Xiaomi Redmi Pad Review: Budget Tablet Worth Consideration

January 05, 2023, 11:18 AM
by Nafiz Tahmid

UNB News
Publish- January 05, 2023, 11:18 AM
Nafiz Tahmid
Update- January 05, 2023, 11:34 AM

Xiaomi Redmi Pad Review: Budget Tablet Worth Consideration

Xiaomi Redmi Pad budget tablet

While Xiaomi's sub-brand Redmi is popular for manufacturing entry-level to midrange Smartphones, they have also stepped into the tablet market. Recently the brand has introduced the Redmi Pad budget tablet that aims to offer a premium experience at an affordable price. It features a sleek design, a large display, and impressive specs for its price range. It was already launched in India on October 4, 2022. Let’s take a closer look at what Xiaomi's Redmi Pad has to offer and see if it’s worth your money.

Key Features of Xiaomi's Redmi Pad

Design

The Redmi Pad looks great with its all-metal body, weighing in at just 465g and thin at 7.1mm. Its frame design and weight distribution give it a light feel in hand. While the sides are flat, the corners are curved, so you can easily hold it in portrait or landscape. It comes in three colors, Graphite Gray, Moonlight Silver, and Mint Green, with a matte finish, meaning that it will not attract fingerprints.

However, the Xiaomi Redmi Pad has no magnetic contact pins on the back like the Xiaomi Pad 5. But if you want, you can connect a wireless keyboard via Bluetooth. The company is supposed to bring out folio cases for the pad, but they haven’t appeared on Xiaomi’s website yet.

The Redmi Pad has up to 1TB storage expansion feature via the slot available on the right side (when held vertically). Volume buttons are located along the top edge, with a tiny power button tucked away in the corner of the top edge. Four speaker grilles are spread across the top and bottom. Unfortunately, there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack.

Display

The Redmi Pad has a 10.61-inch IPS LCD display with 2K resolution with 1200 x 2000 pixels and a 90Hz refresh rate. It can display up to a billion colors, but no HDR10. However, the tablet doesn’t have an oleophobic coating, so you’ll have to wipe it often to avoid fingerprints and smudges.

The Redmi Pad has a 10-bit display with a 15:9 aspect ratio and 400 nits of peak brightness. Its bezels are just the right size for a budget tablet. When you view it from the front, you’ll get the best experience, but if you look from an angle, you may see some color shift.

Furthermore, with its Widevine L1 certification, you can watch full-HD content on Netflix and other OTT platforms. It’s also equipped with a quad-speaker setup, tuned with Dolby Atmos, which is loud and clear for the price.

The refresh rate makes animations look more fluid, and certain games benefit from it too. You can opt for 60Hz in the settings to conserve battery or set a variable frequency. The tablet will then decide how often the screen is updated. For instance, an e-book doesn’t need 90Hz.

Although the Redmi Pad has less peak brightness than the iPad 9, which has 400 nits, it is brighter than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 2022. The tablet looks great, with good contrast and colors. However, black levels won’t be as deep as an OLED due to it being an LCD.

Cameras

The Redmi Pad’s camera won’t give you great pictures for social media. Its 8-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front camera are better suited for scanning documents. The dynamic range won’t give you the best results, and colors look washed out. If you want to share photos, it’s better to use your phone.

But taking selfies with the front camera is quite satisfactory. Plus, the camera is positioned on the right side of the bezel, so you can look right into it when making video calls. An exciting new feature called Focus Frame is expected in the upcoming updates. Just like Centre Stage on iPad, it will adjust the frame while you move and can even expand the view up to 105 degrees.

Hardware and Software

The Redmi Pad sports a MediaTek Helio G99 SoC processor, seen in low-cost phones like the Redmi 11 Prime and the Moto G72. This chip provides great performance at an affordable price. The MediaTek Helio G99 SoC ensures users can enjoy popular games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9 Legends, and even Subway Surfers without any lag. You will surely experience smooth gaming at ‘Medium’ graphics and ‘High’ frame rate settings, with a steady 40fps.

It has three versions, 64GB 3GB RAM, 128GB 4GB RAM, and 128GB 6GB RAM.

This Xiaomi tablet is equipped with Android 12-based MIUI 13 software, which delivers a smooth and bug-free experience. You will not detect any stutter when navigating through the user interface, and the portrait/ landscape mode switch is smooth and works like a charm - something you may find hard to come by in tablets of this price range.

The MIUI 13 has almost no bloatware - something you don’t often find in Xiaomi products. It compensates with features like split-screen, floating windows, and more! Though some apps don’t have a split-screen natively, Xiaomi is collaborating with developers to bring you the best experience on the Redmi Pad.

Apps like Instagram and Facebook are designed to capitalize on the big screen, yet some, like Twitter, are just stretched-out mobile versions. MIUI 13 for Pad has a dock at the bottom which stays hidden once you open an app. This dock is adjustable and adds the apps you have recently used to the right side for quicker access.

Battery

The Redmi Pad packs an 8000mAh battery, promising a full day’s battery life. The continuous use can last for around 15 hours, which is not bad for a tablet with such a big, high-res screen. If you use it for a few hours each day watching videos and scrolling through your feeds, you’ll need to give it a recharge every three or four days. Moreover, it comes with an 18W wired fast charging feature and takes less time to get a full charge.

Price of Xiaomi Redmi Pad

The Redmi Pad 64GB 3GB RAM version is priced at Rs 14,999 or BDT 18,655 (Rs 1= BDT 1.24); 128GB 4GB RAM costs Rs 17,999 which is BDT 22,386 (Rs 1= BDT 1.24); 128GB 6GB RAM is Rs 19,999 or around BDT 25,000 (Rs 1= BDT 1.24). The official price of the Redmi Pad in Bangladesh may vary due to tax and other issues.

Final Words

Picking the right tablet requires the perfect match with software and hardware. While the Xiaomi Redmi Pad might not be the most powerful, the battery and display deliver great value for money. If you’re looking for a budget tablet, it’s certainly worth considering.