OnePlus and Oppo are preparing to enter the compact tablet market with new devices expected to launch within the first half of 2026. According to Digital Chat Station, Oppo's model will debut in China next month, while OnePlus is developing a device tentatively called the OnePlus Pad Mini. Both companies are following in the footsteps of last year's RedMagic Astra and Redmi K Pad.
The Oppo tablet could position itself as a flagship offering, with reports suggesting it may feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, though it remains unclear whether the display will be LCD or OLED. The OnePlus Pad Mini appears to target a more accessible price point, potentially powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset instead of the Elite variant. While device-specific Linux support remains unclear for these unreleased tablets, Qualcomm announced same-day upstream Linux kernel support for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC with device tree patches covering core components. Additionally, the VolksPC project enables running Debian-based Linux desktop environments on Android tablets with Android 15 and the standardized GKI kernel, though this requires root access and runs Linux alongside Android rather than replacing it.
Xiaomi and RedMagic are also joining the compact tablet race with their own releases. The Redmi K Pad 2 and RedMagic Gaming Tablet 5 Pro (likely branded as RedMagic Astra 2 globally) are both confirmed for the first half of 2026, making this a busy period for the compact tablet segment.
