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OnePlus Pad Lite Review: A No-Fuss Budget Tablet For Everyday Use

MENSXP | August 5, 2025 1:39 AM CST

When it comes to entry-level tablets, most people just want a bigger screen to binge shows, browse the web, or scroll through YouTube. Basically, they are looking for a simple media device that gets the job done. That’s exactly the crowd OnePlus is targeting with its Pad Lite, which starts at around ₹13,000 if you factor in discounts and offers.

On paper, it sounds like a great deal for casual users. But with so many budget tablets already out there, the real question is, does the Pad Lite actually stand out, or is it just more of the same?

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Display & Audio

When you’re buying a tablet to binge Netflix or scroll through YouTube, the screen has to be the main highlight. The Pad Lite does a decent job. It’s got an 11-inch FHD+ LCD with a 90Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of peak brightness. It’s not a knockout, but it holds up well for everyday viewing. The sharpness isn’t top-tier, but honestly, I didn’t find it distracting. The bezels are chunky enough to make the tablet easy to hold, which is a small but underrated detail.

This time, OnePlus has gone with a 16:10 aspect ratio instead of its usual 7:5 layout, which is great news if you hate those thick black bars around videos. There's no HDR, and yeah, it’s an LCD, so you’re not getting those deep blacks or ultra-punchy colours. But for a tablet in this price range, the colour and contrast still feel nicely tuned. Outdoor visibility could’ve been better, especially because of the glossy screen that catches reflections easily.

What genuinely caught me off guard, though, was the audio setup. The Pad Lite comes with four speakers, Hi-Res Audio certification, and the sound is surprisingly solid. You won’t get room-shaking bass, but for watching content or taking calls, it’s clear and loud enough. And if you’re on Bluetooth, the support is serious: AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, and SBC over Bluetooth 5.4. I do think skipping the 3.5mm headphone jack was a miss—but overall, this tablet punches above its weight in the media department.

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Design

The Pad Lite feels like a direct follow-up to the OnePlus Pad Go, and that’s not a bad thing. It keeps the same design with plastic sides and a dual-tone aluminium back, and it’s surprisingly nice to hold.

At 7.39mm thick and around 530g, it’s slim, lightweight, and easy to carry. It only comes in one shade—blue—but it looks clean and understated.

That said, don’t expect any extras here. There’s no keyboard folio, no stylus support, no pogo pins, and no palm rejection either.

It’s very much a media-first tablet, not one for productivity. You also don’t get a fingerprint scanner, and face unlock is super basic since it only uses the front camera.

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Performance

The LTE version of the OnePlus Pad Lite I tested came with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and having cellular support at this price is a definite plus. I do wish it had 5G, but considering how rare that still is in the budget tablet space, it’s not a dealbreaker. If you’re eyeing the Wi-Fi-only version, just note that it drops to 6GB of RAM—and none of the variants offer expandable storage, which is a bit of a letdown.

Performance is in line with what you'd expect from an entry-level tablet. It runs on the MediaTek Helio G100, a decent chip from 2024, but OnePlus could’ve stepped things up by using the newer G200 instead. In Antutu Lite, the Pad Lite scored around 4.3 lakh. Geekbench gave me 718 in single-core and 1924 in multi-core tests. GPU performance was even less impressive, with the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test maxing out at 378 for best loop score—though stability was a solid 98%.

Still, in daily use—browsing, streaming, casual gaming—it gets the job done. In BGMI, I managed an average of 58.8fps, but the visuals were underwhelming. In Call of Duty Mobile, I got 39.7fps on low graphics. Both were playable, just not pretty.

One weird issue I noticed was with YouTube playback. Videos often defaulted to a super low resolution, and bumping it up to 1080p 60fps took a while to stabilise. At 1440p 60fps, playback stuttered noticeably. Hopefully, OnePlus addresses this with a software update.

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Battery & charging

Battery life on the OnePlus Pad Lite is solid. I easily got two days of use on a full charge with regular browsing, streaming, and light gaming. The 9,340mAh battery doesn’t disappoint.

But here’s the catch: while the tablet supports 33W fast charging, OnePlus only includes a 15W charger in the box. That means a full top-up takes well over two hours, which feels like a bit of a letdown considering the otherwise smooth experience.

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Cameras

The OnePlus Pad Lite features a basic 5MP rear camera that records 1080p video at 30fps, along with a 5MP front camera that’s fine for video calls. But let’s be honest—no one’s buying a tablet to take photos.

The cameras are there for the essentials, like Zoom calls or scanning documents, and they do that job just fine without trying to be anything more.

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Software

The OnePlus Pad Lite runs OxygenOS 15, and I was genuinely impressed by how well it ties into the broader OnePlus ecosystem.

Features like Clipboard Sharing and Shared Gallery make it super easy to move content between your phone and tablet. O+ Connect even plays nice with Apple devices, which is a nice surprise.

One feature I really enjoyed was OpenCanvas—it makes multitasking feel smooth, whether you're switching apps or going split-screen. You also get some helpful AI tools via Google Gemini for light text generation and photo tweaks. For a budget tablet, that’s a solid bonus. What really stands out, though, is the long-term support: four years of OS updates and six years of security patches. That’s rare at this price.

OnePlus Pad Lite Review: Verdict

So, is the OnePlus Pad Lite worth picking up? If you’re after a simple, no-fuss tablet for watching videos, browsing, or light gaming, then absolutely. The display is decent, audio is better than expected, and the battery easily lasts a couple of days. For under ₹15,000, it holds its own.

But if you’re expecting heavy-duty performance or serious multitasking, you’ll need to look at pricier options above ₹20K. Most tablets in this range offer similar specs, so performance is capped. Still, with a starting price of around ₹13,000 (with offers), the Pad Lite makes a strong case as a budget media machine. It’s not built for power users, but for everyday tasks, it’s smooth, reliable, and well worth the price.