BEST TABLETS

OnePlus’s Pad 2 offers a large display in its own taller aspect ratio which the brand claims is ideal for both work and play. The display has thin borders and has a premium feeling all-metal unibody chassis which has a unique looking rounded design with rounded sides and corners.

The software experience keeps up with the times. OnePlus adds a bunch of AI tools to its Oxygen OS skin which has been optimised for tablets in this case. Open Canvas makes it from the OnePlus Open to this tablet and it works wonderfully.

The Smart Keyboard optional accessory is well built and now consists of two parts. The keyboard is spacious and comfortable for typing and so is the trackpad. But the trackpad does have some minor issues.

Battery life is pretty good and easily lasts two work days. With the bundled charger it can also charge as fast as a smartphone.

The Realme Pad 2 is a slim and premium-looking tablet which offers budget performance but will mainly be used for media consumption. The tablet comes with no optional accessories but offers good construction quality with its metal, glass and polycarbonate construction.

The tablet is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 SoC, which can also be found in other budget smartphones and tablets. However, this tablet also comes with cellular connectivity which makes it stand out both in terms of pricing and value.

Camera quality is what one would typically expect from a budget tablet, so smartphones at this price point will offer better capability. The front-facing camera works well for video calls and there’s a quad-speaker audio to make games and movies sound immersive as well.

Battery life is excellent and easily lasts 3 whole days on a single charge whether or not you insert a SIM card in it, which makes this tablet a proper road warrior.

The OnePlus Pad is the company’s first attempt at making its own tablet, and with that in mind it surprisingly gets a lot of things right. The tablet has a unibody metal design which is a bit heavy but is quite sturdy and feels very premium. The quality of the optional accessories is also top-notch.

Its raw performance, whether used for gaming or regular software usage, is quite good. UI interactions feel fluid and the optional keyboard and trackpad are well optimised to make the hardware experience even better.

Camera performance as expected isn’t the best but is better suited for snapping documents than capturing video. The selfie camera comes with a Limelight feature which keeps the user centred at all times during video calls.

Battery life is impressive as the tablet easily lasts two days on a single charge. It can also be used for work provided it’s limited to light work. Equally good is the charging speed which is pretty much unmatched in and above its segment.

The Redmi Pad is Xiaomi India’s new budget Android tablet offering. The new Redmi tablet aims to strike the right balance by offering a large screen for multimedia consumption along with a performance unit that is no slouch. The Redmi Pad sports an all-metal design with flat sides. The tablet is also fairly thin at 7.05mm and weighs about 465 grams.

There is a 10.61-inch IPS LCD with a 2K (2000x1200 pixels) resolution. Compared to the competition, the Redmi Pad has a slight edge with its 90Hz refresh rate display. The budget Android tablet packs a MediaTek Helio G99 SoC, which makes it gaming friendly. it also packs an 8000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging out of the box.

The Xiaomi Redmi Pad features an 8-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front camera. It runs on the Android 12-based MIUI 13 for Pad out of the box. The software is fairly clean and offers a bunch of features that make use of the large screen. Xiaomi has promised to provide two major Android updates and three years of software support for the Redmi Pad.

The Redmi Pad Pro 5G tablet brings interesting features and specifications at this price point. The tablet offers a sleek design profile, which makes it easier to carry around. However, due to its large display, handling it might be a bit difficult thing. The display looks vibrant and offers sharp colours. The performance is stable, and you can play graphics-intense games with ease on this tablet. The user interface is clean and well-optimised for this device. The device also features some interesting connectivity features that make it easier to use with other Xiaomi devices. However, it is currently limited to Xiaomi 14 and 14 Civi. The cameras are usable, though this tablet's battery life is good. 

The iPad 10th generation is a successor to the iPad 9th generation model, which was launched in 2021. It comes with a new design and gets many new upgrades. Apple has also significantly increased the price in India.

The new iPad starts at Rs. 44,900 for the Wi-Fi variant. It comes with a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina Display. The bezels are slightly narrower too. Apple has moved the 12-megapixel front camera to the right bezel. There is an 8-megapixel rear camera as well.

Under the hood, the iPad (2022) comes with an A14 Bionic SoC. This chip, although two years old, still offers good performance. It also packs a 28.6WHr battery, which is claimed to offer 10 hours of video playback. The Lightning port is now replaced by a USB Type-C (USB 2.0) port.

The iPad runs iPadOS 16 out of the box. It comes with many new features but does not support Stage Manager, which is currently only available for iPad models using Apple’s M-series SoCs.

The Lenovo Tab Plus brings interesting features that make it a go-to device for all your multimedia needs. The tablet offers a good display, but the audio takes centre stage. The device provides not two but four woofers and four tweeters that deliver exceptional sound output, a first in any tablet. The sound is loud enough to compete with any affordable Bluetooth speaker. This, coupled with the ability to pair a smartphone and use it as a Bluetooth speaker, makes it even more interesting. 

However, the tablet surely lags behind the competition when it comes to sheer performance. The user interface is clean and offers good features. The cameras are usable, though one should expect little from them. Overall, if you are looking for a tablet for your media consumption and can overlook the performance, you can consider this tablet.