Forget iPad mini — OnePlus Pad Mini just tipped to launch next year with a serious power boost
Leaker Digital Chat Station claims that OnePlus is working on a smaller version of the tablet, tentatively called the OnePlus Pad Mini. But, unlike the OnePlus Pad Lite, this is designed to be a premium device.
In other words, we should expect this to simply be a smaller version of existing OnePlus tablets — rather than a cheaper model that has to compromise on features and specs.
The leaker claims that the tablet is currently being tested with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 chipset. The chip is expected to launch later this year as a follow-up to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is itself easily the best chipset you can get for an Android device.
That may give the OnePlus Pad Mini a slight advantage compared to Apple's smallest iPad — since it will (presumably) have the same processing hardware as the next wave of OnePlus flagships.
As much as we love the iPad mini 7, we can't ignore the fact it's missing performance prowess as other iPads. It's all because it runs on the A17 Pro chipset, an older mobile chipset that debuted on iPhone 15 Pro, while the likes of the iPad Air and iPad Pro utilize Apple's M3 and M4 chips respectively. That means the larger tablets end up with significantly better performance and efficiency.
With that in mind, it's clear that the OnePlus Pad Mini is not going to be a slouch in the performance department. It's quite the step up from the MediaTek Helio G100 OnePlus put into the Pad Lite — and the first generation Snapdragon 8 Elite in the OnePlus Pad 3.
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We don't know how big the screen is going to be, but DCS claims the tablet will launch alongside a 6.3-inch OnePlus phone — which one source claims will be the OnePlus 15T.
My guess is that the Pad Mini would be slightly larger, while still being noticeably smaller than its 13.2-inch predecessor. Probably something closer to 8 or 9 inches, based on the name, since a 10-inch tablet screen doesn't exactly scream "small." A bit like the iPad mini, in fact.
Now, I did pause at the mention of this tablet arriving alongside the OnePlus 15T. Considering we've only just seen the release of the OnePlus 13T back in May, it suggests we may be waiting almost 2 years for the OnePlus Tab Mini to arrive. That's hardly ideal.
But DCS claims that the OnePlus Tab Mini should be arriving sometime early next year. So I'm just guessing there has been some miscommunication along the way — or some kind of mistranslation.
I guess it depends on whether OnePlus will be skipping over the OnePlus 14, as it did with the OnePlus 4. In the meantime, check out our roundup of all the best tablets you can buy.
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