iQOO today launched the Pad Pro 8.8. It is now on sale. The cheapest version, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, has a list price of about USD 643.
iQOO is vivo’s gaming brand. Its other 8.8-inch tablet, the Pad Ultra, went on sale in early October at about USD 973 or KES 127,000 for 12GB and 256GB. The Pad Pro is the cheaper version of it, launched alongside the Neo12 phone, and it shares the Neo12’s chips.
So if you’ve been eyeing the Pad Ultra, the extra money there buys you newer chips, a 1TB option and different colours, and little else.
What a tablet this size is for
An 8.8-inch tablet sits between a phone and a normal tablet. You hold it sideways in both hands, like a handheld console, and your thumbs reach across the whole screen. We went into why gaming tablets settled on this size when iQOO first announced the Pad Ultra in September. The Pad Pro is the same 5.74mm thick and 298g.
The screen is an 8.8-inch OLED panel at 2304 x 1440 that refreshes up to 165 times a second, the same 165Hz OLED we covered when iQOO confirmed it for the Ultra.
The Pad Pro is the Pad Ultra with older chips
The Pad Ultra runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, the faster of the two top chips Qualcomm announced in September, with iQOO’s Q4 gaming chip next to it. The Pad Pro steps down to last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and the Q3 gaming chip. Q3 is iQOO’s own extra processor. It sharpens games to 2K and slots generated frames between real ones so motion looks smoother, and support for some games arrives later by software update.
Almost everything else stays. iQOO’s spec pages give both tablets the same screen, the same 9,020mAh battery (8,830mAh as the rated minimum), the same 66W charging, and the same thickness and weight. Both have a fan, too.
That fan is what helps a gaming tablet stay fast. When you play a heavy game for a long time, the chip heats up the whole body, and once that heat has nowhere to go, the software slows the chip down to protect it. That’s why games often start smooth and stutter later on. The Pad Pro’s fan is 30mm by 30mm and 3.5mm thick, the same size as the Ultra’s. It pulls air in from two directions through intakes with two dust screens, and it has three settings: low-noise, smart and fast. So the chip can hold its speed for longer before it has to back off.
| iQOO Pad Pro 8.8 | iQOO Pad Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| On sale | 28th October 2026 | 5th October 2026 |
| Chip | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, 3nm | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, 2nm |
| iQOO gaming chip | Q3 | Q4 |
| RAM and storage | 8GB, 12GB or 16GB; 256GB or 512GB | 12GB or 16GB; 256GB, 512GB or 1TB |
| Screen | 8.8-inch OLED, 2304 x 1440, up to 165Hz | 8.8-inch OLED, 2304 x 1440, up to 165Hz |
| Battery | 9,020mAh typical, 8,830mAh rated | 9,020mAh typical, 8,830mAh rated |
| Charging | 66W | 66W |
| Cooling fan | 30 x 30 x 3.5mm | 30 x 30 x 3.5mm |
| Thickness and weight | 5.74mm, 298g | 5.74mm, 298g |
| USB | USB 3.2 Gen 2 | USB 3.2 Gen 2 |
| Cameras | 13MP rear, 8MP front | 13MP rear, 8MP front |
| Mobile network | None, Wi-Fi 7 only | None, Wi-Fi 7 only |
| Software | OriginOS 7 HD | OriginOS 7 HD |
| Colours | Ice blue, grey | Silver, black |
| Update promise | Not announced | Not announced |
| Starting list price | CNY 4,299 (KES 84,000), 8GB + 256GB | CNY 6,499 (KES 127,000), 12GB + 256GB |
What it costs
With the same 12GB and 256GB, the Pad Pro lists about USD 269 below the Pad Ultra.
| Pad Pro 8.8 version | List price |
|---|---|
| 8GB + 256GB | CNY 4,299 (KES 84,000) |
| 12GB + 256GB | CNY 4,699 (KES 92,000) |
| 16GB + 256GB | CNY 5,099 (KES 99,000) |
| 12GB + 512GB | CNY 5,399 (KES 105,000) |
| 16GB + 512GB | CNY 5,799 (KES 113,000) |
The 8GB model is the one to think twice about. iQOO’s own page says it can’t run the PC game emulator, the game live-stream tool or the 4K game camera. Those need 12GB or more.
Neither tablet’s spec page lists a SIM slot or a mobile network. The Pad Pro borrows calls, texts and mobile data from a linked phone instead, though iQOO doesn’t say which phones work, so away from Wi-Fi you’ll need a hotspot.
The G1 controller
The controller in iQOO’s launch pictures is the Bilateral Stretch Handle G1. It clamps onto both ends of a tablet this size or a phone, stretching up to 211mm wide, and costs about USD 75. It goes on sale on 4th November and is listed for four devices: the Pad Pro 8.8, the Pad Ultra, the iQOO 16 and the Neo12.
Its sticks and triggers use Hall-effect sensors, which read position with a magnet instead of parts rubbing together, so they’re less prone to the wear that makes cheap sticks drift. iQOO sells it as the partner for its PC game emulator, which runs computer games on the tablet and arrives by update. That’s another reason to skip the 8GB Pad Pro if the G1 is part of the plan.
Can you get one in Kenya?
Not from a shop here. iQOO’s list of countries has no African market, and neither Avechi nor Brandcart listed any iQOO product when we checked on 28th October. iQOO hasn’t said whether the Pad Pro will be sold outside China, or how many years of updates it gets.
So it’s an import, and the number to plan around is the list price, about KES 92,000 for the 12GB model, before shipping and duty and with no local warranty. That’s a lot for a small tablet, but it’s still an easy pick over the Pad Ultra. You give up a year of chip progress and keep the screen, the fan, the battery and the same thin body. For KES 35,100 less on an 8.8-inch tablet you’ll mostly use for games, that’s the trade we’d take. Just get the 12GB version.
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