Xiaomi MI pad review, full specifications and hands on

Xiaomi Mi Pad Review: Are you looking for a budget tablet with awesome specs? Yeah, I know you are. Then which is the better option? Xiaomi Mi Pad is the answer if you are looking for a terrific tablet priced under 15k. Waiting for the features and a detailed review? Here we go.

Build and Design of the Xiaomi MI Pad

This is a 7.9 inch tablet with 2048x 1536 screen resolution and has a display density of 324 PPI. The device has a 4:3 aspect ratio. Some people might not like it as they are used to 16:9 aspect ratio devices but for an overall good reading experience the 4:3 aspect ratio is much comfortable. The display comes with Gorilla Glass 3 screen protection. On top of the screen, we can see the MI branding in form of the MI logo, proximity sensor and a 5 MP camera (which is going to be interesting, so read on). Below the screen on the bezel there are the three usual capacitive buttons.

The body is built with plastic. But the back cover is slippery and there is a chance for it to fall down from your hands if you are not careful enough. Though the material used is plastic the tablet does not feel cheap in hand as the overall build quality is good.. There is an 8 MP camera on the back. Volume rockers and power button are situated at right whereas micro-USB port at the bottom and a micro SD slot at left side of the tablet.

Oh, did I forget to say anything? Yeah, I know you guessed it. The 3.5 mm audio jack is placed on top of the device. That’s all. The next part is going to impress you more.

Features/ Specs of the MI Pad

It’s the first gadget that comes with an NVIDIA Tegra K1 quad-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz. It will not let you down in any way because the graphics performance is really good and almost every modern HD game is more than playable. I know, the next section you look into is the RAM after processor. This one also is not something to worry about because Xiaomi has launched the MI Pad with a 2 GB RAM.

Everyone is crazy about gaming. We have to have an amazing integrated graphics unit to play games. Otherwise the device can’t be expected to perform well during heavy bouts of gaming. Anyway talking about the graphics, it has a 192-core Kepler GPU which holds its own during heavy gaming sessions and in terms of benchmark performance the device is only behind the Nexus 9 tablet.

No words other than superb about the camera!! Rear camera is 8 MP while front is 5 megapixels. Both will not disappoint you and seems this gadget is specially built for selfies. This can also be attributed to the fact that Xiaomi uses many optimization algorithms for its camera and the “Beautify” feature which removes fine lines and makes skin tone even is also on by default. The Internal storage is 16 GB which is good enough for an average user. Oh, are you hungry for more? Be ready to be excited. This tablet supports SD cards up to 128 GB for expandable storage!

Software of the MI Pad

Although the Xiaomi MI Pad comes with Android, we feel this has a separate OS because of their customized ROM that is MIUI. The MIUI 6 shines in terms of custom features and enhancements built separately into it. As usual it lacks an app drawer. Personally I don’t like this. It is up to you whether to like or dislike the single homepage scrolling for apps. This tablet has Android 4.4 KitKat as MIUI 6 is built on top of it, an update to Android Lollipop is expected soon in the near future. The remarkable feature is that the UI doesn’t lag a bit. So don’t worry if you have a number of apps to use. Even if app drawer is not supported, we can make use of widgets and overall the MIUI 6 is a good custom ROM and a different experience in itself altogether.

Xiaomi MI Pad review: Performance

As I already said, this tablet has a quad core processor+ 2 GB RAM. So there is no chance for lag or bloated performance. The UI is very fast and responsive. None of the apps take extra time to load. Overall you will not complain about the performance. Don’t you use more than one app at a time? Then this one is very much right for you as it has no issues with multi-tasking. Benchmark scores are also pretty good and as we said earlier they only pale in front of the Nexus 9 which is a significantly higher priced competitor.

Camera on the MI pad

The MI pad comes with an 8 MP rear and 5 MP front-facing camera, both of them do a fabulous job. But we can’t see many features with the camera app. It’s minimum and not a clumsy one loaded with fancy and never used features. The 5 MP front facing camera is the real game changer at this price tag. Arrange a party for me if you are a selfie addict. 😉 The MI Pad also takes 720p decent videos from the front, as well as the back camera is capable of 1080p videos.

Battery Life of the Xiaomi MI pad

Another exciting section. You don’t have to bring the charger with you while travelling. Because this spectacular tab has a 6700 mAh non-removable marathon battery. You can expect a battery life of one full day with moderate usage. On a heavy and continuous bout of usage, it will last up to 8-9 hours.

Price and Availability of the Xiaomi MI pad

The Mi Pad is currently priced at 12,999 INR. It’s available on Flipkart exclusively. Let us look into the cons of this device.

Cons of the Xiaomi MI Pad

• Camera is decent enough but lacks a LED flash.
• No SIM and 3G support.
• And finally, it lacks NFC.

Pros in a Nutshell

1. 7.9 inch Display with 2048X 1536 resolution.
2. 2.2 GHz NVIDIA Tegra K1 quad core processor.
3. 192-core Kepler GPU.
4. 2 GB RAM.
5. 8 MP rear and 5 MP front camera.
6. 16 GB internal storage, expandable up to 128 GB.
7. 6700 mAh battery.

Final Verdict

Here’s our hands on video for the Xiaomi MI Pad in which we have discussed more about the device in detail!

Should you buy this? Definitely if you are looking for a budget tablet under 13k. But don’t buy this tablet if you want a tablet with voice calling facility, then you can maybe have a look at the ASUS Fonepad 7. Lack of 3G is another problem. It will be a headache if you use internet while travelling.

Besides from the above factors the MI Pad looks promising and a game changer in the tablet category!

Read more:

• Xiaomi Redmi 2 full review
• Xiaomi Note 4G full review
• Xiaomi MI 4 hands on and review
• Xiaomi launches Redmi 2 and MI pad

Summary

Reviewer

Aditya Nath Jha

Review Date

2015-03-22

Reviewed Item

Xiaomi MI Pad

Author Rating

4