OnePlus Pad 2: A Powerful Contender in the Android Tablet Market

The OnePlus Pad 2 Wants to Be the iPad Air of Android

It’s packing the latest Snapdragon mobile chip, a 3K screen, and a whopping six stereo speakers, though we’ll need to see if it’s more than another mid-range tablet. The original OnePlus Pad was a decent all-around Android tablet, but it was not amazing in any one area. Now, OnePlus is back with a new tablet device that packs more power, has a better screen, more speakers, and a higher starting price. OnePlus offers an Android tablet alternative that costs less than the latest iPad Airs, though it seems like it's hewing very close to the rendition from 2023. The OnePlus Pad 2 is a one-size-fits-all 12.1-inch 3K tablet. At $550 for 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, it’s $70 more than the first OnePlus Pad, though it starts with more memory and twice as much internal storage as the first go around’s paltry 128 GB. It’s bigger than the 11.6 LCD on last year’s Pad, though now it’s beefed its resolution to 3K (3000 x 2120) with a stated 600 nits typical and 900 nits peak brightness. It has a variable refresh rate between 30 and 144 Hz, though it’s still an LCD screen, the same as the 2023 OnePlus Pad. Just like last year’s version, the new Pad supports Dolby Atmos, but it boasts a six-stereo speaker configuration on either side of the device. It may not be as specifically sound-tailored as the Lenovo Tab Plus, but what’s promised is a solid middle ground. Last year’s tablet used MediaTek Dimensity 9000 CPU, which was good enough for most applications but not exactly top of its class. The Pad 2 is now powered with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chip. Gizmodo has already experienced some of the chip’s capabilities in Samsung’s latest foldables, and already it's very promising. We haven’t yet had the chance to compare a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 tablet to Apple’s latest iPad Air with M2, though on the whole, M2 usually performs better than Qualcomm’s mobile chips in bare benchmark tests. How much that matters depends on what programs you expect to use on your tablet. Every device maker thinks they need AI to compete, and OnePlus isn’t an outlier here. There are promised “AI Toolbox†features like AI text-to-speech and recording summaries. The AI Eraser 2.0 will also work like Google’s Magic Eraser to remove unwanted photo elements. There’s a new $99 OnePlus Stylo 2 and a $150 Oneplus Smart Keyboard to accompany the new tablet. Despite the size and price difference, there will be many similarities between last year’s and the 2024 model. The Pad 2 has the same 9,510 mAh battery as last year’s, plus the 67W “SUPERVOOC†fast charging. It promises 43 days of standby time, though in our experience, the first Pad’s lifespan and promised “one-month standby life†was far more modest in practice, lasting most of the day before needing a recharge. With a bigger screen, the upcoming Pad 2 is slightly heavier than last year’s rendition. It weighs about 1.3 pounds, so it’s exactly between the 11- and 13-inch iPad Airs or slightly more than the base 11-inch Galaxy Tab S9 (and far less than the humongous Tab S9 Ultra). It will be relatively thin at 6.49 mm, but it’s not beating the iPad Air’s 6.1 mm or the iPad Pro 13-inch’s holy grail 5.1 mm. The first OnePlus Pad didn’t exactly break new ground in any one category, though it did show Android tablets had legs. We’ve seen attempts from Goole and its Pixel Tablet, though that, too, wasn’t the pioneer of Android tablets. A better chip and more speakers do seem promising, though, in its effort to be everything to everyone, we’ll need to see if it manages to stand out in any area. The OnePlus Pad 2 is now available for preorder. It should be available on the OnePlus website starting July 30 and on Amazon starting August.

