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The OnePlus Pad 2’s vibrating stylus simulates writing on paper

The OnePlus Pad 2’s vibrating stylus simulates writing on paper

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The OnePlus Pad 2 will be available on July 30th; along with the optional stylus, it includes a larger, brighter screen and improved sound.

By Andrew Liszewski, a senior reporter who's been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2011, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.

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A user sitting at a table near the beach uses a stylus on the OnePlus Pad 2 tablet.
The OnePlus Pad 2’s optional Stylo 2 stylus vibrates to simulate the feeling of pen on paper.
Image: OnePlus

With a larger 12.1-inch screen now powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platform, the new OnePlus Pad 2 brings several performance upgrades to the company’s original tablet. But the most interesting is an optional new stylus accessory that simulates the pen on paper experience using vibrations.

The new Stylo 2 stylus is now made with a leather-like material, offering improved grip, a jump from 4,096 to 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, swipe controls, and a linear motor inside that makes the tip vibrate to give you that feeling of a pen writing on paper.

There are other improvements as well. The OnePlus Pad 2’s larger screen, up from 11.6 inches on the original, also gets a resolution bump from 2800 x 2000 pixels to 3000 x 2120 pixels and a boost to almost twice the brightness with support for Dolby Vision HDR content. The company is carrying forward the original’s unusual 7:5 screen ratio and a refresh rate that automatically adjusts between 30Hz and 144Hz depending on what you’re using it for to improve battery life.

The OnePlus Pad 2 gains two additional speakers, bringing the total to six, but the original’s 8MP front-facing camera and 13MP rear camera remain unchanged on the new tablet. It’s the same story for the OnePlus Pad 2’s 9,510mAh battery, which still claims an 81-minute charging time using its 67W charger.

A user holds the OnePlus Pad 2 in one hand while tapping on its screen with a finger.
A slightly larger screen on the OnePlus Pad 2 allows three split-screen apps to run simultaneously.
Image: OnePlus

A new optional OnePlus Smart Keyboard is also on the way; the tablet will connect to it physically using a magnetic port or wirelessly over Bluetooth. The keyboard accessory will also add NFC capabilities, allowing files to be shared from a OnePlus smartphone with a tap, even while the tablet is locked. (Both devices need to be logged in to the same OnePlus account.)

A user sitting at a table outside tapping a OnePlus smartphone on the OnePlus Smart Keyboard’s built-in NFC reader.
The new OnePlus Smart Keyboard accessory includes a touchpad that’s twice as large as last year’s version.
Image: OnePlus

The OnePlus Pad 2 will be available starting on July 30th with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $549.99. Color choices are limited to a single “nimbus gray” option that’s subtler than the original OnePlus Pad’s “halo green” tint. The OnePlus Stylo 2 will be available on the same day for $99.99 as well as the $149.99 Smart Keyboard and a simple $39.99 Folio Case 2.

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