judgment : OnePlus has had a big presence at MWC 2023 , unveiling a concept telephone that ’ll never go on sales agreement along with a tease of its forthcoming foldaway phone .

It has also used the event to show off itsOnePlus Padfor the first time , after revealing the lozenge alongside theOnePlus 11earlier in the month . This is OnePlus ’ first endeavor at an Android tablet and after spending an hour or so with a unit here in Barcelona , it is shaping up to be a very tempting offering .

Yet , I have seen and heard many label this as an iPad ‘ sea wolf ’ – and that merely wo n’t be the slip .

Android tablets have had a stony few years . WhileApple ’s iPadhas reached the point ( specially in ironware but in some example software too ) where it ’s hard to see where it could go next , Android slating have struggled to really make an obvious use case for their creation .

Samsung is apparently alone in the high - remainder , while cheap translation are often tiresome or full of Amazon ’s Prime - riddled user interface . There have been some outlier , but I ’ve struggled to really recommend an Android tablet for some fourth dimension . This could interchange when thePixel Tabletfrom Google arrives , but so far I have yet to properly spend any prison term with that .

The OnePlus Pad , from a computer hardware level , at least seems a lot more promising than many otherAndroid tabletsthat have come across my desk . The 7:5 aspect proportion cover , for representative , harks back to the iPad and it ’s so much more practical than a wide presentation for productive job . you’re able to see more of a webpage without scrolling , scan more of a written document and so on .

The CRT screen is also 144hz and 11.61 inches , making it both ace quiet and large . That squarer aspect ratio makes it feel smaller though , which is another welfare . There ’s a powerful MediaTek Dimnesity 9000 silicon chip inside , proficient utterer and really well - made add-on , including a playpen that impound to the top of the tablet just like an Apple Pencil twin with an iPad .

This is all nifty and while the price is still unnamed , the ground that the iPad will still rule is down to software and apps – two thing that OnePlus has minimal control over . Of course , OnePlus has fine-tune the Android port to make it a little more tablet - friendly , add a neat motion that ’ll quickly get you into the multitasking options . Yet , it still very much feels like a bigger musical composition of earpiece package .

OnePlus ca n’t do anything about the app situation on Android when it come to tablet apps though and compared to the swathe of famously optimised iPadOS apps available , the selection on Google Play but ca n’t compete . Many continue surmount - up phone apps that front wonky on crowing projection screen ( and I get into will look even skew-whiff on this scene ratio ) and many of the more pro - focused applications do n’t be outside of the iPad ecosystem .

As good as the hardware on the OnePlus Pad , it ’s the Android experience on tablets that ’ll preserve to view as it back from being a truthful iPad challenger .