OnePlus Pad Go 2

Making a cheap tablet that is still viable for tasks beyond just watching video is slightly difficult these days with rising prices on all component. OnePlus has managed to achieve this with the Pad Go 2 that retails for just £269/€299 for the 128 GB WI-FI only version, and even then you get a Stylus or a pair of in-ears in addition as a "free gift". It's a value for money offer that is hard to beat considering the Stylus retails at €79 when not on sale and is a really great addition if you use the tablet for anything remotely creative. We were also provided with the matching Folio Case, which did a great job at protecting the pad but is slightly clumsy and unable to stand the pad up at an angle, which for me is the whole point of such a case...

So, Android-based with OxygenOS on top to make for a user interface that is sleek, modern, and fast as hell with all the modern features that you could expect. The tablet itself comes in white or black in the same sleek and modern industrial design. Plus, it comes with 8 GB of memory and either 128 GB or 256 GB of storage and WI-FI, or a 5G version.

The display is 2.8K with 900 nits brightness, which is more than enough, and 120 Hz refresh rate for gaming. As most modern tablets, it's in the square 7:5 format and supports the 4,096 pressure points for the compatible Stylus combined with a battery of 10,000+ mAh. And while the sound is okay for a tablet, I do think describing it as "IMAX-sized visuals meet cinematic Sound" is overselling it a bit.

And it does not need overselling as a 12.1" IPS display is great for both text and interactive content, and I really do like how OnePlus has actively chosen to use a more reading-friendly format than the 16:10, which I personally find to be less than optimal in a tablet use case. It's especially noticeable as OnePlus has Open Canvas that supports three app windows at once and it's totally seamless.

While the battery is large, battery life depends heavily on brightness and if you are using 4K HDR with high sound levels or if its low resolution video in a small window. I used it in a pretty mixed manner and typically got around 30 hours out of it with OnePlus claiming that pure music playback will yield 50+ hours. The idle state is pretty impressive and it generally loses very little battery from just laying idle in a corner. I did not use the wireless reverse charging option that reduces the battery life significantly.

The weight is coming in at just under 600g, and while not heavy as such it seems odd that modern day technology can't move us closer to 300g.

It sports a Dimensity 7300 chipset on a 4nm platform meaning it's an Octa-core (4x 2.5 GHz, 4x 2.0 GHz), and a Mali G615 GPU. This is used to power the very extensive AI parts of the machine but just like their phones, OnePlus has struck a pretty good balance between AI slop and actually functional help for daily use, be it a recording summary or AI photo editing tools. OnePlus uses Google Gemini as its AI platform and like plenty of other modern devices it has a dedicated button on the side of the chassis for it, and still has the camera automatically use AI when the opportunity calls for it.

While the tablet was all around great to use, with fluid motions and fast actions, and while the tablet came across as extremely responsive in gaming and with general apps, the camera does seem a bit out of touch at only 8MP and 1080p with an image quality that is very far from what OnePlus phones can offer. Otherwise, the intuitive interface that OxygenOS provides is always a pleasure to use and you don't feel like you're handling a cheap entry-level product in any way.

I find it hard to not recommend this tablet given the performance at the price point and I would definitely consider opting for this specific model next time I need a new tablet.