Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro review: Classic Xiaomi good value

Greatest Costs Immediately: Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional

Xiaomi is taking tablets critically because the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional lands alongside the Xiaomi Pad 8, providing barely uprated specs. It’s one in every of a latest wave of premium Android tablets, trying to problem Apple’s iPad together with the Honor MagicPad 4 and OnePlus Pad 3.

The place many Android tablets have supplied cheaper costs and lower-grade {hardware}, the likes of the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional are available as a flagship machine, higher suited to problem Samsung’s dominance of Android tablets.

Providing higher worth for cash, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional provides a compelling Android pill expertise. I’ve been testing the pill for the final month to see if it’s the brand new Android pill to beat.

Design & Construct

• Premium metallic design
• Slim 5.75mm profile
• No IP score

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional updates the Xiaomi Pad 7 with an analogous metallic physique design with flat edges and a near-uniform bezel across the show. It is available in three colors – Pine Inexperienced (pictured right here), Blue and Grey – and it weighs in at 485g.

The 5.75mm thickness means it’s thinner than the Apple iPad Air, though it’s a little bit heavier, however solely marginally so. For those who’re in search of one thing even thinner and, try the Honor MagicPad 4 at 4.8mm and 450g.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

The one huge draw back of the design is the raised digital camera housing on the rear of the pill. Though simply sporting one lens, it’s a giant blob, which I think was designed to look a bit extra just like the all-encompassing digital camera techniques on the again of a cellphone – or maybe the iPad Professional.

The draw back of this bump is that the pill doesn’t sit flat on its again, rocking round when you lay it down on a floor and begin poking the display screen. For those who select to make use of any of the vary of equipment, then that downside is diminished, however it’s an irritation to keep in mind.

There’s no IP score given for this machine, one thing that you simply’ll get from the newest Samsung tablets, making them safer from dust and unintentional splashes.

There’s a fingerprint scanner constructed into the facility button, in addition to face unlocking. I discovered each of those to be dependable and make for seamless entry to the machine.

Equipment

• Focus Pen
• Keyboards and instances
• Premium costs

One of many issues that provides to the attraction of the Pad 8 Professional is the ecosystem of equipment which Xiaomi provides.

Initially, none of those are included within the field – there’s not even a charger, however the agency offers you loads of choices and also you’ll doubtless discover them discounted when shopping for the pill on the official retailer.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

The Focus Pen permits writing and sketching, connecting by way of Bluetooth and charging when magnetically connected to the aspect of the pill. It is a handy dwelling for the Pen, however it’s not sturdy sufficient to maintain the Focus Pen in place when slipping the pill right into a bag. The Focus Pen feels nice to make use of, providing squeeze features and gestures.

The Focus Keyboard (pictured) is just like the iPad’s Magic Keyboard, providing a trackpad and hinge on the rear, with the pill floating above the keys. It permits some angle adjustment and I discovered it handy for gentle working – though it does make the pill reasonably cumbersome.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

Energy is drawn from the pill itself by way of pogo pins on the again and there’s a backlit keyboard.

There’s a less expensive commonplace keyboard that lacks a hinge and trackpad, as a substitute counting on propping the display screen up on the case. Lastly, there’s a easy folio case, which may also be folded to make a stand for the pill.

Display screen & Audio system

• 11.2in LCD display screen, Dolby Imaginative and prescient
• Quad audio system, Dolby Atmos
• Matte Glass Model

The display screen on the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional sticks to LCD tech reasonably than the superior OLED that defines the iPad Professional and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11. That doesn’t imply that it’s a write-off.

Fairly the opposite: it’s good and vibrant, packing in a excessive 3200 x 2136 pixel decision (345ppi, increased than the iPad) so properly detailed.

It’s additionally able to 144Hz refresh charges, which whereas sounding spectacular is perhaps of restricted actual use. I discovered the scrolling round on the pill was good and easy and whereas some video games assist increased refresh charges, whether or not it’s a helpful characteristic will rely upon what you’re utilizing the pill for.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

However let’s speak about brightness and glare. The most important draw back of the Xiaomi 8 Professional’s show is how reflective it’s. Use it beneath vibrant lights or subsequent to a window and also you would possibly discover the reflections overwhelm the show, making it laborious to see content material. There isn’t fairly the brightness to chop by way of these reflections at 800 nits peak.

