The OnePlus Pad series is still where I think the company has some of its old “Flagship killer” instincts left. Last year’s OnePlus Pad 3 brought together a premium design, solid software, powerful hardware, and very few compromises, so I was genuinely excited when OnePlus told me it was working on a successor.
On paper, though, the OnePlus Pad 4 feels like a fairly incremental upgrade. It brings the latest Qualcomm flagship chipset, an even bigger battery than last year, and keeps a very similar overall design. There are also a few odd downgrades this time around, mostly because of rising memory and component costs, which now seem to be affecting tablets as well.
The display is still fantastic, but OLED would’ve made it unbeatable
One of the only complaints we had about last year’s OnePlus Pad 3 was that OnePlus still used an IPS LCD panel on what was supposed to be its flagship tablet. Unfortunately, that’s still the case with the OnePlus Pad 4 as well.
The OnePlus Pad 4 comes with a very similar 13.2-inch IPS LCD display to last year’s model. It’s still a really good panel overall, with Dolby Vision support and up to a 144Hz refresh rate. OnePlus has also bumped the brightness from 900 nits to 1,000 nits in high brightness mode, which definitely helps a bit more outdoors.
But as we’ve been saying for the past couple of years, an LCD panel still just can’t reproduce colors and contrast the same way an OLED display can. You probably won’t notice much of an issue while using it, but the moment you place it next to an OLED panel, the difference becomes pretty obvious.
That said, I still had a pretty fun time binge-watching the first season of “Your Friends & Neighbors” on Apple TV, especially thanks to that eight-speaker setup that makes the whole experience pretty joyful.
The thin design is great, but this tablet really needs a case
The OnePlus Pad 4 is impressively thin at just 5.9mm. It’s not the thinnest tablet around — the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is thinner at 5.1mm, and even the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro comes in slightly slimmer at 5.8mm. However, the overall design of the OnePlus Pad 4 still feels very premium. You get a unibody metal build along with a relatively small camera module on the top-right corner that still protrudes slightly.
On the front, the bezels are fairly slim, and I still appreciate that OnePlus uses separate volume buttons instead of a unified rocker. But one thing I immediately realized after taking the tablet out of the box is that combining such a slim design with a massive battery also makes it quite heavy.
And because of that, using the OnePlus Pad 4 without a case quickly becomes uncomfortable, especially during longer sessions. Honestly, if you’re planning to buy a tablet this large and heavy, a case should probably be the first accessory you pick up. Even when using it on a desk, you’ll want something that can prop it up properly instead of constantly holding it in your hands.
Open Canvas remains one of the best things about OnePlus tablets
That said, this massive 13.2-inch display also ends up being the perfect fit for OnePlus Open Canvas. For those who don’t remember, Open Canvas is OnePlus’ multitasking system that lets you run up to three apps side by side, and honestly, it turned out to be one of my favorite parts of using this tablet.
Most of the time, I had Slack, Google Docs, and Chrome open together for writing, research, and communication, and the large screen handled that setup really well. I didn’t need to switch between different tabs again and again, and even though the OnePlus Pad 4 supports floating windows and more traditional split-screen multitasking, Open Canvas just feels much more natural on a display this size.
And I think multitasking on this tablet could get even better once Android 17’s App Bubbles feature eventually arrives here.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 barely breaks a sweat here
The OnePlus Pad 4 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and the tablet barely falters no matter what you throw at it. In some ways, the chip almost feels like overkill for an Android tablet, but if you’re planning to use this as your primary gaming or productivity device, the extra power definitely helps.
I played a bunch of games on the tablet during my time with it, and everything ran extremely smoothly without any noticeable frame drops or heating issues. OxygenOS also feels pretty well optimized for this large screen.
One slightly odd downgrade this year, though, is the RAM configuration. The base OnePlus Pad 4 now starts with 8GB of RAM, whereas last year’s model offered 12GB by default.
It didn’t really affect my day-to-day usage much during testing, but I can see it potentially becoming a limitation in the long run, especially for those who might pick this for things like editing (with the Adobe Premiere app coming to Android later this year).
The battery life is exactly what I want from a large Android tablet
The OnePlus Pad 4 ships with a massive 13,380mAh battery and support for 80W SuperVOOC charging. Thankfully, the real-world battery life is just as impressive as the specs suggest.
What I absolutely loved is the tablet’s standby time. I went on a four-day trip to Thailand without the tablet, and it had 68% when I left. Even after returning, the battery only dropped to just 62%, which is incredibly good, especially considering the tablet stayed connected to Wi-Fi with notifications enabled the whole time.
That’s what matters the most for a tablet. Unlike a phone, you don’t necessarily use a tablet every single day. Good standby life means that whenever you pick it up, there’s usually enough battery left to use it immediately, without first plugging it in and waiting for it to charge.
Verdict
So what’s not so good about this tablet? Well, barely anything. But when I say Android tablets are still in a weird space right now, it’s mostly because the app ecosystem hasn’t fully caught up.
Android itself is now pretty capable when it comes to multitasking and productivity, but app developers still don’t seem to treat Android tablets with the same seriousness as iPads. On the iPad side, you have access to Apple’s entire suite of professional apps, along with much better optimized creative apps for video editing, writing, drawing, and photo editing. There are also several AAA games available on the iPad now that still don’t have proper Android counterparts in sight.
And, yes, that isn’t really OnePlus’ fault. The hardware here is genuinely excellent, and the company has done a really good job with the software experience too. The OnePlus Pad 4 pretty much has everything it needs to succeed as an Android tablet, but the broader Android tablet ecosystem still holds it back slightly.
Of course, there are also some concerns around OnePlus right now, especially with the company scaling back operations in a few regions. That said, at least in markets like India where OnePlus tablets still seem to be doing well, the Pad 4 makes a lot of sense.
For the price, this is still a fantastic gaming tablet and, honestly, one of the better multimedia Android tablets you can buy right now.
Powerful Android tablet
The OnePlus Pad 4 is built like a flagship tablet. It features a 13.2-inch 3.4K display with a 144Hz refresh rate and runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. A massive 13,380mAh battery and 80W charging make this one of the more powerful Android tablets right now.