OnePlus Pad 2 hands-on: The Android tablet standard raises the bar

The freshly revealed OnePlus Pad 2 is, as the number in the name suggests, OnePlus' second try at a tablet. And it's a far more ambitious attempt than the already impressive OnePlus Pad was. While the price has gone up, there are new features and hardware upgrades to go along with it, helping make the Pad 2 a device for serious work and play. This has a good chance of making it onto our best Android tablets guide, if not our overall list of the best tablets available right now. We'll have to save full judgment for when we've reviewed this device properly. But having spent some time with the OnePlus Pad 2 already, here's our hands-on and first impressions of an exciting-looking iPad and Galaxy Tab alternative. August 1st is the official on-sale date for the OnePlus Pad 2, but pre-orders are open from July 16, which gives you the guaranteed offer of a £50 discount, a charger and one free accessory from a choice of three. The single version of the OnePlus Pad 2 costs $549/£499, which makes it $240 cheaper than a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, and a touch cheaper than an 11-inch iPad Air M2. However, it's $80/£50 more than the original OnePlus Pad due to some of the upgraded features, which stings a little for users who didn't care about getting top-flight specs. The new OnePlus Pad 2 and last year's OnePlus Pad share a metal-bodied design with curved edges and a big round camera block in the top center of the back when held in its default landscape orientation. The first obvious change is that the Halo Green color of the first Pad has been swapped for Nimbus Gray for a meaner look, but there's more to this revised version than just a fresh coat of paint. OnePlus has bestowed a larger, 12.1-inch display with a 3K resolution on the OnePlus Pad 2, up from 11.6 inches on the original. The 7:5 aspect ratio of the first OnePlus Pad is still here though, which makes the Pad 2 taller and wider than typical tablets, and more equivalent to the shape of a laptop display. While it's still the same thickness as the old Pad, this has increased the weight and height. The new screen comes with an extra-smooth 144Hz adaptive refresh rate like the OG OnePlus Pad, and is now rated at 900 nits of brightness, which would make it roughly twice as bright as the outgoing model. Meanwhile for your listening needs, there's six stereo speakers, which should make quite a sound. Although the speakers were a weakness of the previous OnePlus Pad, so we'll have to test further and see if anything's really changed. Here's where the upgrades from the old model really shift into gear. Running the OnePlus Pad 2 is a flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, rather than a mid-powered Dimensity chip like before. The Pad 2 is further armed with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, doubling the first OnePlus Pad's memory capabilities. Keeping things powered-on is a 9,510mAh battery, which OnePlus claims can be charged from flat to full in 81 minutes if you use one of its 67W fast chargers. This is unchanged from the first OnePlus Pad, but that tablet already had amazing battery life and charging speeds, so it's a case of if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it here. While photography isn't a priority on any tablet, OnePlus has given the Pad 2 a 8MP front camera (still positioned on the long side, thank goodness) and 13MP rear camera like before, which should fulfill your video call needs nicely. Key to the OnePlus Pad 2's software offering is the AI Toolbox, which features new abilities like AI Speak for reading text aloud, Recording Summary to give you the key points from long articles or automatically-transcribed audio recordings, and AI Writer for help with, well, writing. OnePlus has also updated its existing AI Eraser and Smart Cutout features for more effective speedy image editing too. However as all of these features are coming between late July and September this year, I've not been able to try them for myself. And even judging just by the descriptions, the Galaxy Tab S9's Galaxy AI suite of features still seem more diverse, albeit not as universally useful. One thing the OnePlus Pad 2 does excel at is multitasking. It's taken the Open Canvas system from the OnePlus Open foldable to allow users to run up to three apps at once. Unlike other tablets and foldables that shrink apps into small windows, Open Canvas moves inactive windows nearly off-screen. This lets you use the full display to focus on one task at a time, and you can switch to another app by tapping its exposed section. You can also open up a full view of the workspace with a simple four-finger pinch gesture, similar to macOS' Mission Control feature. Open Canvas was something I was annoyed never came to the original OnePlus Pad, so it's awesome to see it arrive at last on a big display device. This may be the OnePlus Pad 2's killer feature that'll let it pinch sales from productivity-minded users who'd otherwise go to Apple or Samsung for a new slate. A tablet needs great accessories to be a proper workstation, and OnePlus is offering up the Stylo 2 stylus and Smart Keyboard to round out the Pad 2's capabilities. You can get one of these, or a simple OnePlus Pad 2 case (which I didn't get to try in person) for free along with a charging brick when pre-ordering the Pad 2, but otherwise you'll need to pay extra. The magnetically-attachable and chargeable Stylo 2 (£99, USD pricing TBC) comes with a haptic motor to that aims to provide pen-and-paper-style feedback by vibrating as you make strokes. While I'm not certain I enjoy this implementation of what's otherwise a neat-sounding feature, the stylus' accurate pressure detection and tracking do make it a precise instrument for writing and drawing. Although as you'll see from the attached images, it can't turn chicken scratch handwriting into calligraphy. As for the Smart Keyboard (£149, USD pricing TBC), this is a two-part package made up of an independently-usable keyboard deck and fully adjustable kickstand. This keyboard comes with a larger trackpad than the OnePlus Pad's version, and also comes with a dedicated AI button just like a Copilot+ PC. Although when I tried it, it would only pull up the Google Assistant rather than anything more sophisticated. The keyboard can be used while attached to pogo pins on the side of the OnePlus Pad 2, but can also be used via Bluetooth if you want to detach them for greater flexibility. And for users with a OnePlus phone, you can tap it on the NFC point to the right of the trackpad to easily set up a hotspot connection and share files, notifications and copy/paste clipboards, as well as hand off app activity back and forth as you need. The OnePlus Pad 2 takes improves everything about the first generation, but doing so has increased the price. This is now more comparable to an iPad Air or Galaxy Tab S9 than being a direct competition to the 10th Gen iPad. However, this doesn't detract from the OnePlus Pad 2's new chip, numerous software updates, refined accessories and larger display. I think the OnePlus Pad 2 has what it takes based on my time with it, but even if our review finds a similar lack of faults, it's going to be hard to take on the incumbents of the best tablets list, even if OnePlus should once again find itself the king of Android tablets once more.

