A tablet can be useful in many different ways. It can be used to enjoy your favorite stories, whether they are TV series, videos, comics or games. More and more people also use them to work on the move, managing emails and writing notes (perhaps with a dedicated pen). The best tablets manage to do this and much more, and some manage to do it at the right price: this is the case of Xiaomi Pad 6a device that struck us for its completeness in this review.
Xiaomi has made some choices to reduce the price of this product, but it seems to us that it has paid a lot of attention to ensure that did not turn into limitations in using the tablet. The result is a high-performance and complete product, which could interest many users – also due to the price of under 400 euros.
Our review of Xiaomi Pad 6
The tablet market has long seen good products at both ends, but few certainties in the mid-range. Products even under 100 euros for those who wanted the bare minimum, top of the range products as powerful as computers for those who wanted to spend ten times as much. In between, just a few interesting products (including Apple’s basic iPads) and a lot of empty space. Space that more and more companies are conquering, and Xiaomi seems to have found the right recipe for doing so.
For the right price, Xiaomi Pad 6 has everything you need – including the 33W charger that you find in the package. And you will also find various accessories, which can be purchased separately: we have tested the Second generation Xiaomi Smart Pen (which we will tell you in detail), but also find magnetic keyboards.
Not everyone will care, but they are a point in favor of the Xiaomi ecosystem: if you want to upgrade to use the tablet to work on the move, you can do so.
Xiaomi Pad 6 review: the design
Xiaomi created the tablet’s body in aluminuma choice that rewards in at least two aspects: Xiaomi Pad 6 is beautiful to look at and light to hold in the hand. Only 6.5 millimeters thick and weighing just 490 grams, it has squared profiles also recalled by the camera module. Which we would perhaps have preferred to be less protruding (since we usually never use the camera except for scanning documents), but which doesn’t bother us in this well-balanced tablet.
The fact that the edges are one with the back of the tablet increases the feeling of having a premium product in your hands. As well as The construction seems to be of quality: It gives a good feeling of solidity in the hands, despite being so thin.
In the corner near the camera we find the power button and volume rocker, which give good tactile feedback. We would have preferred that the power button also act as a fingerprint reader, while instead you only find unlocking with face recognition (less secure without dedicated hardware). On the side opposite the camera you will find the magnetic pins for the keyboard: on that side also the USB-C 3.2 input.
The two short sides house the speaker, which produce a loud and clear sound (even if the bass remains limited). On the long sides there are magnetic inserts to secure the pen.
In this product, Xiaomi certainly didn’t try to redefine the concept of a tablet: it played it safe. And he did well: the result is a product with a simple but refined, even elegant design.
A big beautiful display
The display gives 11 inches of this tablet without a doubt is its own strength. The bezels are noticeable, but they are quite thin for the average in this range. The display has a resolution of 2880 x1800 pixel and a refresh rate from 144Hz which particularly shines in games. This is an LCD panel, which cannot boast the perfect blacks of OLED. And in images where black plays an important role, you will notice it.
However, it seems to us that the colors are very natural in daily use, navigating through the various menus and browsing online to read some news at breakfast. But watching videos and TV series, we notice a high contrast and a brilliance in the bright scenes that struck us. Combining the good video performance with the rather powerful audio sector, the result is pleasant and surprising in this price range. We would still have preferred OLED, but we are happy to adapt.
The 550 nit brightness makes it excellent for use at home or in the office, while using it in direct sunlight or on the move on public transport is a little more complicated. If you add to this that the SIM tray for 4G/5G connectivity is missing, this reduces the flexibility of the product a bit. But during almost all of the tests we subjected it to for this review, the Xiaomi Pad 6 screen was able to defend itself very well.
Xiaomi Pad 6 review: very good performance
Xiaomi has decided to equip its Pad 6 with a processor Snapdragon 870, certainly not the latest addition to Qualcomm’s chips (they announced it at the beginning of 2021). An unusual but intelligent choice. Chips have high costs and focusing on a top-of-the-range processor, but one that is a few years old, can make a difference in performance. Especially because in a tablet, where larger batteries can be used (and where the screen consumes more than any other component), the advantages in terms of energy efficiency are less noticeable.
During daily use the tablet is always fast and efficient, also thanks to the 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage of the model we tested. But even when playing graphically intense titles, we never encountered any problems. Even from the point of view of thermal management it performs well, without ever getting too hot.
The Bluetooth 5.2 and WiFi 6 connectivity It didn’t cause us any problems (the only uncertainty we encountered in the connection was due to the work on the fiber optic outside our house, not the tablet we initially blamed). Those who work may need a desktop mode or the ability to use the tablet as an external display, which are instead missing. But otherwise Xiaomi Pad 6 performs well in everything: both for productivity and for games, films and other forms of entertainment.
Pen and accessories: the complete package
In the productivity area, we really appreciated the Xiaomi Smart Pen which we tested on Pad 6 for this review. The tablet recognizes it without the need for any installation. The magnetic grip on the edge is not excellent, but functional and always keeps the pen charged (the battery still lasts 150 hours). And i 4096 pressure levels allow you to write with a certain certainty.
Dedicated e-ink products and even higher-end tablets (particularly those from Apple) have more satisfactory tactile feedback. But even with this smart pen from Xiaomi the experience is excellent. The only drawback is the price of around 100 euros, which on a mid-range tablet is more difficult to justify: more than a quarter of the Pad 6. But if you often take notes with a pen, or if you love drawing (and not you want to invest in a graphics tablet), in our opinion it is worth the expense.
Good camera, for a tablet
Taking photographs with a tablet usually makes little sense: in all likelihood you have a much better camera included in your smartphone in your pocket. But we appreciate that Xiaomi found room in the budget for one Decent quality 13MP rear camera. The images are well defined and the colors are faithful to the originals, with decent level of detail. If you want to post the photographs taken on social media, the quality is sufficient.
The 8MP front camera it is located on the long side, which in our opinion is less intuitive for video calls (most software is designed for smartphones and vertical use). But the quality is decent, although it tends to lose detail in favor of well-defined, but flat images. Use your smartphone’s camera when you can, but if you need it you can count on Xiaomi Pad 6.
Excellent battery life and (fairly) fast charging
The battery gives 8840 mAh it is spacious and performs very well, especially considering the slightly dated chip and the large, high-resolution screen. You can complete even a busy day of work without any problem. If, however, you watch TV series and play games in the evening, you won’t have to recharge the tablet more than a couple of times a week. It won’t break any records, but the autonomy of Xiaomi Pad 6 is more than satisfactory.
Xiaomi has accustomed us to ultra-fast charging in smartphones, but that from 33W we think it’s enough and more for this tablet. It takes about an hour and a half for a full charge, but in most cases in less than an hour you will have the autonomy you need.
Xiaomi Pad 6 review: is it worth it?
On the Xiaomi website you can buy Pad 6, in the colors Gravity Grey (that of the device in the photos of this review), Gold e Mist Blue at the price of 399,90 euro in the 8+256 GB version. On Amazon you can also find the 128GB model, which however costs slightly more at the time of writing this article.
At this price you can take home a complete product, with limitations that are however more than acceptable for most users. If you are looking for models with an OLED display or with a more recent chip, other specifications being equal, you will have to raise the price bar. And if you opt for a tablet only to watch some videos when the TV is busy, you can undoubtedly spend less. But Xiaomi Pad 6 offers all the features that make a tablet useful, at a fair price and with…