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00:00Hey guys, I'm Tom of TechJab and this is the new OnePlus Pad, OnePlus's very first tablet.
00:11And there is a gap in the market.
00:12Something cheaper than an iPad and a Galaxy Tab, but better than your basic Android tablet.
00:17And I've been using this now for a couple of weeks and I actually really like it.
00:21In terms of specs, it's not going to blow you away.
00:23We have a Dimensity 9000 chip, we have an LCD screen, and no, not even AMOLED.
00:29But then when you consider iPads just use IPS LCDs up until the iPad Pros, which are
00:33like two and a half times more expensive than this, and the fact that with a 144Hz refresh
00:38rate and also their very slick OxygenOS software, this actually feels a whole lot faster than
00:45it should given the power under the hood.
00:47And also the price.
00:48This is £449, $479 or €499, which means here in the UK it's about 50 quid less than
00:55this guy, the 10th gen iPad.
00:58Which is very nice and quite a big refresh over the 9th gen iPad, which they are still
01:02selling.
01:03While that is still a good deal cheaper, it's 50 quid less than this.
01:06But what makes this really stand out for me is the design.
01:09Firstly, it's incredibly thin and light and also has this quite unique 7 by 5 aspect ratio.
01:15Great for apps, having a couple side by side, great for scrolling through websites.
01:19Just about usable one-handed, a little bit slippery, but maybe you can get the case with
01:22it.
01:23It's a 5800 by 1800 resolution, which gives us a nearly 300 pixel per inch density.
01:29So this is incredibly sharp, 500 nits of brightness, and it supports Dolby Vision HDR.
01:34And actually you don't really notice that it's just an LCD, the viewing angles aren't
01:38as good.
01:39And yes, you do look like some of those sort of really deep inky blacks, especially on
01:42those black bars around videos, but it still looks really, really good.
01:45And of course, as I say, with that 144, super duper smooth.
01:48Not that you can see it on this 60Hz video.
01:51When you then add in the accessories, and I think my favourite one has to be the keyboard
01:55because it adds so much functionality.
01:58And this folio design not only acts as a case, keeping it nice and safe and giving a bit
02:03of that friction and texture so you can hold it one-handed, but obviously it adds a keyboard.
02:09Now it's not quite as fancy as Apple's Magic Keyboard.
02:11There's no USB-C port and also there's no adjustment to it.
02:14There's just this one position.
02:16Also it's not a Bluetooth keyboard.
02:17You have to have it docked to use it, but you get a touchpad, full-size keyboard, really
02:22nice to type on.
02:23And so over the past couple of weeks, I've been using it like this most of the time,
02:26writing my notes for this video, browsing the web.
02:28I love the little trackpad.
02:30It's very slick and reminds me of an iPad Pro.
02:33Why?
02:34Because we have a high refresh display.
02:36Even the iPad Air, which costs a whole lot more on this, is still limited to 60Hz.
02:39That's one of my big issues.
02:41So while this doesn't have the most powerful chip in the world, and when it comes to playing
02:44demanding games, it's not great if I'm honest.
02:47Frame rate settings are lower.
02:48In Wreckfest, the frame rate is not very good.
02:50Probably not your best option unless it's casual gaming.
02:53But OxygenOS plus 144Hz refresh actually makes this feel incredibly fast, really, really
02:59quick.
03:00And so it's giving me iPad Pro 11 vibes, if I'm honest.
03:04But what's it actually like to hold and use every day?
03:07Well, the first thing you'll notice when you pick this up is how thin and light it is.
03:11It weighs about 550-ish grams.
03:13It's also just 6.54-ish millimetres thick.
03:17Also really appreciate how thin the bezels are.
03:19So it just makes this 11-inch form factor feel just a bit more comfortable to hold.
03:23So on the back, we have the main camera module, which is pretty big, actually.
03:27Quad speakers.
03:28We have two on the top or the bottom or the sides, depending on how you use it.
03:31And actually, as you change orientation, it will smartly adapt to the sound coming out.
03:36So you always get a nice stereo separation.
03:38Volume buttons, power, USB-C charging, that's it.
03:42No headphone jack, which is a shame, something the cheapest 9th gen iPad does still offer.
03:46And also no microSD support, which could be a bit of an issue because there is only one
03:50SKU of this OnePlus Pad and it has 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage.
03:54Can't expand it.
