The Pad Lite offers an impressive range of features for its budget price point, but do the inevitable compromises stop it from being a go-to budget tablet?
Price When Reviewed
From £199
Best Prices Today: OnePlus Pad Lite
OnePlus’ Pad Lite is the baby sibling of the company’s recent flagship tablet, the Pad 3. The Chinese giant is pushing an affordable, entry-level Android tablet into the market, claiming long battery life, better connectivity features (for those with other OnePlus devices), and multitasking features.
This is a tablet built for everyday tasks: streaming, light gaming, video calls, and note-taking. On those fronts, on its own, there is little to really fault it, and OnePlus’ minimalist design makes it a smooth experience.
But there are many rivals in the Android tablet market, including the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ and the Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2. While the Pad Lite performs decently, it lacks the technical chops that would put it top of the leaderboard. Here’s my full review.
Design & BuildDesign & Build
Slim and sturdy
Sleek finish
No fingerprint sensor
The Pad Lite has a clean, symmetrical design and comes in a single matt ‘Aero Blue’ finish, which is enjoyable to hold and resistant to fingerprint smudges.
The soft texture gives it a more refined feel than many plastic-bodied rivals, and the aesthetic is consistent with OnePlus’s broader design philosophy.
At 530g and just 7.39mm thick, it’s slightly heavier than the Galaxy Tab A9+, but still feels easy to carry around and handle one-handed.
Its extra heft actually gives the impression of a more premium device, with a well-balanced weight distribution that helps it rest comfortably in the hand. The rounded edges and flat back make it stable on a table or lap, although the camera bump does give it a slight wobble.
One thing notably missing is a fingerprint scanner, which would be far more convenient than the facial recognition capability that OnePlus has built in.
While face unlock is responsive under normal lighting conditions, it’s not secure enough to be used for authenticating payments or accessing software such as password managers, meaning users will need to enter their lock screen password every time. It also does not perform well under low light, which is especially annoying when streaming shows late at night.
The Pad Lite also lacks a headphone jack, which is a shame on a budget device, though its Bluetooth 5.2 connection is stable and responsive with wireless headphones.Screen & Speakers
11-inch, FHD+ LCD display
Smooth 90Hz refresh rate
Decent speakers but odd placement
The Pad Lite has a 1920 x 1200 LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate – a solid offering at this price point.
It’s one of the few in the budget segment to offer smoother-than-average scrolling, but it doesn’t match up to the sharpness or brightness of the Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2, which boasts a 1600 x 2560 resolution and 600 nits of brightness, compared to the Pad Lite’s 500.
Nevertheless, the Pad Lite’s 11-inch panel is crisp and comfortable for the likes of reading, browsing, and media playback.
When streaming shows, the display delivers decent contrast. Whites are clean, blacks are reasonably deep for an LCD, and overall picture quality is pleasant, especially indoors.
Eagle-eyed users might spot the lighter colour calibration, which can make skin tones appear a touch washed out, and the lower resolution means some fine textures get lost.
Still, for the majority of users, especially those coming from older tablets, the improvement in fluidity and clarity will be immediately noticeable.
OnePlus has also packed in a four-speaker setup with support for stereo playback. Audio is loud enough to fill a room, and spatial separation is good when the tablet isn’t being handled.
