OPPO’s launch event on October 22nd wasn’t just about the flagship Find X10 series. The OEM also introduced the Pad Mini Matte Display Edition and Enco X4. The Pad Mini (as we’ll call it for brevity) deserves your attention, even if its price tag of Rs 94,999 might catch you off guard. The tablet is available in just one RAM and storage configuration. As the name suggests, it is compact and features a matte-finish display instead of the usual glossy panel.
We’ll publish our full review after extended usage, but for now, here are our first impressions of the OPPO Pad Mini following unboxing and initial setup.
Table of Contents
Design: mini and how!
The OPPO Pad Mini may owe its name to its compact form factor, but the Apple iPad mini may have had a hand in it, too. Beyond the naming convention, the OPPO tablet is also nearly identical to the iPad mini in dimensions and weight, with some similarities in design.
The OPPO Pad Mini measures just 194.38mm in height, 132.8mm in width, and 5.5mm in thickness. To put it in perspective, the OPPO tablet is roughly the size of most adults’ hands, and its incredible slimness and around 280 grams of weight make it comfortable to carry around.
As for the design, the tablet boasts flat edges and a display, with a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer at the bottom edge. If you’re obsessive about symmetry, the port’s slightly off-centre placement could be off-putting. The volume rocker and power button are placed on the top edge, which may take some getting used to, as these controls are typically found on the right edge.
OPPO may have tweaked their placement to accommodate the charging slot for the OPPO Pencil 3 Pro on the right edge. Priced at Rs 7,999, the pencil, aka stylus, is available as a complimentary accessory along with a smart case when you purchase the Pad Mini.
The OPPO Pad Mini also features a flat rear panel, but the small, pill-shaped camera module in the corner prevents it from sitting completely flat on a surface. This causes a slight wobble that may be inconvenient for users typing on the tablet while it rests on a table. Sadly, the tablet lacks a fingerprint scanner. You only get ‘Face Unlock’ for authentication, which may not be the most secure option.
The tablet comes in only one colour variant, Lavender Purple, which looks soothing and has a matte finish to help ward off fingerprints and smudges. Speaking of matte, you also get a similar finish on the Pad Mini’s display.
Display: matte-ing things interesting
The OPPO Pad Mini sports an 8.8-inch 2.5K OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, visibly thin bezels, a centred punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera, and up to 3,200 nits of peak brightness. These specs are promising, and I look forward to testing them across different scenarios and content types. However, what makes the display even more interesting is its matte coating.
The coating does attract a few smudges, but these are only noticeable when the display is off. Based on our limited time with the device, the matte finish also appears to make the display less reflective than a standard glossy panel for a better viewing experience.
Stay tuned for a full review to find out if there’s a catch with the matte coating.
Everything else about the OPPO Pad Mini
The tablet may not have top-of-the-line hardware, but it certainly catches one’s eye. The Pad Mini packs an 8,000mAh battery, which is incredible considering the size it is packed in. It supports 67W SuperVOOC wired charging, but interestingly, you get a more powerful 80W charger in the box.
At its core is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC, which we have praised extensively in our reviews of the OnePlus 15R (review) and iQOO 15R (review). Hopefully, the Pad Mini will deliver a near-identical level of performance. The chipset is paired with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. However, there is no microSD card slot for further storage expansion.
The cameras feel fairly restrictive, though, with a 13MP sensor and an LED flash at the back and an 8MP snapper up front. Tablets are anyway not as much for photography as they are for multimedia consumption. To back up the video playback on the tablet, you get dual speakers for a stereo sound output, which, in our initial testing, were sufficiently loud.
Software-wise, the Pad Mini runs Android 16-based ColorOS 16 out of the box. There is no word on the tablet’s software support at the moment. We will check with the brand and get back to you in the tablet’s full review. Other features include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and GPS.
Early thoughts
The OPPO Pad Mini makes a strong first impression with its compact design, slim profile, and matte-finish OLED display. Its Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, 144Hz refresh rate, and large battery also make it an interesting option for users looking for a portable tablet for everyday tasks and multimedia consumption.
However, its price tag of just under Rs 1 lakh makes it more expensive than the new iPad mini OLED, which offers more colour options, Touch ID, and a more established ecosystem. The OPPO Pad Mini does come with a complimentary case and stylus worth Rs 12,000 combined, along with a larger battery and a matte display. Now, whether these advantages are enough to attract buyers at this price, only a full review can tell.
