Lately, my workdays involve constantly shuffling between my laptop and my phone. At the end of the day, I wince at the thought of booting up either. But in this awkward little space, the OnePlus Pad GO has been offering me a much-needed “getaway” from the anxiety of answering emails or returning texts, offering a much-needed respite to catch up on my watch list, doom scroll on Instagram and get on a few video calls with my friends. But is that enough to justify the Rs 19,999 (starting price) investment? 

To find out, I’ve extensively used the OnePlus Pad GO with the sole intention of avoiding work in the last two weeks, which inadvertently involved many Netflix binges, endless scrolling on Instagram, and, of course, numerous video calls with family and friends. Here’s what I found. 

First Impressions 

“It feels way too premium for its price tag,” I remember saying to myself while unboxing the office review unit. It doesn’t take long to notice that there are barely any changes from the flagship Pad to the Pad GO, with the latter sporting a sleek and slender design, finished with rounded edges and a premium olive green finish. 

There are a few niggles, though, especially the fingerprint-friendly dark-green coloured strip at the back, which also houses the rear camera. Every time I picked up the Pad GO, I had to allocate a few minutes just to clean up the fingerprints from its last use. Also, a little jarring is its thick bezels. However, thanks to its 2.4K display (more on this later), you do get used to them rather quickly. 

Binge City 

Brimming with the excitement of skipping work with the excuse of doing work, I fired up its 11.3-inch panel, only to see my enthusiasm come to a simmering halt. Yes, the Pad GO does boast a 2.4K resolution, as mentioned earlier, but what hinders that experience is the rather laggy and sluggish 90Hz refresh rate. It’s important to note that the effect was more pronounced for me because I’m used to a phone with a 120Hz refresh rate, and I don’t expect an average buyer to notice a big difference. However, I never really got used to the lower refresh rate during my time with it. 

After fiddling around with OnePlus’s almost stock Oxygen OS 13.1, it was time to get settled in and binge-watch Netflix’s The Fall Of The House Of Usher. And boy, does the Pad GO deliver here, with its crisp and bright screen and the Dolby Atmos Quad Speakers. Every jump scare was delivered in the highest definition, so much so that at one point, I remember turning down the volume and brightness a bit to lessen the impact. Although I did notice a bit of a drop in audio clarity at full volume, but then again, you never really need to turn it up that high. Not to mention, the Pad GO is designed to be used in horizontal mode more frequently than vertical, as suggested by the placement of its volume and power buttons. 

Light Work? Maybe 

In between YouTube videos, I did attend a few work meetings that could’ve been emails and ignored a few emails that could’ve been texts. In both instances, I was expecting a little more. While the Pad GO does a decent job of switching between apps like Outlook and Google Docs, there is an occasional yet noticeable lag that is noticeable, especially when it comes to sending attachments in the former and editing a story in the latter. It seems as if the tablet doesn’t want to be pushed too hard. This is hardly a work pony, let alone a workhorse, and that’s okay. 

While the review unit did come with cellular and LTE capabilities, my non-work-related communication was limited to a couple of hour-long video calls with friends, at times. During these calls, I noticed a significant audio lag when connected to a pair of Dyson Zone headphones. Surprisingly, this issue didn’t occur with my phone or laptop, both running iOS. After two days of investigating, I’m uncertain if it’s an Android problem, a headphone glitch, or a Pad Go flaw. 

The Pad Go’s biggest drawback is its rather dim 400nits of brightness which makes it hard to use outdoors. Additionally, the front and rear 8MP sensors are better suited for indoor use, primarily for tasks like scanning documents and attending video calls. And while the display does tempt you to explore your inner artist, the lack of a stylus does really hinder the experience.  

A+ Battery 

By the time I finished a week with the Pad GO, I had barely charged it more than a couple of times, averaging a very impressive screen time of nearly five to six hours, which translates to at least three to four episodes. Its 8,000mAh battery proved to be a mammoth to kill, with a weekend spent with the intention of draining it in a day before giving up. This is a testament to Google’s optimizations in Android 13 and the Pad GO’s MediaTek Helio chipset. While I was one step closer to stop-watching its battery drain, a rough but fairly accurate estimate suggests two whole days of battery life when fully charged. Speaking of charging, the Pad GO comes with a 33kW fast charger, which takes a little over an hour to completely top up the device. Although, I do have to mention that running games like Asphalt 9 even briefly does tend to heat up the Pad noticeably, but nothing that cannot be managed.  

An Easy Yes 

The charm of the OnePlus Pad GO lies in its honesty, really. It doesn’t make any promises it can’t keep but excels at what it is supposed to do. There’s no pretension here to be an “XYZ replacement” but rather a simplicity in elevating your basic digital needs. With a price tag of under Rs 25,000, I think that’s a win. After all, why settle? 

Image Credits – OnePlus