On June 19, 2025, OnePlus came out with the OnePlus Pad 3. It’s a major improvement over the OnePlus Pad 2. “How exactly?”, you might wonder. Stick around this content piece, and I’ll explain why.
It’s one of the snappiest, one of the brightest, and one of the most premium-looking tablets in the market right now for $700. It comes with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, 12 or 16 GB of RAM, and a display that is great for playing games and watching content.
That said, how does it hold up practically? I mean, how does it perform in real life? It is great and can be a great option, particularly looking for bigger screens. Let’s get into the details now.
Performance-wise, It Is Phenomenal
I had used OnePlus’ phones in the past. They might have compromised in other departments, but performance was totally not one of them. They are one of the snappiest Android phones I’ve ever used.
And the same story is being repeated here. OnePlus Pad 3 is a high-performance tablet tailor-made for those looking to play mobile games on it. In fact, I have been addicted to playing mobile games on it, particularly the multiplayer games like COD Mobile (I use Xfinity Internet that lets me enjoy the game at the lowest ping – the phone number is available 24/7 in case I need to tweak the plan.
With great internet, this tablet becomes a beast. I have been loving it so far. In case I run into some hiccups, I will update this content piece.
Display is Great for Watching Content
If you want this tablet particularly for watching content, it will be perfect for you.
It is one of the brightest and smoothest displays in a tablet. Let’s talk about the specs first: it’s a 13.2-inch IPS LCD display that gets plenty bright (900 nits, to be precise). It has an 87.4% screen-to-body ratio, making it one of the tablets with the thinnest bezels all around. Not to forget, this is a 144Hz display that makes scrolling through social media ultra smooth, and the gaming performance for this display is top-notch.
I have been watching video on the OnePlus Pad 3, and I am amazed. One of the reasons I prefer watching video on this tablet than my laptop or TV is that its speakers are great. OnePlus reports that they have fitted it with eight speakers, four of which are for bass, while the other four are for the mids and lows. Whatever the case is, this is a serious media device. I have been watching the whole of Game of Thrones (again) on this tablet, and it was a great experience.
All in all, if you need something to watch content on, this will be your best bet.
Design Feels Premium and So Does the Battery
It is one of the most premium-feeling tablets after the iPad.
It has an aluminum back that stays free of any fingerprints, and feels premium. The rounded edges add more sweetness to it and make it fairly easy to hold. Another important aspect to note on the design is its even bezels that are around the corners. It feels great to look at the front. And the back?
The back has a single camera cutout that is okay-ish enough to take pictures or video of your pets. Apart from that, it has a glossy OnePlus logo at the back. There are four speaker grills at the front – two of them are on the upper side and the rest are on the bottom side.
Last but not least, even though it’s a slightly thinner tablet than its predecessor, it weighs a little heavier than the previous generation, and that’s likely because of the battery (more on that coming).
Let’s talk about another important aspect of a tablet – the battery. OnePlus Pad 3 is the best (I mean it when I say ‘the best’) in any tablet around the world when it comes to the battery. It is a 12,000mAh battery that lasts for ages.
I haven’t been able to kill this tablet in a day, and sometimes two days. Until or unless you constantly game on this thing for hours and hours, you won’t have any problems going for it in a day.
That said, OnePlus reports that it is one of the best standby-optimized phones. You can pick this up after a month, and it will still have some battery left.
All in all, though it’s niche, it is one of the best tablets that you can currently buy for your gaming or content consumption needs.
