OnePlus Pad 2 Review: Want A Flagship Tablet Without Burning An iPad-Sized Hole In Your Pocket? This Is It
OnePlus Pad 2 Review: OnePlus Pad 2 price starts at Rs 39,999 for the 8GB + 128GB model and it’s notably better than the ageing iPad.
OnePlus Pad 2 Review: The OnePlus Pad 2 delivers staggering value for money. It is not only the most affordable Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered device out there, but also brings a sleek design, productivity tools and some very powerful specs to the tablet table.
OnePlus Pad 2 Review: Quick Pointers
What we love:
- Sleek design
- Terrific display
- Good performance
- Great speakers
- Affordable price
What we don’t:
- Still not in the class of iPadOS
- No fingerprint scanner
- No 5G/4G variant
- Two-piece keyboard with cramped keys
Slim, Sleek, Smart
The first thing you will notice about the OnePlus Pad 2 is just how sleek and slim it is. It comes with curved sides (except for one side, which is flat, to allow charging a stylus), a large 12.1-inch display and a flat metal back that curves towards the sides. Like other OnePlus tablets, the Pad 2 comes with a camera on the back on the centre of the left side rather than in the top left or right corner, and a selfie camera right behind it on the display side, hinting that both cameras are to be used in landscape rather than portrait mode.
Unlike the OG OnePlus Pad which rocked a green shade, the Pad 2 comes only in Nimbus Grey, giving it a very professional and smart look. It is just 6.49 mm thin (almost a quarter thinner than the OnePlus 12, which is 9.2 mm), and although quite tall at 268.7 mm, is a relatively lightweight 584 grams.
As in the case of the original OnePlus Pad, the OnePlus Pad 2 has a 7:5 aspect ratio, making it a little more square-shaped (like the iPad) rather than rectangular, like most Android tablets. The tablet is definitely on the larger side, and is best handled with two hands, but has a very classy and premium look to it - that back is high-quality aluminium.
Do be careful while handling it though, as that sleek back makes it a little slippery. We also recommend getting a display protector for the screen as there is no mention of any screen protection.
Packing In Serious Power
That rather slim frame contains easily the most powerful specs we have seen on an Android tablet at this price point. The 12.1-inch display has a resolution of 3,000 x 2,120 pixels (OnePlus calls it a 3K display) with a very high adaptive refresh rate of 144 Hz, giving it a pixel density of 304 ppi (the iPad Air has a pixel density of 264 ppi, for comparison), and is very impressively bright, with a peak brightness of 900 nits.
Striking though that display is, the real star of the show is the flagship-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip (similar to the one seen on the Galaxy S24 Ultra) powering the tablet. This is accompanied by RAM and storage variants of 8 GB/ 128 GB and 12 GB/ 256 GB, with LPDDR5X RAM, although storage is UFS 3.1 (a notch below top-of-the-line UFS 4.0). The rear camera is a 13-megapixel one while the front-facing camera has an 8-megapixel sensor.
The tablet comes with six speakers, although there is no space for an audio jack, and has a large 9510 mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging, and a charger in the box as well. Top that off with OnePlus' legendary OxygenOS now infused with AI, running on top of Android 14, and the OnePlus Pad 2 emerges as easily the most powerful tablet that you can get for its price.
It is not all roses, though.
The absence of a fingerprint scanner in such a high-specced device is a surprise and might even be a deal breaker for some of the productivity-minded folks who like to keep their devices secure, there is no 4G/5G variant of the tablet (although it does come with better device connectivity), and the use of slightly slower storage is a bit odd. Also, while the tablet does come with its own accessories, including covers, a keyboard cover and a stylus, they have to be purchased separately - there is no cover in the box.
Multimedia Boss + Productivity Pro
With all that hardware on board, it is hardly surprising that the OnePlus Pad 2 turns in an excellent performance on most fronts. That excellent display is great for reading, although that slightly square-ish resolution does lead to some 'banding' (black bands above and below) video content. Combined with that excellent six-speaker setup, the OnePlus Pad 2 delivers one of the best multimedia experiences we have had on an Android tablet.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor gives it proper gaming beast status as well, and it can handle everything from Call of Duty to Asphalt to EA Football with effortless ease, and without ever getting uncomfortably warm. Again, the speakers play a key role in making the whole experience immersive.
On the productivity front, the OnePus Pad 2 can function as a decent notebook alternative, when paired with a Bluetooth keyboard or its own Smart Keyboard. The large screen allows you to see multiple windows at one go (you can use three app windows at the same time, but we recommend sticking to two for best results), although this works only in landscape mode.
There are quite a few AI tools bundled with OxygenOS including AI Summary, AI Writer, AI Eraser and Recording Summary, some already on board and more expected later through updates. They have their rough spots, but by and large are handy and should get better with time.
Notebook-ify With Ease
There are two productivity-oriented accessories for the OnePlus Pad 2 - the OnePlus Smart Keyboard cover and the Stylo 2 stylus. The OnePlus Smart Keyboard is a two-piece one, one part being a back cover with a stand and the other being a keyboard that attaches magnetically to the side of the tablet.
We would have preferred a single unit, as managing the two parts at times can be a little cumbersome, although having a back cover on even after detaching the keyboard is convenient - the keyboard connects over Bluetooth, incidentally, so you can even use it after it has been detached from the Pad.
The keys on the keyboard are a little on the smaller side, and while it does have a trackpad, we kept touching it accidentally (palm rejection is erratic) while typing and found ourselves switching to a Logitech Pebble wireless keyboard just for better typing.
The stylus (Stylo 2) lets you scribble and sketch on that large display and gets attached magnetically to the side of the tablet, giving you them iPad feels.
OxygenOS still has its rough edges in productivity mode - some gestures do not work smoothly, the onscreen keyboard disappears and appears at random in split-screen mode, and not all apps (especially third-party ones) seem optimised for the large display - a zone that the iPad still bosses.
Sharing connections and files is especially easy if you have a OnePlus phone - the tablet comes with support for seamless sharing connectivity with files with OnePlus devices running OxygenOS 13 and above. It does work with other devices too, but things just are a little slower with them.
That said, combined with a battery life that runs close to a dozen hours and fast charging (the tablet gets charged in about 90 minutes, which is pretty impressive in the tab zone), the OnePlus Pad 2 can be a handy notebook substitute.
We would say that if you stick to Google's apps, this can easily be a Chromebook in its own right, especially if you already have a OnePlus phone.
OnePlus Pad 2 Review: Final Verdict
The OnePlus Pad 2 is available in two RAM and storage variants - 8GB + 128GB for Rs 39,999 and 12GB + 256GB for Rs 42,999.
At those prices, it is a total no-brainer for anyone wanting a flagship-level tablet at an affordable price tag.
Even combined with the Stylo 2 stylus at Rs 5,499 and the Smart Keyboard at Rs 8,499, it is still more affordable than the iPad Air 11 inch, which starts at Rs 59,999.
The base iPad is more affordable at Rs 34,999, but is now showing signs of age, does not really match the OnePlus Pad 2 in terms of sheer power and comes with a smaller display.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 does bring a brilliant AMOLED display, a versatile S Pen and dust and water resistance to the tab table, but runs on an older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and is far more expensive at Rs 72,999.
The Galaxy Tab S9 FE is more affordable at Rs 34,999, but has a 90 Hz refresh rate display and runs on the Exynos 1380, which is not really in the flagship league.
All of this makes the OnePlus Pad 2 hands-down the best flagship tablet, and perhaps even the most powerful Android device you can buy for under Rs 40,000. Need we say more?
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