OnePlus Pad 3 arrives with Snapdragon 8 Elite inside

OnePlus has launched the Pad 3, the primary pill exterior of China powered by the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. It’s been upsized because the Pad 2, with a bigger 13.2-inch show, however that’s allowed OnePlus to make it impressively skinny at simply 5.97mm.

That large display screen is LCD, quite than OLED, however the 144Hz refresh fee and three.4K decision are spectacular. Mixed with a keyboard and stylus — offered individually — it ought to make the Pad 3 operating Android 15 a reasonably succesful laptop computer substitute. It’s a bit much less moveable than its predecessor due to the larger display screen and an additional 90g (round 3oz) of weight, although that’s offset by the truth that it’s truly thinner than the latest iPad Air, albeit not fairly as slender because the 13-inch iPad Professional, which is double the worth.

The 8 Elite is backed up by 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM (with a 16GB choice in Europe), with a reasonably sizable 12,140mAh battery. 80W wired charging ought to absolutely cost the pill in slightly over an hour and a half. OnePlus has additionally tweaked the pill’s rear design, ditching the central, round digital camera that was a little bit of an eyesore on the primary two generations in favor of a less complicated pill-shaped module in a single nook.

The opposite large adjustments are on the software program facet. OnePlus has leaned into its widespread tackle multitasking, upgrading it with streamlined split-screening and smoother methods to pull and drop. OnePlus cellphone house owners may also profit from direct file-sharing between their gadgets, smarter notification syncing, and knowledge sharing that enables the pill to piggyback in your cellphone’s connection, however solely when it wants knowledge — theoretically saving cellphone battery life in comparison with leaving a hotspot on the entire time.

The O Plus Join software program I noticed on the Oppo Find N5 foldable can be included right here. Meaning simple wi-fi file transfers between the pill and a Mac or Home windows PC, although Mac house owners get an additional bonus: direct distant management of their Mac from the Pad 3. That basically may make this a laptop computer substitute, although keep in mind that OnePlus says all these software program options are coming to the Pad 2 ultimately, too. As for the Pad 3’s updates, it’s been promised three generations of OS updates and 6 years of safety assist.

The Pad 3 is available to preorder now, although supply dates differ by nation. It prices $699.99 / €599 / £529 for a mannequin with 12GB of RAM, rising to €699 / £599 for 16GB if you happen to’re in Europe. The Sensible Keyboard prices $199.99 / €169 / £169, and the Stylo 2 is $99.99 / €99 / £99.

Replace, June fifth: Added US costs.