Xiaomi maybe is aware of this, therefore the existence of a model with a Matte Glass show which prices a little bit extra (£629) – however could possibly be definitely worth the funding when you’re planning to apply it to the transfer. I discovered that the auto brightness was a little bit eager to dim the show, even whereas I used to be sitting proper in entrance of it – it’s price manually altering the brightness to get your content material to look its finest.

In any other case, this can be a nice show at a fantastic dimension and I actually loved utilizing it to observe motion pictures and downloaded TV whereas travelling. It helps Dolby Imaginative and prescient and HDR 10, however with that barely conservative peak brightness, HDR highlights don’t actually pop as you may want them to.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

There are 4 audio system positioned across the physique, notionally supporting Dolby Atmos. Diving into the settings, it’s positively price avoiding the default Xiaomi Sound, which is a little bit flat and lacklustre. Past Atmos, there’s additional setting referred to as “immersive sound” which actually makes a distinction, so flip it on.

Collectively, the show and audio system make for a fantastic pill for leisure on the transfer.

Specs & Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Elite
• 8/12GB RAM
• 256/512GB storage
• No 5G possibility

One of many modifications that outlines this as a ‘Professional’ pill is the improve within the core {hardware} in comparison with the Xiaomi Pad 8. There’s a Snapdragon 8 Elite powering this slate and, and though it’s a 12 months previous, it’s nonetheless flagship-level {hardware} powering lots of the finest telephones of the final 12 months.

This pill is equally properly appointed with RAM and storage, however there’s no possibility for SD card enlargement and no possibility for 5G – as a substitute maxing out with WiFi 7.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

With that highly effective {hardware} onboard, it’s no shock that this pill is a stable performer. I discovered it ran easily and I used to be capable of play the video games I examined on increased settings, whereas dealing with multitasking with ease.

That’s essential as a result of as soon as paired with a keyboard, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is an environment friendly cell workstation. Certainly, it has a Workstation mode that may be toggled, making it behave a little bit extra like a desktop, opening apps in home windows like Samsung’s DeX characteristic.

I did see a little bit stutter whereas dragging a few of these home windows over one another, however nothing that involved me in day by day use. The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional can get a little bit heat beneath load, which I discovered typically when gaming and streaming, however to not a worrying diploma.

Cameras

• 50Mp, f/1.8 principal digital camera
• 32Mp, f/2.2 entrance digital camera

I’m not an enormous consumer of cameras on tablets however in case you are then the 32Mp digital camera on the entrance of the pill makes for good video name high quality. Nevertheless, the 50Mp snapper on the rear doesn’t justify the big housing that it sits in.

On paper, the 50Mp digital camera with f/1.8 aperture is above common for a pill. Look a little bit nearer and also you’ll uncover that the sensor is basically small and that’s evident within the outcomes. The cameras are high quality for informal snapping, however the cellphone in your pocket will probably be higher.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

Rear digital camera pictures are noisy and uninteresting in low gentle, lack any actual dynamic pop in good gentle and simply over-expose in vibrant situations.

The entrance digital camera isn’t good for pictures, with even a slight dip in gentle situations bringing noise into shadow areas. It’s actually vast, although, so video calling will reveal quite a lot of the room round you – it’s nice for group video calls.

Battery Life & Charging

• 9200mAh battery
• 67W charging

The battery lifetime of the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is spectacular, because of the 9200mAh cell that’s packed into the body. I discovered the stamina of the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional to be nice, lasting by way of a few days of standard use earlier than I wanted to recharge.

I used to be additionally impressed that the pill managed to hold onto this cost when in standby in my bag for over every week. That units this up as a stable selection for many who desire a productiveness machine on the transfer, or simply those that wish to load it with content material after which board a long-haul flight.

There’s no charger within the field, only a cable, however I paired it up with the 100W Anker Prime charger I carry round with me and located it might cost from empty to 53% in half-hour, because of the marketed 67W charging assist.

That is one other space the place you get a little bit greater than the common Xiaomi Pad 8, which tops out at 45W.

Software program & AI

• HyperOS 3 primarily based on Android 16
• Workstation mode
• 4 OS updates and 6 years of safety updates

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional launches on Android 16, with Xiaomi’s HyperOS pores and skin layered excessive.

