OnePlus Pad 2 review: The all-rounder

 

Design

OnePlus created a very sleek device with the original OnePlus Pad, and the same design philosophy has been applied to the successor. The OnePlus Pad 2 features an aluminum unibody with a flat 12-inch IPS screen.

There are almost no sharp edges on this device, every corner and every edge have been rounded nicely, barring the flat surface where the stylus rests and charges on top of the frame. The end result is a device that looks very premium and high-quality, even though this design is a departure from the current flat and edgy trend we're having with so many phones and tablets.

In the hand, the OnePlus Pad 2 feels very comfortable, although it's a bit on the heavier side. This thing weighs almost 600 grams (584 to be exact), and even for a 12-inch tablet, this is pretty heavy.

The Galaxy S9, for example, is almost 100 grams lighter, and the regular iPad is even lighter. Granted, these are a tad smaller tablets at 11-inch screen diagonals, but still, we would've liked a lighter OnePlus Pad 2.

There are eight slits for the six-speeker sound system, four on each side of the tablet. A USB-C port lies between them on one side, and the power button is placed on the top left corner (if we assume the default mode is landscape, as the selfie camera is positioned on the longer side).

On the top of the frame, we find the volume rocker and a flat place to put your OnePlus Stylo 2. On the bottom there's a connector for the Smart Keyboard, and, finally, on the back we find the single 13MP main camera in a nice big circular housing.

Display

The 12.1-inch IPS LCD display of the OnePlus Pad 2 has a very interesting 7:5 aspect ratio, and an even more bizarre resolution of 2120×3000 pixles. The resulting pixel density is around 303 ppi, which is pretty decent for the price range and category.

OnePlus cites 600 nits of typical brightness and 900 nits in high-brigtness mode, and we were able to measure 786 nits, a great result toppling the 11-inch iPad Pro and the Galaxy Tab S9. The color accuracy, on the other hand, isn't great. OnePlus says average deltaE is sub-1, but we weren't able to replicate this.

Display Measurements:

Last but not least, this is a 144 Hz panel, which makes it very smooth. There are three modes to choose from: High (which forces 144 Hz on everything), Normal, and Auto-select. The last one lets apps dictate the refresh rate, and it can be 144/120/90/60/50/48/30 Hz depending on the app.

The panel is also HDR10+ and Dolby Vision certified, so Netflix and chill should be great on the OnePlus Pad 2. But we all knew that already.

There's no fingerprint scanner anywhere on the tablet, not even a capacitive side-mounted one. You must rely on a pin-protected lock screen or facial recognition. Given that the latter uses a single 8MP selfie camera to match your face to the one you set up, the OnePlus Pad 2 isn't the most secure device out there, when it comes to lock screen protection.

Camera

It's true that almost no one out there buys a tablet for its camera capabilities, but it's a nice feature to have if you want to snap a quick photo and share it in a Zoom meeting or other live video chat platform.

We didn't expect miracles from the 13 MP rear camera, and as a result, we weren't too disappointed in the end.

 

The images are okay but lack detail and dynamic range, especially in the murky and gloomy conditions we took the samples in. You can snap a good one if the sun's out and shining, but don't go out chasing photos with this 600-gram monster, it's not made for that.

That being said, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside allows the tablet to record 4K videos at 30 frames per second, and they turn out quite decent. The colors and contrast are good, but the details are not great, and the overall video ends up looking a bit soft. Once again, we doubt anyone would use the OnePlus Pad 2 as a dedicated 4K videography tool.

Performance

You can tell a good flagship Android tablet by its silicon. Slapping the latest Qualcomm chipset on the OnePlus Pad 2 was an amazing decision by OnePlus. Not that the previous Dimensity 9000 chip was a slouch, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is still the staple in mobile tech at the moment.

Funny thing, though. The synthetic benchmark scores for single core performance are pretty low. We ran the test several times and consistently got under 1000 in Geekbench 6. There's some strange throttling going on, as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 single core scores are normally in the 2000 range.

Performance Benchmarks:

However, this strange result doesn't translate into real-life performance issues, thankfully. Everything is smooth as butter, especially in 144 Hz mode. Our version comes with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but there's a more basic variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of memory as well.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the 144Hz IPS display are a match made in heaven, and if there's such a thing as a gaming tablet, we think the OnePlus Pad 2 fits that criterion. What else can be said here? There is no microSD card expansion slot, unsurprisingly, so you should choose your storage option carefully.

