Redmi Pad Pro review: The Perfect Budget Tablet?! (2024)

Despite being a multimedia creative slash tech journalist for years, owning a tablet barely crossed my mind.

I solely rely on my Silicon-powered MacBook Pro for everything. Be that for heavy creative tasks or just writing when asked.

Prior to this, I’ve held a tablet for a gadget review — and it was actually my first time using an affordabe tablet to such an extent.

Admittedly, my expectations were low due to its underwhelming specs. Moreover, its limitations simply made me realize tablets don’t have a critical use-case in my actual work.

But not too long after that pretty pad, a second one popped up.

Clearly, the Redmi Pad Pro is theanswer of Redmi (or Xiaomi) to consumers who want an all-rounder tablet without much burning too big a whole in their pockets.

But is the Redmi Pad Pro the perfect entry to lower-mid level tablet? Scroll over to find out if it’s your GadgetMatch.

Jack in the Box

Aside from the product itself, Xiaomi / Redmi also offers additional accessories to make it a proper “Pro” pad experience.

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Sleek and On-Fleek

At first glance, the Redmi Pad Pro is a standout tablet on its own.

With its all-metal unibody design and stainless steel sides, it directly stomps the competition with their pseudo-premium build quality — which also affects long-term durability.

It is an overall fab slab of a tab that’s sturdy compared to its plast-icky counterparts.

While I’m not a fan of anything mint nor matcha, my eyes adore this Mint Green colorway that’s so sleek yet subtle. If this ain’t your cup of tea, there’s the pro-intended Graphite Gray colorway as well as a more refreshing Ocean Blue option waving at ya.

Speaking of, the Redmi Pad Pro’s front is strengthened by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

While this does not fully guarantee a shatter-free glass, it’s still a nice addition in case you, your kids, pets, or pretty much your anger management issues knock off the gargantuan device on the floor.

Buttons feel tactile when clicked. Even so, I’m not fond of its confusing layout where the power button and volume buttons are separated on different sides — much like Alaska and Russiaseparated by the Bering Sea, divided into two different continents and time zones 👁️👄👁️

It could have been placed right next to each other just like any other Android device for overall uniformity and familiarity — but I’m just gonna sheesh.

Just like in my previous pad review, my sentiment stays the same: A side-mounted fingerprint scanner would have been a better option instead of solely relying on the classic unlocking PIN, pattern, or the never foolproof face unlock method.

But hey! That 8-megapixel camera is beneficial for video calls — or selfies, if you prefer it that way.

And while already on the topic, it features an 8-megapixel rear shooter as well…

…with a flash unit to amplify awfully dark scenarios.

Visual Glory

One major reason why some people opt to buy tablets over smartphones and laptops are none other than their display sizes in the sweet spot.

The Redmi Pad Pro attests to that with its humongous yet vividly glorious 12.1-inch screen.

Notice those slim bezels? That’s something that we used to dream of in the past — at least for budget-segment tabs.

Still, screen size is just one factor. In this new era, display tech also matters.

Surprisingly, it has a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz sampling rate which make the tablet experience a lot better. Whether just for scrolling, simply scribbling and sketching, or being heavily-focused on gaming.

For all the display nerds, here are the needed nutrients you need to digest: 2.5K display resolution (2560 x 1600), pixel density of 249 ppi (pixels per inch), 500 nits of max brightness (additional 100 nits in HBM), 12-bit color depth, 68.7 billion colors support, 1500:1 contrast ratio, 16:10 aspect ratio.

It doesn’t stop there! It even supports Dolby Vision as well as eye-protection features. The tablet also has certain certifications from TÜV Rheinland — flicker-free, circadian-friendly, and most of all, low in blue light.

Superior Sound

Overall look and feel aren’t the only factors to consider when purchasing a shiny slab.

To make multimedia consumption more immersive, the Redmi Pad Pro boasts a quad surround-sound speaker system.

I may not be a full-blown audiophile but those four speakers altogether deliver rich sound with the ideal mix of bass, mids, and treble.

It’s loud enough to fill that void in you when volume hits around 50~75%. This is ideal not just with your usual Netflix (or Disney+) and chill moments. It’s also very desirable for loud party banging or your solemn sessions in the bathroom. And by that, I mean singing until your hoarse voice gives up on you 😭

Remember that Dolby Vision display? Well, the speakers are powered by Dolby Atmos as well.

As someone who’s an Apple Music patron, this special sound feature means a lot.

I can decipher how bad a 128kbps audio sounds compared to the Lossless and Dolby Atmos offerings — which aren’t present in most people’s preferred music platform.

You thought it stops there? Spatial Audio is also in attendance.

It’s not limited to Apple devices and other supported audio peripherals. Spatial Audio can be toggled even in speaker mode.

While some barely notice the difference, it gives me that surround sound feeling that other devices fail to provide.

