Whenever we hear about tablets, the image of an iPad automatically comes into our minds.
Apple might be the only brand in the whole world being consistent in releasing tablets each year.
In addition, Android has foldable smartphones now.
Thus, the Android tablet market automatically went downwards with only a handful of tablets being available right now.
But Apple's iPads and the folding devices from Samsung, Oppo or Xiaomi are very expensive.
It is needless to say that only Samsung foldable is officially available in Bangladesh.
Say you want a bigger display and are not willing to spend money on the latest “innovation” or the “folding mechanism.” What if you want to spend Tk30,000 and still want a tablet that can do basic tasks?
Well, within this price segment, it is Xiaomi who still left you with a choice.
The Xiaomi Pad 5, released in mid-2021 in China and a year later in other markets including India can still be considered a really good option.
Xiaomi Pad 5 is not only a tablet for the sake of the name “tablet.” It has a fast Snapdragon 860 chipset inside and 6GB of RAM.
The 128GB storage version of the Xiaomi Pad 5 is available at Tk30,999 while for 256GB storage, you will need to spend Tk33,999.
Aesthetic
Following its reputation of being “Chinese Apple” quite literally, Xiaomi went all the way when it comes to copying designs from Apple.
With squared-off edges and a slim bezel, Xiaomi Pad 5 feels very slick and gives off a premium feel. It is only 6.9mm thick, which is slimmer than most smartphones out there.
Although the Pad 5's frame is made of aluminium, the back is actually plastic. But make no mistake. Xiaomi made sure that the plastic does not feel like plastic at all.
However, the Xiaomi tablet does come with some lackings. For starters, Pad 5 does not have any fingerprint sensor. Although it has a quad stereo speaker setup, there is no headphone jack.
Display
Xiaomi Pad 5 has an 11-inch IPS LCD panel that supports 1B colours and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display resolution is QHD (1600 x 2560 pixels).
Although it is an IPS LCD panel and not an OLED, you will still get excellent colour range and support for both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Besides, giving an 11-inch OLED panel would also mean the price getting increased significantly. The product itself would have lost its appeal if that happened.
With punchy colours and excellent viewing angles, this display is a joy to use whether you're working, browsing the web or streaming a few shows. This is clearly not the best display you will ever get from a tablet. But it is more than what you can expect in such a price range.
Performance
Xiaomi Pad 5 is powered by a Snapdragon 860 chipset, which should give you a near-flagship experience.
However, the tablet does not have any cellular connectivity. It has WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity.
That being said, the Snapdragon 860 is a perfectly capable chipset to handle everything you throw at it. It will give you a smooth performance and you will also be able to enjoy demanding games such as Genshin Impact, Asphalt 9 or Call of Duty Mobile at decent graphics settings.
The compromise, I believe, was made in terms of available RAM. Having the option to get an 8GB RAM version would have been nice. Moreover, Pad 5 does not have any expandable memory support. So, you won't be able to use a microSD card to increase the storage.
In terms of performance, it's right behind Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+, which is priced at a much higher price than Xiaomi Tab 5. Meanwhile, iPads usually come with Apple's latest chipset. So, comparing them with Xiaomi Tab 5 wouldn't be a wise decision.
Camera
Camera doesn't matter much on a tablet. Xiaomi Pad 5 has a 13 MP camera on the back, capable of recording 4K at 30fps, and an 8MP front-facing camera.
Xiaomi Pad 5's rear camera can capture nice natural-looking images with just the appropriate amount of sharpness. Even with Auto HDR on, the camera does not just apply it all the time. It only applies HDR when needed.
While the front camera of Pad 5 is ok, the rear and front camera has a huge difference when it comes to image quality. Regular video calls should work well. But the person in the video call needs to be in a well-lit environment for better quality.
What Apple did right when the 9th generation of iPads was launched back in 2021 was that they focused on the front camera. But Xiaomi, following the smartphone norms, kept their focus on the rear camera.
Yes, rear cameras are very important when it comes to smartphones. But in a tablet, the front camera should get more importance since that's what people use in a tablet most of the time.
Last but not the least, if you look at Xiaomi Pad 5, you will most definitely think that there are two cameras on the back. Pad 5 has two cutouts inside its camera unit on the back.
However, the one below is not a camera. It just has 13MP written inside. This is something I did not like. It almost feels deceptive.
Battery
Even though the tablet itself is only 6.9mm thick, it still managed to put an 8,720 mAh battery inside.
With this much juice powering the device, it will easily last a day without breaking a sweat. As an additional bonus, Xiaomi Pad 5 supports 33W charging, which will significantly reduce the time it takes to fully charge.
Keep in mind that even with 33 Watts charging, it should take around 1 hour and 40 minutes to fully charge. That's largely due to the big battery inside the tab.
Verdict
Xiaomi Pad 5 is no doubt a decent tablet. They made a little sacrifice when it comes to the hardware side. It also got a lightweight design with a gorgeous display and great speakers.
The software side is typical for any Android tablet. It's fine but still no match for an iPad. Then again, iPads tend to cost a lot more. At least with such hardware backing it up.
If you want a tablet at this price point and wouldn't mind using Android, you can definitely go for it.
