OnePlus has long been a player that may not be a household name in the US, but challenges the top tier manufacturers on a regular basis. Whether it’s releasing one of the best phones of the year, to pushing the limits of fast charging tech, OnePlus moves the needle all the time. The company is back in 2025 with the new OnePlus Pad 3, and this heritage continues with arguably the best Android tablet on the market.

OnePlus didn’t change much of the overall design from the previous Pad 2, but it did grow in size. The new 13.2 inch LCD with a 3.4k resolution, 7:5 aspect ratio, 12-bit color and pixel density of 315 PPI offers a crisp display ready for pretty much anything you throw at it. This offers much more screen real estate over the 12.1 display on last year’s Pad 2.

Internally, you have the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. You might be surprised to learn this is the only RAM and hard drive options, but OnePlus stated that they’ve found this is the sweet spot for users for the Pad lineup over the years and made the decision to minimize the SKUs available. I think it was the right move. This gives plenty of horsepower and storage for most users.

Oh, did we mention how thin the tablet is? At less than 6mm, its svelte design can be easily moved around the office space, or throw in a bag, with no issues. Even with the optional keyboard, the overall footprint is less than most modern 13-inch laptops.

One omission I wish was here on the hardware side is a fingerprint reader. Having this built into the power button seems easy enough and something I’ve missed coming over from my Pixel Tablet. There is OnePlus’ face recognition that is excellent, and fast, but I just would have liked to see the more secure biometrics option.

I’ve been blown away by the consistency and daily driving of the OnePlus Pad 3 and keyboard combo. This truly is the most mature laptop replacement I’ve used in the Android market, and it’s not even close. While I’ve always made the argument that Android at its core is a better desktop replacement than iOS, manufacturers have failed to nail this presentation. 

“The OnePlus Pad 3 isn’t just a tablet; it’s the most mature Android laptop replacement I’ve used, seamlessly integrating into my workflow with its expansive display and desktop-level UI. It truly redefines what an Android tablet can be, offering a powerful and versatile experience that challenges traditional laptops.”

OnePlus is the first one where I didn’t feel like I missed my laptop completely. The excellent UI elements like Open Canvas, Floating Windows, and split screen options are really the options that make it feel like a true operating system and not a big phone like many tablets. If you’ve used a modern desktop, then you won’t feel as out of water when you sit down in front of the OnePlus Pad 3 interface.

The additional screen size makes is slightly cumbersome as a standalone tablet, but the tradeoff while using it in keyboard mode is well worth it. Having more physical space to open docs, answer emails, or take a web call was the right move to grow the panel size.

Adding in the flexibility of the removable keyboard and the Stylo 2 (no new stylus this year) round out the feature set to make this an even better for the new generation of tech buyer who may have never owned a real PC. That’s the market I feel like OnePlus is covering here, and smartly so.

The new 13.2-inch panel makes it obvious this is meant to be a full iPad Pro competitor. Honestly, this makes sense for OnePlus. The company has long had one of the most complete ecosystems inside the bigger Android environment. Having a full desktop/laptop level device fills a void they need to cover. This is a computer that is housed in a tablet format. Hard stop.

You may have also noticed that I’ve referenced the entire review to this point, as the keyboard and tablet are one device. While you can purchase them separately, and OnePlus has a very nice origami folio case as well, to understand the true power of this tablet the OnePlus Smart Keyboard is a must. You are doing yourself, and OnePlus, a disservice if you don’t buy them as a combo, and it’s not surprising when we get to cost that early bird buyers have fantastic options to make this a reality.

While I think it’s a full desktop replacement for most people, OnePlus has another neat trick for those using other operating systems as well. The previous sharing of notifications and first party sharing with other OnePlus devices is there just like last year, but now you can also share docs and files across Windows and macOS with the company’s OConnect software.

This news suite makes sharing files across all our operating systems seamless. Need to drag and drop files to your Mac. Done. Share notifications with the OnePlus 13. Yep. OnePlus is offering a full ecosystem amongst its own devices, but also taking in consideration of existing workflows outside of Android makes it top-notch using the latest OxygenOS 15 with OConnect.

Oh, and we have to have the obligatory future updates software talk. The OnePlus Pad 3 will receive three Android OS updates (Android 15 out of the box, then Android 16, Android 17, and Android 18). The OnePlus Pad 3 will receive 6 years of security updates, which is an increase of 2 years from the OnePlus Pad 2. I’d love to see OnePlus extend the OS updates to five years of Android versions. Laptops get replaced every 6–7 years, more like an appliance in most homes. If positioning the Pad 3 as a more “only computer” device, longevity matters.

It wouldn’t be a gadget launch in 2025 without some coverage here. OnePlus has the combination of its internal AI found built into OxygenOS 15 and first party support for Gemini with the Pad 3 software side of things. OnePlus AI handles all the on device options that it can and has been very useful in my testing. Things like universal search and conversation recommendations have come in handy to help lessen the tediousness of trivial workload tasks.

When I need to delve a little further with the full backing of Google and the web, I was able to easily use Gemini as the onboard assistant on the Pad 3. This replaces the previous iteration of Google Assistant found on the Pad 2 as we’ve seen in many devices this year like the OnePlus 13. The combination Gemini and OnePlus AI seems like the right balance of local task helper and online powerhouse for a device like the Pad 3 toeing the line of mobile and desktop environments.

Another fantastic performance metric of the OnePlus Pad 3 is endurance. The Pad 2 was already a great tablet for battery life, and the new tablet is even better. The massive internal battery is the largest OnePlus has ever offered in a device, at 12,140mAh. The power station gives the Pad 3 plenty of cells to get you through a full work day without issue.

Standby power has been significantly increased as well. I noticed this in my usage immediately. I never really saw a noticeable drop in battery percentage coming back to the Pad 3 if it was lying unused on my desk. OnePlus advertises that the tablet with stay charged up to 70 days of consistent dormant use, and I’d estimate this to be mostly true.

I’m also impressed in both the charge times and that OnePlus included the appropriate SuperVOOC charger in the box. Yes, in the box. No cheaping out to have you searching for a secondary charger with the purchase of the Pad 3 tablet. This gives you the full 80 Watts of power needed to fully charge from zero percent in around 90 minutes. Thanks OnePlus!

I’ve been blown away by the entire lineup of OnePlus devices released in 2025. The OnePlus Pad 3 simply rounds out this portfolio to offer one of the most powerful, mature Android tablets you can buy. I can’t think of any competition on the market that offers a more full-fledged media tablet that can fully replace most laptop tasks when paired with the OnePlus Smart Keyboard.

Pricing and Availability: The OnePlus Pad 3 is available for pre-order now in the US, with the 12GB RAM/256GB storage model priced at $699.99. For those looking to maximize their productivity, the Smart Keyboard is available for $199.99, and the OnePlus Stylo 2 for $99.99. A Folio Case is also available for $49.99.

Pre-order Dates and Deals (US/Canada via OnePlus.com):