OnePlus Pad 4 review: Balances productivity and entertainment

OnePlus has never been shy about its ambitions. The brand that started by declaring war on flagship smartphones with its "Never Settle" ethos has spent the last few years quietly building one of Android's most capable tablet lineups and the OnePlus Pad 4 is its most confident statement yet. On paper, the numbers are hard to argue with. A Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. A 13,380mAh battery. A 13.2-inch, 3.4K display running at 144Hz. A chassis that measures just 5.94mm thin. All wrapped in a premium metal unibody that weighs less than four cricket balls. This is a tablet that has clearly been engineered with intent. With a new AI-powered software suite, a rethought stylus, proper PC-level multitasking, and accessories that finally make the case for leaving your laptop behind, OnePlus is pitching the Pad 4 not just as a great tablet, but as a genuine productivity tool for the modern worker. We used the OnePlus Pad 4 for sometime and here’s our complete review of the same.The OnePlus Pad 4 is a premium slab that makes a very strong first impression. Measuring just 5.94mm thick and weighing 672g, it is extraordinarily slim for a 13.2-inch tablet — OnePlus rather delightfully points out that stacking six credit cards gives you something taller than this device. The premium metal unibody construction feels as refined as it looks, and the build quality is immediately apparent the moment you pick it up. Two colour options are on offer: Dune Glow, which transforms the titanium finish into a warm, luminous bronze, and Sage Mist, a cool frosted variant that feels more restrained and professional. Both are attractive, and the matte quality of Sage Mist in particular feels genuinely premium. An 89.4% screen-to-body ratio means bezels are refreshingly minimal, keeping distractions out of the way and usable space front and centre. One design detail that deserves specific mention is the eight-speaker cutouts symmetrically placed on both sides of the body an engineering feat that takes some clever internal planning to execute inside such a thin chassis. The Pad 4 also supports the OnePlus Stylo Pro stylus and the new Smart Keyboard, both of which are sold separately and snap on magnetically for a tidy, all-in-one carrying experience. The only real design quibble is the absence of a fingerprint sensor face unlock is the sole biometric option, which feels like an oversight at this price point.The display on the OnePlus Pad 4 offers an immersive visual feast. The Android tablet houses a 13.2-inch 3.4k display with 3392x2400 pixel resolution. The screen comes with Dolby Vision support and offers 1000 nits of peak brightness levels. Also, the 12 bit colour and professional grade colour accuracy which shows you the precise detail in everything you do. Sharpness is excellent, colours are vivid thanks to 98% DCI-P3 coverage, and a Delta E of approximately 0.7 means colour accuracy is at a professional-grade standard. The 144Hz adaptive refresh rate ensures everything feels buttery smooth, whether you're scrolling through documents, watching video, or sketching with the stylus. Touch sampling reaches up to 540Hz, delivering virtually lag-free responsiveness. Peak brightness under High Brightness Mode hits 1,000 nits, making the display very comfortable to use outdoors or in well-lit environments, though standard brightness sits at 700 nits. Dolby Vision support means HDR content looks genuinely dazzling, and the 7:5 ReadFit aspect ratio which OnePlus has kept consistent across its tablet lineup. It opens up documents to a more book-like layout, makes presentations more comfortable to read, and is a better shape for productivity work than the more cinematic 16:10 ratios found on competing Android tablets. However, since it’s still an LCD panel rather than OLED, blacks aren’t as deep, and contrast doesn’t reach the same cinematic levels offered by rivals. Eye care features round off what is an exceptionally well-equipped panel. OnePlus Pad 4 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Hen 5 chipset. The device comes in two variants — 8GB+256GB and 12GB+512GB. The high-end set of specifications make the OnePlus Pad 4 one of the most capable Android tablets available today. The tablet performs exceptionally fluidly during routine tasks. Apps launched instantly and multitasking was also seamless on the OnePlus tablet. The device also easily switches between split-screen windows and floating apps. Also, the high refresh rate of 144Hz completes the powerful hardware and makes sure that the animations and scrolling remains buttery smooth. Coming to gaming, the OnePlus Pad 4 easily handles graphic intensive games such as Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile at high settings without frame drops. Thanks to the powerful GPU and efficient thermal management the tablet delivers a lag free and impressive gaming experience. Even the extended gaming sessions didn’t lead to any noticeable overheating. Apart from gaming, productivity tasks