2 days ago
Yes, The OnePlus Pad 3 Can Replace A Laptop. Mostly.
The new OnePlus Pad 3
OnePlus debuted its latest premium OnePlus Pad 3 tablet today. Packed with high-end specs, it has a sleek and lightweight aluminum build, is just 5.97mm thin, has a 13.2-inch touchscreen with 3.4K resolution and amazing color depth, fluted edges, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage. It's fast – in fact, its performance is 45 percent faster than its predecessor. The screen refresh rate is a lightning 144 hz – which makes it great for gaming. Yet it also has enough muscle to handle serious work. And thanks to intelligent heat dissipation, it stays cool the entire time. Oh, and there's also 'holo' spatial audio that lets you specifically aim the sound direction of each of the eight speakers. With the 80W fast charging brick that's included, you can charge this machine from 0 to 100 percent in just 92 minutes. Even if you forget to do that, it has an astounding 70 days of standby battery.
Knowing these specs, and adding to it the fact that I don't currently have a computer (long story), I couldn't help myself. So I ordered it, along with the OnePlus Pad 3 smart keyboard, with every intention of using it as my new full-time computer. And so far after about a week, it has worked near flawlessly – and in fact, way better than I expected.
First thing I did was connect the Bluetooth keyboard and set the screen up horizontally. The display is actually even larger – and much brighter – than the one on the computer I'd been borrowing. The keyboard, by the way, is full sized and super easy to use. Plus it even has a dedicated Gemini AI key. But for my main needs – writing, checking email, web browsing, watching videos, exchanging files with editors via Dropbox, etc. – it's outstanding. Then I plugged my USB-C wireless mouse base into the power port of the Pad 3, and my mouse was instantly connected. My fingers are usually too clunky to use a trackpad, so I avoided using this one. In fact, I employed the dedicated keyboard key to disable it, so that my palm doesn't accidentally slide across the trackpad and cause on-screen issues. The mouse works great with it, by the way. At night, I've been pulling out the mouse base and using the USB-C port to recharge the Pad 3. After all, with its stellar battery life, I don't need to worry about that all day. In my testing so far. Using the Pad 3 all day only runs through about half the battery charge. And leaving it unattended overnight with the screen off dwindles the battery life by about 1 percent.
Because I typically use Google Docs on a Chromebook, I had to make a couple of adjustments to the way I prefer doing things. First off, I'm used to working on my documents directly in the Chrome browser. But on the Pad 3, I can only access the files through Google Drive browser tab that way. Once I click to edit a document though, it automatically takes me into the dedicated Google Drive mobile app. It's not a huge deal, just an adjustment. In some ways, I actually like the mobile app better because of its built-in shortcuts and simplicity.
The other adjustment to make was on the Chrome browser itself. On the Chromebook, you can preset a dedicated bookmarks bar. But the mobile version – the one native to the Pad 3 – doesn't have a bookmarks bar running at the top of the browser. You need to instead bring up a bookmarks menu. Again, it's a small thing to get used to. But on the browser itself, I can open up all of the tabs I need simultaneously – just as I typically do on a real Chromebook. Other than that, I've run into tiny but manageable workarounds that I can live with.
Honestly, what I feared might be a severe compromise has turned into a better experience than working on my laptop, in many ways. And a great deal of this can be attributed to the actual machine – with its speed, fantastic display, responsiveness and general specs – in addition to the software. And the fact that I can also use it as, um, a tablet after work is icing on the cake. It's been fantastic to watch TV streaming on. And although it doesn't have a direct cellular connection, I just go into Google Voice on the browser and make phone calls directly from that. Works like a charm.
I feel like OnePlus nailed it with this model. The Pad 3 sells for $699, the keyboard an additional $199.
