In early 2024, OPPO introduced the OPPO Pad Neo tablet in Ukraine. This is a stylish mid-range model. The features include a bright 2.4K LTPS screen with a 7:5 aspect ratio, four powerful speakers with Dolby Atmos support, and excellent battery life. We have already tested the tablet for some time, and in the review below we share the test results, user experience, etc.
Pluses:
stylish design; metal body; bright 90 Hz LTPS screen; LTE option; GPS module; four powerful speakers with Dolby Atmos support; support for popular audio codecs SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD and LDAC; good battery life and excellent standby time; 33 W fast charging; adequate price/quality/capabilities ratio
Minuses:
weak chip; small package; no film on the screen out of the box; a large camera that sticks out and still takes poor pictures; glossy part of the body is prone to scratches
Content
OPPO Pad Neo specifications.
| Hull | Metal |
| Display | 11.4 inches, 2408×1720 pixels, LTPS, 260 PPI/ |
| Processor |
Helio G99, 8-core, 2 Cortex-A76 2200 MHz cores and 6 Cortex-A55 2000 MHz cores
|
| Graphics | Arm Mali-G57 MC2 |
| RAM capacity. | 6/8 GB LPDDR4x. |
| Internal memory capacity. | 128 GB UFS 2.2 |
| Memory card support. | MicroSD up to and including 1 TB |
| Interfaces | USB Type-C |
| Network interfaces | 4G, GPS Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Primary Camera | 8 megapixels |
| Front-facing camera | 8 megapixels |
| Built-in microphone. | Yes |
| Battery | 8000 mAh, fast charging is available |
| Dimensions | 255 mm x 188 mm x 7 mm |
| Weight | 538 grams. |
Packaging and equipment
OPPO Pad Neo comes in a flat box in gray and white colors.
Inside we see the tablet itself, a USB-A to USB-C cable, documentation and a paper clip to open the SIM card tray. There is no power supply, no case, and no screen protector.
Design and ergonomics
OPPO Pad Neo has a matte metal body with flat edges and significantly rounded corners. The tablet is only 6.89 mm thick and weighs 538 grams. At first, it’s a little heavy to use, but after a day or two you get used to it.
On the front panel we see symmetrical bezels of medium size and a tiny front camera.
There’s an OPPO inscription on the back, as well as a narrow area of glossy metal and a main camera that’s significantly protruded beyond the body.
If you hold the tablet horizontally, you’ll see a pair of speakers, a USB-C port, and a microphone on the right side. On the left side we see two more speakers, a screen lock button and a SIM card slot. There’s nothing on the bottom, and the top has an antenna, another microphone, and volume buttons.
The larger matte part of the metal case is difficult to get dirty with prints, and it shows almost no dust or other signs of use. But the narrow glossy strip around the main camera will be all over your fingers in a matter of minutes.
When I first saw the OPPO Pad Neo screen and didn’t look at the specs, I thought it was AMOLED. But it turned out to be LTPS — an improved version of IPS. Officially, these matrices have improved sensitivity, but due to the good resolution and adequate brightness, it generally gives a detailed, rich picture, which is very similar to AMOLED. Therefore, the screen — is one of several serious advantages of the model. The manufacturer also declares compliance with the Circadian Friendly and Full Care Display 2.0 standards from TÜV Rheinland, which means that the screen has a minimal negative impact on the eyes.
The settings include dark and light themes, auto-brightness, natural hues mode, screen color mode (Vivid, Natural), and color temperature change. I prefer the Vivid mode and the default color temperature.
There is also an eye comfort mode and the «Before Sleep» function, which significantly reduces eye strain. You can also change the font and display size and change the screen refresh rate. However, in the latter case, there are only 60 and 90 Hz modes, but no automatic mode.
Productivity, Software and Gaming
OPPO Pad Neo has an 8-core MediaTek Helio G99 processor, made using the 6-nm process technology. It has a pair of Cortex-A76 cores at 2200 MHz and six Cortex-A55 cores at 2000 MHz. The graphics here are Arm Mali-G57 MC2.
The RAM can be 6 or 8 GB LPDDR4x (the second variant with LTE and it was the one that was reviewed), as well as 128 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. We didn’t forget about the virtual memory function. Here it can be added up to 8 GB inclusive. There is also support for memory cards up to 1 TB inclusive, so if the built-in is not enough for you, then put in a microSD.
The tablet has its own GPS module (plus BEIDOU, GLONASS, and GALILEO), and with it a full-fledged compass and the ability to act as a navigator. We also added the function of quick connection to OPPO smartphones and file sharing between devices.
The interfaces and modules include Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11a/b/g/n/, WLAN 2.4G/WLAN 5.1G/WLAN 5.8G, and Bluetooth 5.2.
In tests and benchmarks, OPPO Pad Neo performed well, which generally confirmed its placement in the mid-range class of tablets. The chip also turned out to be very cold, which is not surprising for its low-power category.
