Ryan Haines / Android Authority
I’ve been a dedicated iPad user for the better part of a decade. Ranging from the annoyingly expensive iPad Pro to the M-series iPad Air, Apple’s tablet has always been the default slate in my bag for a few simple reasons. It wasn’t just the premium choice, it was the safe choice, and frankly, the only choice that made sense if you needed a solid balance of hardware and software. But over the last month, I’ve done something that would have seemed unthinkable to me a year ago. I left my iPad at home and have been carrying around the OnePlus Pad Go 2 instead.
The OnePlus Pad Go 2 isn't just cheaper, it might actually be better for what I do.
At roughly $400, this really should not be a fair fight. My iPad setup cost nearly three times as much once you factor in the keyboard and Apple Pencil. Yet, for my specific workflow, which revolves heavily around on-the-go learning, research, and capturing spontaneous ideas, the OnePlus Pad Go 2 is not just a cheaper alternative — it honestly might just be the better tool. Making the switch from an iPad to a utilitarian mid-range Android tablet might not please my brand and ecosystem-conscious mind, but the reality is that it does everything I need from it. Here is why I am making the switch, and why you might want to consider it too.
Have you switched from an iPad to an Android tablet? 51 votes Yes, I made the switch. 45 % No, but I've thought about it. 24 % No, I prefer my iPad. 18 % I don't use a tablet. 14 %
A productivity-oriented aspect ratio
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
As a tech journalist, I’ve used and reviewed my fair share of tablets over the years, and one of the first things I look for is the screen aspect ratio. It’s the factor that, at least for me, dictates the entire user experience. Most budget Android tablets stick to a 16:10 or 16:9 ratio. While that is fantastic if you are exclusively watching Netflix or YouTube, it is absolutely terrible for getting actual work done. When you hold a 16:10 tablet in landscape mode, it just doesn’t give you enough headroom for text-based content, and it’s been a sore point for me for years. You lose all vertical context, which makes these tablets far from ideal for text-based use cases like documents, browsing the web, or reviewing notes.
The OnePlus Pad Go 2 borrows the 7:5 aspect ratio from its more expensive OnePlus Pad 2 sibling, and this single hardware decision dramatically impacts the user experience for the better. It sounds like a minor detail on a spec sheet, but in practice, the screen is, obviously, squarer and comes very close to mimicking the dimensions of a standard sheet of A4 paper. In fact, I’d say it’s even better than the iPad’s 4:3 ratio and, of course, the typical Android widescreen format.
A 16:10 screen is great for Netflix and terrible for actual work. The OnePlus Pad Go 2's 7:5 display turns it into a proper reading and writing tool.
... continue reading