OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Dethroning the tablet champion?

Why compare the OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra when the latter costs so much more? Because the Pad 2 beats Samsung's flagship Android tablet in several surprising ways, and you'll have to decide whether this mid-range device is a better option.

The OnePlus Pad 2, rebranded from the OnePlus Pad Pro released in China earlier this year, is a step up on 2023's OnePlus Pad, which had strong hardware but some software downsides that put off our reviewer. The Pad 2 improves on its predecessor's hardware in key ways, while bringing in tools from its new foldable phones for better multitasking software than before.

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra numbers among the best Android tablets available today, especially if you're more interested in productivity than portability. But our Senior Editor for Tablets has moved the OnePlus Pad 2 above the Ultra in our rankings, given how expensive the Ultra is. It'll be up to you to decide whether it's worth spending more for perks like DeX Mode and richer AMOLED colors.

OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Design

The OnePlus Pad 2 weighs 146g or 5.2oz less than the Ultra; it actually weighs the same as the Galaxy Tab S9 Plus, though it's 1mm thicker. Made of matte aluminum, the Nimbus Gray Pad 2 is very plain looking compared to the Halo Green, brushed-metal finish of the first Pad. Aside from the OnePlus logo, not much stands out at first glance.

The Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra mostly stands out because of its massive size. You need a Tab S9 or S9+ for something more portable, while this is mainly designed to sit on a desk so you can tap at the display with an S Pen or use the expensive Book Cover Keyboard. The back has Samsung's trademark lines etched along the edge, giving it a bit of character, but otherwise it's another matte aluminum slab; the main difference is that Samsung sells it in two colors, Graphite or Beige.

Samsung gave its Tab S9 Ultra IP68 dust and water resistance, so it can withstand any potential spills at home or on the go. The Pad 2 doesn't give you that peace of mind.

Both are designed with landscape mode in mind: the Tab S9 Ultra has a small centered notch for the dual 12MP selfie cams, while the Pad 2 has a small cut-out in the bezel for its 8MP cam. Both align their speaker grilles on the shorter edges so sound isn't cut off sitting on a desk or lap. And both have rich stereo sound, though OnePlus added two extra speakers for some extra oomph.

Both tablets support their proprietary styluses — the Samsung S Pen or the OnePlus Stylo 2 — each with less than 3ms of latency for responsive drawing. OnePlus promises 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity compared to Samsung's 4,096, but you have to pay separately for the Stylo 2. 

Also, this artist's review of the OnePlus Pad 2 describes issues with detecting pressure changes and drawing diagonal lines; he called Samsung's S Pen more reliable. We're still testing the Pad 2 ourselves, but we're inclined to trust his expertise.

OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Display

Samsung's 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra gives you the most screen real estate of any tablet. Its AMOLED panel gets "more than bright enough" thanks to the boosted nits over the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and provides deeper blacks and richer colors than an LCD can offer. It also hits a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and supports the S Pen for stylus controls.

The OnePlus Pad 2 only delivers a 12.1-inch LCD display, helping it hit a lower price point and making it easier to hold for streaming. If you can accept the muted colors, the Pad 2 display has a dynamic 144Hz refresh rate that switches to slower speeds depending on the application to save battery. Unfortunately, OnePlus controls which apps support the highest Hz, with most defaulting to either 120Hz or 60Hz.

It also has a richer resolution, beating Samsung's by 64 pixels per inch (PPI). Smaller tablets usually have higher PPIs, but even the comparably-sized Tab S9+ is 38 PPI short. And while its peak brightness for outdoor use is 30 nits short, its standard indoor brightness wins handily.

Of the two tablets, only Samsung's display has an in-display fingerprint sensor, while OnePlus relies on facial recognition or a standard passcode. Only Samsung gave its Tab display a Gorilla Glass 5 protective layer. And even though Samsung's display notch is polarizing, it's only noticeable because the rest of the bezel is so skinny, while the Pad 2 bezel has a more industry-standard thickness.

OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Hardware

OnePlus sells two versions of its Pad 2, but only the higher-end 12GB/256GB variant is available in the United States. That matches the default Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra option, and its 16GB/1TB upgrade appears to be out of stock today. Still, you can pay $120 extra to jump to 512GB of storage, and you also have a 1TB-capable microSD card slot, while OnePlus can't go higher than 256GB.

While the OnePlus Pad 1 had a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 that our reviewer complained was prone to laggy browsing, the Pad 2 uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which has much more powerful benchmarks, solving the issue. For comparison, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.

Both of these are flagship CPUs, with the Gen 3 winning by a small margin. If you're concerned about the best possible performance, you can check Notebook Check's Gen 2 for Galaxy vs. Gen 3 benchmarks: they show a noticeable gap for 3DMark and Geekbench multi-core but similar Geekbench single-core, which suggests you'll mainly see a difference for demanding tasks like gaming. 

OnePlus didn't upgrade its cameras from the last version; our reviewer called the 8MP selfie cam "passable" but not especially good, and joked that you "shouldn't be taking photos with this thing at all" because the 13MP rear camera sensor is nothing special.

Samsung gave the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra dual 13MP and 8MP UW rear cameras, so your resolution for photos is going to be comparable if you bother with it — except you can take wider, lower-resolution photos if you want. What's much more important is the dual 12MP selfie cams, providing high-quality resolution and detail for video conferencing.

As for battery life, the Tab S9 Ultra's extra capacity compared to the Pad 2 is offset by the larger display. In practice, these are both long-lived tablets that should last you about 10 hours of video streaming before you need to charge them. 

The key difference is that OnePlus offers a speedier 67W charging standard than Samsung's 45W, so you can refill it in about 90 minutes instead of two hours. Plus, OnePlus actually includes an 80W power adapter in the box, whereas Samsung makes you buy one for yourself.

OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Software

Samsung promises its usual four years of OS updates and five years of security updates for the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, while OnePlus promises three OS updates and four years of security updates. Since Samsung released the Tab S9 series in August 2023, that means both tablets have the same amount of support time left.

Samsung's tablet is best known for its DeX mode. You connect a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard with trackpad to the Ultra, then use it as a makeshift laptop for Chromebook-style productivity. Our Tablets editor loves the latest version of DeX introduced with One UI 6 and feels it should be the default for Samsung tablets. That said, you can still multitask in standard Android mode, splitting apps across the screen.

Our original OnePlus Pad reviewer had beef with the software experience, but OnePlus took its experience with the OnePlus Open foldable to improve multitasking on the Pad 2. It has a new Open Canvas software layout that lets you float several apps across the Pad 2 space in a natural and convenient way, making it appealing for power users.

OnePlus Pad 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra: Which should you buy?

We've heard rumors about the Galaxy Tab S10+ and S10 Ultra allegedly arriving this fall, and they can't come soon enough. This Pad 2 vs. Tab S9 Ultra comparison shows that Samsung has lost a step on the competition a bit. OnePlus has its Android rival beat for performance, refresh rate, resolution, charging speed, number of speakers, and other areas while charging significantly less.

Samsung does better at certain intangibles: It bundles the S Pen, includes strong haptics (the Pad 2 has none) and a fingerprint sensor, water resistance, and richer display colors. The Ultra is still a fast and visually stunning device, and it gives you more screen space to work or play.

But considering the huge price gap between the $550 OnePlus Pad 2 and $1,200 Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, the return on investment arguably isn't enough to justify spending that much more, unless you're truly going to use your tablet as a laptop replacement.