Okay, so I have been meaning to write this article for quite some time since I started to review this tablet - I had been using the OnePlus Pad (1) almost daily. It was a great tablet, and still is. It wasn't a real powerhouse of a device, but it was super handy to have around all the time.
I had a couple hangups about it - it wasn't fast, but then again I tended to not need something that was screaming speeds; but my biggest gripe was that tablet still don't quite do the job of phones, and I blame the developers for not properly making their apps fit tablets. But, OnePlus claimed they could overcome it with a feature to force landscape. It didn't, I ended up finding other apps to do that for me.
Oh well.
I made the comment at that time that really, it was just one feature away to being the best - it needed to have video out. So when I was on the call with OnePlus about the new launch, it was the question I asked, and I was told it would not have it, I resigned myself to another tablet, just a bit beefier.
For much of this you can visit last year's review, but just punch everything up as it really has updated its performance.
So, let's get to it in terms of what does this new one offer. Well, I spoiled the surprise when I unboxed it and give my initial impressions; it DOES HAVE HDMI OUT. Kaloo kalay!
Okay, but more on that later.
For the $750CDN you'll shell out for this tablet (and it usually has got some sales on or special deals to go along, so already it's faring well in the price department):
- 12.1" @ 3000x2120 144Hz
- 12GB RAM
- 256GB storage (no SD)
- 9510mAh
- 13MP Rear Camera / 8MP Front Camera
For those of you following along from last time, the screen is slightly bigger, but the win here is that the chip isn't that MediaTek model from last year, this is a proper Snapdragon 8th Gen, it's got balls.
And I mean it. Sure, browsing around and doing some Google Drive work you won't notice it, but for me, the biggest way I notice the difference is that I can load up PUBG and rip through to a chicken dinner without any hiccups; no sacrificing resolution or features on the game. It plays through seamlessly.
Then there are the times when I really want to multitask - the Canvas feature is really neat.
I show it off in this article: https://www.androidcoliseum.com/2024/08/using-canvas-feature-on-oneplus-pad-2.html
And I use it a lot. The main reason it has taken me so long to do this article is because I have just been using it. It has replaced my phone when I'm at the house. Being able to quickly and easily throw a new app in or have that multi screen open on a bigger display really does mean I'm getting work done.
Now, they still haven't gotten any better at handling those apps in portrait mode while the tablet's in landscape, but it's way easier to manage.
Using it is a dream, and then to make the most out of the device you're going to want the 'bundle' of accessories.
The keyboard is a different style this year (and $10 cheaper at $199.99CDN).
Last year's model the keyboard had pogo pins on it, and you'd flex the tablet forward to nestle in the spot, it was all one piece.
This year it's 2 different pieces - there is the back piece and it has an angle out to act as a stand, and the keyboard has a flexi bit for the pogo pins. Neat... I'm not a fan honestly because then that means I can't have it sit as 'one unit' on the edge of a chair or couch.
 |
| it makes the hole thing so ... long |
Pick up the display and then the keyboard will dangle. Okay, but thetrade off is that you now have a much 'bigger' keyboard now, so a bigger trackpad.
And there's a cool new feature.
In last year's model, I showcased how you can get your OnePlus phone to appear on the tablet screen as a floating window; pretty cool.
Well, now there's a little spot on the keyboard that's an NFC tag. Tap it and it automates that process. Very cool...
...only if you have a OnePlus phone tho'.
And with my Pixel if I happen to pass my phone nearby to it (and I do that a lot as my work layout has my phone usually to my right side, next to my keyboard) it just reads the tag and does nothing. Gotta be a hack somewhere...
The keyboard and trackpad work like before, and takes very little time to get used to it.
Like I said, this has become my workhorse of a device and follows me everywhere; breaks at work, football meetings, band practice.
The keyboard is a must for it to be a proper device in my mind.
The bonus I found out only recently was that the keyboard connects not only by the POGO pins but also by Bluetooth (it'll charge itself back up by being connected to the pins).
So my dilemma of using it on the couch, I can pop up the tablet on the chair's arm, and then disconnect the keyboard and hold that in my lap. The keyboard and trackpad still work. That is a pretty neat bonus. I've used this where if I don't have to be so near let's say the projector, I can plug the tablet into the the projector, take the keyboard with me to another spot in the room and still operate the device (because I can see what's the projector showing).
You can also order up the Stylus, and that's been ramped up for the new Stylo 2. It also has a 'rough texture' on it to improve grip.
There are some new features for 'presentation mode' I haven't quite worked out myself, but it's okay as I don't really use it much for that, more so to just tap away, the odd time I'll write in a text box.
They say the sensitivity is better, but the last one was fluid, and more than good so better was unnoticeable to me. It is supposed to vibrate, to simulate that feeling of writing on paper - but that only happens if you use their notepad app. Which I tend to prefer using Keep for any of my notes, so I don't get to sense it.
Overall, it is the cool tablet from last year, with all those fun features:
But it's got a new brainbox, making it faster, more of a true joy to use.
If I had to say one negative thing about it, it's that the backing for the keyboard case doesn't feel as strong a magnet as the previous, and sometimes it slips around. Peeling out the little flex bit for the stand has the sense that it might just pull off from the back.
Not a deal breaker by any means.
Then there's the weird bit that one of my HDMI adapters doesn't work with it. But could just be that adapter (tho' I wouldn't know why as it works with any of my other tablets).
When you compare the price of the tablet, pen, and keyboard ($750 + $150 + $200 = $1100), versus another competitor ($1350 + $190 = $1540), it's a no brainer which you should pick.
Now, if only I could find a way for my Pixel to share screen with it.
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