OnePlus has revealed the pricing details of its inaugural tablet, the OnePlus Pad, which runs on Android. It will be available for pre-order starting April 28th directly from OnePlus for $479 (€499 / £449). Accessories for the Pad include a magnetic keyboard case for $149, a stylus for $99, and a folio case for $39. Shipping of the tablet is set to begin on May 8th from OnePlus, with availability on Amazon expected later in May. Buyers who pre-order before May 8th will receive a 50 percent discount on a set of OnePlus Buds Pro 2 earbuds when purchased with the tablet.
The OnePlus Pad is entering a tablet market that is currently dominated by Apple, with Samsung taking up the remaining market share. OnePlus originally made its name by selling high-end smartphones at lower prices than Samsung or Apple. It will be intriguing to see if the Pad can inject some excitement into the Android tablet market in a similar way.
The most compelling aspect of the tablet is its display: a 144Hz LCD with a unique 7:5 aspect ratio that splits the difference in shape between a 4:3 screen like an iPad and a 3:2 display like the one found on Microsoft’s Surface Pro devices. This should make it suitable for both landscape and portrait orientations, something that Samsung’s tablets have struggled with. The screen also supports Dolby Vision HDR, and the Pad’s quad speaker array supports Dolby Atmos audio.
The Pad’s aluminum chassis has a brushed metal finish and comes in a single green color. It has a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.
Similar to the iPad and Samsung’s tablets, the Pad can be paired with a keyboard case that comes equipped with a trackpad for productivity work or a stylus for writing on the screen.
