OnePlus Pad 3 review: Android tablet that is big on performance

India Today

a day ago

For as long as I can remember, whenever I have come across the question 'which tablet', the answer has been 'one of the iPads.' That is unless someone is looking for a tablet within a budget in which an iPad won't fit. But of late, I am also coming across queries that mention the word Android. For some reason, possibly because Android is more flexible and versatile, some people specifically want an Android tablet. Now, when it comes to Android tablets, there are two options: Either you go top-end, which is ruled by the Samsung Galaxy Tabs, or you stay around Rs 20,000, where you have other players crowding the scene. For consumers, neither the top-end nor the mainstream gives them the kind of value they might be looking for. And this is where the OnePlus Pad 3 comes in. As a package, as this review will show, this is a tablet that is more top-end and yet it is expected to be priced more sensibly.advertisementIn a way, the OnePlus Pad 3 is the company's attempt to do what it has done in the phone market — create a flagship killer. It does come with a few compromises, but on the whole those are acceptable. In the core functionality the Pad 3 is solid, and that I believe makes it THE ANDROID TABLET to buy. With that said, let's take a closer look at the OnePlus Pad 3.Sleekest of them allI find tablets rather boring when it comes to their design. These are more of utilitarian gadgets, and not the flashy kind, such as a phone, with which you can impress people at evening drinks. But within the confines, OnePlus does a good job with the design and build of the Pad 3.
This is a large tablet with a screen size of 13.2-inch. Compared to most of the Android tabs which are either 16:9 aspect ratio or 16:10, the OnePlus Pad 3 uses 7:5 aspect ratio. In simple English, it means compared to most tablets the Pad 3 is slightly wider. It is between 16:10 and 4:3. On this aspect it is also closer to the iPad Pro, which too has a wider display.
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For productivity and work, this is a much better aspect ratio compared to narrower screens that we get in the usual Android tablets. But it has an immediate impact on the handling of the tablet. The Pad 3 is a large tablet and feels like one. The best way to use it is by propping it up on a flat surface with a kickstand cover — sold separately — or by placing it flat on a table. It is not a tablet you will want to use hand-held for long durations.Although it is also somewhat manageable, thanks to its thin profile. The Pad 3 is the slimmest device OnePlus has made yet. It is razor-thin at just 5.97mm. For a large tablet, its weight of 675 grams is fairly decent. In fact, the lightweight gives it some portability that you otherwise don't expect in a 13-inch device. You can roam around with it in the office and your hands won't mind it.The rest of the tablet is standard affair, albeit polished and made in a way that makes it more than justify its price. The body is made of sleek aluminium, and the unibody structure gives it sturdiness as well as clean looks. On the back, there is a pill-shaped rear camera module. The bezels on the front are neither too thick nor too thin. Down below there is a USB-C port. On the top edge there is the power button, and on the right top edge we have the volume rocker. Standard affair but just done with precision and finesse.advertisementNow, there are a couple of things which are missing. Fingerprint scanner would have been more than welcome. The tablet supports face ID but given that it is a tablet, which we may not all the time align in front of our faces the way we do with a phone, the fingerprint scanner is missed. Similarly, the tablet doesn't have any water or dust protection rating. Now, I understand that even laptops — which this tablet aims to emulate — don't come with such ratings. But tablets are still used in a way — maybe children using them, maybe you are sitting with your Pad 3 outdoors and suddenly rain hits — where IP rating could have been useful.Given that this is a large tablet that OnePlus positions as a productivity tool, the Pad 3 supports a few accessories. The support for stylus — now called Stylo 2 — is there, and so is the support for a new keyboard, which OnePlus calls Smart Keyboard. For the purpose of this review, I used the OnePlus Pad 3 with this keyboard accessory.advertisementPlenty of performance, great battery lifeSo, what does the Pad 3 offer? Plenty. And solid functionality in core areas.In my use I found four areas where the Pad 3 excels: display quality, performance, battery life and software tweaks. In one area it is good but not exceptional, and that is its sound output through its 8 speakers, 4 of which are woofers and 4 are tweeters. And in one area I found it barely average and that is its rear camera.Let's talk about the screen first. It ticks all the right boxes. It has a resolution of 3.4K, which on a 13-inch surface means that this is an extremely sharp display. It also has a near 100 per cent DCI-P3 colour coverage and that too helps. It is a vibrant display and bright enough to be usable outdoors or in office cubicles where lights and the sun filter in through glass separations. I also love how smooth the display is because of its high refresh rate of 144Hz. The high resolution and size means you can easily open two or even three app windows on the screen and juggle between them effortlessly.
