OPPO Pad Air Review – First OPPO Tablet For The Malaysian Market

Recently, OPPO released their brand new lineup of smartphones, the OPPO Reno8 series and the new OPPO Enco Air2 Pro True Wireless Stereo. What they didn’t announce prior to the launch is their new tablet, the OPPO Pad Air. It was almost a surprise to some that OPPO finally launched a tablet for the Malaysian market in July 2022 and it is a very welcomed piece of hardware. 

I received the new OPPO Pad Air about a week before the launch for full testing and review. I was amazed by the features and super sleek look of the new tablet. It is one of the thinnest tablets in its class and it has this cool “3D Dune” texture around the back that provides some extra grip when viewing it in landscape mode. It has a nice feel to it. And I think it’s nice to have it there. 

Since it is the thinnest tablet in its class, the 10.36” screen size feels large and sleek. The OPPO Pad Air is using an IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1200 x 2000 pixels at 5:3 screen ratio. It’s pretty much close to being a standard 4:3 ratio but slightly wider. Honestly I think the display is gorgeous for its class. AMOLED would be better but that would hike up the price a little more. 

Do people still use a tablet these days? Well, since the pandemic and the trend of working from home started, the tablet sales went up as more people are in need of a larger screen mobile device for Zoom meetings, one to one chats and portability. Even school children are using a tablet for their school work and with the use of Google Classroom. Laptop is a better option but tablets are cheaper and most likely to be useful for some people. 

When the demand is high, most of the brand companies are pushing sales on the tablet devices. So I think OPPO is making the right decision here by releasing a very capable tablet device for the Malaysian market. People are asking for better and faster tablets, and OPPO delivers well.

To keep up with the demand, OPPO has opted to include a powerful mid-range chipset, the Snapdragon 680 into the OPPO Pad Air along with a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage as the base variant. If you need more power, you can choose the one with 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage. 

During my test, the OPPO Pad Air is able to handle multitasking with ease and I had no problem with it slowing down or whatsoever. It was still able to run smoothly even when I had tons of apps open at the same time. The variant that I got for review is the base version (4GB of RAM + 64GB of storage). And yet, it runs smoothly without hiccups. The OPPO Pad Air runs on Android 12 with ColorOS 12.1 system. With the latest Android OS in use, the OPPO Pad Air feels really smooth and stable. 

Battery capacity is great. It comes with a large 7100mAh capacity and is able to last me close to 4 days before hitting below 15% and charging it up to 100% takes about 1 hour 10 minutes or so on its 18W fast charging brick. However, during the nights when I was playing games on the OPPO Pad Air. the battery will deplete a little faster. 

Speaking of games, I managed to install PUBG Mobile on the OPPO Pad Air but unfortunately, I can only have normal HD mode turned on. During the game, it does slow down a little and the performance is a little sluggish. I have reviewed another OPPO phone that uses the same SD680 chipset, and it plays PUBG Mobile without any lag. I assume it is because of the larger screen where it has to render and produce more workforce to get it running well. 

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed some good gaming sessions on the OPPO Pad Air. What I like most about it is the quad speaker setup powered by Dolby Atmos on both sides of the tablet. The quad speakers are loud and awesome. Playing PUBG Mobile on the device eliminates the need for an earphone. The quad speaker is able to produce great surround sound with immersive audio. Watching movies can have the same effect as well. It is one of the best sounding audio on a tablet in its class, in my own opinion. 

Around the back, there is an 8MP single camera setup. It is just a basic camera that is able to take a decent photo when there’s enough light or when being outdoors in broad daylight. The 5MP selfie camera is located in the top middle of the long side, making it best to use in landscape mode for Zoom calls or online classes. 

At this landscape angle, you can place the OPPO Pad Air on a stand for easy viewing. On top of the frame, there’s the volume rocker buttons while the power button is located on the top left side of the frame. There is also a SIM card for 4G data and MicroSD tray to add some extra storage to the tablet. The USB-C charging and data port is located at the bottom, in between the two bottom firing speakers. 

If you have a small Bluetooth keyboard, you can simply pair it up with the OPPO Pad Air as an additional accessory. Typing will be much simpler this way. Great for digital nomads.

There are unlimited possibilities of what you can do with the OPPO Pad Air. With ColorOS 12, you can multitask like a pro. Your work will be made easier with the ability to have Split Screens, Flexible windows and Dual windows opened side by side. You can simply drag and drop documents, photos or any other files between one app to another with ease. And breaking that barrier, you can also drag and drop files or photos from another phone to the tablet the same way with OPPO Share feature. 

Conclusion

To me, the OPPO Pad Air is currently the best tablet in its class. I love the audio and the display. Performance is great but is not made for heavy graphic gaming. If you’re into normal games like Angry Birds, you will love to play on the OPPO Pad Air. 

I love the overall design of the tablet. The rear panel with the 3D Dune design looks great. I wouldn’t want to slap on a casing but it is better to have one with a kickstand. It is absolutely great for entertainment. Watching movies is very satisfying, all thanks to the awesome quad speaker setup with Dolby Atmos. Gaming was fun too. 

I would recommend anyone to purchase this OPPO Pad Air if or when they are looking for a tablet. I had someone asking me about tablets a few weeks ago. I already started testing the OPPO Pad Air at that time and I quickly told him to check out this tablet. He liked it and made the purchase right after the official launch. Good for him. 

So there you go. If you’re looking for a reliable tablet, do check out the new OPPO Pad Air. No lags, no hiccups and best for entertainment. You can now make the purchase starting from RM1,089.00 at OPPO Malaysia’s official website at https://www.oppo.com/my/store/product/pad-air.P.P1000412

OPPO PAD AIR Specifications

• SoC: Snapdragon 680 4G (6 nm), Octa-core (4×2.4 GHz Kryo 265 Gold & 4×1.9 GHz Kryo 265 Silver)
• GPU: Adreno 610
• OS: Android 12, ColorOS 12
• Memory: 64GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM
• Display:
  IPS LCD, 1B colors, 360 nits
  10.36 inches, 305.5 cm2 (~80.5% screen-to-body ratio)
  1200 x 2000 pixels, 5:3 ratio (~225 ppi density)
• Battery: Li-Po 7100 mAh
• Camera: 8 MP, f/2.0
• Selfie Camera: 5 MP, f/2.2
• Sensors: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity
• Colours: Gray, Silver