Consistently amazed by the quality of products, product categories, launch events, price point, and everything else about OnePlus! Congratulations to the team.

One gripe though - why not a tablet?

I'll agree with you there. I switched from iPhone to OnePlus 5 or 6 years ago and so far have been very happy. One thing I haven't found quite the right replacement for is the iPad

I'll admit I'm a little confused by this. It seems to be far too similar to the OnePlus 8. What's different between the two?

Very few differences b/w the Nord vs 8... Snapdragon 700 vs 800. 6.44 vs 6.55 screen size. 4100 vs 4300 maH battery. Screen refresh rates 90 vs 120 hz.