The Tablet
Using a tablet for casual Internet access in conjunction with a phone or over wi-fi is no new thing. Tablets have been around for a long time. One reason I have not been particularly interested is the lack of storage, such as a CD or DVD. So, only recently, did I become interested in a tablet. What finally got me interested was seeing a short video on the OnePlus Pad 3, which led me to here. I looked at the information on it, which was quite impressive.
It has a 13.2” (diagonal) display, and a very powerful processor. However,I got to thinking, “Do I really wish to carry around a huge display like that?” Additionally, for my casual use, it seemed a bit pricey! So, I continued to investigate, where I saw the Pad Go 2, which has a slightly smaller display (12.1”) and also a smaller price!
This seemed more what I was looking for than the larger unit. And on the website, it came with two additional items, the folio and the pen. That was a good thing, because the pen was way over-priced. The folio is handy to protect the pad and provides a prop when in the horizontal position (although it took me a while to determine just how it worked). There is an embedded magnet in the flap to secure it in the closed position, so I naturally assumed it played some role for the prop. However I soon learned it did not, as it was not powerful enough to hold the tablet up. Soon, I noticed the cover simply folded in upon itself in a wedge/triangle at the back bottom to prop the tablet into a fairly stable position.
Supposedly, the Pad Go 2 has a 256 GB storage option, but only the 128 GB option was shown on the website. So, that’s what I received. I have noticed no issues with the speed compared with the advertised blazing performance of the Pad 3, so it works fine for my use case. I am satisfied with the performance of the Pad Go 2 so far.
You ask, “Why the OnePlus tablet and not another brand?” There are so many different tablets on the market these days, it would normally be a difficult choice to make. However, in our case we have OnePlus Android phones. So, it made sense to get the same brand, as tablet/phone connectivity is totally seamless and easy. Plus, the screen mirroring functionality is fantastic! Admittedly, I don’t need that, but it is there!
Additionally, the ability to share the 4G/5G data connectivity makes things easier, as it doesn’t require the phone’s hotspot being active, which we normally use for other computers. One area I have not yet figured out, is taking pictures on one or the other device does not necessarily update the other device with the image.
The pen, from a mostly discharged state, takes about 45 minutes for a full charge. On the other hand, the tablet itself requires much longer to charge.1 That is a bit disappointing as the phones accept 80W VOC chargers. So, even with a 80W VOC charger connected to the tablet, it takes many hours to fully charge! I have not timed the interval to fully charge from a mostly discharged state, but from about 50+ percent state, it requires at least 3-4 hours. That is the only real negative I have found so far about the tablet.
Obviously, one reason to use a tablet is to view videos or other pictures/images on something larger than the phone’s display. And the tablet allows a much nicer immersive experience! Also, playing games is much more fun with the larger display, even though I don’t use it for active/action games, just mostly puzzles of various sorts.
So far, I am enjoying the tablet experience immensely, and it is quicker to use than the laptop or main computer as it is lighter and easier to carry. Another use I find more enjoyable is when reading my Bible app, the display provides much less eye strain with the larger display.
So that leads to the question, “Do you know Jesus?”
Footnotes
OnePlus Pad Go 2 supports 33W fast charging when used with a charging adapter that supports 33W or higher SUPERVOOC fast charging protocol.↩︎