Not free from being wire-free? The 3.5mm audio jack saves the day for those who fully-rely on their LDAC-powered headphones. Audio masters can even plug-in their traditional speakers and profesh amplifiers whenever, wherever.

Decently Speedy

The Redmi Pad Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset based on a 4nm process.

If you’ve held the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G, it should come as no surprise how quick it performs.

Gliding through socials was a breeze. Although multitasking = momentarily hiccups.

That might just be the limited 6GB memory that I have. Even opening just two to three apps simultaneously means other apps need to be sacrificed and stopped for good.

Anyhow, Xiaomi says this is exclusive for media reviewers as retail units should come in a bigger 8GB LPDDR4X RAM — which should also be the ideal memory configuration for this device anyway.

Honestly, 128GB in today’s digital age isn’t enough — at least for my tech needs. Luckily, the Redmi Pad Pro is being offered in a bigger 256GB storage with the same UFS 2.2 standard.

If that still feels insufficient, it has a dedicated microSD slot that can be expanded up to 1.5TB.

With this chipset, one shouldn’t be shocked that the tablet can run your usual game titles.

With the presence of Xiaomi’s Game Turbo feature, it boosts the already awesome performance when gaming.

Although for graphics-intensive games like Genshin Impact, expect a decrease in quality because of how heavy it is.

Admittedly, I’ve gotten accustomed to playing games on a foldable rather than the usual smartphone aspect ratio.

And with its behemoth display, I enjoyed gaming more than ever. So much so that I never missed a beat while in the heat of the match.

But despite being thin at just 7.52mm, 571 grams is still pretty hefty. It made my hands and arms sore over around thirty minutes to an hour of gaming.

That said, this large slab can still be laid flat on a table — which is suitable for shooting billiard balls in 8 Ball Pool — or duel with a friend in Chess!

Efficiency (with some Deficiency)

The Redmi Pad Pro packs a 10,000mAh battery. For a device such size, it’s sufficient enough to last you within the day — or more when casually used.

With moderate usage, it can last ’til the night light shines outside.

I’ve used it like any tablet user would do: Stream hours-worth of K-Dramarathon and K-Poplaylists. An hour (or two) of gaming. Even some sketching when bored for around thirty minutes.

Standby time is superb. Expect the tablet to last the next day or even longer. On the contrary, overall screen usage lasts as much as six (6) hours — much like regular smartphones these days.

I’m expecting at least a better power efficiency with the chipset used. However, I find the large screen to be the culprit. More so, it’s equipped with an IPS LCD panel. It does NOT turn off black pixels when unused — unlike OLED displays do.

That said, I don’t expect such display tech on a pad in this class anyway. It still is a solid slab for your creative, entertainment, and work needs.

The full unboxing video above already spoiled it. The Redmi Pad Pro does NOT include a charger out of the box. Very uncharacteristic of the sub-brand as they always ship chargers with their devices. IDK, maybe to cut some cost?

But if you’re in a tight pinch, it supports an adequate 33W Mi Turbo Charge — much like the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro I held three years ago.

That said, if you own any fast chargers from Xiaomi (or Redmi, even POCO), the Redmi Pad Pro supports them. In my case, I used my Xiaomi 13 Pro’s super-fast 120W Hyper Charger.

While it cannot obviously fully-utilize the charger’s max charging speeds, the Redmi Pad Pro was still able to activate its 33W Turbo Charging feature.

That 33W fast charging protocol helped fill up the Redmi Pad Pro’s massive battery in just around 1.5 hours — a lot better than the painfully sluggish three-hour+ charging time of the last pad I held.

Pro Pad–perience

The Redmi Pad Pro fully functions as a standalone product. However, the overall “Pad Pro” experience feels somewhat limiting without its additional accessories.

The Redmi Pad Pro offers the additional (and optional) Redmi Smart Keyboard and Redmi Smart Pen — but with some trade-offs.

Both of them aren’t being powered/charged on the device. Instead, they run separately through their own batteries — all while being connected via Bluetooth.

Say goodbye to your clutter-free slash wire-free lifestyle as both products only rely on wired USB-C charging.

The Smart Pen doesn’t support magnetic wireless charging. Furthermore, its Smart Keyboard isn’t powered by magnetic pogo pins.

Nonetheless, I don’t mind these caveats as long as these products serve their actual purpose. After all, we get these full-on “Pro” pad accessories for less.

And if you’re worried about the lack of magnets, the Smart Keyboard has a dedicated Smart Pen holder.

As per battery, both accessories manage to last at least a day. It even goes for more than two when you don’t use ’em excessively.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

No, that ain’t an error. That’s what I type out when testing and evaluating a new keyboard.

