The first OnePlus tablet will cost $479

OnePlus has announced pricing for its first tablet, the Android-powered OnePlus Pad. Starting Friday, April 28th, the OnePlus Pad will be available to pre-order for $479 (€499 / £449) Directly from OnePlus. Accessories for the tablet include a $149 magnetic keyboard case, a $99 stylus, and a $39 folio case. OnePlus is expected to start shipping on May 8, with Amazon availability later in May. Those who pre-order before May 8 will be able to get a 50 percent discount on a set of OnePlus Buds Pro 2 earbuds when they are purchased with the tablet.

The OnePlus Pad is entering the tablet market dominated by Apple, with Samsung taking all the rest. OnePlus originally made its name by selling high-end smartphones at prices well below those of Samsung or Apple; It will be interesting to see if the tablet is able to inject some excitement into the Android tablet market in a similar way.

The most compelling aspect of the tablet is its screen: a 144Hz LCD with a unique 7:5 aspect ratio splits the difference in form between a 4:3 screen, similar to the iPad, and a 3:2 screen, like the one found in Surface Pro devices from Microsoft. This would make it flexible for both portrait and landscape orientation, which is something Samsung tablets struggle with. Additionally, the display supports Dolby Vision HDR, and the Pad’s quad-speaker array supports Dolby Atmos audio.

In addition to the interesting display, the Pad has an aluminum chassis with a brushed metal finish. It comes in one color: green. Other specifications include MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Like iPads and Samsung tablets, you’ll be able to pair the pad with a trackpad-equipped keyboard case for productivity work or write on its screen with the optional stylus. It will also be able to use the data connection of the paired OnePlus phone without the need for a dedicated data plan of its own.

Pad pricing puts it in the middle of the pack — it’s more expensive than Apple’s entry-level iPads but has hardware features that compete with the pricier iPad Pro line. Likewise, they cost more than Samsung’s budget tablets but don’t cost nearly as much as the Tab S8 models that share similar features. It’s a familiar OnePlus formula.

We’ll have a review of the OnePlus Pad in the near future, so stay tuned for more impressions.

Correction, 10 a.m. ET, April 25: An earlier version of this article had the incorrect UK pricing.