Xiaomi’s new Android tablet looks to mask the deficiencies of Android with its customised features but is that enough to become good at multitasking?
The Android tablet is finally getting some attention and Xiaomi is one of the older names in the segment. The brand has launched the Xiaomi Pad 6 tablet in the market recently, which is priced at Rs 26,999 if you exclude the launch discount. The successor to the popular Xiaomi Pad 5 looks to build on the positives of the last-gen model and improve the basic functionality of a tablet.
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Having said that, the biggest pain point for Android tablets has been the software, while the hardware has been upgraded to show that companies are invested in the category. So, how does the Xiaomi Pad 6 live up to the evolving nature of an Android tablet and tell us whether people can go for a tablet with productivity on their mind.
XIAOMI PAD 6 REVIEW: WHAT’S COOL?
There is a lot to like about the Xiaomi Pad 6 and it starts with the design. It weighs under 500 grams and the thickness of 6.51 mm makes it easy to grip with both hands, and you don’t feel the weight of the device at any point.
The metal unibody design is another appealing aspect of the tablet, which ensures you don’t feel the company is ripping you off with the price tag. The materials used to make the tablet doesn’t betray its quality and the back panel has been kept simple, just the way we like it.
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The tablet has a 11-inch display but the new-gen tablet features an LCD 2.8K resolution display with a 144Hz refresh rate screen. Xiaomi accepts that you are rarely going to run the display at its highest refresh rate and that is more to do with app compatibility than hardware support.
The display quality is crisp and the bezels don’t result in fault touches, yet give you a full-screen experience. The colours are rich and the blacks keep their level in balance.
Moving forward, the upgraded model uses the Snapdragon 870 SoC for performance with up to 8GB RAM. As you might recall, the Xiaomi Pad 5 had the Snapdragon 860 chipset, which means the new Xiaomi tablet has an old chipset, which the company said is because they wanted reliable hardware that is tried-and-tested.
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And from our experience, the choice seems vindicated. We never faced any issues using the tablet, we even went the extra mile to push its limits with heavy usage which includes Chrome browser running with more than 10 tabs, music playing in the background and Google Docs for our daily workflow. Even threw a few games at it, and in most cases things were handled well.
Xiaomi Pad 6 gets the Android 13-based MIUI 14 version which is claimed to offer improved multitasking and Xiaomi has added its own inputs to make Android bearable on a tablet. The split window mode is one of the features that we tried, while the other options are compatible when you use the tablet with the Xiaomi Keyboard accessory.
The Smart Pen 2 works well and is quick to respond on the screenoffers better response, and the two buttons let you multi-purpose its usage and you can charge it using the magnetic spot aka iPads. You can also use it with the Xiaomi Pad 5 which makes it backward compatible.
You can also use the USB C port to connect the tablet to an external display, which can be a useful feature for many.
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The tablet has a large 8840mAh battery which is claimed to offer around 2 days of battery life, and during our tests, those numbers checked out. We got more than 1 day’s battery without medium-level usage, which means for regular users two days of backup is more than doable. It supports 33W charging speed, which takes a while to fill up the tank.
XIAOMI PAD 6 REVIEW: WHAT’S NOT SO COOL?
The tablet comes with 128GB and 256GB storage options, but the space is not expandable. You also don’t get a SIM model, probably keeping the price of the tablet in mind.
The Xiaomi Pencil does a good job but the lack of another Notes app or creativity app means you are jostling to download apps from the app store. We are hoping the company builds on the ecosystem and develops new apps to increase its use case.
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The keyboard does not have a trackpad and the distance between the tablet and the keys is not ideal. The tablet lacks support for physical fingerprint lock and you only have the standard PIN/pattern or face unlock options. We touched upon some interesting features to link your phone to the tablet but Xiaomi is limiting its support to the premium Xiaomi 13 Pro smartphone. Xiaomi says people who buy a 25K tablet use a 70-80K phone, which could be true but still we hope the functionality trickles down to other Xiaomi models in the near future.
XIAOMI PAD 6 REVIEW: WORTH BUYING?
Xiaomi Pad 6 is a definite upgrade on the Pad 5 but only if you are moving from an older tablet. The improved display is crisp and fluid without any false touches. The hardware sees incremental upgrades but that’s not a bad thing here, as the performance is fairly good. The software has been tweaked for better multitasking and compatibility with the Xiaomi Smart Pen 2 and the keyboard, both of which you have to buy separately.
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The battery life will keep you going for days, and the overall design aesthetics of the tablet will keep you satisfied. Once again, it is a case of reliable hardware that is yet to find its liking to Android, even though Xiaomi has done its best with the MIUI version as the overlaying software. In this range, you don’t have many options, and you only have the Wi-Fi variants in the market, which might not suit every user.