OnePlus Tab 2 Arrives With 3K Screen and Snapdragon Hardware

Chipolo's New Trackers Prove That Google's Find My Device Network Isn't Ready Last year, OnePlus finally announced its very first tablet, the OnePlus Pad. It was everything you expected from a OnePlus phone, except a larger form factor. We found it to be pretty good. Now, OnePlus is coming out with a successor, and it also looks quite decent. OnePlus has launched its latest tablet, the Pad 2, as a successor to its very first offering. On the surface, you might not notice much, as it actually even has an almost identical design to its predecessor. The company went for the same metal unibody it used the last time -- if it's not broken, then there's no need to fix it. There are some internal changes, though. The tablet is boasting a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor (the last tablet used a MediaTek chip, so this is likely a huge upgrade for a lot of people), a 12.1-inch 3K display, 12GB of RAM, and six stereo speakers. OnePlus says that the tablet is designed to enhance productivity through several AI-powered features, including AI Speak for text-to-speech conversion, Recording Summary for condensing lengthy texts, and AI Writer for generating content from image and text prompts. You can also just use it for normal Android tablet stuff. The OnePlus Pad 2 also puts a lot of priority on its battery life and charging speeds, as it's usual with OnePlus hardware. Its 9,510mAh battery promises up to 43 days of standby time and can be fully charged in 81 minutes using the 67W SUPERVOOC Flash Charge technology. Those are the same exact specs we saw in its predecessor, and while we had no complaints on that front, the other hardware changes here might change how well Flash Charge works. OnePlus is also introducing two new accessories to complement the tablet: the OnePlus Stylo 2 and the OnePlus Pad 2 Smart Keyboard. The tablet starts at $499.99, and you can pre-order it from OnePlus. Source: OnePlus

Is the new OnePlus Pad 2 the Android tablet to beat? - Phandroid

At the OnePlus Summer Launch Event today, the company has officially announced the OnePlus Pad 2. This is the latest entry in the company's tablet lineup and is the successor to the OnePlus Pad that was launched back in 2023. This is a powerful tablet, based on the specs, and we expect that it will probably go head to head with other Android tablets like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 series. Under the hood, the OnePlus Pad 2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. This is the same chipset used by the majority of the flagship phones in 2024, so expect killer performance. The tablet also features a 12.1-inch 3K display with a refresh rate of up to 144Hz. Unsurprisingly, OnePlus has included a bunch of AI software features into the tablet. This comes in the form of the AI Toolbox that has features like AI Speak, Recording Summary, AI Writer, AI Eraser 2.0, and Smart Cutout 2.0. All of these features are expected to improve the user experience and workflow for activities like editing photographs. OnePlus is also imagining the tablet to be the perfect multimedia device, thanks to its six integrated stereo speakers. It also supports the OnePlus Stylo 2 and OnePlus Smart Keyboard accessories if you want to take handwritten or typed up notes or draw while on the go. The tablet comes with a massive 9,150mAh battery that OnePlus claims has a standby time of up to 43 days! It also supports the company's 67W SuperVOOC Flash Charge technology that fully recharges the tablet in just 81 minutes. If you want to take photos, the OnePlus Pad 2 has a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP selfie cam for video calls. In terms of price, the tablet will retail starting at $549.99. This is somewhat in line with the rumors that suggested that it could be priced higher than its predecessor. It is available for purchase starting from the 30th of July.