03:55You can't buy 256GB.
03:56Although, when you consider that most iPads still start with just 64GB of storage and
04:00then they make you go up to 256GB because Apple knows that's exactly how they're going
04:04to make money off you, actually, a 128GB starting and, well, only SKU isn't too bad.
04:10And again, for £449.
04:12So no microSD support and also no LTE or SIM card support.
04:16What you can, of course, do is hotspot from your phone and if you have a OnePlus device
04:19with the most recent software, you'll also be able to do kind of like a smart hotspotting
04:24using the 5G data from that onto your tablet, but that's it.
04:27You can't get your 4G or 5G on this itself.
04:30You have to hotspot or use Wi-Fi.
04:32Now, when OnePlus sent this out and also gave me a briefing for it, they told me that it
04:36would have up to a one month standby battery life.
04:39I haven't had it for a month, so I can't tell you if that's true or not, but what I can
04:42tell you is that the battery life on this guy is absolutely insane.
04:46I ran a 10-hour YouTube video test, 50% brightness using the Chrome app.
04:51It still had like 43% of its battery left.
04:53You'll easily get 18 hours of video playback on this and actually one hour of gaming in
04:58a quite demanding game, Wreckfest, used just 10%.
05:01So potentially up to 10 hours of gaming.
05:04Battery life on this thing is nuts.
05:05It's going to last you two or three days easily.
05:08The downside is that while it does support fast charging, in the box, this box right
05:12here, all we get is the red power cable.
05:16Also, why is it red?
05:18Everything else is green.
05:19The folio case, the phone, the buds, the tablet.
05:21Why don't we have a green charging cable?
05:23But the bigger point is they don't bundle a charger in the box.
05:26And while, yes, iPads are better in many ways, especially the App Store compared to the Google
05:29Play Store on Android tablets, that's still there, Achilles' heel really, there just isn't
05:34as good optimization for bigger screens on tablets, although it has got better over the
05:38last few years, especially as we've seen more folding tablets, although in apps like Instagram,
05:43which is, to be fair, completely rubbish on the iPad as well, stories are cut off at the
05:47top and bottom, which isn't ideal.
05:49But the main feed looks pretty good and pretty much every other app I've used, there hasn't
05:53been really any issues.
05:55And this is a great little tablet for watching videos, doing some work on, especially if
05:58you pair it with a keyboard, reading books, just using it as, well, a tablet.
06:04Before we finish though, let's just talk about pricing again, because if we combine the tablet
06:08plus the pen, the stylo pen, and also the magnetic keyboard, that comes out at just
06:12shy of 700 pounds or a little bit over $700.
06:15Now versus its nearest competitor, the 10th gen iPad, we're looking at nearly 900 pounds
06:19or $800.
06:21And the Galaxy Tab S8 and the iPad Air are even more expensive.
06:24And when you consider the iPad Air comes with half the storage and then you have to upgrade
06:27to 256, that becomes extremely expensive.
06:31And while I must admit, as a tech reviewer who has every iPad there is, and you may have
06:35seen my big iPad buying guide, I'm a little spoiled by those iPad Pro 2.9s with a mini
06:40LED screen and promotion and the performance of that.
06:42I didn't think I was going to like this as much as I do.
06:45But when you factor in the price, the excellent accessories, this is a really tempting setup.
06:51My biggest issues are it's just not particularly powerful.
06:53As I say, games don't look great on this.
06:56Also it's a small little point, but the keyboard, which you think you'd be able to just close
07:00like that, doesn't actually work.
07:03It kind of falls out.
07:04You have to bring it back and then close it.
07:06Just a minor point.
07:07You do get used to it.
07:08Also LCD screen, AMOLED would have been nice, but that's obviously a price issue.
07:12And also we are stuck with just that 128 gigs of storage.
07:15You can't expand it.
07:16But considering this is their first attempt at a tablet and also their first attempt at
07:19a watch wasn't particularly great, I think they've done a really good job here.
07:23And I'm really excited to see if they do come up with a new watch, maybe a laptop down the
07:26road.
07:27I would love to see them continue to expand their ecosystem because this is a pretty cool
07:31setup and as I say, importantly, really good value for money.
07:35Let me know what you make of this in the comments below.
07:37And if you enjoyed this video, a like and subscribe would be lovely.
07:39I'll see you next time right here on the Tech Chap.