We don't get to examine many tablets these days since, to boost their smartphone sales, electronics companies have turned their focus to smartwatches, headphones, and other gadgets. But, surely, some people still have room in their lives for a tablet?
If you want to spend €350 on a new tablet, look into the Xiaomi Pad 5, which was first launched in China earlier this year and is now available worldwide. A quick note: for the first 24 hours of availability, the slate will be available at a €50 discount
There was apparently a Pad 5 Pro model made in China, but this isn't it. So we're looking at a Snapdragon 860 processor, which isn't the quickest, but it outperforms the 750G found in the Galaxy Tab S7 FE, for example. And that one is €200 more expensive.
By the way, the €350 pricing is for the base model with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. You can double the built-in storage for an additional €50 (there is no microSD card, so you can't change your mind later
The Xiaomi Smart Pen is also compatible with this tablet, although it will be offered separately for €100. We did get one to test, so we'll let you know if you're losing out on anything if you don't spend that much on it. For the time being, we can tell you that the stylus clamps magnetically onto the tablet and begins charging, so there's no need to plug it in.
Unfortunately, the keyboard cover will not be accessible worldwide; instead, it will be available in a limited number of markets (the names of which we don't yet know, nor how much it will cost). It's a shame it won't be more widely available, because the tablet is already available from some merchants, and it could have been a useful tool for students if connected with a keyboard (we are, after all, in the "back to school" season). Of course, there's no reason why you can't use a Bluetooth keyboard (well, you will need to get a tablet stand too).
While the tablet came with a 22.5W charger, it allows up to 33W charging, so if you have a more powerful converter for one of your phones, you can use it.
If you're not going to use the tablet for school or work, have some fun with it. The 8,720 mAh battery will last approximately 16 hours of media viewing or 10 hours of games.
You'll enjoy the sound of quad speakers with Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio support in both scenarios. Although the Pro tablet has eight speakers, at least four of them are extremely loud. Although there is no headphone jack, wireless headphones can be used (ideally ones with Hi-Res Audio Wireless support).
Did we mention that the 11-inch display boasts a 120 Hz refresh rate for seamless UI functioning, as well as content and software that supports it? Even though there aren't many games that support 120 Hz, the high refresh rate aids in providing fast feedback when using the stylus, resulting in a more natural experience.
This LCD has a resolution of 2,560 × 1,600 pixels, resulting in a sharp image (275 ppi). For appropriate content, it also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 (we'll see if it has the necessary Widevine compatibility for high-resolution video streaming). The brightness of 500 nits isn't great, but because most tablets are used indoors, it's not a big deal. The panel's aspect ratio is 16:10, which we think is a nice compromise between watching videos and reading text.
The front-facing 8 MP camera will handle all of the video calls that today's work/study from home realities necessitates. There's also a 13-megapixel camera on the rear, which isn't as good as the 50-megapixel camera on the Pad 5 Pro 5G, but we can't recall the last time we shot a photo using a tablet rather than our phone.
In any case, because the Pro tablet isn't available everywhere, there's no way to connect to the internet via mobile data (the Pro is also powered by the faster Snapdragon 870). Again, since most tablets are used at home, this shouldn't be a problem.
