Before now, there was a distinct lack of affordable tablets, especially on the 8-inch segments, but not anymore, thanks to the latest Xiaomi Mi Pad 4. This is the fourth edition of Xiaomi’s Mi Pad that was debuted in 2018. Undoubtedly, Apple and Amazon are widely regarded as the best brands when it comes to tablets, but Xiaomi seems to have entered the race, offering lots of quality at a cheap price.
Unlike Apple tablets, the Mi Pad 4 comes with Google Play Services with a lot of configurations you can easily set to suit your taste. The latest revision of Xiomi Mi Pad features a lot of configurations that’ll make the tablet faster such as the Snapdragon 660 chipset that’s paired with up to 4GB of RAM. Also, storage is abundant for all games, videos, files, and other things you love.
Fortunately, we’ve reviewed the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 and brought out the total features, specs, price, and how it levels against other tablets in the market.
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Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 Key Specifications
- Display: 8-inch
- Resolution: 1200 × 1920 pixels
- Processor: Snapdragon 660
- Rear Camera: 13-megapixel
- Selfie Camera: 5-megapixel
- RAM: 3GB /4GB
- Storage: 32GB /64GB
- Battery Capacity: 6000mAh
- OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo), MIUI 9
Design
At first glance, you’ll easily notice little bezels surrounding the edges of the Mi Pad 4, although they’ve been slightly reduced compared to the ones in previous generations. At 8-inch, the screen is now taller but follows the trend of a slimmer body with 16:10 aspect ratio. This makes it comfortable to hold in a single hand without fear of the device falling from your grip.
The body of the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 is constructed from a chunk of metal that curved up from the back to join the glass relying flat on the front panel. Similar to its predecessor, the primary camera is perfectly positioned at the back. Fortunately, the rear camera module is flat and didn’t disturb the balance of the phone when placed on a desk. This gave the tablet a flagship aesthetics and it’s undoubtedly one of the best designs we’ve come across.
For audio, there’s a dual speaker grill which is positioned along with the USB-C port at the bottom edge. Undoubtedly, the sound quality is great and loud enough for gaming, music, or watching videos. Meanwhile, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, although you’ll have to buy it differently since Xiaomi didn’t provide one in the box.
The SIM card slot is perfectly positioned on the top left corner of the device which shares the same slot with the microSD card. However, you’ll only get the microSD card slot if you’re optioning for the Wi-Fi-only variant.
Finally, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 build-up design is great and follows the current design trend of flagship tablets. This might be a budget tablet but proved to be a great competitor to more expensive ones out there.
Display
The Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 adopted a tall 8-inch IPS LCD screen which shows at 1200 × 1920 pixels resolutions and a 16:10 aspect ratio.
While the Mi Pad 4 misses out on the trendy AMOLED panel and smooth refresh rate, it manages to bring out vivid colors and very good viewing angles. However, the screen resolution has slightly dropped which resulted to a pitch in pixel density from 326ppi to 283ppi.
Undoubtedly, you can easily notice the significant difference between Apple’s Retina-quality display and Xiaomi’s screen. However, the Mi Pad 4 manages to produce bright images and sharp texts.
Camera
Before now, you should have known that tablets are generally not camera devices and the Mi Pad is not different. There’s a 13-MP sensor on the rear which comes along with the camera apps on the basic Xiaomi phones. Fortunately, there’s HDR mode and camera filter which work just averagely.
Turning over to the front is a 5-inch selfie camera that’s good for video calls and functions as a Face Unlock feature too.
Processor, Memory, and Storage
Working in the Mi Pad 4 is an Octa-core processor with Adreno 512 GPU, Snapdragon 660 chipset, and up to 4GB of RAM.
Undoubtedly, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 has sampled a significantly faster performance than its predecessor and can effectively run high-graphics games without any lags. However, you’ll experience some issues when you try to push the tablet beyond its limit.
There’s dual storage options of 32GB and 64GB which can be upgraded up to 256GB via a dedicated SDcard spot.
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Software and Apps
The Android 8.1 (Oreo) skin that runs alongside MIUI 9 software gives users a lot of customization options and settings. Xiaomi’s software lays out the app’s shortcuts on the home screen.
Fortunately, the device ships with Google’s Play Store already installed and allows you to download all the available Google Services as well as games that don’t come pre-installed.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s MIUI software ships in loads of extras and customizations you won’t find in standard Android like dual apps and a second screen, along with many shortcuts you’ll like to tweak. Also available is Xiaomi’s Xiao AI voice assistant, but it’s not optimized for the English Language. However, you can easily download Google Assistant if you need an English voice assistant.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 4: Battery Capacity
Inside the Mi Pad 4 is a similar 6000mAh battery cell that’s in the Mi Pad 3. There’s no doubt that the battery life remains the same, giving you up to 12 hours of active service. This is a massive improvement from the 8 hours of battery life you’re getting in most tablets and it’s higher than the 11 hours that’s on iPad Mini.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 4: Price in Nigeria and Availability
The Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 is available in dual variants. The 3GB of RAM with 32GB storage is sold for ₦75,000 (roughly $197), while the higher version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage with Wi-Fi connection is available for ₦90,000 (about $236). However, there’s a LTE version of the Mi Pad 4 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB that offers at ₦123,000 (equivalent to $324).
Fortunately, you can easily buy the phone at all leading online and offline stores in Nigeria and beyond.
