Redmi Pad SE review

Standard 8MP+5MP camera setup

The Redmi Pad SE features a rather standard, for the tablet segment, camera setup with 8MP f/2.0, 1/4.0", 1.12µm shooter on the back and a 5MP f/2.2 1/5.0", 1.12µm selfie camera on the front, which is an ultrawide. This way, the field of view will be wide enough for several participants in a video call.

Both cameras cap at 1080p video recording, not just due to resolution, but the Snapdragon 680 can't do 4K videos either. You don't really need to on a tablet, though.

We took a couple of samples with the main camera on the back. It's not something to write home about, but it will do.

Back camera samples

Some selfies are in order as well.

Selfies

There's a special Document mode, which we tried. It offers three modes - Original, B&W and Enhanced. We've provided samples from all three modes.

Documen camera mode: Normal • B&W • Enhanced

After taking the shots, you are asked to crop the text area you wish to save manually.

And here's a sample video taken on a rainy day.

Verdict

The Redmi Pad SE is currently going for just €150, a fairly good deal in our books. We liked the display, the build, the battery life and the speakers. The UI is highly customizable, albeit too heavy for the Snapdragon 680 SoC in some cases.

However, consider some of the most prominent drawbacks we found. The most annoying thing is the lack of an ambient light sensor - you can't rely on the automatic brightness mode. And secondly, the charging could be faster. Sure, an argument can be made that this device will probably stay at home most of the time so it would never be far from an outlet. Still, this is one of the slowest charging tablets we've tested.

If you are willing to spend just a tad more, then maybe you should consider the Xiaomi Pad 6, which has a better screen with an ambient light sensor, offers a more powerful chip and runs on the same software. Alternatively, the older Redmi Pad, the Oppo Pad Air and the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ may be up your alley depending on your software preferences, but the overall experience and hardware are similar.

Pros

• Nice build quality, thin and lightweight design.
• Pretty decent screen for the price, 90Hz too.
• Dependable battery life.
• Excellent stereo speakers.
• Feature-rich and highly customizable MIUI 14 Pad based on Android 13.

Cons

• Slow charging.
• Chipset on the low end of the performance spectrum for the class.