The OPPO Pad SE is built for everyday users who want a capable tablet without the high price tag.
It boasts a sturdy aluminium design, a smooth 90Hz Full HD+ display, and a big 9,340 mAh battery that lasts all day. Performance is reliable for streaming, studying, or light work, and OPPO’s latest software adds a smart layer of AI tools for productivity.
It’s an affordable tablet that covers the essentials while feeling more premium than its price would suggest.
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Competition
The OPPO Pad SE sits in the low-to-mid range bracket, priced at $448. That puts it squarely between entry-level options like the $279 Samsung Galaxy Tab A9 and more capable mid-range tablets like the $625 Apple iPad 11 and $649 Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE.
It’s a smartly positioned tablet that fills a gap. At this price its rubbing shoulders with the $515 Lenovo IdeaTab 11” and the $465 Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+.
While it’s not built to compete with the top-of-the-range, premium tablets, the Pad SE’s pricing makes it an appealing choice for anyone wanting a solid, everyday tablet without paying flagship money.
Design
The Pad SE is an 11-inch tablet with a solid, well-built feel. It features an aluminium back and frame, something you don’t often see in this price range. That metal build gives it a more premium feel while adding a welcome bit of sturdiness and durability.
It’s not the slimmest tablet around, but at 7.39 mm thick, it’s still easy to slide into a bag or carry comfortably in one hand. At 530 g, it’s on the heavier side for an 11-inch tablet, though still perfectly manageable. You’ll only really notice the weight if you’re holding it one-handed for long stretches, like during a movie or reading session.
On the back, there’s a single rear camera placed in the centre of the device. It looks a little unconventional compared to most tablets. The upside of that centred placement is that the tablet stays stable on flat surfaces meaning there’s very little wobble when tapping the screen.
It’s available in two colours: Starlight Silver and Twilight Blue. Our review unit came in Twilight Blue, which looks sleek and unique, which is nice.
Display & Audio
The Pad SE features an 11-inch Full HD+ display with a 1920 x 1200 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. Scrolling and navigating feel smooth and responsive.
With a peak brightness of 500 nits, the screen holds up reasonably well outdoors. You might have to squint a little in direct sunlight, but visibility remains decent thanks to the Matte Anti-Reflective Display. It helps cut down glare, and even though this isn’t the brightest screen on the market, you can still use it comfortably in most lighting conditions.
Audio performance is also decent. The quad-speaker setup delivers clear, well-balanced sound with Dolby Atmos support adding some depth. The volume capabilities are impressive as well so whether you’re watching Netflix, scrolling YouTube, or listening to music, it performs well.
Performance
Under the hood, the Pad SE runs on the MediaTek Helio G100 processor. It’s perfectly capable for everyday use, like web browsing, social media, streaming, or light productivity tasks.
Where it starts to struggle is with demanding workloads such as 3D gaming, intensive multitasking, or video editing. Those tasks will quickly push the hardware to its limits.
If you’re after a tablet for professional work or power-heavy applications, this isn’t the one. But if your needs are more casual like watching YouTube, scrolling through socials, or doing a bit of light work, it performs reliably and stays responsive without fuss.
Cameras
Like most tablets, the cameras here aren’t a major selling point. It’s a simple setup featuring 5 MP sensors on both the front and rear, each capable of recording 1080p video.
They’re fine for video calls, online meetings, and scanning documents, but image quality is basic, detail is limited, and low-light performance leaves a lot to be desired.
If you need to snap a few quick photos for work or capture something on-site, they’ll get the job done, but that’s about as far as they go.
Software & AI Features
The Pad SE runs ColorOS 15, which is fast, easy to use and refined. It comes with Google Gemini baked in, so you can summarise documents, translate text, or draft notes directly inside Google apps without bouncing between different tools, which is great.
OPPO’s own AI Document Suite adds more to the mix, with smart features for rewriting, summarising, and side-by-side translations which again are useful tools for study, work, or day-to-day productivity.
For media users, there’s AI Eraser and Unblur, which make cleaning up photos quick and easy. And with O+ Connect, sharing files between Android and iOS devices is simple and seamless.
Battery
Battery life is one of the Pad SE’s strongest features. Its 9,340 mAh battery easily lasts a full day of use, offering up to 11 hours of video playback or around 80 hours of music on a single charge.
It supports 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging, which is a welcome inclusion at this price. The large battery tops up noticeably faster than most standard chargers, meaning you can go from low to comfortably charged in a short time. This makes the Pad SE feel more convenient for daily use, especially if you’re short on time.
Verdict
The OPPO Pad SE focuses on the basics and does them well. It’s well-built, runs smoothly for everyday use, and offers excellent battery life with faster charging than you’d expect at this level.
While it’s not aimed at power users or gamers, it’s a great fit for casual entertainment, study, or general day-to-day use.
At $448, it delivers solid performance and features that make it a worthwhile option in the affordable tablet space.
