Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition Review – An Awesome Way to Take Note

Tablets continue to remain popular on account of their slim form factors and large displays. Oppo’s latest tablet saw its debut alongside the Reno 15 series, and rather than acting as a mere content consumption slate, looks to expand the traditional role of a tablet into a more serious productivity-oriented platform with a new matte display and a host of AI-powered productivity related features. 

 

We managed to get our hands on an example for field testing and after putting it through its paces, here’s our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review where we suss out if it is worth what you pay for.

Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review – Build and Design

As you’d likely surmise from its official designation, the Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition’s marquee feature is its 12.1-inch IPS LCD that has a special frosted matte finish. On paper, the unique nano-etched matte finish ensures more comfortable viewing by reducing reflections by up to 97% while also reducing harmful blue light emissions which contribute to eye fatigue by up to 70%. 

To wit, the display itself has both a TÜV Rheinland Intelligent Eye Care 4.0 as well as TÜV Rheinland Reflection Free certification, further vouching for its unique properties. 

Intended to be used primarily in landscape orientation, the display features 2.8K (2,800 x 1,980 pixels) resolution, offers up to 900 nits peak brightness and a unique 7:5 aspect ratio that mimics traditional books and magazines for a more comfortable reading experience. As a side benefit, the matte finish also resists fingerprints nicely.

Unfortunately, the LCD panel does not seem to officially implement any protective glass to resist scratches and impacts. The display also has rather chunky side and top bezels which lends it a slightly dated look. The bezels also house the 8MP selfie camera for selfies and video calls.

 

In terms of build and design, the tablet features a fairly standard layout. The left side of our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review unit features a power button, a SIM card tray that also allows users to augment the onboard storage with microSD cards as well as a pair of grilles for two of the built-in quad speakers. The right side of the tablet has a matching set of dual speaker grilles along with a USB-C port for charging duties. 

The base of the tablet is otherwise unremarkable with the top featuring a volume rocker. Flipping the Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition reveals an eye-catching Aurora Pink colourway that consists of a soft metallic satin finish with subtle striations across the backplate and silvery speckles that reflect the light.

Aesthetics aside, the backplate repels fingerprints nicely and offers a fair amount of friction so that it won’t inadvertently slip out of your fingers at an inopportune moment. Unfortunately, the tablet lacks any dust or water resistance which is increasingly becoming a necessity in this day and age.

If you managed to acquire the tablet early as part of its early bird programme, Oppo also throws in a free Oppo Pencil 2R stylus as well as a smart keyboard case.

The smart keyboard case relies on a proven design with the tablet snapping neatly into a series of prongs that hold it securely in place. It also features a non-detachable wireless keyboard that connects to the tablet via Bluetooth. 

The wireless keyboard itself is of fairly conventional design, lacks backlighting and has a dedicated AI key that summons Google Gemini if you hold it down and goes into the app drawer if you give it a simple tap. Charging the laptop is via a USB-C port on the side. You also get a toggle to turn the keyboard on or off. 

Unfortunately, the keyboard is non-detachable and the stand only deploys the tablet at a rather stiff 60 degree angle which is ideal for use at eye-level on a work desk. One interesting addition to the keyboard case beyond similar designs is a plastic prong on the back that lets you securely stow the Oppo Pencil 2R stylus without it falling off.

On a side note, the design of the stylus holder also makes it easier to ensure that it isn’t misplaced when on the move; a scenario that happens all too often with stylus holder designs that have a recessed stylus well or that are hidden within the case itself.

Like other digital styli of recent vintage, the Oppo Pencil 2R offers 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, has a hexagonal design to prevent it from rolling off a table and has a clickable button for easy access to the screen capture feature and to swap pen tools when sketching as needed. 

Beyond the keyboard case and Pencil 2R stylus that ship only for early bird buyers, our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review sample comes with a USB-C cable, the usual warranty literature and a SIM eject pin. Unfortunately, Oppo doesn’t ship a charger with the tablet this time though odds are that most users will likely have a charger lying about so it’s not a huge deal breaker.

@hitechcentury We unbox the new OPPO Pad 5 Matte Display Edition in Aurora Pink along with its smart keyboard and stylus! For a limited time, purchasing the OPPO Pad 5 Matte Display Edition gets you the keyboard and stylus for free! @oppomalaysia #oppopad5 #creatorsearchinsights #hitechcentury #fyp #malaysia ♬ Hip Hop with impressive piano sound(793766) – Dusty Sky

Overall, the Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition looks and feels well built with a light and even heft that allows for one-handed use. While the design is fairly conservative, it still retains sound ergonomics for the most part with the biggest quibble being the keyboard case that only deploys in one position. The biggest concern though is that there’s no protective glass on the display to mitigate scratches and drops while the design itself isn’t rated for water or dust resistance which requires some care if you take it outdoors.

Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review – Performance and Benchmarks

In terms of hardware, our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review sample comes with a midrange MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra processor paired with 8GB LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 expandable storage via the aforementioned microSD card slot. In Malaysia, you can acquire the tablet in two variants – one with only WiFi only or as a fully 5G-enabled variant. Our test unit is the latter and retails for RM2,199 with the former WiFi only model costing RM500 less while retaining mostly similar specifications.

