OnePlus Pad Lite review
OnePlus Pad Lite pros and cons
Pros
Bright, smooth 90 Hz display with immersive speakers.
Excellent battery life, fast charging and strong value with current offers.
OxygenOS features well suited for families and multitasking.
Cons
A mere 128GB of internal storage, with no microSD slot.
Modest performance under heavier loads.
Basic camera functionality.
The OnePlus Pad Lite is built around a relatively simple premise - offer an affordable, reliable, well-rounded Android tablet for everyday use.
Rather than entering the specs wars or hanging itself on a bold gimmick, OnePlus’ latest focuses on the essentials of smooth performance, a bright display, long battery life and a clean, comfortable design.
Whether used for a bit of downtime on the sofa, taken on the road to keep kids entertained or as a handy second screen for daily duties, the Pad Lite is a considered entrant to a space that has become a lot more contentious in recent months.
Check out if OnePlus has delivered where it counts - or cut a few too many corners - in our Pad Lite review.
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Design and build
The OnePlus Pad Lite is - as the name suggests - a lighter-than-normal tablet without fragility, and a simplistic style without becoming slight on functionality.
At a weight of a mere 530 grams and measuring just 7.4mm thin (with dimensions of 166.4mm by 254.9mm), it’s easy to carry, hold or prop up whether at home or on the move.
The singular colourway of a matte aluminium body in Aero Blue lends it a modest, premium aesthetic, and presents a slightly more squared-off spin on the popular Pad Go’s look of a two-tone finish and centred camera on the rear.
Buttons are placed within easy reach and feel solid, while the USB‑C port and speaker grilles are subtly integrated. There is no fingerprint scanner on the power button, so unlocking is done through facial recognition or PIN.
The Pad Lite supports Wi‑Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2 and also arrives in an LTE variant (packing 8 as opposed to the 6GB of RAM found in the base model) for on-the-go connectivity. That inclusion proved invaluable during a recent family holiday, where patchy hotel Wi‑Fi proved less than reliable.
With a mobile SIM installed, the tablet stayed connected and kept two children entertained with no complaints, no hotspot setup and no drama.
Internal storage is a firm 128GB, and there’s no microSD slot to expand it. The OnePlus Pad Go, by contrast, does tout expandable memory support and that higher amount of RAM as standard.
When it comes to robustness, it's clearly able to take the rough and tumble of daily use from little ones, but be aware that its IP42 rating means the Pad Lite needs to stay well away from even a light drizzle to be on the safe side.
These are clearly conscious concessions to keep the Pad Lite more affordable, and is something to bear in mind if you are a heavier media user - especially given the fact that deep discounts mean there’s often little daylight between the cost of the two devices.
Display and audio quality
The Pad Lite delivers a bright and fluid 11‑inch LCD panel with a 1920 × 1200 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio.
While not quite as sharp as the 2.4K panel on the Pad Go, it delivers crisp text and punchy colour thanks to 10‑bit depth and parity of a 90Hz refresh rate. This helps everything from doomscrolling to video playback feel smooth and responsive.
A peak brightness of 500 nits is enough for most indoor settings, and the screen holds up in shade outdoors. You will need to keep reflections in check, but it performs fairly well for its class.
Audio is impressive, with a quartet of stereo speakers delivering clear sound in both landscape and portrait modes. OnePlus’ spatial enhancement gives media a little extra weight and depth.
While there’s no headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.2 supports advanced audio codecs like aptX HD and LDAC for wireless listening.
Camera performance
The camera setup on the OnePlus Pad Lite is best described as functional, covering the basics one would reasonably expect from a tablet at this price.
Both the front and rear cameras are 5-megapixel efforts. That puts it slightly behind the Pad Go, which offers 8-megapixel sensors on both sides, with the results very much reflective of that.
Photos in good lighting conditions are serviceable, with quality that is fine for scanning documents, sharing a quick snap or capturing a whiteboard during a meeting. Colours are generally accurate, though contrast is limited and finer detail often gets smoothed or smushed out.
In low light, performance drops quickly, with grain and softness becoming more pronounced.
There is no HDR, portrait mode or any form of advanced processing. The camera app is clean and straightforward, which suits the tablet's focus on simplicity.
