REVIEW: Xiaomi Pad 5, the best tablet of the moment

PRODUCT DETAILS

Description

The Xiaomi Pad 5 tablet has an all-metal back and the screen frames are quite small and uniform. On the front side we have an 8 MP camera and a 13 MP rear camera with a small LED flash, in the upper and lower area we have four Dolby Atmos compatible speakers, on the perimeter we have the volume buttons, power, USB-C connector, microphones and magnetic anchor for the keyboard.

• Connectivity: USB 3.1 Type-C port, charging and data / Magnetic anchor.
• Vibration and leds: No vibration / No charging Led.

In the side areas we have four integrated speakers that give us a very powerful and quality sound compatible with Dolby Atmos, certainly a great improvement over the Mi Pad 4. We have a 13 MP rear camera with LED and we do not have audio jack so we will have to purchase a converter cable if we are interested.

• Speakers and microphone: 4 speakers / Dolby Atmos / 2 microphones.

We have also compared the size of the new Xiaomi Pad 5 with the previous Pad 4, as we can see it is significantly larger, also changes the screen format and also the frames are distributed differently.

Display

The 11″ IPS OGS display up to 120Hz has a fairly powerful brightness with 500 cd/m² which for normal indoor use is sufficient although it may suffer outdoors. The color quality and contrast is excellent, we have HDR10 support, Dolby Vision and DCI-P3 profile. The IPS OGS screen is good for home multimedia use or for browsing, as it has a system without separation between screen and outer glass (OGS) which gives us a very good image quality. It also has a very responsive touch system with 10-point detection and 240 Hz refresh rate.

• Size and format: 11″ IPS OGS / 2560×1600 120 Hz / HDR10 / Dolby Vision / DCI-P3.
• Light output: 500 cd/m² / YES auto brightness / Good contrast / No light leakage.
• Viewing angles and touch: OK angles IPS OGS type / Good precision and sensitivity 240 Hz / 10 touch points.
• Display settings and protection: Reading modes / Screen protection in quick settings.

Cameras, Sensors, Modem and GPS

The cameras of the Xiaomi Pad 5 tablet are of good quality, we have few options in the settings but can serve as an occasional camera or for video conferencing at a good level. The 8 MP video conferencing camera is good, we have correct colors and adequate light control, the 13 MP rear camera also gives a good feeling, although the LED flash that accompanies it is testimonial.

• Cameras: Front 8MP / Rear 13MP / LED flash.
• Sensors and security: Gyroscope / Light / Accelerometer / Compass / Hall.
• Modem and GPS: Not integrated.

SYSTEM AND PERFORMANCE

Environment and user experience

We start the Xiaomi Pad 5 tablet and we see that it comes with the MIUI 12.5 system based on Android 11 with the Xiaomi additions. In a basic use for browsing and consuming multimedia content it moves quickly and we can use the most common apps without problems thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 SoC that in heavy web browsing or demanding apps defends itself well. By default the system is controlled by gestures and does not have the app drawer activated, two points that we can change without complications.

• Launcher: We can change the launcher / Android UI renders at 2560×1600.
• Multitasking and access: Multi task control / No PC mode.
• Languages and Google Play: Spanish and all the classics of international Android / Google Play installed.

System

We checked the system data and the available options and at all times the system is stable in daily use. We have the firmware with Google Play installed which works perfectly and is updated by OTA when connected to the internet.

• Version and root: Android 11 (64 bit) / NO root by default / NO root menu.
• Support: OTA updates / Firmware NOT available / Custom firmware NOT available.

Network, storage, RAM and ports

We performed the usual memory and internal storage performance tests on the Xiaomi Pad 5. The internal storage cannot be expanded as it does NOT have a microSD card reader, the results are excellent thanks to the UFS 3.1 memory, compared to other tablets it leaves them far behind. The Wifi range is very good thanks to the Wifi ac MIMO connectivity and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity has no problems, too bad it does not integrate Wifi 6.

• Storage: Total 128 GB UFS 3.1 / Free 100 GB / NOT expandable by microSD.
• RAM: Total 6 GB – Free 4 GB / LPDDR4X.
• Network performance: Wifi ac MIMO / Range 28 dB / Link 866 Mbps / Bluetooth 5.0 LE, OK.
• We recommend reading our Tutorial SAMBA on Android networks if we are going to use files from our network PC.

