IT
Is a tablet for NOK 3,800 good enough? - "OnePlus Pad Go"
OnePlus has just launched the Pad Go in Norway, its cheapest tablet to date, and I don't think they will be able to launch anything cheaper than this. Then the performance will be too poor.
Introduction
2024 could be the comeback year for tablets. The segment grew by 1 percent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
The market leader, Apple, has just revealed new iPads with the most powerful chips in any Apple consumer product. The iPad Pro was last updated in autumn 2022 with an M2 chip.
The market has also always had a wide price range to choose from. Apple still sells an iPad 9th generation with an A13 chip from 2019, and the board is priced at NOK 4,690 for the 10.2 inch.
But this time we're looking at the cheapest board from OnePlus, which we didn't get delivered with either a kickstand or a keyboard. Here we are talking about a board in a completely different price league than the iPad Pro 11, which costs from NOK 14,490. It's even cheaper than Apple's cheapest. Ok great: it's not difficult in most cases.
Specifications: (3777 kroner)
- 11,35″ (2408×1720) – 90Hz – 400nits LTPS LCD Display
- 4G
- Helio G99
- 8GB LPDDR4X RAM
- 128GB UFS 2.2
- Flash
- microSD
- 8 MP (bak), 8M (front)
- Four speakers with Dolby Atmos
- OxygenOS 13.2
- Wi-Fi 5
- BT 5.2
- 8000mAh battery
- 33W wired charging
- 532 gram
Design
As mentioned, a whimsically large focus on the camera adorns the back of the board, which is divided into a mirror-like part and a larger part of aluminum in the color "Twin Mint." Stupid names of colors are not that important, because as soon as I put my hands on the board I was struck by how thin it was. Design is not so much, because it is a very heavy board with a relatively large screen, but the edges make me think of the iPhone 6 series rounding off. I would describe the comfort as good and the screen size as perfect for what the board is intended for; solo viewing and gaming. If you want a bigger and stronger board, you can check out the Yoga Tab 13.
GeekBench:
- OnePlus Pad Go: 642 – 1798
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold: 2240 – 7900
- Galaxy Book4 Pro: 2232 – 11 201
- Galaxy Book4 Ultra: 2466 – 12 450
- Asus Zenbook Duo: 2331 – 11 059
- MacBook Air M3: 3194–12 165
- MacBook Air M2 1TB: 2500 – 9600 – M2 10 cores GPU OpenCL: 27 593
- MacBook Air M1: 1705 – 7515
- Dell XPS 15″ 9510: 1658 – 8880 – GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4GB GDDR6 OpenCL: 35 517
- MacBook Pro 14 (base model – 8 CPU cores 14 cores): 1750 – 9857
- Galaxy Book2 Pro 360: 1664 – 8449
- Surface Laptop Studio: 1563 – 5778
- Tab P12 Pro: 955 – 3089
- Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra: 1229 – 3380
Conclusion
The screen is good, but should have had a built-in kickstand. On the other hand, the panel is of good quality, and 90Hz is fine for the price. The construction of the board is also good, razor thin as it is. Moreover, the speakers are surprisingly good when you see how little space there is.
The battery life is also very good, especially the sleep time is impressive, thanks to 8000 mAh, and a weaker CPU/GPU than I'm used to.
As already mentioned, this is the big point of appeal for the board. You don't want to struggle around in the browser or apps, but for those who prefer advanced action games with maximum FPS, the GPU will deliver too little power.
Instead, the OnePlus Pad Go is a perfect tablet for watching movies and playing simpler games, which is enhanced by a positive surprise: SIM card support.