Hey all, hope you’ve all been doing great. So Black Friday & Cyber Monday are gone, and you still didn’t get that Android powered Tablet you’ve been eyeing. It is now getting to that other time of the year (Covid hybrid 2024 loading….. )….Feliz Navidad in advance to all!. Some of you may have revised your budget and or decided to get something decent that doesn’t break the bank. I introduce to you the just launched 'Blackview' Oscal Pad 18.



This is an 11-inch IPS display with a 1200*1920 resolution, “Smart” quad-box speakers, Widevine L1 support, a large 8800mAh battery, inbuilt PC-mode, among others. Please see detailed specs below. I’ll instead be focusing more on the general usability, battery life, and day to day performance. Yeah yeah, benchmarks also got for you number crunchers. Just a gentle reminder that this be a budget tablet. You’ll find no Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 numbers here. Alright, let’s get started.

Specifications
Model: Pad 18
Colors: Glacier Blue or Interstellar Grey (My Unit)
Dimension: 256.75*168.3*7.4mm
Weight:490g
Display: 11-inch 1200*1920 IPS (83% Screen-to-Body Ratio)
CPU: Octa-Core Unisoc Tiger T616; 2x A75 @2.0GHz + 6x A55 @1.8GHz
GPU: ARM Mali-G57 @750MHz
RAM: 8/12GB (Software expandable up to 8/12GB RAM Expansion) LPDDR4X
ROM: EMMC5.1, 256GB (Supports up to 1TB SD Card)
SIM Slot: Dual; 2* SIMs / 1* SIM + 1* TF Card
Max TF Card Capacity: 1TB
OS: DokeOS_P 3.0 Based on Android 13
Rear Camera: 13MP +2MP Depth Camera
Front Camera: 13MP (Samsung®)
Battery Capacity: 8800mAh; 18W Fast Charge
Speakers: 4 Pcs
WI-Fi: 2.4/5GHz (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Navigation: GPS + Glonass + Beidou + Galileo (No compass though, which I just found weird after including the others)
Connectivity
2G/GSM Bands: B2/B3/B5/B8
3G/WCDMA Bands: B1/B8
4G/LTE Bands: FDD: B1/B3/B7/B8/B19/B20 TDD: B40
Box Contents
*Oscal Pad 18
*Quick Start Guide
*2x Screen Protectors
*Magnetic Stylus Pen
*18W Charger & Cable
*Smart Magnetic Cover with Sleep/Wake Function



Box & Hardware Images

Build Quality
Unboxing was pretty straight forward, and I do like the fit and finish of this tablet. The front glass already came with a glossy plastic screen protector and the backside has a smooth matte finish to it. I’m still unsure if it’s some fancy plastic-aluminum hybrid. However, it feels like metal to me. It’s smooth and cool to the touch. Also try hard as you may, it is not a fingerprint magnet. It also feels like a solid unit in my hands. Definitely not like most really cheap tablets and I’ve handled a few in the past. On another plus note, the Oscal Pad 18 ships with a stylus, a pre-installed screen protector (just peel the top layer off), an additional screen protector, and a rubber back, pseudo-leather cover case. Basically, those common types you can get yourself. It is nice to have all these included, especially with tablets like these. Completely takes the guess work out of the equation. Everything just fits and with the tab in the case, your camera bump ceases to exist. Tablet lays flush on a flat surface, not that it was much of an issue before.



Initial Setup, System Default, & Build Information

Onto some Benchmarking numbers; SSD Information, & R/W Speeds. All throughout the review, the Oscal Tab 18 used auto-brightness ranging from 25 - 100%.

DRM Info

Geekbench 6 CPU & GPU

GFXBench

SSD Speeds; Cross Platform Disk Test

GPS Status & Test

Internet Speedtest

Dark Mode
Unlike on the majority of most Android devices. Here you can choose between 3 levels of Dark Mode…notbad.jpg. Yours truly prefers the “Enhance” mode.

Cameras
You’ve got a 13MP Samsung supplied front camera that supports face unlocking. So you know it’s decent. I do like the placement. Perfectly centered when you have to use it as a tablet PC with keyboard & all taking video calls. Additionally, the rear camera also comes with built-in Google Lens functionality, which is convenient. As for taking actual photography? Fam….this is an 11” tablet. It’ll be too awkward trying to shoot with it. Please use your smartphone or DSLRs to shoot photos and videos. Nevertheless, let’s say you only had this on you and needed to take a photo or join a video call. I can confirm that this is just bare minimum good enough for this day & age. Again, I do not recommend taking IG selfies or Titkok vids using this. Here are some manufacturer supplied photos plus a few I took myself.

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

Media Playback
Let’s begin with the “con”…Given the screen quality, Android 13 OS, and Widevine L1 status, I was looking forward to enjoying me some YouTube & Netflix app at minimum proper 1080p resolution if not 1440p. But alas, I could only get up to 1080p in the YouTube app and less with the Netflix app. Tried a few tricks and I couldn’t get the Netflix app to recognize the Widevine L1 status. It is also important to note that I had to sideload the latest Netflix apk onto the tablet, as the app refuses to be installed via Google Playstore. It works perfectly as is though. I can get up to 4KUHD res on YouTube BUT only through a web browser. All these lead me to believe there’s a bug or perhaps a limitation with DokeOS_P3? Don’t get me wrong, this ROM is hella stable. I’ve been using this for the better part of 3 weeks as my daily driver and I never experienced any freezes, random reboots or apps simply crashing. If it helps, Oscal doesn’t advertise Netflix on their website either. They showing Prime, Disney+ & Hulu. So I reckon these work splendidly. Will feedback as usual and will report when I get wind of a successful fix or workaround for the Netflix app. PIP works on the official YouTube app.

