OnePlus surprised the world in February when it unveiled its first tablet, the OnePlus Pad. Things have been quiet since then, but I finally had the pleasure of trying the first samples of the new tablet at Mobile World Congress.

Although my time with the tablet was brief, OnePlus has taken features from existing tablet makers and added its own twist, making it an attractive new competitor to the iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

Pricing by OnePlus has not yet been announced, and the release date is only vague, in April. However, if you are currently shopping for a tablet, it may be worth waiting a few weeks to see what this tablet is capable of in real-world testing.

To get the basics straight, the OnePlus Tab is an 11.6-inch device with a 7:5 aspect ratio display, which is unusually square for a tablet (the iPad, for example, is 4:3.) OnePlus makes the Pad similar in ratio to an open book, They claim it is useful for reading and working.

OnePlus manages to have its cake and eat it, too, on the edges of the tablet: the three sides have beautifully ergonomic curved edges, quite different from the flat-sided iPad and Galaxy Tab. The top surface, however, has a flat edge cutout, perfect for magnetically attaching a stylus for charging. It's a strange asymmetrical look, but a fairly practical choice.

The display has OnePlus flair in the form of promised 10-bit color support and a maximum brightness of 500 nits. While we were unable to test these precisely on site in Barcelona, reading the tablet was certainly easy, even under the bright venue lights, and everything on the display looked crisp and bright.

A 144 Hz refresh rate was also achieved, which in theory should be a bit smoother than the 120 Hz refresh rate of the Galaxy Tab S8 series and iPad Pro.

Beyond the display, one can see the aluminum body in a single halo green color. While this color is handsome, it is odd that there is no black option as seen on OnePlus phones like the recently released OnePlus 11.

Measuring 10.1 x 7.4 x 0.2 inches (258.03 x 189.41 x 6.54 mm) thick and weighing 1.2 pounds (552 grams), the OnePlus Pad is taller and wider than the 10.9-inch iPad and iPad Air, but significantly heavier.

This weight is due to its massive 9,510 mAh battery, which OnePlus claims can withstand up to 12.4 hours of video playback, according to its own tests.

When power eventually runs out, a 67W charging brick can fill the tablet in 80 minutes. This is much faster than the iPad and faster than the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra's 45W charge.

On the optical side, the device has an 8MP front camera and a 13MP rear camera. The front sensor is mounted on the long edge of the display, which should already be standard on all tablets since this is how selfie cameras are most often used.

The OnePlus Pad's camera also features its own version of Apple's Center Stage, called Limelight, which allows users to move around in front of the tablet during video calls and still be in the frame.

The rear camera looks a little odd, housed in a black circle that sticks out from the back of the tablet both figuratively and literally; it's not as prominent as it appears in the images on the OnePlus website, but unless you buy a case with it, it won't lay flat in any way It won't (as you can see above).

You can see how OnePlus has taken the lead from the iPad and Galaxy Tab families in the use of accessories. The OnePlus Stylo, a magnetic keyboard/trackpad case and stylus, is now available and can function as both an art tool and a pseudo-laptop.

The Stylo also appears to be a good stylus, with a solid Apple Pencil-like chip and a latency time of only 2 ms, according to the specs. There is no disconnect between the pen strokes and the marks on the digital page, making writing and doodling a pleasant experience.

All of these activities are performed by the Dimensity 9000 chip with up to 12 GB of RAM. This chip is the same one found in the Oppo Find N2 Flip, which will not be able to compete with the iPad Air with the M1 chip or the iPad Pro with the latest M2 chip.

Still, it is powerful enough to enable options such as dual-app multitasking with a simple two-finger swipe gesture. This allows the full width of the display to be used to display two normal-ratio vertical apps side by side. In addition, when connected to a OnePlus phone, hotspots are quickly displayed and, as with all major tablets, there is interoperability between tablet and phone apps.

The OnePlus Pad does some unusual things with the tablet's form factor, appealing at least by its novelty. The square shape and other unusual designs quickly established the identity of OnePlus' tablet line. Meanwhile, the responsive stylus, convenient keyboard cover, future-proof performance, battery life, charging speed, and other value-added features have helped to show that it differs from Apple and Samsung's slates down to the silicon skeleton.

All OnePlus needs is an attractive price to start taking sales away from Samsung's Galaxy Tabs. And it may even be able to convert the odd iPad user who feels that Apple's slate is not for them.