OPPO Pad Air – An iPad in Android clothing (tablet review)

The 10.36” OPPO Pad Air is very Applesque in its appearance and packaging, down to it using (and getting away with) the terms Pad and Air.

And why not? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and some of its phones, watches and buds emulate Apple design cues. It is what its primary market wants – Bling without the price.

To position this $379 device, it has

• 10.36”, 2K, 2000 x 1200, 5:3, 360nits, 10-bit/1.07 billion colour, touch, 8mm bezel, 60Hz IPS display
• Dolby Atmos decode and quad speakers
• Qualcomm SD680 and 4/64GB/micro-SD to 512GB
• 7100mAH battery and USB-C PD 9V/2A/18W fast charge
• 8MP EIS rear and 5MP front camera
• Wi-Fi 5 AC and BT 5.1 with Qualcomm aptX codecs
• 245 x 155 x 69.4mm x 440g
• Android 12 and ColorOS 12.x
• Grey

It is comparable to an iPad Air 5^th Gen that starts at $999 (we concede that Apple has an M1 chip) or a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Wi-Fi (RRP $449).

Australian Review: OPPO Pad Air Model OPD2102A 4/64GB/microSD

Website	Product page
Price	$379 Magnetic cover $79
Colours	Grey
From	OPPO Online
Warranty	2-years ACL
Country of Origin	China
Company	OPPO is now #2 in Australia for Android smartphone market share. It has achieved that through excellent product and after-sales service.
More	CyberShack OPPO news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below.  You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass+

We won’t go over the Applesque looks. Instead, comment on OPPO’s excellent build quality (Aluminium back and frame), warranty, and Australian support.

To segue a little. Over Xmas, a friend asked me if I could find a place on the Central Coast with two iPad 10.5” tablets in stock. She wanted to drive to Melbourne and keep her two children amused on the trip.

I suggested the OPPO Pad Air or Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 as these were about half the price of the iPad and were perfect for entertainment. OPPO was out of stock, and JB had the Samsung. After the trip, she profusely thanked me for the advice as a) it saved her heaps of money and b) she had never thought of anything but Apple. Her kids love the tablets and compared to her Apple iPad 10^th gen had far better battery life. Every educational app in the Apple Store that she wanted was in the Google Play Store.

Processor: SD680 – Pass+

It is a 6nm, eight-core, power-sipping, mid-range processor for enhanced audio and streaming entertainment. It is an ideal trade-off between function and energy use. It is often compared to a MediaTek Helio GT90 and is faster than a MediaTek Dimensity 720. Specs here. Suffice it to say that it is great for an entry-level tablet. Geekbench 5 single/multi-core is 384/1627.

It has 4GB LPDDR4X ram that can use an extra 3GB virtual ram (taken from the UFS 2.2 storage). It speeds up the tablet for multi-tasking applications.

The 64GB UFS 2.2 storage has 37GB free, but you can use micro-SD to 512GB. CPDT sequential read/write speed is 644/320Mbps.

Throttling is reasonable – 14% over 15 minutes. CPU temp is 88°, but the outside temperature is 32°.

• Maximum GIPS 171,445
• Average 157,386
• Minimum 138,185

Screen: colourful and quite bright – Pass+

It is perfect for movies and streaming, with 1.07 billion colours. DRM Info says Widevine L1, so it can support FHD SDR streaming.

It has 2048 levels of Adaptive brightness – good but not significant in use. It is an SDR screen because it lacks the 800 or so nits required for HDR.

The colour is a little cool, so you can opt for a Warm setting. At 360 nits (tested 350), it is OK for indirect sunlight use.

Comms – Pass

• Wi-Fi 5 AC. At 2m from the router, it has -333dBm and 4333Mbps half-duplex.
• BT 5.1 with Qualcomm aptX codecs
• USB-C 2.0 supports OTG but not alt DP video out
• Combo Accelerometer/gyroscope, e-Compass, Hall effect (proximity), light and Pedometer
• It does not have GPS or NFC.

Battery Life – Pass+

• Video loop: 50% volume/brightness, aeroplane mode: 15 hours and 8 minutes
• GFX Bench T-Rex: 726 minutes (12.1 hours) 2102 frames
• GFX Bench Manhattan 3.1: 713.4 minutes (11.89 hours)  881 frames
• PC Mark Work 3 battery life: 13 hours 21 minutes
• 18W charge: 2 hours 38 minutes (25% in first 30 minutes)
• 100% load battery drain:  4 hours and 33 minutes

You can expect around 10-12 hours of continuous use for a typical mix of internet browsing, light games, and streaming.

It also supports 5W reverse cable charging, so you can use it as a power bank.

Sound – Pass

The quad 1W side-firing speakers and four AW882 amplifiers are Dolby Atmos (DA) capable, meaning it can decode DA and downmix to four separate channels.

It reaches a maximum volume of 80dB – fine for personal listening.

The native sound signature is mid (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) – for clear voice. What that means is that it has no low- or mid-bass, very little high-bass, and reasonably flat mid and recessed treble. The Dolby Atmos pre-sets do nothing to enhance the sound (tested DA on in smart mode).

The stereo soundstage is slightly wider than the tablet in landscape mode. When tested with DA content, the sound stage slightly widens, and you do hear some added directionality.

BT 5.1 LE has SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC codecs. Tests with BT headphones showed excellent left/right separation and directionality. DA content adds a wider headphone sound stage and vastly improved 3D spatial height sounds.

ColorOS 12.x – Pass+

It has been modified for multi-tasking and split screen with a customisable sidebar. It has multi-screen connection to share files and screens with your OPPO phone.

We particularly like the reading mode that emulates paper for easier reading. Be aware that Google Play sees this as a tablet and only presents tablet-compatible Apps.

Security patch (on 14/1/2023) is 5 December 2022 – pretty good.

Camera – Passable

• Rear: 8MP, F/2.0, 1.12um, Continuous Auto Focus (CAF), EIS 1080p@30fps, 10X digital zoom, Hynix HI846 sensor
• Front: 5MP F/2.2, 1um, Fixed Focus, 1080p@30fps, Hynix HI556 sensor

Tablet Cameras are there as a convenience, and it is kindest to say that they are OK for day and office light happy snaps. 

CyberShack’s view – OPPO Pad Air depends on what you expect

At $379, it is cheaper than most decent smartphones but must incorporate higher-cost items like a 10.36” 1.07 billion colour screen and 7000mAh battery.

It is also not fair to compare it with an iPad due to the different operating systems. It compares favourably with the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 Wi-Fi, which has a slightly faster processor and 128GB storage.

It gets a buy recommendation for a great value, general-purpose 10.36” Android tablet.

Rating Explanation

Based on a standard 10” tablet

• Features: 85 – very comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8
• Value: 95 – slightly cheaper than the A8
• Performance: 85 – fit for purpose and workday battery life
• Ease of Use: 90 ColorOS 12 (Android 12) is easy to use, and we expect that OPPO will update security patches for a few years.
• Design: 85 – Applesque, but that is what its market wants