At first look, the brand new OnePlus Pad appears to be like like stable competitors for iPad, with a gorgeous 11.6-inch display screen and a $479 price ticket.
However a more in-depth look exhibits the pc suffers from the identical crippling flaw as each different Android pill.
OnePlus Pad {hardware} is stable
Apple made nearly half the tablets bought on the earth through the December 2022 quarter. No Android-maker thus far can promote even half as many, however the {hardware} for the OnePlus Pad appears prefer it ought to have the ability to change that.
The 11.6-inch show boasts a formidable 144Hz max refresh fee, and a 2,800-by-2,000-pixel decision. Reviewer feedback concerning the display screen sound fairly optimistic.
Plus, the brand new OnePlus pill comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and runs a modified model of Android known as OxygenOS 13.1 on a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor. That’s a bit sluggish — a PCMag assessment says the pill scored 2,123 on the Geekbench 6 multi-core variant. Evaluate that to the three,685 earned by the low-end iPad 9.
OnePlus additionally put in some good touches. The 8MP front-facing digital camera is situated on the lengthy fringe of pill, one thing iPad desperately wants. And the display screen bezels are slim.
It may be become a laptop computer with a clip-on keyboard stand and stylus, each bought individually. That matches iPad.
MKBHD had loads of good issues to say concerning the OnePlus Pad {hardware}.
OnePlus truthfully made a greater worth model of the iPad. However will it pull folks from iPad land? pic.twitter.com/hqhchx7LvM
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 28, 2023
Software program is the issue
Whereas that each one sounds fairly good, the rationale Android tablets just like the OnePlus Pad can’t compete with iPad isn’t {hardware}, it’s software program. However not the Android OS — the number of third-party apps for tablets is, nicely, pathetic in comparison with what’s out there for iPadOS.
“There simply aren’t sufficient Android apps designed to make the most of a much bigger display screen,” says the Engadget assessment of the OnePlus Pad. “There are additionally quite a few apps, like Reddit and Instagram, that merely don’t run in panorama orientation in any respect.”
PCMag stated, “The iPad has a much better app choice (significantly for work).”
And The Verge stated, “The perennial criticism with Android tablets is that there are so few apps that make the most of a pill’s bigger display screen, which makes them a tough promote in comparison with the iPad. That doesn’t change with the OnePlus Pad.”
This limitation leaves customers of those tablets relying nearly fully on the Google software program that’s bundled with Android OS. Or apps coded for smartphones, clumsily blown up onto a big show. These continuously work solely in portrait mode.
As famous by the critiques cited right here, third-party software program isn’t an issue for iPad in any respect. There are a lot of 1000’s of purposes that take full benefit of the big screens constructed into iPadOS units. And that’s one key purpose why iPad is so very talked-about.
In case you’re however intrigued by the OnePlus Pad, it might be preordered beginning Friday with deliveries starting Might 15.
Correction: An earlier model of this story used an incorrect product identify for the OnePlus Pad.
