Earlier in the month Xiaomi Redmi Pad Pro hit stores in India. The new tablet comes in two variants-- Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 5G-- with prices starting at Rs 21,999.
Here are my thoughts on the latest Android tablet from the house of Xiaomi.
Design and build quality
The new Redmi tablet flaunts a slim profile. It has a visually appealing dual-tone sturdy metallic case on the back. It also has an eye-catching camera and LED flash in a dual circular-shaped island formation in top left corner.
The Redmi Pad Pro (5G) will be available in two colours -- quicksilver and graphite grey. Our review unit is the latter.
It weighs a little over 570g and measures just 7.82mm thick. The tablet is easy to carry around in hand and also to store in the backpack.
The front panel features a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shield for protection against scratches. Also, it comes with an IP52 water-splash-resistant rating.
The company has covered all bases to ensure the device is durable and protected against daily wear and tear. But, the tablet is big and even a small drop on the ground with a rough surface, from a knee height, can physically damage the display. So, I recommend that prospective buyers invest in a folio cover case to prevent the display from cracking during an accidental fall.
The company offers accessories such as a smart keyboard case. It is made of black Polyurethane material with a textured finish. It not only protects the device from physical damage during accidental falls, it brings value addition to the device. It has a standard keyboard layout, which makes it easy to type messages or write notes with ease on the table. It costs Rs 3,999. There is also a regular protective folio case for Rs 1,499.
The keyboard comes with a standard 64-key layout with a dedicated row at the top for function keys. It has 16x16mm keys and 19mm spacing between keys. And, it has 1.3mm key travel and optimal bounce-back speed to offer a smooth typing experience.
However, it takes some time to operate the keyboard on the lap comfortably. On a table, it is less hassle to type words and work faster.
The keyboard houses a 210mAh battery. it can last for up to 59 hours under normal usage. And, in idle mode, it can last for 760 hours. Add to that, it has a detachable pen holder at the top for easy storage.
Display and performance
The Redmi Pad Pro comes with a massive 12.1-inch 2.5K (2560 × 1600p) LCD screen. It is great for consuming multimedia content and shopping on e-commerce apps.
Also, to browse the web to catch up on the latest news and read e-books. It supports dynamic (30/48/50/60/90/120Hz) refresh rate and up to 600 nits peak brightness.
It supports Dolby Vision. It is a really good medium to watch TV series or movies while commuting on a mass transit vehicle.
Even at home, it is good for shopping on e-commerce apps. the big display helps owners, particularly those with spectacles (like me) to see all the minute terms and conditions of EMI offers on products.
And at night, with reading mode on, one can finish a chapter or two on an e-book without any issue of eye strain.
The new Redmi Pad Pro also supports Smart Pen. It comes in a regular pencil form factor with a 6.18-inch length. It has a pressure-sensitive tip to write on the screen with different styles such as normal pen-like writing to take notes or brush-like style to create digital art.
Xiaomi's premium tablet houses a 4nm class Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 octa-core processor with Adreno 710 GPU, 6GB / 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB/256GB UFS 2.2 storage (expandable up to 1.5TB).
In terms of day-to-day activities, the Redmi Pro works smoothly without any pressing issues to complain about. It even supports most of the graphics-rich games available on the Play Store.
But, this mid-range tablet is not made for extreme gaming. It is best suited to play board games like chess, and even classics like Angry Birds, Temple Run and Fruit Ninja.
The device runs on Android 14-based HyperOS. And, it is guaranteed to get two major Android OS updates (Android 15 and 16) and an additional year of software security support (up to 2027).
The software is optimised to deliver the best user experience on the big screen and also a stylus for creativity and productivity. it supports split screen options so that users can work on multiple apps on the same screen without switching between apps.
The new Redmi tablet boasts an 8MP (f/2.0 aperture) camera on the back and an 8MP front camera (f/2.28). They can record videos in full HD (1080p) at 30 fps (frames per second) and HD (720p) at 60 fps.
The front camera is aptly placed at the centre with landscape orientation. With folio cover accessories, one can just place the tablet on the table and sit back on the chair to attend video calls or virtual office meetings hands-free.
The front camera does an amazing job of recording stable videos in high-quality resolution.
Though the back camera doesn't capture photos like a mid-range phone, it does a fine job of getting clear pictures of documents or pages on a book. And, with feature-rich apps available on Google Play Store, one can instantly convert images to PDFs with less hassle.
With 5G SIM option, the tablet can work independently without having to pair with the primary phone for the internet connection.
The Redmi Pad Pro 5G houses a massive 10,000mAh battery. It is more than enough to watch an entire season of any popular TV on a stretch during a night-long journey. With a full charge, it can stream HD videos for up to 12 hours on a stretch.
The company offers a 33W charger with the retail box. It takes around two hours to fully charge from to zero to 100 per cent.
Final thoughts
For its price, the new Redmi Pad Pro is an amazing mid-range Android tablet. It has all the right features for both productivity and fun activities for all members at home. The display is great for multimedia consumption and thanks to a massive battery, the device can last for close to 12 hours.
With a stylus and smart keyboard support, it is a great gadget for note-taking and creating digital art. Also, it is a nice option for authors and journalists to work on books or articles on the go.
For the kids, it is a good medium for playing educational games available on Google Play Store and also to browse the internet (with parent's supervision) for information to work on school projects.
The company is offering it in two configurations -- 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage -- for Rs 24,999 and Rs 26,999, respectively.
The standard Redmi Pad Pro (Wi-Fi only) will be available in two colours -- mist blue and graphite grey colours. It comes in one variant-- 6GB RAM + 128GB storage-- for Rs 21,999.
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