Oppo Pad Air Review: If You Want Android!
If you are in the market for a tablet, there is little of an option or consideration you need to ponder over. Suppose you like the best of the best and have no preference in terms of brands. In that case, most people will usually go for an iPad, or if you are one of the few people who can work around the Huawei ecosystem, then you may consider the MatePad. But for the rest of you looking for an Android option, well, until the new Pixel tablet hits the shelves, there’s the Oppo Pad Air, an affordable Android-based tablet on which you can consume your favourite shows, do a little bit of light work and. runs Android!
Design
Despite being priced at just under S400, the Pad Air sports a lightweight metal design that doesn’t feel cheap. Similar to earlier Pixel phones, the back also has this cool-looking two-toned finish, with the top part having this sand-dune-like texture and the rest being your normal sand-blasted matte surface which makes the tablet very comfortable to grip
Not to mention that it measures just 6.94mm in thickness and 440g, making it excellent for long periods of content consumption and gaming! You even have your power and volume buttons at the top corner as well, very much similar to the iPad.
The textured design at the top also houses its 8MP camera, which is enough for a quick snap or video when you have no other options.
As far as tablets go, this is superbly well-built. No complaints here!
Display Sound
On the front, you have a 10.36-inch, 60Hz IPS display at a resolution of just 2000 by 1200. With that slightly bigger screen real estate, you do lose out on the pixel density a little, but then again, it’s a tablet that’s just hitting the mid-range territory so for its use cases, it will be more than enough.
The display also goes up to 360 nits which is alright in most situations, just maybe not directly under the glaring sun. The top of the display also houses the 5MP front camera which you can use for video calls and maybe selfies? On second thought, just use your phone instead.
It is also kitted with a quad-speaker setup that outputs stereo audio and supports Dolby Atmos depending on the source and media. The audio is also one of the positive aspects of the tablet, with rich highs and deep bass for that cinematic experience. While it pales in comparison to dedicated speakers or higher-end tablets like the iPad, it more than pulls its own weight for a tablet at this price.
Performance OS
The Pad Air is powered by the Snapdragon 680 and well, it’s a 680, so you can’t expect 8 Gen 1-level performances. It’s great for streaming sites like YouTube, Netflix or Disney, but if you tend to transfer your videos into the tablet for VLC and such, it will struggle if it’s a 4K playback, so you have to be patient on that front.
Light gaming is also possible here, but you’ll want to be conservative with the settings to achieve that lag and stutter-free experience.
ColorOS is also optimised for tablet use here, with a bottom taskbar and a myriad of productivity features like picture-in-picture, split screens, file drag and drop and Smart Sidebar, allowing you to quickly pull up apps that you frequently use. The Pad Air also supports Face Unlock for those concerned with security, with no fingerprint scanners.
Being Android based also means you get a certain level of freedom regarding file management, transferring files of any format, and seamlessly allowing access to any apps, all without the need for companion desktop apps like iTunes.
The good part of all these is that if you need to do any light work in a pinch, such as editing documents or emails, the Pad Air should suffice!
Battery
With a large 7,100 mAh battery, the Pad Air can last a whole working day with heavy use or in a specific use case, a six-hour bus ride from Singapore to Genting ending with just under 60% battery!
Of course, your mileage may vary depending on brightness settings, location, and the like.
Pricing Availability
The Oppo Pad Air is available at most retail and eCommerce platforms for about S399 or RM1,299 for its 4GB RAM and 128GB storage configuration.
Overall, if you need an affordable tablet that runs Android, this is it. Although if you are a more spec-driven person, you might be repelled by its weaker chipset. In that case, you may want to compromise and go for an iPad Pro instead, or you can wait out for what the upcoming Pixel Tablet has to offer!
Oppo Pad Air review 8/10
Cons
In Short
- Oppo Pad Air is the first ever tablet launched by the tech company.
- The Oppo Pad Air is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor.
- The Oppo Pad Air starts at Rs 16,990 in India
By Ankita Chakravarti: Until the last few years, it would have been extremely difficult to recommend an Android-powered tablet for basic usage, but things have changed in recent years. For good. The Android tablet space, of late, has seen a couple of promising entries from different brands, including Motorola, Samsung, Realme and the latest one being from Oppo.