like editing documents, working on spreadsheets or sketching worked seamlessly on the tablet.OnePlus also launched the OnePlus Stylo Pro stylus along with the OnePlus Pad 4. The OnePlus Stylo Pro is sold separately and it is a seriously capable stylus that elevates the Pad 4's productivity credentials considerably. Its headline specification is 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity which is an exceptionally fine degree of gradation that makes drawing, calligraphy, and detailed annotations feel genuinely natural and responsive. The centre of gravity has been shifted toward the middle of the stylus body for a more balanced grip during extended sessions, which is a thoughtful ergonomic detail.The Stylo Pro also supports on-body gesture controls pinch, double tap, and swipe for triggering actions without touching the screen. It snaps onto the Pad 4 magnetically for easy storage, and a "Find My Stylo" feature can locate a misplaced stylus within a 10-metre Bluetooth range. Two swappable tips are available: a Writing Tip made from high-friction material that absorbs approximately 90% of writing impact (reducing writing noise to around 35dB, versus the ~42dB average of competing styluses), and a Drawing Tip made from low-friction material that glides smoothly for sketching and is harder and more durable than traditional tips. Both promise ultra-low latency and zero-pressure ink discharge for immediate, responsive results.The OnePlus Pad 4 runs OxygenOS 16 on top of Android 16, and the software experience is one of its strongest selling points. Multitasking has been genuinely elevated: you can now run up to five windows simultaneously (on the 12GB model), resize them freely, and use a three-finger swipe to get a bird's-eye view of everything running at once, a genuinely useful gesture that becomes second nature quickly.File management has received a thoughtful PC-style upgrade, with multi-column views, cover previews for quick file identification, OTG support with a dedicated dock folder, and familiar actions like drag-and-drop and "Save As." For those who do need to refer back to a PC, the second-screening feature works smoothly, letting you mirror and annotate presentations and share keyboard and mouse input between the tablet and your computer.AI tools are plentiful. AI Writer functions as an always-on writing assistant for content of all types; AI Summary condenses long articles, PDFs, and Word documents with a single tap; AI Translate handles real-time translation without disrupting the layout of the original content; AI Painter converts sketches and data tables into polished visuals; AI Clear Call reduces background noise during internet calls; and AI Recorder adds real-time annotation, handwriting-to-text conversion, and summary markers to recordings.OnePlus Pad 4 sports a 13MP main camera with LED flash and an 8MP front camera for selfies. The rear camera of the tablet is capable of scanning documents, capturing notes, or taking quick reference shots. The images captured using the main camera turned out to be sharp and with accurate colour reproduction. But the noise levels in the images increased when we used it in low light conditions. On the other hand, the 8MP selfie camera performs well during video calls and online meetings. It supports 4K video recording at 30fps, which is impressive for a tablet, though the results are best in well-lit environments.Battery is definitely one of the highlights of the OnePlus Pad 4. The Android tablet from OnePlus houses a 13,380 mAh battery which is one of the largest in the premium tablet segment. OnePlus claims that the device can deliver up to 54 hours of standby, 20 hours of video playback, and 7 hours of sustained gaming. The claims made by the company turned out to be true during our testing. The tablet easily managed to last for up to three days of moderate usage on a single charge. Along with a big battery, the OnePlus Pad 4 also comes with 80W fast charging support. The fast charging support enables the device to charge from 0% to 100% in under 90 minutes. Also, a quick top of 30 minutes can easily offer up to 7 hours of battery life. Apart from this, the OnePlus Pad 4 also comes with reverse charging support which allow the users to charge smaller devices such as earbuds, smartwatch and more. Heat management during charging is controlled, with the tablet rarely getting uncomfortably warm. Overall, the Pad 4’s battery performance is a standout feature. OnePlus Pad 4 comes with a starting price tag of Rs 59,999. The Android tablet is a well-rounded flagship tablet. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performance is class-leading, the display is large, sharp, and colour-accurate, the battery life is exceptional, and the new stylus and keyboard accessories are genuinely impressive additions. This is overall a very capable tablet with an incredibly slim profile, a large high-resolution display, powerful speakers, excellent performance, clean and functional software with exceptional multitasking capabilities, and good battery life.