Pricing and availability

The new OnePlus Pad 3 is available for pre-order right now, with orders set to ship on 19 June in the UK and 7 July in the US. It’s slightly pricier than its predecessor in the UK at £529, though it’s much more expensive in the US at $599, likely due to recently imposed tariffs.

The OnePlus Pad 2 retailed at £499/$549 at launch in 2024, but we’ve seen it drop to £399/$449 in recent months. And, with the launch of the Pad 3, that price could drop further as OnePlus and other retailers shift the last remaining stock.

Design

While the OnePlus Pad 2 retained the original Pad’s rounded design language, the new Pad 3 takes things in a different direction. It ditches the rounded sides for flat edges, trims down to just under 6mm in thickness and relocates the camera bump to the corner for a much more refined, modern look.

The OnePlus Pad 3’s new premium chassis is more in line with flagship tablets from Apple and Samsung, especially with its matte aluminium finish and deep blue colourway, which looks far more striking than the more generic Numbus Grey of the Pad 2. 

That said, the Pad 2 can still hold its own in the design department. Its 6.49mm thickness and 584g weight made it one of the lightest and most comfortable Android tablets we reviewed in 2024. The sandblasted aluminium finish gives it a premium touch, and it feels solid in the hand. 

However, the design hadn’t changed much from the first-gen Pad, and that leaves the Pad 2 looking a little dated when placed next to the Pad 3. 

That said, we do appreciate some of the overlooked features of the Pad 2, including the detachable Bluetooth Smart Keyboard, which allowed remote control of the tablet – a feature that, rather frustratingly, is missing from the Pad 3’s otherwise excellent new keyboard. 

The Pad 3’s Keyboard Cover is arguably better, with larger keys and a bigger trackpad, but the flexibility has taken a step back. 

Winner: OnePlus Pad 3

Screen

The display is one of the biggest upgrades when comparing the Pad 3 and Pad 2. 

Its 13.2-inch LCD panel offers a 3.4K resolution and supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and 12-bit colour depth. The larger size, combined with the sharper resolution and wider colour gamut, made playing games, watching movies, and multitasking feel more immersive. The colours are vibrant and punchy, and the 144Hz refresh rate makes scrolling and gaming buttery-smooth.

The Pad 2’s 12.1-inch 3K display was a standout feature at launch in 2024, and it continues to hold its own in 2025. 

With a peak brightness of 900 nits – the same as the Pad 3 – and excellent contrast for an LCD, it remains a strong performer for Netflix, games and general use. Like the Pad 3, it also supports 144Hz, which delivers an equally high-end gaming experience. However, the smaller canvas and 10-bit colour make it feel just a step behind in side-by-side use. 

It’s worth noting that both tablets use the same unique 7:5 aspect ratio, which is particularly great for split-screen use, though you do get black bars when watching widescreen content.

Winner: OnePlus Pad 3

Cameras

The OnePlus Pad 3 and Pad 2 are evenly matched in the camera department, with both offering the same 13MP rear camera and 8MP front-facing shooter. 

Regardless of the Pad you opt for, the setup is perfectly serviceable for video calls and document scanning, but they lack the versatility and quality of even some budget smartphone cameras. 

As you might expect, low-light performance isn’t great, and we wouldn’t recommend using them for any serious photography – though that’s our advice for some of the best tablets around, so not exclusive to OnePlus’ tablets.

What does differ slightly is the design of the camera housing. The OnePlus Pad 3 moves to a more modern corner-mounted module, while the Pad 2 keeps the older centre-mounted circular camera bump. This doesn’t change much functionally, but it does contribute to the Pad 3’s higher-end look. 

Winner: Tie

Performance

The jump between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Pad 2 the Snapdragon 8 Elite in the Pad 3 is one of the biggest generational leaps we’ve seen in quite some time. 

The Pad 3 is significantly faster in real-world use, not just in benchmarks. High-end gaming, demanding multitasking and extended productivity tasks all run smoothly and without any noticeable overheating. Even under heavy stress testing, the Pad 3 merely got warm, rather than hot, thanks to an upgraded cooling system.

That said, the Pad 2 is no slouch. It’s still more than capable of handling high-end gaming, with the ability to run games like Genshin Impact with high graphics settings without noticeable stutter, and split-screen multitasking is solid. 

However, it did fall behind some of the Android competition in benchmark testing – unlike the Pad 3, which leads the pack in terms of Android processing power, and even beats a few iPads. 

In general use, the Pad 2 still feels fast and responsive, but the Pad 3 delivers a higher level of performance and, as a result, much better long-term value. 

Winner: OnePlus Pad 3

Software

Both tablets come with OxygenOS 15, based on Android 15, although the Pad 2 initially shipped with Android 14 before receiving an OTA update earlier this year. That said, there are still a few key differences in the software department when comparing the two. 

Both ship with OnePlus’ unique Open Canvas multitasking system, which is arguably one of the best multitasking implementations on Android. However, the Pad 3 refines the experience with new dynamic app scaling, intuitive app suggestions for side-by-side use, and snappier app switching. 

The Pad 3 also adds expanded O+ Connect features, including the rather unique ability to remotely access your Mac desktop with full input passthrough. This is a particularly handy option when paired with the Keyboard Cover, complete with keyboard and trackpad. It’s surprisingly polished too, even if it’s currently limited to Mac users. 

Elsewhere, the experience is pretty similar between the two tablets; both have basic AI photo and writing features, both offer the same stylish UI, and both offer three OS upgrades and six years of security updates – though the Pad 2 has already used up one with the upgrade to Android 15. 

Winner: OnePlus Pad 3

Battery life

Battery life is another area where the newer OnePlus Pad 3 excels. With a massive 12,140mAh battery that’s larger than most of the Android competition, it lasted comfortably through a full workday and evening of use. In our standby test, the Pad 3 lost just 18% of its charge over five days, meaning it can remain inactive for extended periods and still be ready when you reach for it.

That said, the Pad 2’s 9510mAh battery is no slouch and is enough for a full day of moderate use. It also holds standby charge well, though not to the same degree as the Pad 3. 

The Pad 3 also offers faster 80W charging than the 67W Pad 2, though both require a SuperVOOC-branded charger to achieve the fastest speeds possible. Despite the faster charging speed of the newer tablet, the Pad 2 charges more quickly, simply because its battery isn’t as large.  

Winner: OnePlus Pad 3

Final Thoughts

The OnePlus Pad 2 was one of the best mid-range Android tablets of 2024, and for many users, that’ll still remain the case in 2025. It remains a fast, well-built tablet capable of both entertainment and productivity. However, the OnePlus Pad 3 takes everything that’s good about the Pad 2, and takes it to the next level.

From the larger, more vivid screen to the faster and cooler chipset, to the longer battery life and smarter multitasking, the Pad 3 feels like a true flagship Android tablet that just happens to cost half as much as others. 

Unless you’re already using a Pad 2 and are perfectly happy with it, the OnePlus Pad 3 is the better buy in 2025 – and possibly the best Android tablet overall.