OnePlus Pad 3 Hands-On Review: Premium Android Tablet Gets Better

The OnePlus Pad 3 is finally official, and after going hands-on and attending the company’s media briefing, it’s clear this isn’t just a sequel—it’s a serious contender for the best Android tablet of the year.

With its ultra-thin aluminum body, vivid 13.2-inch display, and powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, the Pad 3 delivers premium performance wrapped in a sleek and refined design. OnePlus calls it the “best premium Android tablet in 2025,” and after testing this out, it’s definitely in the running.

The tablet comes in a single Storm Blue colour, featuring flatter edges and a new rear camera layout. It’s 10% thinner than its predecessor, making it one of the slimmest tablets on the market, and it’s built from an aluminum alloy that feels as high-end as it looks.

The 3.4K LCD display is bright (up to 900 nits), smooth (144Hz refresh rate), and incredibly sharp with a 315 PPI density. Dolby Vision HDR and 12-bit colour support round out a panel that makes everything from streaming to productivity a joy. It’s paired with a new eight-speaker setup—four woofers and four tweeters—offering spatial sound tuned for immersive viewing.

Under the hood, the Pad 3 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which brings a 45% CPU boost and a 40% GPU gain over the previous generation. With 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, the tablet handles heavy multitasking, gaming, and creative workflows easily.

OnePlus also included an advanced thermal system using graphene-based vapor chambers to keep things cool, claiming it performs three times better than its latest smartphone.

Battery life is equally impressive. The massive 12,140mAh battery supports 80W SUPERVOOC charging and can fully recharge in just 92 minutes. You’ll get up to 15 hours of short video playback (17 hours of long form videos) or 70 days of standby on a single charge—and yes, the fast charger is included in the box (a perk for Canada and the USA; but it’s a USB-A port). We didn’t get to fully test out the battery, but we had more than enough juice after days and days of casual usage. OnePlus says that if you fully charge the device, then power it off, it will still turn on two years later (let’s see if someone will verify this).

One of the biggest improvements comes with the new Keyboard. OnePlus fixed a major gripe we had from the Pad 2 — the keyboard now connects more securely and is stable even on your lap thanks to a new magnetic buckle. Besides that, keys are now larger and spaced out making it feel like a laptop, while it has also shed some weight. It includes six rows of keys, function shortcuts, and a dedicated AI key for quick access to Google Gemini. You can connect via pogo pins or Bluetooth, and tap-to-transfer files using NFC is now supported as well.

OxygenOS 15 brings an upgraded Open Canvas experience for multitasking, real-time split-screen suggestions, and AI tools like summary, translation, and voice generation.

Notifications and data can sync between your OnePlus phone and tablet, and with O+ Connect, you can even remotely control a Mac or Windows PC—though you’ll need to sideload the app from OnePlus’ website since it’s not on Google Play at launch, which is odd.

OnePlus promises 3 years of Android OS updates and 6 years of bi-monthly security updates.

The Pad 3 launches alongside the (same) Stylo 2 stylus, now with 16,000 pressure levels, and a new folio case with multiple viewing angles and stylus storage. These accessories are available separately—or free if you pre-order.

Canadian Pricing and Availability

The OnePlus Pad 3 is priced at $999.99 CAD in Canada, with pre-orders open today (June 5) at OnePlus.com. The Folio Case is $64.99 CAD and Pad 3 Smart Keyboard is $249.99 CAD. The OnePlus Stylo 2 is $149.99 CAD.

Open sales start July 8 via OnePlus and Best Buy Canada. Devices ship July 8 and are expected to arrive in a couple of days. Pre-order customers can choose two free accessories valued up to $399 CAD (that’s a pretty good deal compared to last year), and students get an extra 10% off. There’s also a CA$100 trade-in bonus through July 17.

Final Verdict (So Far)

The OnePlus Pad 3 is light, powerful, and thoughtfully designed—a true premium Android tablet experience. With top-tier hardware, smart software, and a much-improved keyboard, it feels like an iPad Pro for the Android world. Whether you’re streaming on the couch or tackling email on the go, the Pad 3—with the keyboard—gets the job done.