In case you weren’t aware, Xiaomi launched its first-ever POCO-branded tablet a few months back, marking the expansion of POCO’s once smartphone-exclusive product lineup into new territory. With that in mind, the POCO Pad was packed with all the essential hardware that one could expect from a reasonably-priced Android-powered tablet, including a pretty decent chipset, a large display, and a sizeable battery.
One thing missing from the POCO Pad however was 5G connectivity, and while not everyone might see this as a necessity on a tablet, there’s little doubt that it’s a much-welcome option to have, especially for users who might be far from a stable internet connection. Thankfully though Xiaomi recently announced the availability of a newer POCO Pad model, which now comes with 5G connectivity. What else does it come with though? Let’s find out.
Internal Specs
One thing to note about the POCO Pad is that it comes with a lot of the same hardware found on the earlier model. For example, Xiaomi has equipped its newer tablet with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, an SoC designed for use with devices falling into the POCO Pad’s price category. It works alongside 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, which are again great specs to have at this price. Powering the device is a large 10,000 mAh battery, which features up to 33W fast charging support, provided that you have a compatible charging brick lying around.
For software, there’s Xiaomi HyperOS on board, which is the company’s latest iteration of its custom Android skin. This comes with a suite of pre-installed Xiaomi apps, as well as third-party software (some of which you can’t uninstall, unfortunately). Of course there’s also 5G connectivity this time around, which is the main point of this tablet’s existence.
Design and Display
Unsurprisingly, the design on the POCO Pad 5G is pretty much the same with the earlier model, with the sleek metal build, large rear camera module, and an overall slim profile. Like most modern tablets, the POCO Pad features slim bezels all around, with the power and volume buttons located on the upper right corner (when in portrait mode). It’s a design that plays it safe, and more importantly means that the tablet doesn’t look out of place compared to competing devices.
As for the display, the tablet also comes with the same 12.1-inch LCD display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 2.5K resolution (2560 x 1600), complete with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. It’s got a decent brightness of up to 600 nits, and offers rich colours with 12-bit colour depth and DC dimming for comfortable viewing at low brightness levels. Additionally, the display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, something not usually seen on most budget tablets.
Cameras and Other Details
For camera hardware, there’s an 8MP sensor on the rear panel, complemented by an 8MP front camera for selfies and video calls. Video quality isn’t particularly impressive as clips max out at 1080p resolution at 30 fps. Xiaomi sells additional accessories which elevate the tablet’s use as far as productivity goes – users can opt to buy a cover case for the POCO Pad, and there’s even a keyboard cover that’s available for purchase. There’s also a pen which should be a handy tool for students and creatives, although like the cover case and keyboard it is sold separately. Available in Cobalt Blue and Pistachio Green, the tablet starts at around 216 GBP (when converted) for the base model, and will be on sale starting on August 27 via Flipkart.
