OnePlus challenges iPad with OnePlus Pad

Android tablets are making a comeback, and one of the biggest Android manufacturers (we’re talking about OnePlus parent company BBK) is bringing an Android tablet to the US for the first time. Meet the OnePlus Pad, an 11.61-inch tablet with an optional keyboard and stylus. We don’t know how much it costs, so don’t ask. There’s also no set release date, but pre-orders start in April.

What we know is the specs. 11.61″144Hz LCD display with 2800×2000 resolution. That’s a 7:5 aspect ratio, or slightly wider than the 4:3 display, which OnePlus claims is a “portrait”aspect ratio. The SoC is a MediaTek Dimensity 9000. This is rare in the US, but is mostly a common ARM design for 2022 flagship phones with one 3.05GHz ARM Cortex X2 processor, three A710 processors, and four A510 processors. This is a 4nm chip with ARM Mali-G710 MC10. You also get 8GB of RAM (there’s a 12GB option), 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and a 9,510mAh battery. It’s not a super flagship tablet and should (hopefully) be affordable.

As always, OnePlus’ proprietary fast charging is here, and it’s 67W. On a tiny phone battery, such a charge will usually take the phone from 0 to 100 in about half an hour, but with a large tablet battery, a full charge still takes “a little over 60 minutes.”In fine print, OnePlus actually warns against any repair attempts, saying “The battery has been specially encrypted for security purposes. Please go to a OnePlus official service center to have the battery repaired or get a genuine battery replacement.”I’ve never heard of battery “encryption”before, but I think what they mean is that there is a serial number check somewhere in the firmware, and that it will probably refuse to work if you replace it. Regarding the possibility of the existence of “Official OnePlus Service Center”, on the OnePlus India website, but not in the US,mail service.

The tablet consists of a solid aluminum body and weighs 555 g. The sides are rounded, which should be comfortable to hold. It comes with four speakers, a USB-C port on the right side, and a set of three pogo pins on the bottom for the keyboard. There is a circular camera bump on the back that makes it a close relative of the OnePlus 11 and it houses a single 13MP camera. We also hope you enjoy green because it’s the only color.

There is no fingerprint sensor at all. There is a notch that looks like a fingerprint sensor, but we’re guessing it’s just a radio signal window. The specification also does not specify GPS. We know almost nothing about the OnePlus magnetic keyboard and OnePlus Stylo stylus. The keyboard has a small trackpad that supports swiping. The pen has a 2ms response time, which sounds pretty good. That’s about it. Presumably we’ll find out more in April.

Listing image from OnePlus