Xiaomi Pad 5 review

Alternatives

The Xiaomi Pad 5 has a lot to offer - great Dolby Vision display with loud Dolby Atmos speakers, powerful Snapdragon 860 chip, incredibly capable cameras on both ends, and good Smart Pen support for those who like to write and draw on the go. All of these niceties are packed within a thin and lightweight body and are sold at a starting price of €349.

There aren't many tablets on the market, but we'd say enough to make for some good competition.

Let's start with the recently refreshed Apple iPad 10.2" as it costs €379 - close to the Xiaomi Pad 5 and it also offers optional pen and magnetic keyboard support. It is a great aluminum tablet with similarly adequate performance thanks to the A13 Bionic chip. Stereo speakers are available even if not positioned that favorably, Touch ID is there, and Apple's iPadOS has become quite powerful, while the AppStore is full of high-quality apps and games. The Xiaomi Pad 5 offers the versatility of Android OS, better Dolby Vision screen and four Dolby Atmos speakers, so as far as multimedia is concerned, the Pad 5 seems better. Oh, and Apple's base tablet is with 64GB storage.

The Galaxy Tab S7 FE is more expensive at €560 and not as powerful, but it can offer DeX mode - a feature without a match from the competition. It is great for power users and can turn your tablet into a laptop with apps running into windows, so we'd say it's worth considering.

Then there is the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite bundled with an S-Pen, which costs about €280 for the 64GB version. It has inferior screen and performance, speakers, too, and cannot do DeX but it supports the powerful DeX mode thanks to a recent firmware update. The Tab S6 Lite also brings S-Pen experience on the cheap, and the stylus ships with the tablet. Xiaomi is charging €99 for its Smart Pen - that's a total of €450 - a lot more than the Tab S6 Lite.

If you are not interested in HDR content and modern games, but you like to browse, listen to music and watch videos on a tablet, maybe you should consider the Realme Pad. It has a 10.4" display, runs on the budget Helio G88 chip, and its base storage is 32GB. You can imagine this is not a heavy-duty slate. But it has four symmetrical Dolby Atmos speakers, a large enough display and battery and will do a superb job for YouTube, web browsing, social networks, office apps, music, etc. Its 32GB Wi-Fi version is priced below €200, but you can spend a bit more and get the dual-SIM LTE model if you need to use mobile data on the go.

Finally, you may want to consider the Lenovo Pad Pro, which is probably the closest match to the Xiaomi Pad 5 we could find. It costs about the same and offers an 11.5" OLED screen with 90Hz, HDR10 and Dolby Vision plus stylus support. It runs on an even more powerful Snapdragon 870 chip, has four speakers as well, while its camera department is superior - there is a second 5MP ultrawide eye on the back next to the 13MP primary, while the front 8MP shooter can be used for Face ID thanks to a nearby IR TOF 3D sensor. The catch - it is not widely available.

Apple iPad 10.2 (2021) • Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE • Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite • Realme Pad • Lenovo Pad Pro

Our verdict

The Xiaomi Pad 5 strikes the perfect balance of features at this affordable €349 price tag. It has a lovely screen with premium Dolby Vision support and 120Hz refresh rate, the four Dolby Atmos speakers are superb, and the performance is top-notch. This means the Pad 5 is ideal for gaming, multimedia, video streaming, all sorts of videos and music, as well as powerful office apps and tools.

You can also purchase the optional Smart Pen and turn your Pad 5 into a notebook or sketchbook. It is not as powerful as Samsung's S-Pen, but good enough to be considered.

We did not expect the photo and video camera quality to be this good, but it is, and whenever an occasion arises, the Pad 5 will ace it with its cams.

Finally, the battery life is excellent, and the Pad 5 is very dependable. Its software suite, while minimalistic, is up to the task as well.

The Pad 5 is not ideal - there is no cellular option, the bundled charger isn't that fast, and the Smart Pen is expensive. Some fan-favorite features like a microSD card slot and 3.5mm jack are missing, too.

But even with the omissions we mentioned, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is hands down the best tablet within the sub €400 bracket. It easily gets our recommendation as it aces everything it was designed to do and lives up to every promise Xiaomi has given.

Pros

• Attractive design, thin and lightweight, comfortable.
• Great 120Hz Dolby Vision display with good contrast, bright enough.
• Outstanding 4-speaker setup with Dolby Atmos.
• Excellent battery life.
• Flagship-grade performance, sustained, too.
• Praiseworthy photo and video quality.
• MIUI is fast, fluid and free of rubbish apps.
• The Smart Pen is nice, but...

Cons

• The Smart Pen is also expensive at €99.
• No cellular option and no GPS.
• No microSD or 3.5mm jack.
• No fingerprint reader.
• Sluggish charger for a tablet, 33W would have been better.