Android smartphones have long competed with, and in some cases, surpassed, the iPhone, but the same can’t be said for tablets. Android makers have long harbored ambitions to compete with the iPad in the category that Apple created, dating back to the launch of the first Galaxy Tab, which occurred 15 years ago.
Yet, the iPad remains the best tablet for most people. The iPad Pro M4 ushered in the tandem OLED era as Apple stacked two OLED displays for an incredibly immersive experience. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra was the first to compete and offers the same great experience you can find on Galaxy phones, but with a few compromises.
One of these is the processor, the other is the size, and the overall battery life, at least compared to the expectation based on its size. The new OnePlus Pad 3 solves these, and having used it for a couple of weeks, here’s why it’s one of the best Android tablets I’ve used.
A flagship without the flagship size or price
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is arguably the best Android tablet you could buy — at least, before the OnePlus Pad 3 — but its key issue was how large it is. While the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus is a great alternative, the OnePlus Pad 3 is the better tablet to buy, especially given its flagship positioning.
OnePlus is renowned for its early moniker of being the flagship killer, and the OnePlus Pad 3 embodies this. For $699, you get true flagship specs that wouldn’t be amiss on any of the best phones, and an evolved version of Open Canvas for the best multitasking on any Android device.
The 13.2-inch screen is ideally sized, and it features a design that’s reminiscent of the iPad Pro M4. The display has a 144Hz refresh rate with Dolby Vision support, and a peak brightness of 900 nits. Brightness aside, these are specs worthy of any flagship phone, even if the display is LCD and not OLED.
Incredible performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite
Central to the OnePlus Pad 3’s offering is its processor. It’s powered by the same Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship processor that powers the best phones like the OnePlus 13, Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Razr Ultra 2025.
It’s also the full 8-core version, rather than the 7-core version used in thin devices like the Oppo Find N5. This is paired with either 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage or 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. These are the specs you’d expect from devices like the rumored OnePlus 14, not a tablet that costs several hundred dollars less.
It’s the first Android tablet that competes with the M4 chip in the iPad Pro, at least in terms of raw performance, power, and AI capabilities. Despite the power, the Snapdragon 8 Elite also enables excellent battery life.
A battery that lasts for days and charges in minutes
There’s a common theme amongst all OnePlus products: fast performance, excellent battery life, and superfast charging. In the US, the OnePlus Pad 3 ticks all of these boxes and offers an experience akin to the best OnePlus phones.
The 12,140 mAh battery is among the largest on a tablet, surpassing that of the iPad Pro and Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, despite the larger display on the latter. I’ve found that the battery lasts almost nine hours on a single charge, which is excellent, but slightly less than last year’s Pad 2. The extra performance, however, makes it worthwhile.
My favorite aspect of the OnePlus Pad 3 experience is its fast charging capabilities. In the US, the 80W charger is included in the box, which can charge the OnePlus Pad 3 to full in 90 minutes. For comparison, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra features 45W charging and takes over two hours, whereas the iPad Pro M4 supports 30W charging and can recharge in approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Outstanding multitasking that Apple could learn from
Android tablets have long harbored one key advantage over the iPad: multitasking.
Beginning with Samsung devices for over a decade, the best Android tablets have featured unique ways to multitask and run multiple windows simultaneously on the large display, Apple’s answer to this was a suite of features including SlideOver and a pop out view, but the iPad still lacks the advanced multitasking features found on Android tablets.
The OnePlus Pad 3 features an evolved version of Open Canvas, the multitasking feature that allows you to run several apps simultaneously, free from the constraints of the physical hardware size. The feature first launched on the OnePlus Open, making that the best folding phone, and it’s now available on the OnePlus Pad 3, as well as phones like the OnePlus 13 and Oppo Find N5.
The OnePlus Pad 3 offers exceptional value for money
It’s hard to find reasons to fault the OnePlus Pad 3, at least those that are within OnePlus’ control. The hardware is excellent, there’s support for a stylus and a keyboard case that you can buy, and it ticks all the key boxes for a tablet. The only real issue is that some Android apps are not optimized for large screens, a problem that also affects folding phones.
All of this means the OnePlus Pad 3 offers exceptional value for money at a starting price of $699. Adding the Pen ($100), the folio case ($50), or the Keyboard case ($200) will push up the price, but it’s cheaper than the competition, and pre-order deals include two out of the three for free. At this price, it’s hard to fault the OnePlus Pad 3.
