There was always going to be a time when I’d encounter an Android tablet tempting enough to make me consider switching from my iPad, and surprisingly, that time has come with the introduction of the OnePlus Pad 3.
While previous iterations from OnePlus were impressive, the enhancements in this latest model have not only maintained its status among the top tablets but have also elevated it to a leader in aspects like productivity and battery endurance.
Although the OnePlus Pad 3 comes at a higher price than its predecessors and lacks robust biometric security features, it still offers a competitive edge over comparable 11-inch tablets in terms of cost, power, battery life, and screen size.
There are still some minor issues with this device that prevent it from achieving a perfect score, and I haven’t completely ruled out returning to an iPad in the future. However, the OnePlus Pad 3 has demonstrated itself as the most cost-effective option for an Android tablet, and perhaps across all tablets, at this moment. I’m eager to share the reasons why.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
OnePlus Pad 3 |
|
Starting price |
£529 / $699 |
|
Display |
13.2-inch LCD (3392 x 2400) |
|
Refresh rate |
144Hz adaptive |
|
Rear camera |
13MP |
|
Front cameras |
8MP |
|
Chipset |
Snapdragon 8 Elite |
|
RAM |
12GB/16GB |
|
Storage |
256GB/512GB |
|
Battery |
12,140 |
|
Charging |
80W |
|
Operating system |
Android 15 with OxygenOS 15 |
|
Size |
289.61 x 209.66 x 5.97 mm / 11.4 x 8.25 x 0.27 inches |
|
Weight |
675 grams / 1.49 pounds |
|
Colors |
Storm Blue |
The new OnePlus Pad 3 costs £529 in its basic form with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, or £599 / $699 for 16GB RAM and 512GB storage.
That’s £100 more than the OnePlus Pad 2 from last year, I must sadly report. Plus, for some weird reason, the U.S. only has access to the more expensive edition of the Pad 3, which means it’s effectively a price hike of $150 in that market.
Fortunately for OnePlus, even with these increases, the Pad 3 is still on the cheap side. For instance, the 13-inch iPad Air M3 starts at $799, the Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus at $649/£649, the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus at $999, and the 13-inch iPad Pro M4 at $1,299. The OnePlus Pad 3 costs less than all of these, yet as we’ll see, it’s still on a level with these other tablets.
After two generations of the same unique design, OnePlus has fallen in line with its competitors to give the Pad 3 a new but more typical Android tablet look. The flat edges and corner camera in a pill-shaped bump are not as distinct as a round-sided tablet with a centered circular camera block, but this doesn’t matter much for the tablet’s usability.
What does impact the user experience is the change in size. The Pad 3 boasts a thinner profile than the Pad 2, which, while not quite as slim as the iPad Pro or the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, is slimmer than the iPad Air or Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus. And the display’s increased in size by over an inch compared to the OnePlus Pad 2, to give you more room to work with, or play with, as you need.
Disappointingly, OnePlus still hasn’t added a fingerprint scanner to the OnePlus Pad 3. It offers facial recognition, but only the vanilla kind with limited security. It’s a fast method to enter the tablet, and my attempts to break in with a photo of my face were unsuccessful. But visual-only facial recognition is not secure in the way that Face ID or a fingerprint scanner are, meaning you may be better off just leaving it as a slower PIN-unlocked device if you plan to save sensitive material on your tablet.
OnePlus is only offering the Pad 3 in a Storm Blue colorway for Europe and North America. A Frosted Silver version exists, but that’s only being sold in India. That’s an unfortunate limitation to put on the more neutral color option, but the blue looks pretty classy as is.
Having grown from 12.4 inches to 13.2 inches, the OnePlus Pad 3 is now among the largest tablets you can buy today. The display comes with a 3.4k resolution and in a practical 7:5 aspect ratio, making it a squarer, iPad-style tablet compared to the more rectangular Galaxy Tabs. This gels well with the Open Canvas multi-tasking interface, which we’ll look at later.
Performance is smooth too, with a peak refresh rate of 144Hz, slightly higher than that of the 120Hz iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S10 series. This can change between that and six other speeds with an adaptive system, although it’s not fully adaptive like the LTPO technology used by Apple and Samsung, as OnePlus has stuck with a more typical LCD screen.
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