When it comes to tablets, ample FOCUS has been put on offering a great display and, in turn, a seamless multimedia experience. The processor, too, has been painstakingly chosen for each mid-range and premium tablet unveiled on the market recently. There’s no denial that most Android tablets available today are much more adept at handling daily tasks than they were before, but Apple iPads still reign supreme in this arena. But what is good now is that there are at least a handful of good options available if you do not have a lot of money to spend.
Oppo, so far, has primarily focused on offering promising smartphones across various price segments. The Chinese tech giant now wants to rule the tablet space and, with the same aim, it recently unveiled the Oppo Pad Air for an affordable price tag. I have been using the Oppo Pad Air and believe it to be a capable option at this price segment. It comes at a price of Rs 16,990.
The Oppo Pad Air features a 10.36-inch display and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC with support for 2k display. Now, since the competition is tough in the Android space from brands like Realme, Motorola and more, the question is is the Oppo Pad Air worth Rs 16,990? Let us find out in the review.
Design
Besides the name, there are a few more things that the Oppo Pad Air has borrowed from Apple’s iPad Air. One of the things that will surely come to your notice is the flat-edged design. In terms of thickness, the Pad Air measures around 6.9 mm, which makes it a lot slimmer than the iPad Air and also easy to carry to places. The dual-tone texture on the rear panel of the Pad Air makes it look quite attractive when compared to the competition out there.
The top portion of the back panel is inspired by ‘sand dunes’, the company says. Whereas the other half has a soft matte finish design, which invariably attracts a lot of smudges and I had to wipe it many times. The back panel also houses a single 8-megapixel primary camera sans the LED light. There is a Oppo branding right at the center of the panel. Overall, the design looks quite clean and classy.
Coming to the sides, the power button is positioned at the top while the speaker grilles are placed at the bottom along with the USB Type-C port. The volume rockers along with the buttons are placed on the right side along with the SIM tray. And just like the recent Oppo phones, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack.
Display
The Oppo Pad Air features a 10.36 inch display with a 2000×1200 pixels resolution. The display has thick bezels around the corners along with a punch-hole camera cutout at the upper panel. In terms of performance, the display is not one of the sharpest or brightest you will find in the segment, but it does get the work done. So, if you aren’t too picky about the visual experience, the Oppo Pad Air should work for you.
Now, the good thing is that it comes with a Widevine L1 certification, which allows the tablet to playback HD or higher quality content. If your use is primarily entertainment, this is a very important feature as it will allow you to seamlessly browse content on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in HD quality.
Performance and camera
The Oppo Pad Air draws its power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC coupled with up to 4GB of RAM. It is the same processor which has been used in a couple of mid-range phones that were unveiled recently. On the software front, the Oppo Pad Air runs on ColorOS 12.1 for tablets. Now, for somebody like me, whose use case is limited to watching videos or reading articles on the tablet, the Oppo Pad Air did not pose an issue even once.
I watched a few hour-long movies on the Oppo Pad Air and the entire experience was pretty impressive together with the Dolby Atmos sound support. The Pad Air also does a great job at multitasking with the split screen support for specific apps including Gmail and Google Chrome. So, you will be able to browse Google on one side of the screen and type an email on the other side. Apart from that, there is a floating sidebar on the screen that lets you access some features quickly, such as taking screenshots, recording screen and others.
The best thing I found in the Oppo’s special OS optimized for tablets is the absence of bloatware. Tablets usually come with limited memory, so it isn’t a pleasant feeling to have to deal with too many pre-loaded apps and spammy alerts. The Oppo Pad Air, thankfully, is free from such nonsensical gimmicks.
If gaming is why you wish to get a tablet, this is clearly not the one. In fact, most of the tabs in this price range lack in this department. When I tried playing Asphalt 9, there was a drop in frame rates after 10-15 minutes of the session. I also found the tablet heating after a while. That said, you can play basic board games like Ludo or even Subway Surfer on the Pad Air, but BGMI and other heavy games may not work too well on this device.
While most of it is pretty much decent in the Oppo Pad Air, there is one thing that could disappoint you is the absence of a 3.5mm headphone jack. Now, getting a device without a headphone jack means you will have to invest in an additional Bluetooth earbuds.
