OnePlus Pad Review: An Affordable, Mainstream Android Tablet
OnePlus Pad Review: Platform Performance And Benchmarks
While OnePlus has a long relationship with Qualcomm, it went with MediaTek for the OnePlus Pad. Inside you'll find a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 system-on-a-chip (SoC), which is one of the company's higher-end offerings. On paper, it looks like it would be close competition for current Snapdragon chips, but the real world performance represents a small but meaningful step down.
That's not to say the OnePlus Pad is slow. It's certainly got enough horsepower to browser the web, send messages, and check your email. You wouldn't even have trouble doing two of those things at the same time in split-screen mode. However, a tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 will just do everything faster.
Geekbench is not always a particularly informative benchmark, as it's completely synthetic and OEMs are known to optimize for it. Regardless, Geekbench can be useful as a relative data point. While the Dimensity isn't a dog of a processor, it's running a few generations behind flagship smartphone chips. The OnePlus Pad scores around the same in Geekbench 5 as the OnePlus 8T, which launched in 2020.
Recently, the Geekbench test has been upgraded to version 6, which has new ways of testing multicore configurations and uses higher-resolution assets. Since this benchmark is brand new, we don't have as many data points, but the OnePlus Pad brings up the rear. the other devices we have tested in the new Geekbench are all newer flagship SoCs, so that's not a shock. Again, the OnePlus Pad is 2020-fast, not 2023-fast.
The OnePlus Pad disappointed in the PCMark suite. Even some other Dimensity 9000 devices from past years tested far ahead of the Pad. Nothing here signifies major performance issues in daily use, but the this tablet doesn't have as much power to spare as the latest Snapdragon-powered devices.
The OnePlus Pad has an easier time with AnTuTu's mixed benchmark. The scores are on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but newer phones like the OnePlus 11 score much higher.
Device makers only started emphasizing AI performance a few years ago, but already we're seeing substantial year-over-year improvements. MediaTek hasn't spent as much energy on AI processing as Qualcomm, so there's a generational performance gap here. All Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and newer chips handily beat the Dimensity 9000.
The OnePlus Pad runs in the middle of the pack in these purely graphical tests. The Dimensity 9000 uses an ARM Mali reference GPU, which is also seen in other chips like the Google Tensor. You might not be able to completely max out game graphics, but the OnePlus Pad gets the job done.
UL's 3DMark Sling Shot is one of several modules in the 3DMark mobile suite. Unlike previous gen 3DMark mobile tests, Sling Shot is a much more advanced OpenGL ES 3.1 and Metal API-based benchmark that employs more advanced rendering techniques, like volumetric lighting, particle illumination, multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. We're running this test in off-screen mode once again to remove display resolution differences from the equation. This allows us to compare cross-platform results more reliably.
There are no surprises in the Sling Shot test. The Dimensity 9000 and its Mali GPU can't best the Adreno GPUs in Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8-series chips, but it doesn't drag the device down. This is flagship-level performance from a two or three years ago, which is still plenty fast for most things you'd do on an Android tablet.
3DMark's Wild Life benchmark is newer and more demanding than Slingshot, and it allows powerful devices to shine. Again, the Pad is slower than all the high-end phones we've tested in the past year, but the gap isn't huge.
Sometimes consistent performance can be more important than scoring high in a single benchmark. All devices throttle performance due to heat, but some can lose 20-30% in just a few minutes of gaming. The OnePlus Pad isn't one of them—it loses almost no speed from throttling as seen above. Tablets can include larger cooling rigs, but the additional mass of the tablet form factor can be enough to keep even the most powerful mobile SoCs running cool. The OnePlus 11 also runs extremely cool with an even more powerful ARM chip.
That's not to say the OnePlus Pad is slow. It's certainly got enough horsepower to browser the web, send messages, and check your email. You wouldn't even have trouble doing two of those things at the same time in split-screen mode. However, a tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 will just do everything faster.
OnePlus Pad Geekbench Results
Geekbench is a cross-platform benchmark that simulates real-world processing workloads in image processing and particle physics calculation scenarios. We tested all of the smartphones featured here with Geekbench's single and multi-core workloadsGeekbench is not always a particularly informative benchmark, as it's completely synthetic and OEMs are known to optimize for it. Regardless, Geekbench can be useful as a relative data point. While the Dimensity isn't a dog of a processor, it's running a few generations behind flagship smartphone chips. The OnePlus Pad scores around the same in Geekbench 5 as the OnePlus 8T, which launched in 2020.