Power and performance

In terms of power the Xiaomi Pad 5 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 chip that has eight Kyro 485 CPUs that can reach 2.96 GHz and a low power mode that stays at 1.8 GHz. In the graphics section we have an Adreno 640 GPU that is in the high end today, it allows us to play any demanding title without problems. An SoC manufactured in 7 nm that has very controlled consumption and excellent performance that is above its direct competition, Chinese economic tablets are well below.

In terms of power thanks to the integrated GPU Adreno 640 we can play demanding games like PUBG at high level, Genshin Impact in high quality despite being so demanding or the popular COD: Mobile in high quality quite smoothly.

• Games and emulators: PUBG high / Genshin high / COD: Mobile high / Emulators up to Wii / YES supports Vulkan.
• Controls: Compatible with Gamepads via cable or bluetooth.

Battery and temperature

The Xiaomi Pad 5 has a large battery of 8720 mAh, as we have checked the autonomy is very good in a normal mixed use and using the screen brightness at medium level. If we run demanding games the battery drops quickly as normal, but overall we have very normal figures in this range where it is better not to move away from a charger if we are going to use it a lot.

• Battery: Light use 13 hours, intensive mixed 6 hours / Max charge 33W / 100% charge 76 min.
• Standby: Connected to Wifi and unused it can last about 20 days or more.
• Temperature: The back heats up very little.

VIDEO AND AUDIO TEST

Video and audio connections

In the video playback section the Xiaomi Pad 5 has a VPU compatible with h.265 and VP9 codecs for resolutions up to 8K, it is compatible with HDR content up to Dolby Vision and does not have support for AV1 codec. We can use players like KODI or PLEX correctly without compatibility problems. As for audio we can play DD and DTS sound, as for codecs it supports up to Dolby Atmos.

NOTE KODI 19.1: This app is not compatible with 120 Hz screen mode, you have to change that setting to 60 Hz.

• Color and HDR: HDR, HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision.
• Audio settings: SO Jack audio / Dolby Atmos.
• Media sharing: Chromecast NO / Miracast NO / DLNA with BlubblePnP / Airplay NO.
• Tutorials: Install add-on in KODI / Judder effect, how to fix it / Multi-channel audio guide / Correct dark video playback in Android.

Video and audio test results

• The maximum bitrate depends on the port used to connect or the limitations of SAMBA Networks.
• SW = does not have hardware acceleration and may have have some frameskip in very heavy files.

Streaming services

We ran several tests on streaming services to check how the most popular services work. The Xiaomi Pad 5 tablet offers us the possibility of watching streaming content in high quality for Netflix where we get up to FullHD, in Amazon Prime Video for now has HD quality as well as other streaming services. Fortunately it is SoC does offer apps on Google Play without complications.

• DRM: Google Widevine L1 / Clearkey 1.2.
• Audio certification: Dolby Vision / Dolby Atmos.
• Tutorials: Change the size of the captions and the mouse pointer on Android / Install Addons in KODI in a simple way

CONCLUSIONS AND BUY LINKS

Score

Opinion

Once we have tested the Xiaomi Pad 5 tablet we can say that it is undoubtedly one of the best tablets of the moment for its quality / price ratio. In this tablet we have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 Octa Core SoC that has excellent performance and also has an Adreno 640 GPU that allows us to run the most powerful games properly. Also good connectivity Wifi aC MIMO with Bluetooth 5.0 LE that behaves well and has good range, too bad we do not have Wifi 6.

The Xiaomi Pad 5 tablet has an IPS 11″ OGS screen that we can use comfortably indoors and has a very good color quality and contrast, also supports up to HDR Dolby Vision. In addition we have the four speakers compatible with Dolby Atmos that give us a very good and defined sound for a tablet, unfortunately we do not have audio jack.

This tablet has an excellent battery life, the SoC controls the energy expenditure well, but when we demand performance we can logically as quickly drops the percentage. The surface temperature at play is not very high, has fast charge of 33 W which is appreciated to accelerate this section.

After testing the tablet Xiaomi Pad 5 we can certainly say is possibly the best tablet in its range with a quality / price ratio unrivaled. A suitable model for those who need a tablet with good performance for games and multimedia.

Where to buy

Xiaomi Pad 5

0.00

8.1

Design

8.5/10

Hardware

9.0/10

Conectivity

7.0/10

Software

8.0/10

Price

8.0/10

Pros

• Good screen
• Powerful sound
• Excellent SoC performance
• Solid construction
• Fast system

Cons

• No Wifi 6, microSD or jack
• No fingerprint reader