A couple of years ago, a period of funk hit OnePlus and somehow its products were not living up to expectations. The tide is turning and it has been a good year for the company. A few months ago, we tried the OnePlus Pad, which is one of the best Android tablets of the year. Why not take the tablet a step further and make it even more accessible? That’s what OnePlus has done with the Pad Go, which targets a wider audience.
Perfect for content consumption
OnePlus Pad Go doesn’t promise a flagship-grade chip but what it does promise is keeping a particular segment of customers happy. There are many people who are happy watching movies on tablets, making video calls and maybe playing some simple games. And we mean there is a big crowd for this type of usage. OnePlus Pad Go is meant for general usage and it gets a few things right.
The rear camera is powerful enough for a tablet
The 11.35-inch LCD 2.4K display comes with 90Hz refresh rate. Not having Amoled at this price point is not a problem. At 2408x1720 pixels, the OnePlus Pad Go’s high-resolution screen delivers an impressive 260 PPI. The bezels are of the right thickness for a tablet; it’s just about thick enough to let you grip the device with both hands. Helping across a wide range of activities is its 7:5 aspect ratio, which gives it an expanded viewing area that can display a wider field of view in online games, more rows in a work document, or improved readability. You get Widevine L1 support, so you can enjoy full HD content on Netflix.
There is 400 nits of brightness, which is just about enough for indoors but had it been slightly higher, it would have helped us use the tablet under direct sunlight more often.
Equally impressive is its quad-speaker setup that can automatically switch between left and right audio channels depending on how the tablet is held, so you’re always listening to the correct stereo field. The music is slightly bass-heavy but that’s fine for most of users. On top of this, there is Dolby Atmos that makes music sound realistic.
Enough power for everyday usage
Powering the device is MediaTek Helio G99, which is a decent chip. During everyday usage, we didn’t feel any lag. Browsing, having windows open side by side, watching movies, scrolling social media feeds… everything got taken care of. We were able to play games without hiccups; the only catch is that graphic settings had to be kept modest. I enjoyed playing Call of Duty at 40fps. It’s more than enough for casual gamers.
The front camera is centre-aligned, which helps during video calls. Both front and rear cameras are 8MP, allowing you to record 1080p@30fps. The overall feel of the tablet is also quite good and at 532g, it’s not at all heavy. There is a hybrid SIM slot, allowing you to use a micro SD card of up to 1TB.
When it comes to OS, you get OxygenOS 13.2 built on top of Android 13. The tablet offers side-by-side windows and a floating window. With a few taps you can cast your phone to the OnePlus Pad Go. Once connected for the first time, phones that have previously connected to the OnePlus Pad Go can automatically connect again when in close proximity and logged into the same OnePlus account.
There is a hybrid SIM card tray that allows micro SD card
Should you buy it?
This festive season if you are looking to gift a family member a simple Android tablet that is clutter-free, OnePlus has a good solution. The OS is smooth and there is hardly any bloatware. The tablet is available in both Wi-Fi and LTE (allows calls) versions. The 8,000mAh battery can be juiced up using the 33W charging brick in the box. OnePlus Pad Go has got the festive timing right... and also its features.
At a glance
Device: OnePlus Pad Go
Price: Upwards of Rs 19,999
High notes
Excellent software management
Good display
Efficient processor
Muffled note
Screen brightness could have been higher