For games, the new tech is suitable, but it will only run heavy popular projects on medium and sometimes medium-high graphics settings. But on such a large screen, the stretched picture and noticeable pixels are striking, so this model is not suitable for mobile gamers.
OPPO Pad Neo runs on Android 13. On top is the proprietary ColorOS 13.2 shell. The add-on is nice and looks modern. There are many different appearance settings and so on. In general, the system works well. No slowdowns, errors or friezes were noticed.
Sound and camera
The sound of the built-in speakers and the sound in headphones — are the second and third important advantages of the tablet. OPPO Pad Neo is equipped with four speakers with Dolby Atmos support. There is an application where you can turn on presets or play with the equalizer.
The sound is powerful, surround, and even has bass. Of course, as much as possible for such small speakers. In general, the sound is rich and loud, but not deafening. You can listen to music on the tablet without any problems. Of course, it will be worse than in headphones, but it will definitely not be as bad as on some other models.
OPPO Pad Neo is also great for watching videos on YouTube or movies and TV shows on Netflix. It’s a full-fledged multimedia station.
The sound is also good in headphones. Of course, it depends more on the headphone model, but the tablet supports many popular codecs (SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC), which is definitely better than some competitors offer.
OPPO Pad Neo has an 8-megapixel main and front cameras with autofocus and f 2.0 aperture. But despite the allegedly physically large main module, the tablet’s camera takes pictures like almost all other tablet cameras — poorly.
In good light, the photos are even more or less adequate for a tablet. But as soon as the lighting fades a little, very noticeable noise appears in the photos. But the front-facing module is nice, so it will be the best solution for video calls, but definitely not for selfies.
Both cameras can shoot 1080p/720p video at 30fps. The main one has stabilization, but the overall quality of the videos is mediocre.
OPPO Pad Neo battery life.
OPPO Pad Neo is equipped with an 8000 mAh battery. There is support for SuperVOOC 33W fast charging. The manufacturer claims 14.5 hours of video playback and 40 hours of music playback on a single charge. And also about 514 hours of standby time.
I can’t confirm the battery life in hours, but in fact, the tablet works on a single charge for two days. Unfortunately, the tablet didn’t want to run any PC Mark tests, so I can’t show you specific performance figures.
I also checked its standby mode. I had it for a week without turning it off, and during this time the charge went down by only 15% (!). That is, for almost 170 hours in standby mode, the battery was discharged by so little, which means that the manufacturer’s claim is most likely true. This is a very good result, and I’ve never seen anything like this in a tablet. Usually, if I leave my 10-inch tablet for a day or two, I pick it up with a completely discharged gadget. And here you pick it up in a day or two, and it has almost the same percentage of charge. You pick it up a week later, and it has dropped very little.
It’s cool and convenient to use. Especially at home, when you have different gadgets, so you don’t always use the tablet, but sometimes you really need it. And usually you either have to keep it off and then wait for it to start, or charge it constantly every day or two, even if you don’t use it, or pick up a discharged tablet and wait for it to charge. But this will not happen with OPPO Pad Neo. It’s always ready to go and requires minimal charging and maintenance.
Experience of use.
Overall, I liked the OPPO Pad Neo because it has three main advantages of a tablet, which, in my opinion, are crucial. It has a beautiful, large, bright screen, it has powerful, loud, high-quality sound, and adequate battery life. The bonus is the incredible standby time, which makes it very easy to use the tablet in everyday life.
The model is a bit heavier than some other tablets I’ve tested. This is probably due to the larger screen and metal body. But you get used to these extra grams in just a day or two, so it’s not a problem at all.
Another thing I didn’t like was the protruding camera and the glossy part of the back cover, which must be protected with a case, because without it it will quickly get scratched and dirty.
We liked the relatively thin and uniform bezels, as well as the increased screen size. The manufacturer claims that it is made to fit the format of a large book for easy reading, and it really is. It is convenient to read not only books but also reviews, news articles, etc. on such a display. As I said above, this is a full-fledged multimedia station, which, in my opinion, is what a tablet should be.
I also liked the price, because sometimes OPPO goes overboard with this, which has negatively affected the evaluation of their smartphones several times. But here everything is fine. The tablet is certainly not cheap, but it’s in the mid-range segment, and for the money we have everything we need. Of course, there are powerful competitors. Some of them deliver better results, but some are worse. That’s why we probably have a golden mean here.
Price and competitors
OPPO Pad Neo is sold at a price starting from .12,000 UAH for the standard version and from 13,690 UAH for the LTE version. In my opinion, this is a more than adequate price for a similar size, features, screen, sound, etc.
Among the competitors, it is worth highlighting .Xiaomi Mi Pad 6 (price from UAH 11,500), Apple iPad 2021 with a price tag from UAH 11,550, Lenovo Tab P11 2nd Gen (price from 7800 UAH), as well as Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 2022 with a price tag of UAH 12,800.