Video recording tops out at 1080p at 30 frames per second with footage looking stable enough for casual use or social media uploads, but detail and dynamic range are modest.
Audio capture is clear, making it suitable for family calls or quick clips. The front camera is placed on the longer side of the tablet, making it well-oriented for landscape video calls..
You'll not get the most creative control nor polished results here, but for school work, video chats and general everyday use, it gets the job done reliably.
Performance and software
Under the bonnet of the Pad Lite is MediaTek’s Helio G100 processor, paired with either 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM depending on the model in question. The chipset is capable, but it does show its limits with more intensive apps or heavier multitasking.
That said, daily tasks like web browsing, media playback, reading and light work all run smoothly.
The kids were more than happy with performance however, with staples like Fortnite and Roblox performing reliably.
Titles requiring a bit more horsepower such as Genshin Impact (we're thoroughly enjoying the Summer Resort update) did need us to lower its graphics settings for consistent frame rates - even Barbie's Dreamhouse Adventures is surprisingly taxing on the old CPU, so was a bit more laggy than the kids were used to.
Software is where the Pad Lite stands out, however, with OxygenOS 15.0.1 proving to be a lightweight operating system clean and full of useful features.
Open Canvas supports resizable split-screen multitasking, whilst O+ Connect links your tablet with phones and even iPhones for synching workflows, screen mirroring and gallery transfer.
Quick Share enables file transfers without Wi‑Fi (great for adding a bunch of shows before going on holiday), and there’s a full-featured Kids Mode with support for Google Kids Space - a life-saver for ensuring time management as well as curated child-friendly content.
With the promise of security updates until the far-flung future date of 2031, and three years of operating system iterations, the OnePlus Pad Lite is reassuringly being supported for the long run, despite its decidedly entry-level price point.
Battery and charging
Battery life is a standout feature. The 9340 mAh cell is larger than what you get in the Pad Go and offers strong endurance. Expect around 11 hours of video playback, 80 hours of music and more than a full day of regular use. It holds up exceptionally well under media-heavy workloads.
Charging is equally fast, with 33 W SUPERVOOC getting you from empty to 50% in less than an hour, and fully charged in about two.
Whilst a charger wasn't in the box, the USB-C compatibility meant no shortage of useful cables to keep it topped up, as well as via portable chargers without incident.
OnePlus Pad Lite UK pricing and availability
In the UK, the Pad Lite is available in two models, and Wi‑Fi only variant with 6GB RAM and 128 GB storage retailing for £199 is the default, whilst the LTE model with 8GB of RAM and 128 GB storage has an RRP of £229.
OnePlus - as ever - is also running a generous set of offers, including £30 off either model when purchased through the official OnePlus store, a choice of free gift between a Pad Lite Folio Case or SUPERVOOC 80 W adapter (both sold separately and worth £34.99 and £39.99 respectively), plus an additional £30 trade-in bonus when you send in any eligible device.
These deals at the time of writing place the Pad Lite at a considerable advantage against rivals, reinforcing its position as one of the best-value Android tablets around.
Final verdict
The OnePlus Pad Lite keeps things accessible, reliable and affordable, which is exactly what most people want in a second screen or family tablet.
You are making some small concessions compared to the Pad Go – lower display resolution, less RAM on the base model and reduced camera specs – but you gain a bigger battery, LTE connectivity parity on the higher-specced version, and thoughtful software that brings real everyday user benefits.
If value matters more than spec-sheet bragging rights, the Pad Lite earns a place near the top of the list for anyone with a budget of £250.
That being said, knowing OnePlus’ penchant for deep discounts, there’s something to be said for considering the OnePlus Go, which is currently also £169 with a whopping £130 off the headline price.
Equally, if you're willing to spend a bit more then even 2024’s OnePlus Pad 2 - boasting 12GB of RAM and double the Lite’s storage, as well as a modern Snapdragon processor, a larger, snazzier display and bigger battery - is available for a mere £299 (£200 off) as part of their Flash Sale.
Consumers are currently spoiled for choice when it comes to decent Android tablets but if cost, connectivity and clean lines are key concerns, then the OnePlus Pad Lite remains an appealing - and affordable - entry-level device.
