OnePlus has released the Pad 3, the first tablet outside of China to use the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Compared to the Pad 2, it has a larger 13.2-inch display, but this allowed OnePlus to make it impressively thin at just 5.97 mm.
This large screen is LCD, not OLED, but the 144Hz refresh rate and 3.4K resolution are impressive. Combined with the keyboard and stylus, which are sold separately, this makes the Pad 3 running Android 15 a pretty effective laptop replacement. It’s a little less portable than its predecessor, thanks to the larger screen and an extra 90 g (about 3 ounces) of weight, though this is offset by the fact that it’s actually thinner than the latest iPad Air, though not as thin as the 13-inch iPad Pro, which costs twice as much.
The 8 Elite has 256 GB of storage and 12 GB of RAM (up from 16 GB in Europe), with a fairly large 12,140 mAh battery. An 80W wired charger should fully charge the tablet in just over an hour and a half. OnePlus has also redesigned the back of the tablet, ditching the central round camera that was a bit jarring on the first two generations in favor of a simpler pill-shaped module in one corner.
The other big changes are in the software. OnePlus is taking the popular multitasking approach, enhancing it with a simplified split screen and smoother drag-and-drop methods. OnePlus phone owners will also benefit from direct file sharing between their devices, smarter notification synchronization, and data sharing, which allows the tablet to connect to your phone’s connection but only when it needs data, theoretically saving your phone battery life compared to if it stayed on a hotspot all the time.
The O Plus Connect software that I saw on the sophisticated Oppo Find N5 is also included here. This means easy wireless file transfers between the tablet and a Mac or Windows computer, although Mac owners get an added bonus: direct remote control of their Mac from the Pad 3. This really can replace a laptop, although keep in mind that OnePlus says all of these software features will eventually be coming to the Pad 2 as well. As for updates, the Pad 3 is promised three generations of operating system updates and six years of security support.
The Pad 3 is available for pre-order now, although delivery dates vary by country. It costs $699.99 / €599 / £529 for the 12GB RAM model, with the price going up to €699 / £599 for 16GB if you’re in Europe. The Smart Keyboard costs $199.99 / €169 / £169, and the Stylo 2 costs $99.99 / €99 / £99.
