- OnePlus is reportedly working on a 13-inch tablet.
- This would likely be a direct competitor to the iPad Pro.
- OnePlus has yet to confirm the existence of the rumored device.
The iPad Pro has long been considered the peak of the tablet market, with even the best Android tablets rarely challenging Apple’s top-of-the-line iPad directly.
However, a new rumor suggests the iPad Pro could finally be getting some targeted direct competition from the Android world, though this may not come from who you’d immediately expect.
OnePlus is reportedly working on a 13-inch tablet to complement the OnePlus Pad 2, which sports a 12.1-inch display.
This rumor stems from a Weibo post by blogger Whylab, which suggests the new OnePlus tablet will sport a 13-inch 3840 x 2400 144Hz display, with 600 nits of brightness and a 240Hz touch sampling rate.
The poster claims in the comments section that the display will be an LCD panel, rather than an OLED.
The post also includes images which supposedly show the device’s screen, though the products shown are labelled as TCL products – it’s possible that the images are from a demonstration of the screen technology in question, rather than a prototype of the finished OnePlus product.
Taking on Apple
The OnePlus Pad 2 – launched in China as the OnePlus Pad Pro – is already a fairly close analogue to Apple’s iPad Air, with a similar form factor, versatile performance, and stylus compatibility.
The version of the OxygenOS Android supplied to the OnePlus Pad lineup is notably similar in appearance to iPadOS, too.
At a starting price of $549 / £499 / AU$699, the OnePlus Pad 2 substantially undercuts the $599 / £599 / AU$999 11-inch iPad Air price-wise and offers double the storage at the base tier.
With Apple’s cheapest 13-inch tablet – the enlarged iPad Air – starting at $799 / £799 / AU$1,299 there’s definitely room for OnePlus to take the same approach with an enlarged version of its pro-sumer tablet.
We didn’t review the OnePlus Pad 2, but we did get to grips with its predecessor: our OnePlus Pad review found the device to be a powerful “flagship-killer” disguised as a cheap tablet.
We liked the OnePlus Pad so much, in fact, that it still holds a place on our list of the best tablets.
For the moment, though, most of the above is based only on rumors and speculation. For the latest updates as we hear them, be sure to keep up with our Android coverage and tablets coverage.