When does a device have to move up a class? That’s the intriguing question I asked myself while using the OnePlus Pad 3. On the surface, and in all the marketing, it’s an Android tablet that is pitched as “masterful by any measure.” Dig underneath that, sitting at the top of the Android tablet pile might be the least of the Pad 3’s goals.
OnePlus Pad 3 Design Choices
The design of the OnePlus Pad 3 is probably the first giveaway. Yes, you have the usual tablet look; a thin body with bezels that, while not invisible, are minimzed as much as possible while still leaving dead space when holding the device. You have a smaller camera at the rear than your similarly priced smartphone, and a solid selfie camera at the front for video calls.
And if all you want from a tablet is a standalone tablet, then you have an expansive 13.2-inch display, eight speakers for audio clarity and the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.
It’s when I attached the peripherals that I started to wonder what sort of tablet OnePlus had built. Firstly, you have a kickstand that connects to the rear of the tablet, spanning the entire width. It’s something that feels like it belongs on a Microsoft Windows 2-in-1 Surface tablet.
Then you have the attachable keyboard. Moving up to a 13 inch keyboard from some of the smaller tablets and their choices is a revelation, My hands don’t feel cramped and it’s a much more enjoyable typing experience when out and about; this is of course coming from someone who has lived on Qwerty keyboards from the dawn of the internet, your mileage may vary if you are more attuned with touchscreen keyboards.
The hardware experience is not laptop-like. It is a laptop. But is Android up to being a laptop with its larger screen? Is there a killer app that unlocks even more productivity from the hardware? There is — the Chrome web browser.
OnePlus Pad 3 Asks ‘App Or Browser?’
To take one pertinent illustration, I’m drafting this piece on the OnePlus Pad 3 (a classic reviewer’s trick to refer to using the device itself in any article), and I’m using Google Docs. Yet there are two options for Google Docs.
The first is to use the Google Docs Android app, one that will be familiar to everyone. Yet it falls short in several ways, not least in the number of tools that are visible on the toolbar and the options immediately available to you. The constricted view makes sense on a smartphone and helps keep the experience relevant on a smaller 10-inch tablet. Yet on a 13-inch tablet, it is lacking.
The second is to use Google Docs in the Chrome browser. I’m much more familiar with this option thanks to its use on my desktop and laptops. It feels like the automatic choice when I decide to start writing or editing with the Pad 3.
Having used the Pad 3 for the last month, both around the home office and working around Edinburgh reviewing Fringe theatre shows, the most helpful app was the Chrome browser. It was easier to use the web-based views for my popular service than work through their Android apps. While some apps are set up for tablet support, many struggle to work in the landscape orientation if at all; be it large white spaces next to left-justified text, fonts wildly out of proportion to the rest of the screen, or even a lack of rotation into portrait mode for some big apps.
OnePlus Pad 3 Needs Android’s Improving Tablet App Support
Google has been working hard in the last few years to ensure that the background processes of Android support apps not specifically designed to run on large screens. The tentpole apps already have specific hooks for tablets, and the majority of those I would call notable are comfortably working on tablets, although there are some notable exceptions. Reddit’s app does not run in landscape, for example. These compatibility errors continue to make me wary when opening a new app.
The increased screen size of the Pad 3, which draws me to the Chrome browser, also draws me towards using the web. The Reddit app may not be a great experience, but the extra screen real estate on the OnePlus Pad3 makes the Reddit browsing experience far more comfortable in 13.2 inch display over the 11.6-inch display of the first OnePlus Pad. There’s a tipping point, and these two tablets are on either side of the browser fulcrum.
I found that, after a week or so of tinkering, my workflow was heavily browser-based. The apps were there, but the automatic reaction became ‘just use Chrome, you know it works.’
If The OnePlus Pad 3 Acts Like A Laptop And Feels Like A Laptop…
If I look at the whole package in the abstract, there’s a curiously simple conclusion to draw.
You have a full keyboard with a good level of travel in the keys and user feedback through the key presses, making it easy to touch type on. I do like a bit of resistance in my keyboards, and the OnePlus Pad 3 delivers on that, as does the large trackpad.
The styling of the tablet, rear cover and hinged kickstand are instantly recognisable as features from several Windows 2-in-1 designs. That means the Pad 3 also picks up the ergonomic issues of the design, including the need for a deep footprint on a flat surface and an inability to use the Pad comfortably on your lap.
The display is far more than you would expect from a smartphone, and also a bit more than you would expect from a tablet. It feels big and makes me want to be creative with it. There’s space to work with, and it’s a practical size to work with a multi-window view; having reference information on one side of the screen while typing on the other is a breeze. The same can’t be said on smaller-screened devices.
There might be some discussion about where the Pad 3 sits in the OnePlus portfolio, how it is marketed to customers, and the impact the decisions around positioning have on the apps. Still, when it’s in my hand, it’s a simple call. It’s not without issues, and the use cases are heavily focused on portable productivity. There are some caveats that come from using Android as the operating system, but…
OnePlus has made a really nice laptop.
Looking for a OnePlus phone to sit alongside the OnePlus Pad 3? Consider the OnePlus 13R, which echoes the mission of the original OnePlus One…