Gaming
I’m not much of a Mobile gamer but I still enjoy the occasional Asphalt 9 and MC5. Both games play buttery smooth and there’s no lag with my Bluetooth headset either. Say you want to play a couple games with no distractions (Calls, SMSes & or other apps notifications), just enable Game Mode and you are set. Emulated a few games too and they worked okay. Sorry no ROM emulation specific screenshots (You can thank YouTube for that). But feel free to ask me to try out specific games. I’ll do and report back where I can.

PC Mode
Ah yes, this mode. I prefer to call it a laptop PC-like experience with touchscreen support. It does have its uses and yes, I typed out this entire review in PC mode using the bundled WPS Office Suite. DokeOS_P3 allows you to effortlessly switch between ‘Normal’ and ‘PC’ mode. You can do this either from the conveniently located toggle switch in the top bar or automatically once the OS detects you connected Bluetooth keyboard and or mouse. I also like that I can set it to automatically switch back to Normal mode upon keyboard disconnection. The “downside” to this though is the OS doesn’t retain or share open app sessions between modes, apps are exited. Which means, you have to remember to properly save your work in either modes before switching.

Battery Life
Two words “Just Beasty”. It packs an 8,800mAh battery and with clever OS optimization (it does be aggressive sometimes though)..Anyway, just see the attached image below. I could confidently use the tablet for almost 13 hours before it emptied itself. Beating the quoted up to 10 hours of daily use. That’s all-day battery life right there. During normal usage, I consistently found it’s able to standby for several days. Oscal claims 432 hours or 18 days of standby. I can see this is achievable. At first when I saw the specs about it only supporting 18W charging, not gonna lie, I was bummed. But given its ability to just last for days. I have no issues, it taking about 2 and a half hours to fill up from 0 – 100%.

Other Flexing Screenshots

Conclusion
In terms of functionality, the Oscal Pad 18 offers everything you’d primarily expect from a decent Android Tablet. It is slim, sleek, light, feels premium and DokeOS_P3 doesn’t feel like a heavily skinned Android OS. You’ve got apps split screen in Normal mode and It implements smart pre-loading so your Apps load up quickly on the beautiful screen. Stable WiFi, GPS, & Bluetooth connections. It even supports Android Auto and dual-hybrid SIM cards with 4G/LTE (2 SIMs or 1 SIM + 1 TF Card). You’ve got a Data Migration Assistant and a Cold Room app where you can have certain apps “frozen” or sandboxed away till further notice. Want to use the app again? Just unfreeze and it reappears in your app drawer.

For the more security conscious amongst us. You’ve got a few embedded features such as the Notifications permissions manager, automatically clearing clipboard history, full app management control, DAC + MAC double protection (something about NSA developed tech), and Kernel-level security process to effectively protect programs from rooting and attacks.Basically, say you do like all you’ve read so far and would like to grab one. They are currently on sale from today, Dec 11th – Dec 22nd. The first 200 purchases will get a Bluetooth Keyboard thrown in for free too.

Official Oscal Website
Purchase Link: Current World Premiere Promo

For more information, please pay attention to this space. I'd like to thank Blackview & Oscal for providing this review unit. Typically, they are viewing my review at the same time as you are. Do feel free to comment below should you require further specific information, or a test done on the Oscal Pad 18 Android Tablet. Let me know, I'll be glad to assist.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Dec 17 2023, 11:20 AM

Hey all... Got Blackview to update the purchase link.. Delivery to Malaysia is now included in the World Promo deal..

This is the updated Aliexpress link.... Make sure to collect the coupon code before purchasing. You are welcome.

Nice review. Thinking to buy a tablet like this.

Thanks for the compliments. Let me know if you have any other questions or specific tests/checks.

The features are almost similar to Samsung tablets, which attracts my attention. Also the price more affordable. If only the charging speed is faster like 45W this one sure winner.

rm808??? is it just me or tabs have become cheap..

China brands tabs without OLED is cheap cheap.

True that... As I mentioned in the review, was bummed about that. Not for long though as the battery life more than makes up for it. If it helps, I'm able to charge from 5% - 82% in an hour and a half. That's 77% or about 6067mAh gained. This should last at least 7 hours of use. So to me, is okay la.

Promo price .. But yeah, they have to be competitive.

Fast charging is a good feature but I notice cheaper tabs Fter a while the battery doesn't last long

Time will tell with this one. Ditched the iPad in favor of this since I got it. Perhaps, I might remember in 6 months to post battery stats update.

Thanks for creating this review. Shopping around for a tablet.
is Oscal and Blackview same company? What is the difference between this tablet and the Blackview tab 18? Managed to watch netflix in 1080 on yours?

You are most welcome. yeah, they are essentially the same company. Think Xiaomi, Mijia, Redmi or Poco. TLDR, on paper the Blackview Tab 18 is better. Here are some differences between the two;
Blackview Tab 18 VS Oscal Pad 18
12" VS 11" screen
Doke OS 4.0 VS Doke OS 3.0 (No official update in sight as yet for the Oscal)
Fingerprint sensor VS none
18W VS 33W Fast charging
Mediatek Helio G99 VS Unisoc Tiger T616
PC Mode 2.0 VS PC Mode 1.0
Supposedly QUAD SMART-PA Harman Kardon® BOX Speakers with Harman AudioEFX® 2.0 VS Unnamed Quad speakers (still sounds good though)

And nah, no Netflix 1080p yet. but tbh, I haven't really tinkered to get such. Much prefer watching on a larger better TV screen.