OnePlus Pad 3 review in 5 points: The Android tablet to buy in India

Just a day ago OnePlus launched the Pad 3 globally as well as in India. This is a device with plenty of promise and ambitions. It is loaded to the gills with top hardware, and its large size means OnePlus wants it to be a productivity tool not just a tablet on which you want to watch movies and scroll through reels. Now, we took a closer look at the tablet in our OnePlus Pad 3 review and you can read that here.advertisementBut if you are running short on time and want a TLDR version, here is our impression of the tablet in a more snack-able format: the full review of the OnePlus Pad 3 in 5 points.
Point 1- Key specs of the Pad 3 and what all they offerAs soon as you look at the Pad 3 it becomes clear that OnePlus is much more ambitious with it. From design to hardware, everything flows from it. The Pad 3 has a large 13.2-inch screen with an extremely high resolution of 3.4K. The screen also has an aspect ratio of 7:5, which is broader and similar to the screen of the iPad Pro, and this too is a choice that OnePlus has made by keeping productivity in mind. This is a good aspect ratio and one of the big reasons why I like the Pad 3 so much. The screen uses an LCD panel, which is bright and spectacularly good with colours. Having said that, it doesn't match the OLED contrast or viewing angles.advertisement
This is a sleek tablet, measuring just 5.97mm and quite light at 675 grams. The build quality is fantastic and rather minimalistic. It is easy to carry and use the Pad 3, although the large size means it is primarily meant to be used while it is attached to its Keyboard accessory.The base model — and the one reviewed — comes with 256GB storage and 12GB RAM. Then there is another variant with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. Inside there is the OxygenOS, tuned specifically for large screens and tablets. It uses Android 15 as base. The tablet is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which is one of its key highlights.Point 2- Pad 3 is a performance monsterWell, let's talk about this key highlight. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite is an absolute champ and gives the Pad 3 wings with which it flies. In my use I found this to be an extremely fast tablet, handling multi-window multitasking with ease. If you want to see some benchmarks, you can do that in our full review. Another great bit about the performance of the Pad 3 is how cool it runs. Cool like a cucumber it is. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the best one you can get in the world of Android, and I believe that the Pad 3 uses this chipset in absolutely the best way. In my use, irrespective of what I did — writing, browsing, retouching a few photos, streaming and so on — the Pad 3 performed without missing a beat. It was always smooth.
Point 3- Pad 3 excels with its screen and battery lifeApart from the performance, other aspects where the Pad 3 scores well are screen and battery life. As noted, the tablet has an expansive screen with extremely high resolution. This makes streaming content on it a joy. In the same way it makes working with documents or files or photos, or just plain web browsing, absolutely engaging on the Pad 3. The screen also has ample brightness to deal with outdoor light, as well has good DCI-P3 colour coverage so everything looks vibrant and natural on it. For an LCD screen, the Pad 3 display is absolutely fantastic.advertisementBattery life too is great. In my use the tablet consistently lasted 2 days and then some more before I needed to charge it again. In the PCMark battery test too, it scored similar — around 22-24 hours in multiple tests — with 20 per cent battery remaining. When the charging is required, the Pad 3 does so with an 80W charger, which is supplied with the tablet and which can fill the battery from 0 to 100 per cent in over one hour.The Pad 3 has an 8-speaker sound system. It is very good but not excellent, which is what I expected from its specs. It is loud and is engaging enough when you play something on the Pad 3. The sound is also quite balanced, but I feel it could have had a little bit more bass and a bit more heft to its mids for more impressive performance in vocals.Point 4- Oh yes, it is missing a few tricksI feel the OnePlus 3 is a great Android tablet. But there are a few things it is missing. One of them is a fingerprint sensor. It would have been lovely on this tablet. Two, it lacks any IP rating. Not a deal-breaker, but would have been nice. The Pad 3 is also a Wi-Fi only tablet. The cellular support it doesn't have. Not a deal-breaker again, but something worth mentioning.advertisementOne more part that is not missing but could have been better is the rear camera. The 8-megapixel camera is okay in good light and disappointing in low light. Overall, it is barely average quality, although the saving grace is that you are not going to use it all that much. The large size of the tablet means you will use its camera only rarely.Point 5- Smart Keyboard could have been betterOnePlus is pitching the Pad 3 as a laptop replacement, and I have a feeling that for a lot of people it can indeed replace their big and bulky laptop. But for that to happen they will have to pair the tablet with Smart Keyboard, which OnePlus sells separately. Now, this is a good quality keyboard but keys that are specious and don't feel mushy. Better still, the Smart Keyboard has an excellent trackpad which is smooth and responsive.
advertisementHaving said that, I don't like the two-piece mechanism that the keyboard uses to attach itself to the tablet. It is not very secure and is rather finicky. It makes using the tablet a bit cumbersome because you have to babysit the keyboard attachment or else it is always at the risk of coming apart. I hope down the line there will be a better keyword accessory available for the Pad 3, either from OnePlus or from third-party accessory makers.Best Android tablet to buyNow, I know that OnePlus has still not revealed the price of the Pad 3 in India. But we know the global price — Euros 599 — and that means in India it might have a rather aggressive price, undercutting most of the Galaxy Tabs or even the iPad Air. If the global price is any indication, I feel confident in saying that the OnePlus Pad 3 would be the best Android tablet to buy in India once it goes on sale in a few weeks. It is missing a few tricks but its core functionality is solid and that is what matters most.

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