Coming to the camera of the Oppo Pad Air, which is just about average. It just gets the work done, if I may put it bluntly. Now, there’s no denial that cameras in a tab are mostly used for video calls, which the Pad Air manages well. I personally did not face much of an issue during video calls and the quality also came out quite decent when the call was conducted in a well-lit room, of course. In low-light situations, the video quality seemed pixelated, which is usually the case with most tablets at the price point. Trying to click some photos with a tablet, most of the pictures turned out to be pixelated and grainy. Meaning, photos clicked with the tablet will need some heavy editing before you put them on your social media.
Battery
The battery of the Oppo Pad Air is one of its strongest areas, I believe. The tablet houses a 7100mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. The Pad Air could handle my average usage and lasted me more than two days on a single charge. I mostly use the tablet for streaming videos, making video calls and casual browsing. As for charging, it takes almost an hour to refill the juice completely. Now, for tablets with a 10.36-inch display, getting a battery life of more than 2-3 days is pretty decent in my opinion.
Oppo Pad Air: Should you buy it?
After spending some time using the device, I can say that if you are working from home and looking to buy a decent tablet for work at a budget, the Oppo Pad Air is a good option to consider.
The Pad Air offers a good display, great sound quality and a sleek design. While Oppo gets most of it right, there are certain areas for improvement as well. One of the few things that might disappoint you is the absence of a headphone jack. However, if you have Bluetooth earbuds handy, it shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Now, most tablets at this price point aren’t really fit for heavy gaming, similar is the case with the Oppo Pad Air. The device just about manages basic games well. Now, if you are looking for a tablet for gaming, you need to have a higher budget as well.
Overall, if you are looking to buy a decent Android tablet, you can go for the Oppo Pad Air without putting much thought into it. Notably, the company is selling the keyboard and stylus separately, which means you will need to spend extra on them.
Oppo Pad Air: The latest budget tablet from Oppo promises smooth performance with a clean user interface. Here’s what we thought of its performance.
The Oppo Pad Air was launched as the company’s first tablet offering in India in July 2022 (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola/Indian Express)
If you ever considered buying a tablet within the price range of Rs 15,000-20,000, chances are you were told that either the software of such budget tablets would be terrible or the build quality would be poor. Lately, however, the budget tablet market has seen several new options from brands such as Realme and Oppo. The new Oppo Pad Air, a budget-friendly tablet starting at Rs 16,999 for the base 4GB RAM64GB option. But is the price alone enough to consider buying this tablet? Here’s our review.
Oppo Pad Air specifications: 10.36-inches, 2000 x 1200 pixels | Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor | 4GB RAM64GB or 128GB storage with extended storage support up to 512GB | Dolby Atmos support, four speakers | Dimensions: 245.08mm x 154.84mm x 6.94mm, weight 440 grams |7,100mAh battery with 18W fast charging | 8MP rear camera 5MP front camera | ColorOS 12.1 |
Oppo Pad Air price in India: Rs 16,999 for 64GB option, Rs 19,999 for 128GB option
Oppo Pad Air: What’s good?
One thing that stands out in the Oppo Pad Air is the design, it looks premium thanks to the all-metal body. The matte finish at the back looks nice, though it gets covered in smudges easily. The upper part of the panel is inspired by ‘sand dunes’, according to Oppo. This part has a different texture and feel to it. It looks different compared to the rest of the matte body. Oppo says they are using a custom ‘Glow process’ to achieve this look. There is a single 8MP rear camera as well in the upper panel.
Oppo Pad Air has a side taskbar which can be accessed by swiping right. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola/Indian Express)
Oppo Pad Air is a slim tablet — only 6.94 mm in thickness. For context, the iPad 9th generation is slightly thicker at 7.5mm. The Realme Pad X, which costs Rs 19,999, is around 7.1 mm in thickness. The Oppo Pad Air is also incredibly lightweight, only 440 grams.
If you’re looking for a basic tablet to carry out daily entertainment purposes or to attend online classes, the Oppo Pad Air is more than capable of doing these without any hiccups. I mostly used the tablet to watch shows on Netflix and Hotstar and the experience was good. The display is not the brightest or sharpest display, but the performance is adequate considering the price of the tablet. It comes with quad-speakers and Dolby Atmos audio and the overall audio experience is quite nice too.
