Xiaomi Pad 5 Unboxing and First Impressions

Xiaomi released the Pad 5 last week in the Philippines and it has been drawing praises since then.

Meet Xiaomi Pad 5

Why? First, Xiaomi is finally back in the tablet realm globally three years after the launch of its predecessor Mi Pad 4 in 2018.

Similar to a lot of Xiaomi devices, the tablet is packed with some of the most attractive specs for the price.

Second, with a starting price tag of PHP 17,990, the Mi Pad 5 gives you a larger display with a smoother refresh rate and slightly sharper resolution, a competitive chipset, bigger base storage, huge battery capacity, and 4 speakers, stylus support, and many more than most competition tablets in its class.

Third, as mentioned, this is the first time that Xiaomi has released a tablet locally since its Philippine return in 2018.

Now, could this be the Android tablet to beat at this price point? Let's have a look.

Unboxing/Accessories

The packaging

The Pad 5 arrived in a quite large white box with a simple print of the model name of the tablet. It also reads that it has both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to improve the tablet's multimedia experience.

If you are one of the lucky early buyers of the tablet, it'll come with a FREE Xiaomi Smart Pen at Lazada.

Everything inside

Anyway, the tablet arrived with the tablet itself along with an in-box 22.5W fast-charging power brick, USB-A to USB-C data/charging cable, and paper documents.

Similar to all Xiaomi devices we unboxed, there are no earphones with a mic included in the package. We are used to it and it is fine.

However, we would have liked it better if it has a FREE case as finding an aftermarket sace

Build Quality/Design

Stylish back design!

In terms of materials use, the back panel is made out of a glass-like material with a frosted finish. The frame is solid metal and it feels very tough. The display is obviously made out of glass.

Premium materials!

There is no mention of protection for its glass and display. There is no mention of a water resistance rating as well.

But don't get us wrong, this is one of the toughest-looking tablets at this price point.

Camera hump!

Design-wise, the back panel is super sleek-looking. 

The Xiaomi Pad 5 simply screams premium out of the box. The glass-like material at the back has a frosted finish that lessens annoying fingerprint smudges.

It is available in Cosmic Gray or Pearl White. The unit that we have is Cosmic Gray. It is minimalist and simply sleek at the same time.

11-inch goodness!

In front, it goes with a large 11-inch LCD screen with an extra-smooth 120Hz refresh rate with WQXGA 2560 x 1600 resolution at 276 ppi.

Crisp and beautiful immersive display!

This display has a 16:10 aspect ratio and DCI-P3 support. It also has a True display, Color temperature sensor, Sunlight display, and Light sensor. Moreover, it goes with Dolby Vision for a cinematic experience.

Checking its appearance, this is a pretty large display, but it isn't too big and heavy like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 12.6-inch MatePad Pro.

The 11-inch size, for my personal preference, is the sweet spot.

Like most modern tablets, bezels are also slim and this helps in making its display be more immersive than older types of tablets.

But unlike smartphones, its bezels aren't designed to be super-slim so users will still have room for their thumb to securely grip the tablet when holding it in either portrait or landscape mode.

With Dolby Vision Atmos

When on portrait mode, you will see two speaker holes with Dolby Vision Atmos branding, a microphone hole, and the power key. Below, you will find two more speaker holes, another microphone, and USB-C reversible port. This supports 22.5W charging by the way.

USB-C ready!

On the left, you will find 3 gold touch contacts that you can probably attach to a keyboard.

Left side

On the right, you will find the volume rocker, two more microphone holes, and a magnetic point where you can attach the Xiaomi Smart Pen to wirelessly charge it.

Right side

In general, we think that this tablet has a highly attractive design and functional design. 

Xiaomi Pad 5 Specs

Display: 11-inch LCD screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, WQXGA 2560 x 1600 resolution at 276 ppi

CPU: 2.96GHz 7nm Snapdragon 860 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 640

RAM: 6GB LPDDR4X

ROM: 128GB/256GB storage

Back Camera: 13MP + dual-tone LED flash

Selfie Camera: 8MP

Battery: 8,720mAh w/ 22.5W fast charging

OS: Android 11 w/ MIUI for Pad 12.5

Connectivity: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz/5GHz) 2x2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: 20 x 16 mm 4x speakers, 4x microphones, Hi-Res Audio, Dolby Atmos, Xiaomi Smart Pen support, USB-C, Colors: Cosmic Gray, Pearl White

Dimensions: 254.69 x 166.25 x 6.85 mm

Weight: 511 g

Price: PHP 17,990 (128GB), PHP 19,990 (256GB)

As of the moment

With the pen

The Xiaomi Pad appears to be a great option for those who are looking for an Android tablet that could be used for either work, school, play, and entertainment at this price point so far.

Strong benchmark score!

For its starting price of PHP 17,990 for the 128GB version and PHP 19,990 for the 256GB edition, the tablet gives a premium build, stylish aesthetics, and an impressive 11-inch LCD panel with crisp details and an extra-smooth refresh rate.

Fast performance for the price!

Moreover, it has the highest specs found on any Android tablet at the moment. It features the Snapdragon 860 chipset based on the 7nm manufacturing processor, 6GB RAM, and large 8,720mAh battery capacity.

During our short time with it, the device never had hiccups in most of the tasks we are running like browsing, playing casual games like Call of Duty: Mobile, and watching high-resolution content from Netflix, iQIYI, Viu, WeTV, and more.

And yes, it is an entertainment powerhouse due to its nice display with a rich viewing experience and the loud 4x speakers.

To our surprise, it has decent back and front cameras for a tablet as well. This should be good enough for doing video calls and casual snaps in well-lit conditions.

We also enjoyed the MIUI for Pad skin that reminds us of the iPadOS from Apple. Of course, it isn't as polished and smooth as the Apple OS for tablets, but this is faster than several Android tabs we tested at this price point.

Oh, we are enjoying its stylus on apps that support it so far. Personally, I don't draw, but it is quite nice for jotting down notes.

Unfortunately, this is also a WiFi-only device. So, there's no cellular data. There are no location services as well.

Of course, this is not our verdict yet and we still exploring it more.

But even in our short time with it, we can tell that this is probably the most impressive Android tablet for the price.

See you in our full review!