This will probably be acquainted to anybody who makes use of a Xiaomi, Redmi or Poco cellphone and it’s nice this premium pill sits on the newest model of this software program, as some cheaper Xiaomi gadgets don’t.

Whereas I’ve been important of the over-reaching modifications that HyperOS makes on telephones, I really feel in another way about tablets, as a result of the core features of this pill aren’t obstructed by the modifications.

Certainly, Xiaomi has some nice options particularly for pill customers in HyperOS.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

There’s a dock on the house web page for starters, with the choice to launch apps full display screen or windowed, which is nice. Then there’s easy split-screen performance, however the piece de resistance is the workstation mode that’s just like Samsung DeX and provides a desktop expertise.

This pulls up a for much longer dock throughout the underside of the display screen that appears, imagine it or not, like the house display screen in macOS. For those who’re utilizing a variety of apps, it makes it straightforward to entry them with out continually swiping open the apps tray. Certainly, the swipe is then eliminated, with the apps tray opening with a button press as a substitute, so it lends itself properly to working with a keyboard and mouse.

The place HyperOS is commonly stuffed with bloat and duplication on telephones, it doesn’t really feel fairly as unhealthy on this Xiaomi pill. Xiaomi’s Mi Browser is a little bit of a bore, repeatedly sending notifications for a full vary of issues, however it’s straightforward sufficient to silence. Certainly, after I encountered some web site components not loading correctly in Chrome, I discovered them to work in Mi Browser, so it’s price conserving.

There are some Hyper AI options, however in the beginning is Gemini, current and proper. Past that, Xiaomi provides AI writing, picture creation, translation and so forth, largely by way of its personal apps. Like many AI options, I didn’t discover these so as to add a lot, however they’re straightforward sufficient to disregard.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

Android has improved the expertise on tablets over the previous few years, however nonetheless doesn’t provide parity with the expertise on an iPad. There are apps in Android that aren’t well-suited to huge display screen use, regardless of the efforts of Google to enhance issues – even one thing as mainstream as Fb isn’t good in panorama on a pill.

Maybe the largest software program draw back is that there are solely 4 years of OS updates. Which means no improve past 2030. Nevertheless, there are six years of safety updates, so whereas new options may not arrive, not less than you’ll be protected.

Value & Availability

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is listed at a £529 value, however it’s obtainable at £449 from Mi.com for the 8/256GB mannequin, which is an efficient aggressive value in comparison with rivals. The 12/512GB mannequin prices £599 and the Matte Glass Model (which solely is available in Graphite Grey and 12/512GB) is £629.

These discounted costs are additionally mirrored on Amazon when you would reasonably purchase it elsewhere, although, as talked about earlier, Xiaomi is very more likely to provide reductions on the equipment at checkout together with different perks.

Its key rivals embrace the newest iPad Air, Honor MagicPad 4 and OnePlus Pad 3.

For these eager to spend rather less, the £399 Xiaomi Pad 8 provides a lot the identical expertise (together with equipment) with a few {hardware} modifications, barely much less highly effective, however probably even higher worth.

Try our record of one of the best tablets proper now for extra choices.

Must you purchase the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional?

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional provides nice specs and stable efficiency for the cash, providing a considerably extra reasonably priced path to a premium Android pill than shopping for from the incumbent section chief, Samsung. It’s cheaper than Apple’s prime gadgets, though the usual iPad is cheaper and arguably provides a barely extra polished app expertise and longer software program assist.

The equipment that Xiaomi provides are good, however they give the impression of being a little bit costly at full value. The Focus Keyboard is a superb pairing for these wanting a compact productiveness pill that’s nearly as good for getting work accomplished as it’s for leisure when you clock off.

General, if it ticks the correct packing containers for you, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is a superb Android pill and comes extremely really helpful.

Specs

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
• 8/12GB RAM
• 128/256/512GB storage
• 11.2in 144Hz 3.2K (3200 x 2136) IPS LCD show
• Matte Glass Model (optionally available)
• Quad audio system
• 50Mp principal digital camera, f/1.8
• 32Mp entrance digital camera, f/2.2
• USB-C
• WiFi 7
• Bluetooth 6.0
• 9200mAh battery
• Wired charging as much as 67W
• 485g
• 251.22 x 173.42 x 5.75mm
• Android 16 with HyperOS 3
• Colors: Grey, Blue, Pine Inexperienced, Graphite Grey (Matte Glass Model)