OnePlus looks to undercut Apple and Samsung with new tablet

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OnePlus Systems Inc. introduced a slimmed-down version of its premium Android tablet on Thursday, looking to beat competing devices from Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc. with its price and specifications.

The tablet, called the OnePlus Pad 3, will be available on July 8 for $700 in the U.S. and $1,000 in Canada. In addition to the thin frame, the company is touting faster performance, an improved display and upgraded multitasking features.

The Pad 3’s price falls between Apple’s 11-inch ($599) and 13-inch ($799) iPad Air tablets. Android tablets have failed to make much of a dent in the US to Apple’s tablet business. Samsung, Amazon.com Inc. and smaller players fill out the rest of the market.

The Pad 3 is less than 6 millimeters thick and features a 13.2-inch display with a higher pixel density than the iPad Air, promising crisp text and other visuals. (Apple’s far more expensive 13-inch iPad Pro is just 5.1 millimeters thick.) Inside, it’s powered by Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, a processor found in other recently released high-end devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge phone.

Battery life can exceed 17 hours with less demanding usage, according to the company. Alternatively, users can expect as much as six hours playing graphics-intensive video games, the company says. OnePlus also said the battery can recover 18% of capacity after a 10-minute charge. Most iPads are usually graded at 10 hours of battery life.

In a hands-on test, the tablet seemed sturdy even with its thin dimensions. The LCD screen falls short of the higher-quality OLED panels used in pricier top-of-the-line tablets from Apple and Samsung, but it renders colors well and is capable of high brightness levels. Additionally, the eight speakers produced robust sound.

Android continues to offer fewer tablet-optimized apps than Apple’s iPadOS, but by now many popular platforms and services are available for larger-format devices like this. OnePlus’ updated Open Canvas multitasking system lets users drag and drop multiple apps into different zones and adjust how much space they each take up. The tablet automatically recommends entering split-screen mode if it detects you flicking between apps.

OnePlus is also releasing updated accessories for the Pad 3, including a $200 keyboard with trackpad. The company’s existing $100 stylus pen is also compatible with the new hardware. The $50 folio case is a highlight, with a versatile design that lets you position the tablet in several different orientations.  Like the tablet, some of OnePlus’ accessories are priced lower than Apple’s equivalents: The iPad Air’s keyboard is $269, though the Apple Pencil starts at $79.

At $700, the Pad 3 is $150 more expensive than the company’s previous tablet. OnePlus attributes the higher cost to the larger display and other hardware refinements, though it acknowledged “current market conditions” factored into the price. Electronics makers continue to grapple with uncertainty around tariffs that the Trump administration has levied against most US trading partners and critical manufacturing hubs.