If you’re in the market for a new tablet and want to spend as little as possible, your options are somewhat limited. The Apple iPad has become the benchmark for mainstream tablets, but even the cheapest iPad costs £329, which isn’t exactly pocket change for most.
Your other option besides an iPad is an Android tablet, and the latest one from Oppo could be the one for you thanks to specs that match and in some cases beat the iPad, and all for a cheaper price.
The Oppo Pad SE is on sale now in the UK for £199, a special introductory price from its £219 RRP, and packs in impressive features considering the asking price. It’s certainly not as powerful as the iPad Pro or other premium Android tablets such as the recent OnePlus Pad 3, but for streaming Netflix and YouTube, browsing the web, making video calls and sending emails it should do the job with no issues.
The tablet has an 11-inch LCD screen, which is the same size and technology used in the iPad. But Oppo one-ups Apple on the refresh rate, offering 90Hz instead of the iPad’s 60Hz.
This means the operating system, apps and text will scroll smoother on the Pad SE, improving the feel of the device.
You’ll also get 128GB of storage on the new Oppo device, the same Apple offers on its base level iPad. The Pad SE also boasts 500 nits of screen brightness, the same level found on both the iPad and the more expensive £599 iPad Air.
Oppo also claims to have worked wonders when it comes to battery life. Not only should the 9,340mAh battery keep online video playback on the Pad SE going for 11 hours – compared to 10 hours on the iPad – but its smart power saving mode should also keep the tablet on standby for an incredibly long time.
“When the tablet is fully charged and not used for 7 days, the smart power saving mode can ensure that the tablet will still have power after 800 days,” Oppo said.
If this feature works, you could conceivably pick the Pad SE up after two years and still find it with power. This is not the case with the majority of battery-powered products when left on for such a time.
To top it off, Oppo has put four speakers in the Pad SE, double the two you’ll find on Apple’s latest iPad.
Oppo is also offering AI features on the Pad SE, something that can’t be said of the iPad. Even though Apple released its latest entry-level tablet this year, it cannot run Apple Intelligence, Apple’s new AI software tools.
If you have an Oppo phone, the Pad SE will also be a naturally good tablet partner thanks to Oppo’s O+ Connect tech. This lets you easily share photos, videos and files with other Oppo devices using drag-and-drop, as well as use Screen Mirroring, which lets you view your phone notifications on the tablet.
But this clever tech can even make it easier to share files between iPhones and the Pad SE (see above image).