Oppo Pad Air also supports floating Windows for apps. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola/Indian Express)
The Oppo Pad Air also comes with ColorOS 12.1 with some special features. You can multitask on the tablet with split screen support for apps such as Gmail, Google Chrome, etc. There’s also support for floating Windows and a special sidebar. The sidebar lets users access some features and apps quickly such as screenshots, screen recording, My Files, etc. These features worked fine on supported apps and should be useful for those who find a need for them. What is also nice to see is that Oppo’s OS does not come with as many preloaded apps as I’ve seen on some phones.
Split-screen view on Oppo Pad Air. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola/Indian Express)
The daily general performance of the Oppo Pad Air is not bad either. The Snapdragon 680 works fine with basic tasks and gaming. But then I do not use a tablet for heavy-duty games.
The tablet comes with an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The front camera is not bad for video calls, especially for Google Meet or Zoom meetings. The rear camera is not the greatest, but then I wasn’t expecting much here.
The Oppo Pad Air also comes with a solid battery life — 7100 mAh. This should easily last two-three days with regular use. Even when the power saving mode was on, with only 5 per cent battery life remaining, the tablet did not die on me while I continued watching a movie. However, the 18W charging means it takes a little longer to recharge, so be prepared to put this aside for a good three-four hours, considering the battery size here.
Some of the special features seen in the Oppo Pad Air’s Settings app. (Image credit: Shruti Dhapola/Indian Express)
Oppo Pad Air: What’s not good?
One thing I didn’t like about the Oppo Pad Air is that it does not come with a tablet case. Using the tablet without a case could mean that the device is exposed. With a screen this size, you need to ensure it is protected against falls or drops. Oppo has launched a stylus for that — I’ve not had a chance to test this — but I see no mention of a cover. Frankly, that’s the most important accessory for any tablet and the lack of one is not good.
I’m a bit surprised that the Oppo Pad Air is only available in 4GB RAM options. Yes, there is an option to increase RAM, but, in my opinion, a higher RAM option would appeal to some users.
The Oppo Pad Air offers the best tablet experience you can have under Rs. 20000. Here is our full review.
The Oppo Pad Air resembles most Android tablets of late with dual-tone designs. This being Oppo though, the narrow plastic section that lets the Wi-Fi antennas do their thing, gets a fancy finish resembling a sand dune texture. The metallic section has a matte grey finish and thanks to Oppo’s Glow finish, it keeps fingerprints and smudges off. Kudos to Oppo for keeping the profile as slim as 6.94 mm and the weight down to 440 grams. The front looks fairly modern with uniform and slim bezels. The sides have tactile keys for volume adjustment and power, while there is a quad speaker setup around.
Oppo Pad Air Display
The display makes or breaks the tablet experience! On a budget Android tablet, you cannot expect to have those high quality IPS LCD displays promising colour accuracy and high refresh rate – you get the bare minimum. Oppo has done more than the bare minimum on the Pad Air tablet. You get a 10.3-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2K and 1 billion colours support.
Unlike most tablets at this price, this display looks bright and shows vivid colours. Viewing angles are decent though and despite the 60Hz refresh rate, it keeps everything fairly smooth, thanks to the 120Hz touch sampling rate. That said, the auto brightness is wonky and keeps the display much dull than the ideal levels; hence you need to manually adjust the brightness to get the best out of this display.
Oppo Pad Air Performance
Instead of using a cheap entry-level chipset, Oppo uses a modest Snapdragon 680 chip – a chip that is quite popular with sub- ₹ 20,000 4G smartphones. I am not a fan of the Snapdragon 680 on phones, considering its lacklustre performance. Oppo, however, managed to tune it nicely for the Pad Air. Hence, compared to other tablets at this price for general tablet use cases, the Oppo Pad Air is a fairly smooth tablet to use. You navigate through YouTube or check your emails, this Pad Air will work just fine. The Snapdragon 680 shows its weakness when opening social media apps or switching between two of such apps – you will see the jitters in the animation and slow loading times. Gaming on this tablet isn’t a pleasant experience too, considering that the most basic games run at their lowest settings and still exhibit frame drops.
ColorOS for Pad seems like an optimised version of the ColorOS 12 for Oppo smartphones but only better! Unlike Oppo and Realme smartphones, ColorOS for Pad does away with third-party junkware and ad-infested first party apps. Hence, you get a clean and sorted user experience, much like Xiaomi’s MIUI for Pad. Oppo even offers Android 12 out of the box, which is another rarity in this segment. The UI allows for running two apps at once, and even lets you sync it with your Oppo smartphone. Sadly, I did not have an Oppo smartphone to test this.
