GADGET REVIEW
XIAOMI MI PAD
Xiaomi launched their first tablet
-the Mi Pad -in China first (June last year).After months of waiting, Mi fans
in India can finally get their hands on this tablet at an aggressive price of
`12,999.
First impressions of the design: the
rounded edges, bezel size and rear camera placement are similar to that of the
iPad Mini. However, the Mi Pad has a plastic unibody design. While we loved the
overall ergonomics and lightweight design, the plastic body lacks a premium
look and feel. Plus, the glossy finish on the rear is a finger print
magnet.Currently , only the white colour is available and we hope Xiaomi gets
the other colour variants to India soon.
The screen is an absolute beauty.
The IPS LCD has excellent viewing angles and the 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution
makes everything on the screen look pin sharp.It's covered with Gorilla Glass 3
for protection and we regularly carried the tablet in a backpack with chargers,
wires and loose pens -the screen remained unscathed. Under the display are
three backlit capacitive buttons for back, menu and home. Overall, we found the
screen to be fantastic -no other tablet in this price range offers a screen
with this resolution.
Even the specifications of the Mi
Pad are best in class. You get a 2.2Ghz quad core Nvidia Tegra K1 processor,
GeForce kepler GPU with 192 cores, 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. There is a microSD
slot for expansion that can work with up to 128GB cards (we tested it with 64GB
cards and it worked fine). Xiaomi has also managed to provide a 6,700mAh
battery despite the slim frame -impressive! As expected from such hardware, the
performance was top-notch. Mi Pad was able to handle all games and apps we
tried on it without a hitch. This was with constant WiFi connectivity and
common apps such as mail, Facebook, Twitter and so on running in the
background. With synthetic benchmarks, we got a score of 49501 in Antutu, 4961
in Vellamo browser test and 2420 in multicore test -no other Android device has
delivered such performance uptill now. Battery life was also impressive: we got
over 10 hours of backup with a 720p HD video playing in MX player with 60%
brightness and maximum volume on headphones.
What impressed us further were the
cameras on the Mi Pad. Usually, budget tablets are not known for camera quality
. However, in case of the Mi Pad, both cameras delivered impressive results.
Infact the images are just a notch lower than the results we got with the
Xiaomi Redmi 1s.Audio output from the stereo speakers is loud -we even used it
as a bedside music player on some occasions.
The Mi Pad has the MiUi 6 interface
based on Android 4.4. However, the interface is slightly different from the one
you get on the Xiaomi smartphones. One screen contains all the widgets and the
rest of the screen panels have the app icons: this takes some getting used to.
The interface is bright with easy to read text and we did not see any stutters
or lags during our usage.
One issue is the lack of GPS. GPS is
essential for using apps like Google Maps as well as to track down the tablet
in case it gets lost. One could make the argument that since there's no 3G, you
might not need GPS. GPS should have still been present though -maybe for
navigation with offline maps.
After disrupting the smartphone
segment with its aggressive priced devices, Xiaomi has managed to do the same
for the tablet segment with its Mi Pad. If you need to buy an Android tablet,
it's hard to ignore the Mi Pad. Highly recommended!
SPECIFICATIONS
7.9-inch IPS display
(2048 x 1536 pixels), 2.2Ghz quad core Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB
storage, microSD slot, 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, dual band WiFi, WiFi
Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, USB host, stereo speakers, Android 4.4, 6,700mAh
battery, 360 grams
Gorgeous display, top-notch
performance, MiUi works great on a tablet, excellent battery life, above
average cameras, I value for money
Glossy plastic back panel falls
short of expectations, no GPS
|
karan bajaj
|
ET11APR15
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