iQOO is expanding its small-screen gaming tablet lineup with the Pad Pro, an 8.8-inch model built around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and iQOO’s dedicated Q3 gaming chip. The tablet is now available for preorder in China, but iQOO has not announced a price, shipping date, or plans for a U.S. release.
For portable gaming, the Pad Pro’s compact format may be as important as its flagship-class processor. An 8.8-inch tablet is easier to hold than the larger Android slates typically used for gaming, while still providing more screen space than a phone for touch controls, streaming, and emulation. The Q3 chip is expected to handle game-focused functions such as upscaling, frame-rate stabilization, and game optimizations, though iQOO has yet to publish its full technical details.
A lower-tier alternative to the Pad Ultra
The Pad Pro is positioned below the iQOO Pad Ultra rather than as its direct replacement. Both use an 8.8-inch form factor, but the Ultra has higher-end hardware, including a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor, a Q4 gaming chip, and active cooling with a fan.
| Feature | iQOO Pad Pro | iQOO Pad Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 8.8 inches | 8.8-inch OLED |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 |
| Gaming chip | Q3 | Q4 |
| Active cooling | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Refresh rate | Not announced | 165Hz |
That leaves several practical details unresolved for the Pad Pro. iQOO has not disclosed the display resolution or refresh rate, battery capacity, RAM configurations, or whether the active-cooling system used by the Pad Ultra will also be included here.
Competition will depend on the price
The Pad Pro enters a tightly defined category that already includes Lenovo’s Legion Y700, also known as the Legion Tab 2026. Lenovo’s compact gaming tablet uses the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 platform, offers a 165Hz display, and is available with up to 24GB of RAM. That makes the iQOO tablet’s eventual price and its still-undisclosed display and cooling specifications especially important.
Preorder incentives in China include a folding stand, extended warranty coverage, and two years of accidental-damage protection. Those offers do not confirm a broader rollout, and there is currently no announced U.S. availability or U.S. pricing.
If iQOO can place the Pad Pro meaningfully below the Pad Ultra, it could appeal to players who want an easily portable Android gaming tablet without paying for the Ultra’s more specialized cooling and top-tier components. For now, the key unknowns are the complete spec sheet, retail price, and whether the tablet will be sold outside China.
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