Following the introduction of the Mix 4 smartphone, Xiaomi officially unveiled of the Pad 5 series – its first tablets in three years.
The lineup consists of a Wi-Fi-only vanilla Pad 5 and a Pad 5 Pro that has both Wi-Fi and a 5G-enabled version. The Pro runs on Snapdragon 870, while the Pad 5 settles for the Snapdragon 860, meaning they are among the most powerful Android tablets out there.
Both tablets come with an 11” display of 2560×1600 pixel resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The 10-bit panels come with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 and promise up to 500 nits brightness, as well as the TrueTone technology, for adapting the colors and brightness to ambient light.
The pill-shaped camera island on the Pad 5 holds a single 13MP shooter, while the Wi-Fi-only Pro has a 13MP main and 5MP ultra-wide combo. The Pro 5G, on the other hand, upgrades the main camera to a 50MP sensor, while retaining the 5MP ultrawide unit.
The entire Pad 5 lineup supports a magnetic keyboard cover and stylus, just like the latest iPad Pro 11 and Galaxy Tab S7.
The Xiaomi stylus weighs 12.2 grams, has two buttons on its side, and offers a 240 Hz touch sampling rate. It has its own battery that can live 8 hours on a single charge. The magnetic keyboard is pretty much like any other accessory of its class, and the company will offer it in three colors to match the Pad 5 paint jobs.
The battery of the Pad 5 Pro has 8,600mAh capacity and comes with the 67W fast-charging – fastest ever in a tablet. The slate is also extremely light – just above 510 grams – and thin – 6.86mm. The non-Pro Pad 5 comes with a slightly bigger 8,720 mAh cell but is downgraded to 33W fast-charging – still quite rapid for a tablet.
The interface remains MIUI but is now adapted for tablets and brings multi-screen support for over 300 apps, provided they are opened on a Xiaomi smartphone. Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro also comes with four Dolby Atmos-tuned speakers – two on top and two on the bottom.
Xiaomi Pad 5 • Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro
The base 6/128GB Xiaomi Pad 5 will cost CNY1,999 ($310), with doubling the storage pushing the price to CNY2,299 ($355). The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 6GB/128GB version is CNY2,499 ($385), followed by the 6/256 GB unit at CNY2,799 ($430), while the top 8/256 GB variant with 5G capabilities is CNY3,499 ($540).
They are already available for pre-order in China, but the international wing of Xiaomi is keeping a lull on any overseas availability.
Haslinda has worked with some of the largest telcos in North America and Asia. She loves tech and doesn’t like iPhone
