OnePlus Pad 2 evaluate: Higher pill, worse worth

It took OnePlus virtually a decade of bombastic promoting and hard discuss earlier than it lastly turned its flagship-killing consideration to Android tablets in 2023. The OnePlus Pad didn’t a lot kill the flagships, nevertheless it did present a reliable, fairly priced various. The corporate is now again with the sequel, the aptly named OnePlus Pad 2. There’s so much to love right here, together with the super-fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and wonderful 144Hz show. The worth, nonetheless, made this one exhausting to like for me.

As OnePlus settles into its pill launch cycle, it’s additionally asking extra for its refined second-gen system. The worth has risen to $550, a comparatively substantial enhance over the $480 it needed final 12 months, and the equipment that set this slate aside value much more on high of that. Nearly as good because the OnePlus Pad 2 is in some methods, the push to above the $500 mark means it’s not anyplace close to as aggressive with the market-leading Samsung Android tablets as the primary era was.

The OnePlus Pad 2 makes first impression with its glossy aluminum chassis and sharp show. It’s an LCD moderately than OLED, which you get on Samsung’s dearer Android slates, however the 3,000 x 2,120 decision is among the many finest you’ll discover on any pill. Certainly, the show is extremely sharp, and the 144Hz refresh price ensures clean animations.

The display screen has gotten a brightness increase versus final 12 months’s pill, with a peak luminance of 900 nits. That’s so much for a pill, giving the OnePlus Pad 2 help for Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR in supported video. The audio system are above common for a pill, too. It’s not all good, although; the distinction on this LCD is middling at finest.

Simply as essential as a pill’s decision is the show ratio, which may decide the way you maintain and use it. Samsung’s tablets have widescreen ratios, making them awkward to make use of in portrait orientation. This pill has an uncommon 7:5 facet ratio, so it’s solely a bit wider than it’s tall. It’s extra comfy to carry in panorama than a widescreen system, and you may flip it vertically with out making issues too awkward. I nonetheless suppose Apple’s 4:3 ratio makes essentially the most sense for tablets, however 7:5 will do in a pinch.

There’s not a lot to say concerning the physique of the pill. It’s unibody aluminum with good, rounded edges. The facility and quantity buttons are on the highest left (in panorama), and there’s no fingerprint sensor. It’s camera-based face unlock or nothing on the OnePlus Pad 2. The underside edge has pogo pins that join the pill to the non-obligatory keyboard dock, which I’ve some ideas on under. Round again, you’ll discover the pretty horrible 13MP digicam. When you have a telephone (any telephone), it is best to use that to take images, however the Pad 2’s digicam is there if you really want it. The identical goes for the 8MP selfie digicam, which is appropriate for 1080p video chat, however not images.

OnePlus made its title by packing the very best {hardware} attainable into smartphones, and it’s doing the identical with its second-gen pill. The unique OnePlus Pad had a serviceable MediaTek chip, however the sequel has been upgraded to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the identical flagship Qualcomm processor discovered within the OnePlus 12 and Galaxy S24. If there’s an app (and even a number of apps) you need to run, this pill can do it. It launches apps shortly, and the 12GB of RAM can preserve loads of them within the background. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 can be the very best gaming chip you’ll discover within the Android ecosystem, making the OnePlus Pad 2 excellent for large-screen Android gaming.

OnePlus nailed the battery life and charging for this pill, too. The 9,510mAh battery lasts a number of days with the form of occasional use I’d count on from a pill, and it fees at a speedy 67W price. It won’t be as quick as OnePlus telephones, which may hit 100W or extra, however only a few minutes on the charger is sufficient to energy this pill for an entire day.

Sure, the value has elevated, however the OnePlus Pad 2’s {hardware} remains to be a comparatively good worth.

Oxygen OS on the OnePlus Pad 2 is similar to the model operating on the corporate’s telephones. OnePlus software program went via a transition some years again, dropping the twin China-international growth setup. Now, the one distinction between the China software program and what we get elsewhere is the presence of Google apps. Meaning there’s going to be extra of a studying curve than you may count on for those who’ve been utilizing units from different OEMs.

Oxygen OS is feature-rich, however this Android pores and skin nonetheless will get some basic items flawed when adapting to a tablet-sized UI. For instance, it takes three faucets to take away an app icon from the house display screen, and the house display screen grid is weirdly small, losing a ton of display screen actual property. OnePlus additionally loves elaborate animations. Every little thing from tapping a widget to opening the multitasking menu is overdesigned. I did benefit from the animations on the sleek 144hz show, however they will make the pill really feel slower than it’s. Animations aren’t unhealthy once they help the person expertise — for instance, the best way Pixels use animations to speak performance. OnePlus will get it flawed by slapping a shiny animation on something that strikes.

As I tapped across the OS, I seen too many options both didn’t work in any respect or didn’t work as I anticipated after years of testing untold scores of Android units. For instance, there’s an non-obligatory taskbar just like the one Samsung has on its foldables and tablets. It offers you fast entry to apps for split-screen multitasking. Nonetheless, OnePlus’ model covers the underside of apps, making them tougher to make use of if there’s something essential on the backside (like tabs). The OnePlus Pad 2 has additionally linked me to settings for structure choices that don’t work with the app I used to be utilizing — not like Samsung, OnePlus doesn’t pressure all apps to work in windowed mode.

I need to additionally renew my objection to the best way Oxygen OS handles notifications on the lock display screen; it solely reveals notifications as soon as after which removes them after the pill has been unlocked. Once I see issues like that, it turns into exhausting to consider OnePlus is trying critically on the person expertise.

