TECH REVIEW – Xiaomi, the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer, is known for its high-end devices like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. However, its Redmi brand takes a different path, offering affordable electronics built with quality components without breaking the bank. The Redmi Pad Pro is one such device, featuring efficient hardware, impressive audiovisual capabilities, and up-to-date software. Despite all this, it remains remarkably affordable and is one of the best budget tablets of 2024 — if you can get your hands on one.
The Redmi Pad Pro sits comfortably in the middle of Xiaomi’s budget tablet lineup, delivering a premium experience at a low cost. It boasts a fantastic display, loud and clear speakers, and a newly refined HyperOS Android implementation, with few drawbacks.
A Tablet That Truly Offers Value for Money
Xiaomi’s new budget tablet is a notch or two below flagship level in every aspect, which is expected at this price point. For instance, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset (sadly rare in North America) operates at half the speed of the top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. However, it offers double or more the performance in certain workloads compared to the slightly cheaper tablets with Snapdragon 695.
Will it deliver high frame rates in Genshin Impact or leap through machine learning tasks like a frog in a dynamite pond? Certainly not. But it handles almost every other task smoothly, can run many 3D games (including Genshin at the right settings), and perform some on-device AI tricks. Such performance is unmatched by Xiaomi’s cheaper tablet, the Redmi Pad SE, or any other in its price range.
OLED panels are reserved for pricier models, but the Redmi Pad Pro’s 12-inch QHD+ IPS panel, with 600-nit peak brightness and Dolby Vision certification, makes watching your favorite media a joy. It even supports a 120Hz refresh rate (which can be lowered for better efficiency). The resolution makes excellent use of the screen size, providing pixel density that’s undetectable to the naked eye.
The audio quality is noteworthy too. The quad-speaker setup delivers rich sound that’s rare even in tablets twice its price. Even the lower end of the spectrum is well-pronounced, largely thanks to Dolby Atmos tuning, which you’ll notice immediately when you switch it off and compare it to Xiaomi’s in-house implementation.
Powered to Perform
Xiaomi claims the device supports fast charging up to 33W, though Accubattery measurements didn’t quite reach that. It recharges quickly, and there’s a reason why the 33W figure might not be crucial. I tried to drain the 10,000mAh battery in a single day. I played games, opened numerous tabs, watched bright and loud videos, and played with every available photo editing feature.
A tablet needs to be versatile to fully utilize such battery life, and the Redmi Pad Pro doesn’t disappoint. Writing most of this review on the 12.1-inch screen was a breeze. The streamlined HyperOS, which isn’t drastically different from the old MiUI on the surface but has significant under-the-hood improvements, made this possible.
Gesture controls, file system navigation, and app and security management were intuitive despite my complete unfamiliarity with HyperOS. The split screen and floating window features worked flawlessly for monitoring sensors and communication apps while getting important work done. It only failed when I purposely overloaded it with too many apps and then force-quit a few. It’s a good sign when you have to actively try to break an Android device.
New Features and Little Extras
The updated HyperOS offers more customization options than MiUI, with everything laid out intuitively or explained through first-time tips. The Mi Canvas sketching app is easy to use, if basic — however, the stylus and touch panel work perfectly with more powerful programs like Ibis X, which performed excellently in my tests.
A decent set of photo editing tools made it fun and easy to touch up pictures from recent dog park visits and late-night walks. If you’re up for some light gaming, the Game Turbo software prevents power management and throttling events that could otherwise reduce performance.
The accessories aren’t cheap but worth considering. Xiaomi’s lightweight, padded keyboard folio provides excellent tactile feedback for quick typing once you get used to the necessarily small layout. The pen boasts consistent pressure sensitivity and tilt detection, making it fun for even non-artists to sketch a few drawings and test their artistic skills.
The camera is actually quite good, with better dynamic range than expected; the last picture was taken at dusk, and the previous two during sunset.
Shortcomings and Minor Issues
Face unlock works quickly but is the least secure type of biometric login. A fingerprint reader (which Xiaomi usually includes) would provide more peace of mind, but it’s not strictly necessary.
The device isn’t powerful enough for significant on-device machine learning computations, so the Pad Pro’s HyperOS implementation doesn’t include many such tools. What it does include, like the smart eraser, doesn’t always work as well as Google’s, but that’s coming to Android 15 anyway. Xiaomi’s bokeh feature worked fairly well, clearly using some machine learning technology to isolate the subject of the picture, so it’s not all bad news.
As good as the general Android experience is on the Redmi Pad Pro, Xiaomi pushes its own software heavily. So, when you first boot up, you’ll find a lot of pre-installed apps. I uninstalled several (nobody should use YouTube Kids, least of all me), but there are likely more hiding, taking up storage space. It’s not hugely impactful but a bit annoying.
Xiaomi is also not particularly known for its software support on global devices. The Redmi Pad Pro will get two Android updates and three years of security patches, which is reasonable for its price class. It’s unclear when these will be rolled out, but at least we know they’re coming.
While its productivity and multitasking support are decent, competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ outperform it in these areas. HyperOS may tout the Xiaomi Interconnectivity feature that streamlines cross-communication among your devices, but it only works with certain Xiaomi devices. So, you won’t get that seamless experience with Windows or other Android device brands without significant effort (which most people won’t bother with).
Should You Buy It?
If you’re in the market for a midrange tablet, absolutely. With high versatility, no major shortcomings, and an impressively low price, it’s arguably the best midrange Android tablet from any manufacturer to date.
The Xiaomi Pad 6, probably its closest competitor, has a smaller screen and shorter battery life, making it considerably less flexible.
-Gergely Herpai (BadSector)-
Pros:
+ High-resolution, Dolby Vision-supported display
+ Exceptional battery life
+ Great performance and sound for the price
Cons:
– Not up to flagship performance
– (Great) accessories are expensive
– Many pre-installed apps take up storage space
Redmi Pad Pro
Design - 8.6
Software - 8.2
Hardware - 9.2
Camera - 7.8
Value for Money - 9.2
8.6
EXCELLENT
The Redmi Pad Pro is an outstanding midrange tablet with a stunning display, excellent battery life, and strong performance. Although some pre-installed apps can be annoying, it offers great value for money overall.
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