Running under the hood is the latest Android 16 paired with Oppo’s own ColorOS 16.0 firmware that has a number of novel AI-centric productivity tools which we’ll cover in detail later. ColorOS 16.0 also has Oppo’s RAM Expansion feature that allows users to assign up to 8GB of virtual RAM off the onboard storage which comes in handy if you’re a heavy multitasker or regularly run through fairly demanding tasks. Here’s how our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review unit stacks up on paper:

 

Price	RM2,199 (5G), RM1,699 (WiFi)
Display	12.1-inch Matte LCD, 2,800 x 1,980 pixels resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 98% DCI-P3, 900 nits peak brightness
Processor	MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra
OS	Android 16 w/ Color OS 16.0
Memory	8GB LPDDR5X RAM, 256GB UFS 3.1 storage + microSD card
Cameras	8MP f/2.00 (rear) / 8MP f/2.0 (front)
Battery	10,500mAh battery w/ 33W SUPERVOOC wired charging
Size/Weight	266.01 x 192.77 x 6.83mm /599g

When subjected to synthetic benchmarks, our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review sample scored the following:

3D Mark Steel Nomad Light	362
3D Mark Steel Nomad Light Ultd	363
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme	864
3D Mark Wild Life Extreme Ultd	864
Geekbench 6 Single Core	978
Geekbench 6 Multi Core	3,076
Geekbench 6 OpenCL Core	2,385
Geekbench 6 Vulkan Core	2,505
Geekbench AI (CPU quanticised)	2,105
Geekbench AI (GPU quanticised)	563
PCMark Work 3.0	9,769
PCMark Battery Life	16 hours 26 mins

In terms of performance, the Dimensity 7300 Ultra falls solidly within what is expected of a midrange chipset and has a performance envelope similar to other Dimensity 7300 series chipsets we’ve tested in other devices like the realme 15 and the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite though this is an apples to orange scenario seeing the size of the display, its mission role and battery size.

The provision of 8GB LPDDR5X RAM with 8GB of additional RAM Expansion virtual RAM allowed for fast app swapping in tandem. The provided UFS 3.1 storage isn’t the fastest on record but is more than sufficient for the job and the provision of a microSD card slot means that you can add in a ton of movies, music and other content without having to be frugal with your storage.

In practical terms, our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review unit acquitted itself in a competent fashion for a tablet. It managed to handle web browsing, emails and the usual productivity apps in a smooth fashion and was also able to run games like Genshin Impact and even Where Winds Meet on the lowest settings albeit with some slightly longer loading times. The tablet was also able to handle a modicum of CapCut too and was comfortably able to edit a 1080p TikTok video without too much trouble.

On that note, the matte IPS LCD of the tablet did not disappoint, offering clear, vibrant visuals even under direct sunlight and harsh overhead neon lighting in office settings. Screen clarity was excellent with pin-sharp text and colour rendition was sufficient for casual use when watching movies and gaming. Unfortunately, the display only maxes out at 98% DCI-P3 when set to Vivid mode which is a tad short of what is needed for professional content creators but is otherwise more than sufficient for casual users. 

The integrated quad speakers are up to snuff, offering good detail even at maximum volume for a quiet living room and a fair level of detail. Bass and sound staging are admittedly underwhelming seeing the nature of its design but are more than sufficient for watching videos and running through your Spotify playlist.

What makes the Oppo Pad 5 Matte Edition tablet stand out is its enhanced Notes app. While it works best with the Oppo Pencil 2R stylus and smart keyboard for faster navigation and input, you can get by in a pinch with the onscreen digital keyboard.

Oppo Pad 5 Matte Edition Display Edition Review – AI Writer

On top of access to Google Gemini, the tablet integrates a number of AI-centric features integrated with their Notes app that lets you take notes for meetings and classes. These features are built around an integrated AI Writer that lets you leverage cloud-AI to generate short social media posts as well as write almost anything with a prompt. The AI Writer is also able to help proofread written text and also polish it to a presentable degree for non-academic use.

For students, the AI Writer is also able to help create mind maps too from notes and is also able to help create tables which is also useful for knowledge workers too. Fortunately, AI writer is free for the indefinite future though its usage is tied to the tablet itself and doesn’t carry over to other Oppo products if you buy them in future.

The provided stylus does the job, responds well for sketching and is especially proficient for taking notes with the provided Oppo Notes app. The keyboard doesn’t break new ground but does the job with about 1.4mm key travel and is responsive enough for touch typing. It would have been nice to have a touchpad and to have the keyboard itself being fully detachable from the tablet case itself though this isn’t a deal breaker.

In terms of battery life, our Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review unit offered up more than sufficient endurance for a full day and a half  of productivity and web browsing use thanks to its 10,500mAh battery.

While it lacks some of the more sophisticated niceties like wireless charging it can offer reverse wireless charging for smaller peripherals like earbuds or smartwatches in a pinch. In PC Mark’s Battery life test, the tablet managed to eke out 16 hours and 26 minutes of battery life which is pretty darned good for its size. Even better, Oppo states that the tablet has a TÜV SÜD 48-Month Class A Fluency certification that ensures 4 years of smooth performance.

Should you buy the Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition?

The Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition is a solid midrange tablet that offers a specialised emphasis for prolific note takers and those who need to work for extended durations thanks to its matte LCD display. Add in decent performance, good battery life and 5G connectivity and you have an otherwise solid choice for its price range.

In terms of pricing, the 5G-capable version of the tablet is more affordable than many competing 5G-capable tablets with similar specifications. If you aren’t tied into a specific brand ecosystem and value reading comfort, all day productivity and note-taking capabilities, it’s well worth a look.

Oppo Pad 5 Matte Display Edition review sample courtesy of Oppo Malaysia. For more details please visit https://www.oppo.com/my/accessories/oppo-pad-5-matte-display-edition/