I believe OnePlus must work on its camera-based face unlock tech for this pill, too. It took about 20 minutes of trial and error earlier than the pill’s safety settings accepted that I do, the truth is, have a face. Even after getting registered, the reliability of this characteristic is hit-and-miss, even when lighting is greater than satisfactory.

Multitasking is core to the Android pill expertise in 2024. Samsung and Google have invested in Android multitasking enhancements over time, however OnePlus has been slower to get on board. Its earlier makes an attempt at making Oxygen OS viable for split-screen app administration fell flat, however the newest builds are getting higher.

The Oxygen OS multi-window system referred to as Open Canvas (see above) is sweet for switching between apps; nonetheless, in my expertise, it’s not so good for really utilizing them. You management these home windows, in addition to the transition between full-screen and overview mode, with multitouch swipes. It requires you to swipe with the proper variety of fingers in the proper course in the proper space of the display screen, which results in some awkward interactions and mistaken instructions.

In brief, I don’t love Open Canvas. Some folks might disagree with me there, however in my expertise, Samsung and Google each have extra usable multitasking methods than the finicky OnePlus model.

Beneath all that Oxygen OS, the OnePlus Pad 2 runs Android 14. It should get three extra OS updates, plus an extra 12 months of safety patches past that. OnePlus has not saved up with the ever-expanding replace commitments of Samsung and Google, in order that’s not likely a shock. Nonetheless, the cheaper Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE comes with a greater replace assure of 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches.

Identical to final 12 months’s OnePlus pill, this one has an non-obligatory keyboard case and stylus. The keyboard retails for $150, and the OnePlus Stylo 2 is $100, however as I write this, each are on sale for half off as OnePlus tries to make this pill a viable productiveness machine. That’s all the time troublesome for Android units, and OnePlus isn’t altering the sport with these equipment.

The keyboard case feels alright to sort on — the keys are not any worse than the myriad keyboard instances Samsung gives. Nonetheless, the pill doesn’t really feel very safe contained in the case. The magnets maintain the again cowl on properly sufficient, offering a useful kickstand to prop up the pill. The keyboard half, although, slides round on the display screen aspect a lot that it repeatedly wakes the display screen once I carry it round.

The opposite challenge is extra of a software program limitation. Multitasking is essential in making an Android-based pill appropriate for productiveness, however Open Canvas doesn’t make a lot sense with a keyboard as a result of it’s based mostly so closely on multitouch gestures. There’s a trackpad under the keyboard that you should use for gestures, however the small measurement and middling contact sensitivity make this a irritating expertise.

The OnePlus Stylo 2 is a a lot nicer piece of {hardware}. It fees when magnetically hooked up to the pill, and it stays put properly. It’s concerning the measurement of a No. 2 pencil however a bit heavier. The stylus matches properly within the hand, and the vibration motor could make it really feel virtually such as you’re writing on paper.

Sadly, it’s exhausting to justify spending extra money on a stylus for the OnePlus Pad 2 when it makes such restricted use of handwriting enter. There are only a few apps on the pill that perceive stylus enter, and the OS itself barely acknowledges the Stylo 2. OnePlus additionally confirms there is no such thing as a manner for third-party builders to help the stylus’ superior options like stress sensitivity and haptics. Samsung, in the meantime, consists of the S Pen with its tablets, and One UI has a ton of stylus options. There are just a few third-party apps that work with the S Pen, however that’s extra help than you get with the Stylo 2.

The OnePlus Pad 2 is a strong Android pill because of the inclusion of Qualcomm’s newest and best cell chip, and the 12.1-inch LCD could be very sharp and shiny. I additionally respect the extra square-ish type issue when all of Samsung’s trendy slates are annoyingly vast — the OnePlus Pad 2’s sq. ratio is much less ungainly. It additionally lasts a very long time on a cost, and even when the battery will get low, a couple of minutes on the included (yay) charger is sufficient to get you again up and operating

OnePlus prioritized velocity with this slate, upgrading to a dearer Qualcomm chip. If you wish to play video games on an Android pill, this is likely one of the finest choices. Though, there aren’t many video games on Android that actually name for a pill — a slower, cheaper chip would most likely have labored simply as properly in follow. Because it stands, that improve most likely wasn’t definitely worth the elevated price ticket, however for those who’re into emulating retro video games you may get a bit additional kick out of it.

Given the specs and elevated deal with being a productiveness beast, this pill needs to be higher than it’s. I’d place the blame for that shortfall on Oxygen OS, however there’s no single trigger. It’s exhausting to explain the Oxygen OS expertise succinctly. Whereas it’s typically quick and low on bloatware, it’s additionally rife with overdesigned animations and inconsistent visuals. I’m additionally not the largest fan of the Open Canvas multitasking system, particularly when it interacts with OnePlus’ official stylus. There’s some energy there, however the clunky swipe controls are too usually irritating.

Should you want essentially the most processing energy for the least amount of cash, the OnePlus Pad 2 needs to be on the high of your checklist. If software program help, multitasking, and equipment matter, then it is best to check out the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus ($599 at Amazon) first. You lose out on processing grunt, however for less than $50 greater than the OnePlus slate (or very often for cheaper when discounted), you get an included S Pen, compatibility with the wonderful (if costly) Galaxy Tab S9 Plus E book Cowl keyboard case, an additional 12 months of replace help, and even an IP68 ranking for water resistance.

Need most of that however for a worth nearer to the unique OnePlus Pad? Try the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE ($449 at Amazon).

I do hope that OnePlus retains making an attempt, although. We’d like extra competitors within the Android pill market as a result of letting Samsung run away with it for years solely led to a Galaxy for each funds, and Samsung’s software program help is tough to beat. In one other 12 months or two, OnePlus might need the software program and accent refinements it takes to compete with Samsung, but when it needs to cost this a lot, it wants to enhance shortly.