Continuing on with this impressive streak, the Oppo Pad Air also has a nice set of quad speakers. The total output maybe just 4W but these are loud and they sound decent; they have strong and loud mids, but average highs and negligible bass.
The Oppo Pad Air also gets a serviceable 8MP rear camera for scanning documents and basic photography. The front 5MP camera will do just fine for video calls and online meetings. Note that the Pad Air only comes with Wi-Fi connectivity; you cannot use a SIM card for LTE connectivity.
Oppo Pad Air battery life
With a power efficient Snapdragon 680 chip at the helm, the 7100 mAh battery on the Oppo Pad Air easily outlasts an entire day, or even two. In fact, with generic tablet usage that involves just attending hour-long video meeting, 1-2 hours of YouTube and binge watching, and basic email checking, the Pad Air easily lasted just over 3 days. That’s good battery life and kind of makes up for the slow 18W charging, which takes ages to fill up the battery.
Verdict
The Oppo Pad Air might seem mundane just like its rivals from Samsung and Realme for a sub- ₹ 20,000 tablet but it delivers where it matters – the overall user experience. I am not a fan of the Snapdragon 680 and its lethargic outlook to the performance but kudos to Oppo for optimising it well enough for doing basic tablet tasks. You also get a good display, a nice set of speakers, great battery life and an overall lightweight as well as fancy design.
The Oppo Pad Air is then a great pick for someone wanting a tablet device for entertainment and educational purposes. We can also recommend it to those who have long wanted to own a tablet at a reasonable price without compromising on the Smart software bits, provided you have an Oppo smartphone in your
Unboxed: OPPO Pad Air; a 10.36-inch tablet for entertainment and work?
OPPO is more than just a smartphone company; it also has iOT and other devices, such as this tablet — the OPPO Pad Air.
We unboxed it for testing and for your viewing pleasure.
Along with the OPPO Reno8 series, this tablet was also made available for purchase.
In addition to having Quad Speakers and a display with a resolution of 2000 by 1200 pixels on a 10.36-inch IPS panel, it is equipped with a CPU that is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 680 architecture.
Although it has a 7,100 mAh battery and supports 18W fast charging.
OPPO Pad Air Specs
Android 12, ColorOS for Pad.10.36-inch 2K display, 2000 x 1200 pixel resolution, 225ppi60Hz refresh rate, 120Hz touch sampling, 360-nits2.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 octa-core processor4GB RAMAdreno 610 GPU64GB UFS 2.2 internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 512GB5MP front camera8MP rear cameraSecurity: Face unlock, Password, PatternQuad speaker, Dolby audioNo headphone jackWiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-bandBluetooth 5.1USB Type-CDimensions: 245.08 x 154.84 x 6.94mmWeight: 440gColors: Star Silver, Fog Gray7100mAh non-removable battery, 18W fast charging
First impressions
It’s been a while since I get hold of an Android tablet. The last one was the relative of OPPO Pad Air — the realme Pad.
So that you have an idea, the photo above of the OPPO Pad Air’s box is huge, almost double the size of the OPPO A57.
The box comes with the usual accessories — all in white colors, and the mandatory reading materials that we don’t read unless the device is in trouble.
The device may be enjoyed at home or even on mobile, thanks to the SIM card inclusion you can buy one for mobile data.
Oppo Pad Air, as the name suggests, is extremely light and thin for its size. It measures 6.94mm thick and weighs 440 grams. Because it is a tablet, it appears similar to other tablets, but the Sunset Dune 3D texture sets it apart from the competition.
For entertainment or work?
I intentionally included this in the headline. Because while the tablet segment isn’t as popular as the smartphone, there is a niche market for tablets.
Having this tablet is a huge advantage for those who trade stocks or cryptocurrency.
If your flight is delayed, you can use this table to pass the time by watching films on YouTube, Tiktok, or even Netflix.
Conclusion
Because the OPPO Pad Air is so lightweight at only 440g, has a fast charger, and uses USB Type-C, I guess I will be enjoying it as much as be productive during this review.
Stay tuned for the full review.
By the way, the OPPO Pad Air is now available for a price of P13,999.