The OnePlus Pad 2 can be left on standby for over 40 days | Stuff

OnePlus has debuted its third tablet - but it's not a replacement for the OnePlus Pad and OnePlus Pad Go. Instead, the 12.1in OnePlus Pad 2 is a higher-end device to sit above the other two. As such you could say it's an iPad Pro rival, but its $550/£499/€549 price point means it's a more natural rival to the iPad Air. It certainly looks the part, with a 584g weight and 6.49mm thickness. The Pad 2 is available for pre-order now and will be available on 1 August in North America, Europe and India. Pad 2 has some pretty impressive hardware inside it, too, with Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 at its heart alongside 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Bettery life should be impressive, with a 9510mAh battery on board. OnePlus claims a possible standby time of a huge 43 days, while there's 67W charging. Even with that speed of charge, the battery will still take 81 minutes to juice up. OnePlus doesn't say how long the battery should last for, say, video. So for my review, it'll be really interesting to see how much battery life I can get out of it during normal use. The display has a 3K resolution, a 7:5 aspect ratio and it has up to 144Hz refresh rate. Peak brightness tops out at 900nits, so it should be great for watching video, too especially since the speaker . Indeed, OnePlus talked about Pad 2 as being a great tablet for entertainment, but there's no doubt that productivity is really where it's at for Pad 2. There's a new optional two-part £149/€149 Smart Keyboard with function keys and a large touchpad. It magnetically attaches as well as the £99/€99 Stylo 2 - a new stylus that, again, magnetically attaches. You can use the keyboard with Bluetooth or snap it onto the tablet where it will work via pins on the bottom edge of the tablet. It supports Open Canvas - the multitasking/multi-window software debuted on OnePlus Open last year. That's part of OxygenOS 14 running on top of Android 14. There's also support for OnePlus' latest AI features including AI Writer, AI Eraser and more. OnePlus has also done some work on getting its devices to work together better with screen mirroring, cellular data sharing and Content Sync between devices.

