The big news of yesterday is not just the Mix 4. It was also the day that marked the return of Xiaomi to the tablet market. The handset maker (and maker of everything else) has revealed an iPad Pro competition: Xiaomi Pad 5 and Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro.
Differentiating the Xiaomi Pad 5 and Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro models are the System on Chip (SoC), battery capacity, number of speakers, cameras, and login security. Both the Pad 5 and Pad 5 Pro share the same 120 Hz 11-inch 2.5K display with Dolby Vision and HDR 10 support and hardware-based blue light protection.
The Pro model benefits from the processing power of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 paired to an 8,600 mAh battery with 67 W fast charging and a large surface cooling element. Meanwhile, the non-Pro model is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 860, along with an 8,720 mAh battery with 33 W fast charging as well as a large surface cooling element.
The Pro further features eight surround speakers with Dolby Atmos and face unlock and fingerprint sensor, whereas the non-Pro has “just” four with Dolby Atmos and only face unlock.
In the imaging department, both devices have an 8 MP front-facing camera. However, the non-Pro has a single 13 MP rear-camera while the Pro has a rear snapper is a dual-camera set up comprising of either a 50 MP or 13 MP (5G and WiFi model, respectively) and 5 MP depth-sensing camera.
Xiaomi has expressed its wish to get serious with tablets, starting with the Pad 5 series. With these new tablets, it will support Xiaomi Keyboard Cover, Xiaomi Pen and it runs on an MIUI for Pad OS. Speaking of which, Xiaomi has also unveiled the official keyboard cover and its very own touch pen that, like Samsung’s and Apple’s, magnetically attaches to the tablet for storage and charging.
Looks like Xiaomi has taken a page from Apple’s playbook. Even the design of the tablets has some resemblance to Apple’s newest iPad Pro and iPad Air. But this being Xiaomi, the pricing is competitive with the non-Pro model starting at just 1,999 yuan and the Pro model, at 2,499 yuan (or about US$309 and US$385, respectively, based on today’s going rate).
Images: Xiaomi [CH].
