We’ve seen numerous businesses previously disinterested in the form factor release some terrific, and some not so good, tablets as a result of a boom in popularity and concentration on Android tablets from Google. Oppo is entering the tablet market today with the debut of the Oppo Pad, the company’s first Android tablet. The Oppo Pad is an 11-inch tablet with features that are slightly below the “flagship” class and will be available solely in China for the time being. The design is similar to Apple’s iPad Air, however, it features a distinctive back panel with many “Oppo” branding. It does, in my opinion, look very great. The 11-inch display features a 120Hz 25601600 LCD panel, a Snapdragon 870 CPU, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and a fingerprint sensor. The Snapdragon 870 CPU powers the 11-inch display, which features a 120Hz 25601600 LCD panel, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of storage (no microSD). The device is powered by an 8,360 mAh battery and comes with a charging brick and 33W fast charging through USB-C. A 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera are included. The list of features includes Wi-Fi 6, quad speakers, camera-based face unlock, and stylus support.
Oppo is even making a pen and a unique keyboard case for the tablet. What’s the big deal? The Oppo Pad comes pre-installed with Android 11. That’s a challenging sell four months after Android 12 became publicly available, especially given Oppo’s silence on future updates for this device. “ColorOS for Pad,” a unique version of Oppo’s Android skin meant to fit better on the larger screens of tablets, is likely a contributing factor to the outdated software. Despite the fact that the software’s design is built on ColorOS 12, which is Android 12 at its core, the tablet’s foundation layer is still Android 11. Floating app windows, parallel apps, and sharing between Oppo phones and the Oppo Pad are some of the “ColorOS for Pad” enhancements. For the time being, this tablet will only be available in China and will cost CNY 2,299 ($363) for the 6GB/128GB model and CNY 2,999 ($474) for the 8GB/256GB variant. The “Pencil” and magnetic keyboard dock cost only CNY 499 ($79) and CNY 399 ($64), respectively. The sale will begin on March 3rd.