Software

The OnePlus Pad 2 runs on OxygenOS 14 over Android 14. It's a pretty stock experience with a few tweaks here and there. There's the usual split screen mode that you can evoke by swiping with two fingers from the top of the screen, there's also a floating window mode, and there's a smart side bar with customizable apps and shortcuts.

OnePlus Smart Keyboard

The Smart Keyboard is a separately sold accessory, though we thought we should include it in this review, as it transforms the experience. We tested a lot of Bluetooth tablet keyboards over the years, and this one is just great.

The 7:5 form factor of the tablet allowed OnePlus to design a big and comfortable keyboard. The keys have nice travel, and the touchpad is huge and supports gestures as well. What's even more useful is that the keyboard charges through the three-pin magnetic connector, so you don't need to charge it separately.

This accessory costs $150, which is a bit high for a keyboard, but if you plan to type on this thing a lot, and try to use it as a laptop substitute, such a purchase is absolutely mandatory. The keyboard comes with a nice magnetic back that serves as a kickstand, and it allows you to separate the keyboard and the tablet and use a distance that's the most comfortable to you.

The magnets that hold the keyboard attached to the bottom frame of the tablet, and the back kickstand to… well, the back of the tablet, are pretty strong.

OnePlus Stylo 2

The OnePlus Stylo 2 is another useful accessory, especially if you're good at the drawing board. This smart pen can be used to scribble things, take notes, point at presentations, scroll from a distance, and, of course, paint.

It has 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity to get that Monet-style painting just right (gotta paint those vanilla skies right), and even though there's no dedicated slot for the Stylo, it attaches to the upper frame of the tablet with a pretty strong magnet.

That's also how this thing charges, so you don't think about it. Just like the keyboard - attach everything to the OnePlus Pad 2 and let it charge.

Now, for a person with no talent in fine arts, getting a $100 smart stylus might be unnecessary. On the other hand, if you like handwriting and scribbling things on the go, it might be a useful tool.

Battery

There's a pretty hefty 9510 mAh battery inside the OnePlus Pad 2. The sheer capacity is larger than what all potential competitors have to offer, but how does it translate to real-life longevity?

Yes, and no. The video streaming benchmark yielded a result that's far from impressive, but on the other hand, the OnePlus Pad 2 seems to be great for browsing and gaming, when it comes to longevity. 11 hours of browsing is a solid result, and almost 7 hours of gaming also puts the tablet among the top performers in the class.

PhoneArena Battery Test Results:

When it comes to fast charging, the OnePlus Pad 2 delivers, which is not surprising—the company is well-known for its fast-charging tech. A full charge of that 9510mAh battery takes only 52 minutes with the bundled 67W fast charger.

Audio quality

The audio quality is just great on the OnePlus Pad 2. Maybe it's the size or the specific drivers used, but it's like a big Bluetooth speaker when pumped at full volume. Very detailed sound with strong bass frequencies, and not too much harmonic distortion at the top of the frequency range as well.

You can feel the whole chassis vibrating in a good way when you listen to something at full volume, and even though there's no 3.5mm headphone jack, the OnePlus Pad 2 supports 24bit Hi-Res audio, and you can use the sex speaker stereo setup onboard to enjoy it. Good job.

Should you buy it?

There's a lot to like about the OnePlus Pad 2. From the stylish and premium build to the top-notch hardware and snappy performance, At $500 (OnePlus is constantly running promotions and deals), this Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 tablet is more than capable of taking on the Galaxy Tab S9 or a 10-gen Apple iPad.

The only gripe we have with this device is its weight. It's a little brick at almost 600 grams, and if you get the Smart Keyboard accessory, things pass the 1 kg threshold. And if you're used to throwing around your tablets frequently, you will feel the weight.

The screen is an IPS LCD panel, and this might be a downside for some, as the Galaxy Tab lineup offers OLED screens, but you have the high 144Hz refresh rate to make up for the lack of organic light emitting diodes, so there's also that.

All in all, the OnePlus Pad 2 is a very well-thought-out package at a decent price. It's hard to find a better Android tablet at this price point.