advertisementHaving said that, this is not an OLED display that we get in extremely expensive tablets. It lacks that 3D like contrast or the extremely wide viewing angles that OLED offers. The Pad 3, in the end, has an LCD screen and the limitations of the technology compared to OLED are apparent. But among the LCD screens — for example the iPad Air 13 too lacks OLED — the Pad 3 display is one of the best you can get. I absolutely loved watching some documentaries on it, like the lushly shot Billy and Molly. It helps that the Pad 3 has a speaker system that is quite loud. Although I did expect somewhat more given that there are 8 speakers. It is loud but it is missing the heft in bass and vocals that some other large tablets can manage.advertisementPerformance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite is exemplary in the Pad 3. For the purpose of this review I used the 12GB RAM variant, although the extended memory tech by OnePlus gives the system 24GB of total usable RAM. In day to day use, I found the Pad 3 extremely smooth. There was absolutely no hesitation, no jitters irrespective of whatever I threw at it. Best part of the whole performance bit is that it runs fairly cool. Even with lots of benchmarking, I did not feel it heat in any undue way. Of course, mostly I used the tablet to do stuff on it and not play games on it. The large size of the tablet means that this is not exactly going to be a gaming device for you, unless you pair a controller with it.Just to put some numbers to the performance of the Pad 3, I ran a few benchmarks. Here are the results from GeekBench 6, PCMark and Antutu:
Inside the Pad 3 there is a 12140 mAh battery. Given the large display and the top-tier chipset, I expected that the Pad 3 would be middling on the battery part. Instead it is top of the class. I easily got the battery life of two days from the tablet even with fairly heavy use. In the PCMark battery test it consistently ran for around 22-23 hours with 20 per cent battery to spare. I have a feeling that most people will easily get 2 days of battery life from the Pad 3. And once it is exhausted, they will also be able to top it up quickly with the 80W charger that OnePlus bundles with the tablet. It takes a little over an hour to fully charge the tablet.Then there is the software, which too I liked. The Pad 3 is powered by OxygenOS 15, which has been customised for a bigger display. There are a number of nifty tweaks, plus a smattering of AI features. Depending on how you use the tablet, and for what purpose, I believe you will find some features useful and some not so-much. In particular, OnePlus has spent considerable energy on improving multitasking on its tablet and I totally love the results. It takes a while before you get used to it, but once you have become familiar with the available options and gestures, it works fairly well.
There are two cameras on the Pad 3. The rear camera comes with a 13-megapixel sensor and it is barely average in good light. In low light, its performance is bad. Of course, no one expects people to shoot photos with a 13-inch tablet so do keep that in mind. I don't think the rear camera was a priority for OnePlus with this tablet. The 8-megapixel front camera, meanwhile, gets the job done well enough in video calls. But here too you, or anyone viewing you in the call, is not going to be wowed by the image quality.Here are 5 image samples that will give you some idea of the Pad 3 rear camera.The Pad 3 and Smart Keyboard experienceOne big part of the Pad 3 is its keyboard experience. You see, this tablet is meant as a device that can replace a laptop for, if not all, then at least for some users. And OnePlus obviously wants people to use the Pad 3 with the keyboard, which also makes sense given the size of the tablet. As far as the keyboard is concerned, I have mixed feelings about it.First, I did not find the two-piece attachment mechanism appealing. The keyboard and the back panel, which attaches to the tablet's back, are two separate pieces. The keyboard attaches to the tablet with three pogo pins on the back of the tablet using a flap, which I believe is the weakest part of the whole keyboard and cover system. The back cover attaches separately. While the two-piece system, perfectly usable when the tablet is kept on a solid surface, does not offer the sturdiness and stability that you might require when you keep the device on softer surfaces, such as a bed, or on the lap. It is also rather cumbersome if you want to pick the tablet, fold it and then carry it with you in a hurry. You have to be careful or else the cover or keyboard will detach. Finally, the whole mechanism has to be managed carefully every time you pry open the kickstand, which is part of the back cover and is rather stiff.
A lot of words, I know. But the summary is this: I don't find the two-piece mechanism particularly convenient. The Pad 3 can definitely do better with a more robust keyboard accessory.As far as the keyboard itself is concerned, this is one of the better ones I have come across. It has a rather large trackpad, which I found decently accurate and responsive. It is also a brilliantly smooth trackpad, better than what you get on many Windows laptops. The keys are large and almost full-size. There is a good amount of travel, although it will take you a day or two to get used to the key size and the typing experience before you can use it like you use your laptop keyboard. I do think that the plastic of the keyboard could have been just a tad more robust but overall the typing and trackpad experience that the OnePlus keyboard offers with the Pad 3 is definitely above average.Top-end aspirations more modest priceSo, is the Pad 3 the right Android tablet to buy? I believe yes, but before I can say that with emphasis I would need to know the price of the Pad 3 in India. And that price has not been revealed yet by OnePlus. The tablet is going on sale globally, however, from today and it has been priced at Euros 599. If that is indeed the price, in India you can expect it to land somewhere around Rs 55,000 when it goes on sale later in a few weeks.If that is indeed the price, I have no hesitation in recommending the OnePlus Pad 3 as the best Android tablet to buy in India. Sure, it is missing a few tricks. But for that it more than makes up for it by offering solid performance, a good design, usable software, a fantastic screen and great battery life. In other words, it ticks all the right boxes. Now let's hope it ticks the price box too in the right way.