TL;DR: I’ve been typing with a MacBook keyboard for eight years now that I got so used to its layout — from my old 2015 MacBook Pro way back in college ’til the company-issued M2 Max MacBook Pro that I have with me rn.

Now, this is where I can confidently say such familiarity doesn’t require an additional learning curve.

If I explain the feeling, it’s in the middle ground of being mushy and clicky — not that it’s a bad thing. IMHO, it still feels very comfortable to type on.

Believe me or not, this review article was typewritten using the Redmi Pad Pro’s keyboard from the start ’til the very end. Photos and Rodneil all prove that.

If you value shortcuts like I do, those are recognized by the keyboard as well. The improvements i Xiaomi’s HyperOS over its bug-infested MIUI counterpart is its ultimate saving grace.

Split-screen multitasking? The Redmi Pad Pro is made for that as well.

I love its nifty three-dot marker found on the upper part of every app so I can easily select several multi-tasking segments.

It can even add another floating window on top of the two side-by-side apps just so one can maximize its overall display real estate and multitasking capabilities.

The possibilities are endless! I even tried several combos such as YouTube + X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram x TikTok on each side with the floating Apple Music window. Thus, multi-tasking of a multifandom K-Pop stan has been fulfilled.

Admittedly, the lack of a trackpad doesn’t feel “lacking” to me. If you want a full PC-like experience without using the touchscreen, you can also connect your mouse (via Bluetooth or USB-C) and the Redmi Pad Pro will easily recognize it without frills. Ijust experimented on it when I got too tired touching the display while out and about.

Earth without art is just “eh”

I used to sketch and scribble a lot during my prime — ’til it slowly vanished like my talent, passion, and soul.

Still, I tried much of what my slightly creative hands and mind can do by doing some lettering.

If you look closely, the Redmi Smart Pen has two buttons on its sides. Their purposes? One can be used for taking partial or full screenshots. The other can switch between pens, pencils, or even the eraser — at least in its proprietary Mi Canvas drawing app.

The Redmi Smart Pen delivers a smooth experience all throughout. That’s most especially thanks to its 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity.

You can even see the thick and thin strokes on the multi-Asian Cat Art I did.

Hovering the pen over tools and colors even show cool popping/highlighting animations — which is more likely to appear on pricier flagship Pro counter-pads.

And with the complement of Redmi Pad Pro’s non-laminated display, the overall experience doesn’t feel cheap at all — despite being targeted towards budget-conscious creatives.

Creativity Companion

The utmost use case of Redmi Smart Pen and Smart Keyboard don’t end there.

I even utilized much of the potential of the tablet and its accessories through other commonly used apps by creatives, for creatives.

If you’re into quick and easy shorts for TikTok or Instagram Reels, CapCut works well. For Full HD clips, it does the job. For 4K footages, expect some wear and tear out and about especially with its midrange-class SoC.

I assume Filmora, DJI’s LightCut, GoPro’s Quik, and other similar video editing apps work the same way.

Another would be Canva — the ever-popular presentation slash graphics app. Typing in boxes, selecting and dragging elements were all child’s play with the added feats of the smart pen and keyboard.

Moreover, that pen is also useful for fine-tuning every curve and detail in either Adobe’s Lightroom Mobile or Photoshop Express,Google’s Snapseed, VSCO, or even GoDaddy’s Studio.

Is the Redmi Pad Pro your GadgetMatch?

With a starting price of PhP 13,999 for the 8+128GB variant (and PhP 14,999 with twice the onboard storage), the Redmi Pad Pro is an easy peasy recommendation for those who want to try out a proper pad-perience without having to shell out a lot.

Sure, there are cheaper tablets out there that offer the same look and feel with great audiovisuals altogether. However, the Redmi Pad Pro has an exceptional look, build, display, and audio quality that are unrivaled for its price.

And even if it’s not, in any way, the most powerful pad around, it’s very commendable in the category it belongs to.

For creatives, students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, business-minded peeps, and even frugal professionals who are looking for a pocket-friendly pad that can do a little bit of everything, the Redmi Pad Pro can do just that.

Although add-ons always come at an extra cost, the accessories of the Redmi Pad Pro are still reasonably priced.

Spending PhP 22,000 utmost is still the most viable option than throwing away much of your hard-earned savings for a pricey “Pro” pad priced the same way as high-powered budget laptops.

Their accessories? Cost as much as the Redmi Pad Pro itself. Not everyone can truly afford that.

Some might argue, the Redmi Pad Pro is considered a “midrange” tablet for what it possesses.

I still dare to say it is the perfect “budget” tablet that truly understands the essence of a true tablet — something that has good synergy between hardware, software, support for accessories. Lastly, the product’s overall cost.

Combined altogether, the Redmi Pad Pro creates that perfect harmony that’s also value for money.

And for its overall worth, the Redmi Pad Pro is overall a worthy recipient of the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.