The OnePlus Pad 2 is here to give Samsung's Galaxy Tab a run for its money

Here's how the Galaxy Z Fold 6 got me through six hours of air travel delays Summary OnePlus Pad 2 boasts a larger 12.1-inch display with a peak brightness of 900 nits and supports Dolby Vision for a better viewing experience. The tablet features a six-speaker system for spatial audio, a slim body with a hefty 9510mAh battery, and fast charging support up to 67W. Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, the OnePlus Pad 2 offers powerful performance, a variety of AI features, and a unique multitasking experience with Open Canvas. OnePlus forayed into the tablet space with the OnePlus Pad in April 2023. Despite all its drawbacks, the tablet was a commendable first effort from the company in a space dominated by iPad and Samsung's high-end Galaxy tablets. A year later, the company is back with the OnePlus Pad 2, building on its predecessor and packing some key improvements to deliver a better experience. Related Your Android tablet is better with notifications turned off The last thing you need is another screen constantly yelling at you 4 The OnePlus Pad 2 retains the same 7:5 aspect ratio of the Pad, but its display size has grown from 11.6 inches to 12.1 inches. The 3K panel can hit a peak brightness of 900 nits and supports Dolby Vision. It can also dynamically adjust its refresh rate between 30, 48, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 144Hz based on the content you are viewing for a smoother experience. While the original OnePlus Pad packed a quad-speaker setup, the Pad 2 ups the game with its six-speaker setup, which supports spatial audio. Despite a 6.49mm slim body, the tablet packs a beefy 9510mAh battery inside its metal body with 67W fast charging support. OnePlus claims a 23% top-up takes only 10 minutes, while you can fill the battery to 64% in 30 minutes. The rear camera remains in the same place as its predecessor, housing a 13MP shooter. An 8MP camera does selfie duty at the front. Close Ticking inside the OnePlus Pad 2 is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, making it the first high-end Android tablet to launch internationally with this chip. The same SoC powers the best Android phones, delivering unrivaled performance and efficiency. The OnePlus Pad 2 should be no different in this area. On the software front, the OnePlus Pad 2 gets Open Canvas from the OnePlus Open, letting you run three split-screen apps simultaneously. Open Canvas is one of our favorite OnePlus Open features, and it should be a delight to use on the tablet's bigger screen. There are some AI features onboard, too, like AI Eraser 2.0, which is OnePlus' take on Google's Magic Eraser; Smart Cutout 2.0 for isolating subjects in a picture to create memes, stickers, and more. OnePlus Pad 2 The OnePlus Pad 2 builds on OnePlus' first tablet, featuring an even bigger 12.1-inch 7:5 aspect ratio display. The six-speaker system and powerful internals, comprising the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 12GB RAM, complement the display. With a large 9,510mAh battery, the tablet also has enough juice to last through a day of use. SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Display type LCD Display dimensions 12.1-inch Display resolution 3000 x 2120 pixels, Up to 144Hz refresh rate RAM 8 or 12GB Storage 128GB or 256GB Battery 9,510mAh Charging speed 67W SuperVOOC Charge options USB-C Ports USB Type-C Operating System Android 14, OxygenOS 14 Front Camera 8MP Rear Camera 13MP Wi-Fi connectivity Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.4,BLE Dimensions 268.66 x 195.06 x 6.49 mm Weight 584g Colors Nimbus Gray Price $550 Expand Other features include deep integration with your OnePlus phone for instant hotspot, Notification Sync, Clipboard Sync, Remote File Access, the ability to take phone calls directly on the tablet, and more. OnePlus also unveiled two accessories for the OnePlus Pad 2: the OnePlus Stylo 2 and the OnePlus Smart Keyboard. The stylus delivers a claimed 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity and 0ms delay tracking. As for the smart keyboard accessory, it houses a trackpad that's more than double the size of the first model. It holds the tablet in place through magnets and supports adjusting the viewing angle between 110 and 165 degrees. The OnePlus Pad 2 costs $550 in the US and launches on July 30 through the OnePlus website, with preorders beginning today. The Stylo 2 accessory will retail for $100, while the Smart Keyboard will cost $150. All devices will be available for purchase on Amazon starting in August. You can get a bundle with all the accessories and the OnePlus Pad 2 during the preorder period at a heavily discounted price. OnePlus Watch 2R also goes official In addition to its new flagship tablet, OnePlus announced the OnePlus Watch 2R running Wear OS 4. It retains the best bits of the OnePlus Watch 2 in a lighter aluminum body and a lower price tag. Despite being 25% lighter, the OnePlus Watch 2R claims to offer the same 100 hours of battery life as its more expensive sibling. Other specs remain the same, including dual chipsets, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, and NFC support. OnePlus Watch 2R The OnePlus Watch 2R packs the same impressive specs and features as its more expensive sibling -- the OnePlus Watch 2 -- at a lower price point. It achieves this by switching to an aluminum chassis, which helps reduce its weight by 25% to 59g. Case size 47mm Case Material Aluminum Display 1.43" 60Hz AMOLED Display resolution 466 x 466 CPU Snapdragon W5, BES2700 RAM 2GB Storage 32GB Battery 500mAh Cellular connectivity No Wi-Fi connectivity Yes Connectivity Dual-frequency GPS Software Wear OS 4 Health sensors Heart rate, SpO2 Dimensions 47 x 46.6 x 12.1mm Weight 59g (with strap) IP Rating IP68 Strap size 22 mm Colors Forest Green, Gunmetal Gray Price $230 Expand The OnePlus Watch 2R goes on sale starting July 16 in Forest Green and Gunmetal Gray for $230, $70 cheaper than the OnePlus Watch 2. OnePlus Nord Buds 3 Pro are the company's latest mid-range earbuds If you want a pair of budget earbuds, the OnePlus Nord Buds 2 stand out for their value. However, for consumers who want a bit more from their earphones and are willing to spend more, OnePlus has unveiled the Nord Buds 3 Pro. The earbuds claim to provide up to 49dB noise cancelation, with Smart Noise Cancellation automatically switching to the appropriate noise reduction mode depending on the ambient noise. With ANC disabled, the Nord Buds 3 Pro purportedly delivers up to 12 hours of music playback, with the charging case bumping the total runtime to 44 hours. With ANC on, the total playback time drops to 20 hours. Thanks to fast charging, you can get a claimed 11 hours of playback time in 10 minutes. The 4.4g light earbuds feature IP55 certification, Fast Pair, and multi-point Bluetooth connectivity. They will be available starting July 16 for $80 in Starry Black and Soft Jade colors.