Redmi Pad: Budget-friendly tablet for your work and play needs

In this day and age where video is positioned as the most engaging content type online, the demand for devices with immersive visuals has also risen. But that doesn’t mean you have to splurge just to satisfy your appetite for content consumption. That said, Xiaomi launches its latest tablet contender — the Redmi Pad. Equipped with quad speakers and HD display, the audiovisual experience seems promising. Find out what else it has to offer!

Design and build

The Redmi Pad appears sleek and premium with its all-metal unibody design, flat frames, and smooth matte finish. Since one can never go wrong with minimalist designs, it certainly caters to varying tastes of consumers. 

You can keep it neutral and professional by opting for the Graphite Gray or Moonlight Silver colorways. If you want to spice things up and add color to your palette, the Mint Green colorway embraces a perky and playful vibe that’ll match your personality.

The overall build feels slightly hefty, weighing 465g and measuring 7.1mm thin, although I believe it’s somewhat justifiable. We’ll find out why soon enough. Nonetheless, it’s still handy enough and easy to grip for those always on-the-go. 

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Display

Greeting you in front is the 10.61” LCD display with 90Hz refresh rate and 2000 x 1200 resolution. On top of the large viewing area with less intrusive bezels, streaming YouTube videos or gaming became more pleasurable with the screen that exhibits good color accuracy and sufficient brightness and sharpness, more so given its price point. Long hours of video streaming shouldn’t worry you as much with the built-in blue light reduction. Equally important, users can indulge in the smooth interactions with the interface. 

For a more comprehensive viewing experience, the front panel is paired with quad speakers that have Dolby Atmos support. The aforementioned can take the credit for the Redmi Pad’s loud and clear sound. It’s impressive how it was also able to sustain the audio quality — little to no distortions — even in higher volume settings. 

Meanwhile, it has a few workplace tricks up its sleeve. There’s the split screen feature to allow you to multitask by allowing you to access two windows in a single screen; thereby boosting work efficiency. Another feature you’ll find useful during virtual meetings is the FocusFrame, which tracks the subject and keeps them centered.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which might be a deal-breaker for some. On the bright side, Redmi has affordable earbuds like the Redmi Buds 4 and Redmi Buds 4 Pro that easily resolve this issue.  

Camera

The Redmi Pad is built with an 8MP main camera and 8MP ultrawide front camera with the previously mentioned FocusFrame feature. Given how the camera setup is not exactly a tablet’s forte, the former becomes an accessory at rear for the most part. Images produced appeared a bit dull and washed out, but I’d say the overall quality in favorable lighting is decent given its price point. The front camera isn’t much either, but it’ll deliver for your video calls needs, that’s for sure. 

Performance

Powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 and running on 4GB + 2GB Extended RAM, it fared well in different scenarios ranging from light to heavier tasks. No question, lighter tasks went by smoothly; this included switching apps, scrolling through social media, internet browsing, and the like. The same is true when running several apps and multitasking, adding to its appeal for work and school use. Even for graphically demanding games, the Redmi Pad was able to deliver. I didn’t encounter any stutters throughout my long hours of gameplay. Everything considered, it lends itself well for both work and play. 

Since it’s adequately packed with 128GB storage, you have the liberty to download as many streaming platforms and mobile games that suit your preferences.

Battery

As mentioned earlier, the Redmi Pad is comparatively heavy. But since it’s packed with a sizable 8000mAh battery, it might be a minor load you’re willing to bear. You can maximize its use for a little over a day with intensive use. It takes a while to charge the tablet to 100% with the 18W fast charger —  two hours and a half to be exact, but you can take comfort in its long battery life. 

Verdict

If you want to take entertainment wherever you go and enjoy a few workplace benefits, the Xiaomi Redmi Pad proves to be a wise option for those on the lookout for a budget-friendly yet feature-packed tablet. For a price of PHP14,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and PHP13,999 for the 4GB+128GB variant, it’s a worthy opponent that shines with its premium-looking design, large screen and battery life, and highly capable chipset.