OnePlus has been teasing an huge event for the last couple of weeks, and it finally happened today (June 27). Among other things, the Chinese phone maker debuted the impressive looking Ace 3 Pro with the very interesting glacier battery. However, that handset appears to be exclusive to China. Some other products coming from OnePlus may not have as limited a reach.
As part of the event, the Chinese manufacturer also unveiled the OnePlus Pad Pro Android tablet and an updated OnePlus Watch 2. Both had already been teased on the company's Weibo account, but now we've got more information about what's in the new devices.
That information doesn't include a global release date for either the OnePlus Pad Pro or the OnePlus Watch 2 with added eSim compatibility. But the rumor mill has claimed that both devices are coming to other markets, including the U.S. It's expected that the smartwatch would appear as the OnePlus Watch 2R.
OnePlus Pad Pro
The new tablet gives a Pro-level update to the OnePlus Pad. And it is a serious upgrade, to the point where this is almost a different tablet.
Largely the design of the Pad Pro looks the same as the OnePlus Pad, except bigger. The screen bumps up to a 12.1-inch LCD display, which compares to 11.6 inches on the standard OnePlus Pad. While the battery on the Pro version appears to be the same as the 9,510 mAh power pack with 67W charging found on the standard model, OnePlus is replacing the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. That should allow the OnePlus Pad Pro to better compete with the M4-powered iPad Pro that Apple released this year.
Accessories for the tablet also got an upgrade up with OnePlus introducing a new Smart Stylus Pro. We already liked the Stylo pencil stylus with the normal OnePlus Pad, so we imagine the Stylus Pro should be a step up.
The magnetic keyboard is harder to tell. It looks a little different in a new black colorway and the advertising suggests a new NFC chip to connect the keyboard with a phone. The keyboard also appears larger to accommodate the slightly bigger size of the Pad Pro.
The OnePlus Pad Pro appears to come in four levels and two colors, Space Gray or Khaki Green. The base features 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage while the high-end tier comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB capacity.
OnePlus is selling the base tablet for 2,899 yuen, while the higher-end model costs 3,799 yuen. That's $399 and $522, according to current conversion rates, though device makers usually adjust prices for different regions.
The OnePlus Pad can currently be yours for $479, which would be further evidence that OnePlus might charge more for the Pro version
At the higher end of its Chinese price range, the OnePlus Pad Pro might seem like a potential rival for the 11-inch iPad Air M2, which starts at $599. But some of the specs in the OnePlus tablet — particularly the Snapdragon chipset and larger display— make us wonder if OnePlus isn't looking to take on the 13-inch iPad Air M2 or even the latest iPad Pro models, even if those iPads are a bit more expensive than the OnePlus Pad Pro's potential price.
In the US, the OnePlus Pad only released in the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage version. It would be nice if OnePlus offered the higher storage capacity options if they bring the Pad Pro over, as has been rumored.
OnePlus Watch 2(R)
The naming convention might be slightly confusing for the new smartwatch. OnePlus never released a OnePlus Watch 2 in China. Instead, other regions, like the US, got the OnePlus Watch 2. So for Chinese customers this would be the Watch 2.
However, rumors have hinted that when this new smartwatch makes it out of China it will ship as the OnePlus Watch 2R to avoid confusion with the original watch. In general, the R moniker indicates a more budget friendly version of a OnePlus product. OnePlus' flagship OnePlus 12 phone costs $799, but a OnePlus 12R costs hundreds of dollars less.
Relatively speaking this new watch is really similar to the Watch 2 that we already have. In fact, it seems to be getting more upgrades than scaling back.
It has the same 1.43-inch AMOLED display and runs on Snapdragon W5 with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The battery is the same 500 mAh with up to 100 hours of use and 12-days in power save mode.
What sticks out is the addition of eSim support for standalone calling in addition to Bluetooth calling.
The biggest change is in the operating system. OnePlus is dropping Google's Wear OS and replacing it with the company's proprietary ColorOS Watch 6.0. This change introduces support for both Android and iOS devices. Oh, and NFC support is in there somewhere.
The company has the Watch 2 with eSIM listed at 1,799 yuan or $247. The current US OnePlus Watch 2 retails for $299. If the Watch comes with the R label, we'd hope it will see a decrease in price.
