Review of Mi Pad 5 - a powerful and beautiful Xiaomi tablet for those who are tired of the iPad
Miscellaneous / / October 19, 2021
The Chinese manufacturer managed to create a serious alternative to the iPad Air and even surpass it in some ways.
Flagship tablets from different manufacturers are traditionally compared to iPads, and more often than not, this comparison is not in their favor. But Xiaomi managed to create a formidable rival to the "apple" gadget. The brand's novelty - the Mi Pad 5 tablet - competes on an equal footing with the iPad Air. At least when it comes to the fourth generation model introduced by Apple in 2020.
In Russia, they plan to sell the younger version of the new Xiaomi tablet - Mi Pad 5. It only supports Wi-Fi, has a slightly less powerful processor, and has a maximum of 6 GB of RAM. We tested just such a device.
The older model Mi Pad 5 Pro, in addition to more productive hardware, boasts an advanced camera, faster charging, fingerprint scanner, as well as 5G and GPS support in the option with SIM card. But so far this version will not be officially available on the Russian market.
Table of contents
- Specifications
- Design and ergonomics
- Screen
- Software and performance
- Sound
- Camera
- Autonomy and charging
- Outcomes
Specifications
Operating system | Android 11, MIUI 12.5 for tablets |
Screen | 11 inches, IPS, 2,560 x 1,600 pixels, 120 Hz, brightness up to 500 cd / m² |
CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 860, 8 cores, 7 nm; graphics - Adreno 640, 675 MHz. |
Memory | RAM - 6 GB, LPDDR4X; ROM - 128/256 GB, UFS 3.1. Memory cards are not supported. |
Cameras |
Primary: 13 MP, HDR, AI, night mode; Rvideo resolution - up to 4K at 30 fps. Front: 8 MP, HRD, appearance enhancement, face unlock; Rvideo resolution - up to 1080p at 30 fps. |
Communications | Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi Protocol 802.11a / b / g / n / ac LTE and navigation are not supported. |
Battery | 8 720 mAh, wired charging up to 33 W (22.5 W included) |
Sound | Stereo, Dolby Atmos |
Dimensions (edit) | 254.7 x 166.3 x 6.9 mm |
The weight | 511 g |
Design and ergonomics
The obvious external similarities between the new Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 and the iPad Air start right from the box. It is emphatically laconic and very heavy - almost one and a half kilograms, while the weight of the gadget itself is 511 grams.
The design of the Mi Pad 5 is also very similar to its rival. The body is thin, and the edges are no longer rounded, as in the previous model, but chopped. The assembly is very neat, the connectors and speakers are located symmetrically, the camera unit hardly sticks out.
Mi Pad 5 is available in three colors: white, dark gray and green. True, the latter option will not be delivered to Russian stores.
The dark gray tablet we had at our disposal looks very good: a subtle gradient descends from the camera block and looks nice on the plastic body.
In the new model, Xiaomi has retained the classic arrangement of the front camera. Like the iPad, it is located under the conditionally top end, where the power button, microphone and two speakers are located.
On one long edge of the Mi Pad 5, there is a volume button, two more microphones and a magnetic mount for the Xiaomi Smart Pen. On the other, there is a contact pad for attaching a keyboard cover. The stylus will also be on sale in Russia, but it is not yet known whether the case will arrive.
The matte surface of the back cover of the tablet is almost not covered with fingerprints, and those that appear are easy erase. The screen gets smudged harder, but overall the oleophobic coating is excellent here.
Screen
The display of the Xiaomi tablet, unlike the iPad Air, supports a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This makes for smoother image changes in some applications and games.
If you want to save battery power, you can set the frequency to 60 Hz in the settings. To see what the difference is, two cute balls bouncing around the screen help.
The bezels around the display of the Mi Pad 5 are narrow, but not so narrow that there is a problem of false positives. But reaching the middle of the keyboard with your fingers when holding the tablet horizontally with both hands is not easy.
The matrix here is IPS, but the screen looks very nice. Excellent color rendering, good contrast, a large margin of brightness. The light sensor works at five plus, so there is no need to manually adjust the settings.
The manufacturer recommends using a vibrant display color scheme that adjusts automatically based on content. But we failed to notice the change in color rendition, even by changing the content.
You can also choose a rich scheme or stay on a standard one with a given contrast.
In addition, the owner of the Mi Pad 5 has the opportunity to play with the white balance - choose from three proposed schemes or add your own by shifting the focus on the color wheel.
Also in Mi Pad 5, you can turn on the dark theme and eye protection, as well as set up a schedule for these modes.
Software and performance
Mi Pad 5 runs OS Android 11, on top of which the proprietary MIUI 12.5 shell for tablets is installed. It looks very nice: neat, without unnecessary "tweaks" and advertising, which the owners of Xiaomi smartphones so complain about.
I was a little surprised by the lack of pre-installed Russian applications. Perhaps this is a feature of the test copy, and on devices that will be officially sold in Russia, domestic software will appear.
But it seems that Xiaomi does not even plan to actively embed tablets into its own ecosystem. There are no special tricks here that could be appreciated by the owners of gadgets of the same brand. The only "proprietary" option is the ability to unlock from another Xiaomi device.
