OnePlus Pad 2 Review: More Powerful Than It Looks

Up until now, if you wanted an Android tablet, with a few exceptions, you have to pick one of two options. You could go with a premium expensive tablet or you could go with a cheap tablet (and, frankly, get what you pay for.) OnePlus introduced the first OnePlus Pad last spring and changed that tune. For a very reasonable price, you could get a tablet that was the essence of the OnePlus brand and the devices they claim to deliver — fast, smooth and beautiful. Just over a year later, and OnePlus is back with a follow up to that device that crams even more value into a similar chassis.

The OnePlus Pad 2 takes some noticeable steps forward in this arena, with only a minor step back here or there. Notably, this generation of tablet comes with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which is the flagship processor from the chipmaker at the moment. Meanwhile, OnePlus is keeping the same price point for the tablet, which is no small feat. Plus, it gives customers a true option in between the super expensive and super cheap. So how does it all work together? I've been using a OnePlus Pad 2 review sample provided by OnePlus for a few days, and this is my full review.

Aside from the processor, which is a decisive step forward in the hardware department, OnePlus went conservative in physical hardware. The tablet is similar to last year's form factor — you still get a 7:5 aspect ratio, which is great for productivity tasks like writing. You also get a tablet that is slightly wider and slightly taller (by about 10mm each way) and only about 30 grams heavier.

Last year's tablet came in an attractive "Halo Green" color that earned its "Halo" moniker with a circular etched pattern on the back of the tablet. No such etching comes on this tablet, and the color is a much more boring "Nimbus Grey" rather than green. The camera module is still a bit raised, circular, and sticks out of the back, but the overall hardware that you look at is not amazing.

When held in landscape, the power button is on the left side of the tablet, and the volume rocker is on top. Like last year's tablet, the volume rocker stays the same regardless of orientation. The power button also lacks a fingerprint sensor, which is a miss, but biometric face authentication works pretty well, so I can't complain about it too much.

The face of the tablet has a 3000 x 2120 pixel resolution which is just a touch more pixel dense than last year's tablet. It still has that same 7:5 aspect ratio though, which is really nice once you get used to it. The screen is an LCD panel, which is not amazing, but it has six levels of variable refresh rate from 30 Hz up to 144 Hz. Overall, it's a similar display to last year's with the exception that this one is a 3K display.

While an LCD is not the greatest in terms of deep blacks and high contrast ratio, it's hard to notice on the OnePlus Pad 2 because the display has excellent color reproduction. The tablet is great for content consumption like watching movies and playing games (which is what a majority of tablet users actually do). Using an LCD helps keep the cost down and is really a small price to pay (no pun intended) for a tablet that will otherwise be great at what you're going to do with it.

The speakers in this device have the potential to be quite loud, which is always a good thing when using a tablet for content consumption. Many folks will use earbuds, and surprise, there's no headphone jack on here, but if you need to rely on speakers, not only are they loud, but they cover a wide range of frequencies. You don't get super deep bass, but you can get some decent coverage on the low-end tones.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

This is made even more impressive considering how thin this tablet is. It's just 6.49mm thick, which is really impressive considering the device's battery size as well as its audio capabilities. OnePlus, and Chinese manufacturers as a whole, have some of the most impressive ability to cram an extraordinary amount of tech into some of the thinnest devices in the industry. From phones to tablets, they're leading the way making phones and tablets super thin. When compared to my Pixel Tablet (see our full review), those 1.5 millimeters go a long way making the device easier to hold and generally feel less bulky.

On the software side, you get a nice clean Android build, with the usual OnePlus customizations and features. The most notable of all those is OnePlus's "Open Canvas" which is still one of the best multi-tasking schemes you can find. First introduced on the OnePlus Open foldable, Open Canvas lets you have up to three apps running simultaneously. Rather than stacking them all on top of each other and cramping them in on each other, you can expand each app to its full size while the others drift off screen, with just a narrow bar viewable. Just tap inside that bar, and the canvas shifts over to that app. Tap the other bar, and if shifts back.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

You can display all the apps on the screen at the same time if you want, stacked together, but if you need to spread out you can. You can have either three apps in three columns, or have dual columns with two apps in one, or two rows, with two apps in one row. The software is versatile enough to accommodate any of those configurations, and the ability to switch between three full-sized apps unlocks a lot of multitasking potential. All tablets should emulate OnePlus's software, period.

The OnePlus Pad 2 comes with the same size battery as last year's tablet — 9,510 mAh and comes with 67 W SuperVooc charging. You can charge the battery to 24% in just ten minutes and 64% in 30 minutes. A full charge will take about one hour and 21 minutes. OnePlus ships a charging brick in the box, by the way.

As for longevity, under heavy use, the OnePlus tablet will survive a day, but only just. With my mixed use of some media consumption, some writing and web surfing, and some gaming, I ended up with les than 20% at the end of the day. I wouldn't say I've been using the tablet long rough to get a good sense of battery life just yet, but I'll be sure to update this review if/when I can reach a more definitive conclusion.

As for performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen processor and 12 GB of RAM (as reviewed) make this a monster performance. Games like "Call of Duty: Mobile," and "Genshin Impact" run perfectly at default settings.

As for Geekbench, the tablet returns scores of 936 and 4,518 single and multi-core scores respectively. Also, remember that this is a OnePlus tablet and it can be a lot faster, so once you turn on high-performance mode, those scores increase to 1,282 and 4,825 respectively. It's not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, but it's worth noting. It's also worth noting that my game testing took place with High-performance mode turned off.

Like most other tablets on the market, the OnePlus Pad 2 comes with a pair of cameras. One faces you, the other on the back. The 8-megapixel camera on the front enables things like video calls and face unlock — it performs adequately for those purposes.

On the back, while I continue to steadfastly believe that no one should ever take a photo with a tablet — not even for document scanning, this tablet has a camera. It's not a terrible camera, but it's not particularly great, either. It is almost certainly not comparable to the quality of the camera you have in your hand or pocket or purse right this minute.

Adam Doud/SlashGear

I genuinely hope that this is the last photo that was taken by a OnePlus Pad 2 that you ever have to look at. Here's my analysis of the back-facing camera on the OnePlus Pad 2: It works fine — it's OK. Use your phone instead. I don't care what kind of phone it is; the camera is probably better. Use that.

The OnePlus Pad 2 is available from OnePlus.com, and Amazon — though the latter doesn't start open sales until later in the month. The price starts at $549, but gets a temporary price drop of $50 until August 29, 2024. Additionally, you can trade in any tablet in any condition for another $50 of at OnePlus.com.

The tablet also has a trio of accessories that you can buy — a smart keyboard, a "stylo" (a.k.a. stylus) and a folio case priced at $149.99, $99.99, $39.99 respectively. OnePlus has a slew of deals you can take advantage of now which include deals on accessories and other deals on bundles with the OnePlus Nord 3 Buds and OnePlus Watch 2R.

Overall, this is a fine tablet that really has more power than you might expect, given its hardware. OnePlus placed a top-tier processor in a device that's focused on a "fast and smooth experience" (because that's OnePlus's motto after all) and had to cut a few corners — namely the display, the cameras, and the design of the hardware. Those cuts don't degrade the performance though. 

If you don't want to spend a bundle on a tablet for media consumption, but don't want to cut corners on processor power — this is a good place to start. If you're not opposed to adding on the keyboard, the stylus, and/or the folio case, you've got yourself a fine Android tablet experience that'll last you a few years at least.