Although I have recently started travelling light with just a laptop and two phones, I do miss carrying a tablet, especially on long-haul flights. Even though I prefer listening to music or sleeping as much as possible to avoid jet lag, a tablet is incredibly convenient for binge-watching a movie or a Netflix show to kill time on flights and in airport lounges.
I sorely missed having one on my last two trips and ended up watching an entire movie on my phone, which left my back aching and my eyes watery, a decision I regretted. However, on my recent trip to Taipei, I took the Oppo Pad 5 with me. I quickly realised how versatile the tablet form factor is – large enough to immerse yourself in tasks such as reading, watching videos, and even occasional typing.
The Oppo Pad 5 may not be a laptop replacement yet, but it is a near-perfect device for doing the things tablets excel at. Here is my review.
What: Oppo Pad 5 | Price: Rs 26,999 onwards.
Large size is great for multitasking
I remember that back in the day, I considered the iPad mini’s form factor to be the perfect size for a tablet. However, over the years, as phone screens have grown larger (now averaging around 6.7 inches), I have settled on using a larger tablet. The Oppo Pad 5 blends nicely between my Pixel 10 Pro XL and the Surface Pro. It’s neither as compact as the iPad mini nor as large as the iPad Pro; it sits comfortably somewhere in the middle – and it feels good to use.
The ‘Aurora Pink’ colourway has a subtle shimmering effect with a soft, metallic satin finish. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Whether I was sitting in my seat on a plane, on a couch browsing the web, or playing a game, Oppo’s tablet just had the right size and weight. It’s comfortable to hold and big enough to feel like a genuine upgrade over my phone’s screen. It’s still a really solid design, although the tablet could have shed some weight, which I hope to see addressed in the next-generation model.
The ‘Aurora Pink’ colourway has a subtle shimmering effect with a soft, metallic satin finish. From the rear, it looks distinct from most other tablets. After spending time with the Oppo Pad 5, I realised how colourful devices like the orange iPhone 17 Pro Max can sometimes feel overrated. Anyway, I am not an expert in colour science, but I liked what Oppo has done with the Pad 5’s design overall.
The Pad 5’s 12-inch display is surrounded by bezels that aren’t especially chunky, giving you enough room to grip the tablet without accidentally activating the screen. The LCD panel (2800×1980 resolution) is good enough for most activities, including multitasking in split-screen mode. It’s also nice to see a variable 120Hz refresh rate, which enables smoother scrolling and swiping, along with Dolby Vision support. What sets this display apart is its 7:5 aspect ratio, which mimics traditional books and magazines for a more comfortable reading experience.
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The Pad 5’s 12-inch display is surrounded by thin bezels. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
To be clear, this isn’t an OLED screen like the ones you will find on high-end Android tablets or iPad Pros, so those models are still superior in display quality. That said, in my testing, I found the LCD panel delivers natural colours and sharp details, making it great for streaming and even creative work. I streamed Single Papa and Dhurandhar on a flight, and the screen got very bright. That’s good enough for both indoor and outdoor use, as long as the sun isn’t shining directly on the display.
The Pad 5 is a very long-lasting tablet, thanks to its 10,500mAh battery. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Complementing the display are quad speakers (two on each side), so you can hear your content clearly no matter how you hold the tablet. The speakers sound rich and get impressively loud for a tablet.
Speedy performance for a mid-range tablet but not a laptop replacement
Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra processor, paired with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 128GB of expandable UFS 3.1 storage, the Pad 5 handles multitasking and runs everyday apps with ease. In my day-to-day use, everything from opening apps to streaming high-resolution YouTube videos felt snappy.
The Pad 5 handles multitasking and runs everyday apps with ease. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
That being said, the chip delivers the kind of performance you would expect from a mid-range Android smartphone, so don’t expect the same level of performance you get from Apple’s M-series chips in Pro-grade iPad Pros. Yes, you can still run games like Genshin Impact on lower settings if you’re into high-end mobile gaming. That said, I would say the Pad 5 is more than fast enough for casual, everyday use. Frankly, this won’t matter much if you mainly stream Netflix, play Roblox, work on Google Docs, or do video calls with friends and family.
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This isn’t a tablet built for intensive tasks like video editing or 3D design. For that, you are better off considering something like the iPad Pro. I think very few Android tablets can be considered pro-grade.
Very good battery life
When it comes to battery life, I averaged around 15 hours on a single charge, good enough to last a Delhi-to-San Francisco flight. That meant I could stream a bunch of movies and even do some light reading without getting bored mid-flight.
The Pad 5 is a very long-lasting tablet, thanks to its 10,500mAh battery, and you’ll likely only need to charge it every few days if you’re not travelling as frequently as I do. Oppo also supplies a 33W charger that can take the tablet from empty to full in a reasonable amount of time.
Camera, UI and other features
Speaking of video calls, the Pad 5’s camera quality remains… fine. The tablet’s 8-megapixel front-facing camera looked perfectly serviceable for Zoom and Google Meet calls. There’s also an 8-megapixel rear camera, which I haven’t tried, but it can be used for digital payments if you live in India.
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The tablet is powered by Oppo’s ColorOS, built on top of Android 16. The interface is simple, familiar, and bloatware-free, and it does the job well on a tablet. The system feels fluid overall, and finding apps and features inside the settings is easy. I would say ColorOS is designed to unlock basic multitasking features available on other Android tablets, such as running two apps at the same time. So nothing special here.
Because the tablet supports the Oppo Pencil (sold separately), the interface also enables note-taking. Unfortunately, Oppo didn’t send the Pencil with my review unit, so I couldn’t test how it actually feels to use. That said, the Pad 5 supports a stylus, and if you enjoy taking notes or sketching in your free time, this tablet has you covered.
ColorOS also supports a range of AI features, including AI Studio, AI Writer, AI Translate, AI VoiceScribe, and AI Recorder. Honestly, I have been playing around with these AI tools for months, and I still can’t think of a single instance when I would actually need them. But opinions vary.
So, should you buy the Oppo Pad 5?
The Oppo Pad 5 is a fantastic tablet for its price, and I have no trouble recommending it, especially to average users and students. That said, similar tablets from other companies are available, so choose the one that best fits your needs. But truth be told, tablets like these are purpose-built for a specific role, and I think the Oppo Pad 5 does what it’s intended to do. Just don’t expect it to replace your laptop. That’s not going to happen.