Recently, the Geekbench test has been upgraded to version 6, which has new ways of testing multicore configurations and uses higher-resolution assets. Since this benchmark is brand new, we don't have as many data points, but the OnePlus Pad brings up the rear. the other devices we have tested in the new Geekbench are all newer flagship SoCs, so that's not a shock. Again, the OnePlus Pad is 2020-fast, not 2023-fast.
OnePlus Pad PCMark For Android Results
UL's PCMark for Android is an excellent suite of tests if you want to benchmark a wide range of tasks on a handset -- things like image and video editing, as well as lighter-duty, everyday workloads such as email and web browsing. When you see the test running live, it's clear the scripted application tests are carefully selected and tuned to make use of the each mobile platform in a very controlled way.
The OnePlus Pad disappointed in the PCMark suite. Even some other Dimensity 9000 devices from past years tested far ahead of the Pad. Nothing here signifies major performance issues in daily use, but the this tablet doesn't have as much power to spare as the latest Snapdragon-powered devices.
OnePlus Pad AnTuTu 8 Benchmarks
AnTuTu’s latest benchmark returns a number of metrics ranked with somewhat nebulous scores, rather than frame rates or time to complete. Here we're running the latest version of AnTuTu across multiple Android devices. AnTuTu returns four top level performance results which are all included here: CPU, RAM, 3D, UX (or User Experience), along with a total score.
The OnePlus Pad has an easier time with AnTuTu's mixed benchmark. The scores are on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but newer phones like the OnePlus 11 score much higher.
Device makers only started emphasizing AI performance a few years ago, but already we're seeing substantial year-over-year improvements. MediaTek hasn't spent as much energy on AI processing as Qualcomm, so there's a generational performance gap here. All Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and newer chips handily beat the Dimensity 9000.
OnePlus Pad Graphics And Gaming Benchmarks Results
Now, let's take a look at how the OnePlus Pad stacks up in GFXBench, which has been one of the standard mobile graphics/gaming performance benchmarks for years. To ensure that display refresh (v-sync) and resolution aren't limiting factors, we're comparing off-screen test results here. GFXBench tests OpenGL ES graphics workloads and we're specifically testing OpenGL ES 2.0 and 3.0, as well as Vulkan in the latest iterations.
The OnePlus Pad runs in the middle of the pack in these purely graphical tests. The Dimensity 9000 uses an ARM Mali reference GPU, which is also seen in other chips like the Google Tensor. You might not be able to completely max out game graphics, but the OnePlus Pad gets the job done.
OnePlus Pad 3DMark Sling Shot Test
UL's 3DMark Slings Shot is the older of the two benchmark modules in the 3DMark mobile suite, but it still uses much of the same technologies in today's most demanding mobile games. Unlike previous 3DMark mobile tests, Sling Shot uses OpenGL ES 3.1 and Metal API-based benchmark that employs more advanced rendering techniques, like volumetric lighting, particle illumination, multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. We're running this test in off-screen mode once again to remove display resolution differences from the equation. This allows us to compare cross-platform results more reliably.UL's 3DMark Sling Shot is one of several modules in the 3DMark mobile suite. Unlike previous gen 3DMark mobile tests, Sling Shot is a much more advanced OpenGL ES 3.1 and Metal API-based benchmark that employs more advanced rendering techniques, like volumetric lighting, particle illumination, multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. We're running this test in off-screen mode once again to remove display resolution differences from the equation. This allows us to compare cross-platform results more reliably.
There are no surprises in the Sling Shot test. The Dimensity 9000 and its Mali GPU can't best the Adreno GPUs in Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8-series chips, but it doesn't drag the device down. This is flagship-level performance from a two or three years ago, which is still plenty fast for most things you'd do on an Android tablet.
OnePlus Pad 3DMark Wild Life Benchmark Tests
3DMark's Wild Life benchmark is newer and more demanding than Slingshot, and it allows powerful devices to shine. Again, the Pad is slower than all the high-end phones we've tested in the past year, but the gap isn't huge.
Sometimes consistent performance can be more important than scoring high in a single benchmark. All devices throttle performance due to heat, but some can lose 20-30% in just a few minutes of gaming. The OnePlus Pad isn't one of them—it loses almost no speed from throttling as seen above. Tablets can include larger cooling rigs, but the additional mass of the tablet form factor can be enough to keep even the most powerful mobile SoCs running cool. The OnePlus 11 also runs extremely cool with an even more powerful ARM chip.
