In the recent years smartphone brand realme has got huge popularity among the youths because it didn’t limit itself to one or two features, like camera, processor, etc. Instead they carved out value-for-money devices that brought a unique blend of features, performance, and price. In this legacy, its first tablet, the realme Pad Mini was launched on 8th April 2022 in China. In this article, we take a detailed look at the tablet to see whether it can compete with the likes of other android tabs as well as iPads.
Key Features of realme Pad Mini
Design and Build Quality
The design of the realme would remind anyone of the early Note series from Xiaomi or the Tab 6 from Samsung. The device is rectangular with rounded edges to give it a more ergonomic look.
While the pad mini might look like Tab 6 from the back, it looks much like the iPad mini from the front. Thanks to the reduced bezels on all sides. It's not symmetrical like the iPad mini, but it's definitely a welcomed choice in its price bracket.
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The build quality of the pad mini is quite decent. users will be getting a dual finish on the back where the back panel itself is glass with the top and bottom along with the frame is made from aluminum. However, there is no protection rating for the front and back glass.
Users will find all the traditional buttons and ports. One thing that stood out was the lack of a fingerprint sensor. understandably, brands cannot opt for under-display fingerprint sensors for such budget devices. But the lack of even a physical fingerprint sensor is disappointing. The only form of biometric protection here is the face unlock system.
Overall, the design and build quality of the pad mini is on par with other budget tablets at this price point. The cut corners for the budget are apparent as ever, but that’s just how things are with this device.
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The Display
Even though users can hold the device in one hand, the screen real estate of the pad mini is much larger to suggest that it is by no means, a one-handed device. And that is thanks to the slim bezels across the 8.7-inch IPS LCD.
Most android tablets other than the high-end flagship ones still use LCD panels. The choice is obvious because of the cost and because individual pixel visibility isn’t a great factor for large-screen devices.
Moving on, the display boasts a 1340P resolution with 179 ppi density. On paper, this might seem like nothing. 1340P resolution also puts the display in a weird position as it's neither something that will blow away with performance nor will it let down.
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The display choice is somewhat understandable as most android tablets from budget to mid-level range come with a similar setup. We checked the outdoor visibility of the tablet and it was legible in auto brightness mode. There will be occasional color shifts here and there as it is still an LCD panel. But the overall consumer experience will be satisfactory for the price it comes at.
The Camera
Cameras are never the strong suits of any tablets. It feels like back cameras are included in a tablet for the sake of including one. The story is also similar to the front-facing one. With the Realme Pad mini, users will be getting an 8 MP shooter on the back and a 5 MP shooter on the front.
There is nothing great or mentionable about these sensors. These are just other generic lenses that are good for casual shots here and there but nothing that can be called photography standards.
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Moving on to the front, the 5 MP camera will be good enough for video calls or conferences. It isn’t an ideal selfie shooter in any way. And to be honest, that has been the goal of Realme to begin with.
And as for the main sensor, it is also aimed as a document scanner rather than a photography tool. Cameras in the tab are all about work utility so there’s hardly any room for complaints.
Processor and Performance
The Realme Pad mini comes with a Unisoc Tiger T616 processor based on the 12 Nm architecture. The octa-core processor has a chip design of 2 2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 and 6 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55 chips.
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This is a complete entry-level processor which isn’t going to be performance-heavy. But that is hardly stopping the device from being a utilitarian device. Users will be able to blaze through everyday tasks like browsing the web, social media, or content consumption. The processor can even power graphics-intensive games at mid-range settings.
The only drawback is that the device gets heated easily with processor-intensive tasks. Other than that, the performance is right in line with any budget smartphones or tablets out there.
Battery and Charge Time
The realme Pad mini is equipped with a 6400 mAh battery to power the large display. Thankfully, users will also be getting an 18W fast charger in the box which will roughly charge up the device in about 2 hours.
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Price of realme Pad Mini
Realme Pad Mini is officially available in Bangladesh. The price of the Pad mini is 21,349 BDT.
Verdict
The android tablet has always been a hit or miss for whoever tried to venture into this space. Unlike Apple, no company was able to enjoy unrivaled success as the iPads still account for the majority of tab sales across countries.
realme here didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Rather they took the existing cues and made a device that delivers on all fronts. Other than the camera, there really isn’t much to complain about the realme Pad mini. And that really makes it a great budget option for those looking for an android tablet in the market.
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