To quickly exchange files with smartphones of any manufacturer, you can use the pre-installed proprietary Share Me application.
There is also its own Mi Browser with a recommendatory news feed and options for quickly connecting to YouTube and Facebook accounts. The browser is not optimized for the big screen, so it doesn't look the best.
The Mi Pad 5 tablet received an almost flagship filling - a fresh Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 chip and 6 GB of RAM. The only drawback is the lack of a card slot. So it makes sense to take a version with 256 GB storage, and not 128 GB, or actively use "clouds", for example, the branded Xiaomi Cloud, where another 5 GB is available for free.
Thanks to this hardware, Mi Pad 5 has no problems with launching applications or graphics-intensive games. Everything literally flies, and the tablet itself does not heat up even at high loads.
The synthetic tests of the Mi Pad 5 are expected to give high results and demonstrate the absence of throttling.
Screenshot: Geekbench test results for Mi Pad 5
Screenshot: Throttling test results for Mi Pad 5
Sound
Xiaomi did not skimp on excellent speakers with Dolby Atmos support. There are four of them in the Mi Pad 5, and all of them are large in size. The holes are located on the short ends. This is convenient when you watch movies in horizontal scanning or make calls, holding the tablet vertically.
The sound is excellent: loud, spacious, balanced and bass.
There are also four microphones in the Mi Pad 5. They are strategically positioned correctly on three edges. Two were installed on a long edge, and they are closed with a stylus when attached to a tablet. Two more are located on the top and bottom ends and perfectly capture the sound when you hold the device vertically or horizontally.
Camera
Xiaomi has cheated a little with the main camera. It is single in Mi Pad 5, but the unit is designed so that at first glance it seems like there are two of them. The remaining unused peephole is closed with plastic with the inscription "13 MP". There is a flash nearby.
A good camera is not an advantage you would normally expect from a tablet, especially if it is intended for home use. And yet, some interesting options, such as night mode, have been added to the Mi Pad 5.
The main camera of the tablet supports artificial intelligence, which helps to recognize objects in the frame and adjust exposure. But, having made a few frames with and without AI, we did not see much difference.
Shooting with the main camera of Mi Pad 5 in auto mode without AI support. Photo: Lyudmila Murzina / Lifehacker
Shooting with the main camera of Mi Pad 5 in AI-enabled auto mode. Photo: Lyudmila Murzina / Lifehacker
In general, the pictures are quite good, although the color rendition is slightly oversaturated, which is especially noticeable when shooting landscapes.
The Mi Pad 5 has a 10x digital zoom, but it is difficult to shoot at maximum magnification. The image starts to jump, so it's best to use a tripod or place the tablet on a flat, hard surface.
The front 8-megapixel camera serves several purposes. It allows you to take pretty selfies, slightly embellishing your appearance, and also produces a good image in video conferencing.
Selfie with retouch
Selfie without retouching
The third function of the selfie camera is face recognition of the tablet owner. This is not a three-dimensional scan, but a much less secure way to unlock from a photo, which you are honestly warned about when setting up. Recall that there is no fingerprint scanner in the junior model, but to protect against strangers, you can use a password, pin-code or pattern.
The camera copes with recognition perfectly, even when you hold the Mi Pad 5 horizontally. If you plan to share your tablet with someone, you can add the details of another person.
Autonomy and charging
Mi Pad 5 has a capacious 8 720 mAh battery and demonstrates excellent endurance even with a high refresh rate.
When watching a video, the tablet is discharged by about 6% per hour, a little faster, by 7-8% per hour, the charge goes away in games. If you use the device for regular web surfing, printing or social networks, without sticking in it for hours, one charge is enough for a couple of days of work.
Max Fast Charge Power for Mi Pad 5 — 33W, which is less than in the Pro version of the tablet, the battery of which supports 67W.
But there is good news as well. Despite the fact that the first reviewers complained for the lack of a power adapter in the package, the box with the version of Mi Pad 5 for the Russian market has a 22.5 W charger.
This power is enough for a home device. With a "native" adapter, the tablet charges at a rate of 1% per minute for the first hour, and reaches 100% in exactly two hours.
Outcomes
The Mi Pad 5 was clearly conceived as an alternative to the iPad Air, only with Android inside. And Xiaomi succeeded. It is pleasant to look at the new tablet, it is convenient to use it. It is a perfectly balanced device with excellent performance: a powerful processor, a durable battery, good sound and a bright, clear screen.
The only frustrating thing is that the Russian price of Mi Pad 5 - 36,990 rubles for the version with 6 + 128 GB of memory - is significantly higher than the one that was declared during the world premiere of tablets. Although even with this, the new Xiaomi is cheaper than its competitor from Apple - the iPad Air of 2020 now costs from 45,000 rubles. And those who want to save money can always look at the Chinese sites, where the cost of Mi Pad 5 is 6-8 thousand rubles lower than in Russia.
The author thanks Xiaomi for the device provided for testing. The company had no way of influencing its outcome.
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