use it to transfer files from the phone to the tablet which was extremely useful during the course of this review.
I am sure this can also be done without the use of the Smart Keyboard but it is not going to be as smooth an operation as it would be just tapping the NFC point on the keyboard to initiate it.
Here is what the Phone looks like when shared with the Pad 2.
Other than these two features you have got a fairly regular Android 14 tablet and all the goodness that comes from that along with the weaknesses. Android as an OS has never fully embraced the tablet form factor as much as the likes of iPadOS which is a shame as there are some very good tablets on the market now including this one. if Google is serious about large format devices and making Android into a multiplatform OS then they need to get more apps designed with Tablets in mind. There are still too many apps that just scale up to be a big phone UI on a tablet which gives the user a poor experience. being an Androdi tablet user for many years and now a foldable user I have learned to live with these issues but it is not enticing for newcomers.
There is however one major omission from the OnePlus Pad 2 software suite and this is a “desktop mode”. We have seen the likes of Honor, Samsung and Huawei (even after the Google Mobile Services ban) implement their own version of a desktop mode for use when you have a keyboard connected to your tablet and it can make things a lot more useable for power users. Again I have learned how to navigate around the pitfalls of Android on Tablets and things like Open Canvas certainly go a long way to help with this but the key phrase in that sentence is “learned”. A new user shouldn’t have to learn how to do these things it should be intuitive. The Chromebook experience can run on the same processor as the ones we have on tablets and it would be awesome to see this being implemented on tablets that have the powerful enough chipsets to do it. The OnePlus Pad 2 is certainly one of these devices. However, I have gone a bit off-topic, back to what we do have today.
The use of AI in the software is not something that has been missed by the Pad 2 and it is as present here as it was on the Oneplus Nord 4 that I recently reviewed. You have got the same SmartSidebar as found on the phone and this allows quick access to tools depending on what app you are in and also to multitasking. AI Eraser is present in the Photos App and is effective at doing so.
You also have AI doing its thing in the Notes app where it will allow you to carry out a voice recording whilst the Pad2 will transcribe what is said into Notes for you to use later as required. Currently, this is limited to English and Chinese only. there are more AI features to come in the form of AI Toolbox in Q4. How much of this will be used in the day-to-day I can’t be sure but at least we know it is already here or coming soon. Before we leave AI though I am sad to see that OnePlus has not embraced what Google has made available in the form of Circle to Search and Googles other goodies like Live Translate and Generative Wallpapers or example. to be fair a lot of Googles new AI features are limited to Samsung and Pixel devices at the time of writing so it is not surprising that we have not seen them on a OnePlus device yet.
Overall despite my early rant about the state of Android on tablets (which to be fair is not the fault of OEM’s like Oneplus), I am very happy with the software that I am presented with on the OnePlus pad2 and it has been a joy to use it for the past few months.
Conclusion
So it has come to the time where I need to gather my thoughts and try to answer the question I posed at the beginning of this review. IS the OnePlus Pad 2 a suitable laptop replacement?
Quick answer No it is not.
Long answer yes but with caveats and a learning time.
I dont think that the OnePlus Pad 2 can replace your laptop outright for all your needs especially if you use any pro tools at all. But then the same can be said of things like Chromebooks, or the latest laptops to feature Snapdragon chipsets in them. If you are not someone who needs programs (I deliberately called them that) and can make do with Apps then the OnePlus Pad 2 may work for you just as well as some of the lighter computing alternatives i.e. Chromebooks. I have been able to get a lot of the reviews for both the Pad 2 and the Nord 4 written on the Pad 2. It has been my lighter-weight travelling computer when I have been away from home and I have even used it for a bit of gaming on the side. The OnePlus pad2 is a powerful and productive mobile computer that could potentially fill the needs of a lot of people over a laptop and it is also a significantly cheaper cost.
However with all that being said, there is another threat looming for tablets and that is the emerging foldable market for me that is where I will be planting my flag into moving forward as it gives me my dream two-in-one device which ticks the vast majority of the boxes for what a tablet used to do especially as I lent towards the smaller tablet like the Nexus 7 and the iPad Mini, My Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the same size as these when unfolded and is a phone size when folded.
It is incredibly expensive though and if money is an important factor then a separate tablet like the OnePlus Pad 2 and high-end mid-ranger like the excellent OnePlus Nord 4 would be worth looking into.
Just remember that this combination even with the accessories is less than the cost of a folding phone and some may say more practical…..
Check out the OnePlus Pad 2 on the OnePlus website now for the latest offers