Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro Review: Classic Xiaomi Good Value

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Score

Execs

• Good worth for cash
• Nice efficiency and {hardware} specs
• Helpful vary of equipment
• Good battery life and quick charging

Cons

• Show glare and restricted brightness
• Inconvenient digicam bump
• No IP ranking

Our Verdict

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is an incredible premium Android pill, with flagship specs providing good worth for cash. There’s spectacular efficiency and battery life, helpful software program options and a variety of equipment to get the pill expertise that you really want. The show is excessive spec, however the shiny end is a draw back, whereas the software program assist isn’t so long as some rivals.

Worth When Reviewed

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Finest Pricing At this time

Worth When Reviewed

Unavailable within the US

Finest Costs At this time: 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 gadget, higher suited to problem Samsung’s dominance of Android tablets.

Providing higher worth for cash, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional gives 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 ranking

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional updates the Xiaomi Pad 7 with an identical 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 slightly heavier, however solely marginally so. In the event you’re on the lookout for one thing even thinner and, take a look at the Honor MagicPad 4 at 4.8mm and 450g.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

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

The draw back of this bump is that the pill doesn’t sit flat on its again, rocking round in case you lay it down on a floor and begin poking the display. In the event you select to make use of any of the vary of equipment, then that downside is diminished, nevertheless it’s an irritation to remember.

There’s no IP ranking given for this gadget, one thing that you simply’ll get from the most recent Samsung tablets, making them safer from filth and unintentional splashes.

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

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 gives.

To start with, none of those are included within the field – there’s not even a charger, however the agency provides you loads of choices and also you’ll seemingly 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 house for the Pen, nevertheless 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 capabilities 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 mild 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 customary keyboard that lacks a hinge and trackpad, as a substitute counting on propping the display up on the case. Lastly, there’s a easy folio case, which may also be folded to make a stand for the pill.

Display & Audio system

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

The display 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, larger than the iPad) so properly detailed.

It’s additionally able to 144Hz refresh charges, which whereas sounding spectacular may be of restricted actual use. I discovered the scrolling round on the pill was good and clean and whereas some video games assist larger refresh charges, whether or not it’s a helpful characteristic will rely on 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 below vibrant lights or subsequent to a window and also you may discover the reflections overwhelm the show, making it exhausting to see content material. There isn’t fairly the brightness to chop via 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 slightly extra (£629) – however might be definitely worth the funding in case you’re planning to apply it to the transfer. I discovered that the auto brightness was slightly eager to dim the show, even whereas I used to be sitting proper in entrance of it – it’s value manually altering the brightness to get your content material to look its finest.

In any other case, it is a nice show at a fantastic dimension and I actually loved utilizing it to look at 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 undoubtedly value avoiding the default Xiaomi Sound, which is slightly flat and lacklustre. Past Atmos, there’s additional setting known 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 effectively appointed with RAM and storage, however there’s no possibility for SD card growth 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 strong performer. I discovered it ran easily and I used to be capable of play the video games I examined on larger 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 slightly extra like a desktop, opening apps in home windows like Samsung’s DeX characteristic.

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

Cameras

• 50Mp, f/1.8 foremost digicam
• 32Mp, f/2.2 entrance digicam

I’m not an enormous person of cameras on tablets however if you’re then the 32Mp digicam on the entrance of the pill makes for good video name high quality. Nevertheless, the 50Mp snapper on the rear doesn’t justify the massive housing that it sits in.

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

Chris Corridor / Foundry

Rear digicam images are noisy and uninteresting in low mild, lack any actual dynamic pop in good mild and simply over-expose in vibrant situations.

The entrance digicam isn’t good for images, with even a slight dip in mild situations bringing noise into shadow areas. It’s actually huge, although, so video calling will reveal lots 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 via a few days of normal 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 per week. That units this up as a strong selection for individuals who need a productiveness gadget on the transfer, or simply those that need 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 slightly greater than the common Xiaomi Pad 8, which tops out at 45W.

Software program & AI

• HyperOS 3 based mostly 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 telephone and it’s nice this premium pill sits on the most recent model of this software program, as some cheaper Xiaomi gadgets don’t.

Whereas I’ve been essential of the over-reaching modifications that HyperOS makes on telephones, I really feel in another way about tablets, as a result of the core capabilities 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 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 gives a desktop expertise.

This pulls up a for much longer dock throughout the underside of the display that appears, imagine it or not, like the house display in macOS. In the event you’re utilizing a variety of apps, it makes it straightforward to entry them with out continuously 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 effectively 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 dangerous on this Xiaomi pill. Xiaomi’s Mi Browser is a little bit of a bore, usually sending notifications for a full vary of issues, nevertheless it’s straightforward sufficient to silence. Certainly, once I encountered some web site parts not loading correctly in Chrome, I discovered them to work in Mi Browser, so it’s value conserving.

There are some Hyper AI options, however at the start is Gemini, current and proper. Past that, Xiaomi gives AI writing, picture creation, translation and so forth, principally via 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 massive display 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 most important 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 won’t arrive, at the very least you’ll be protected.

Worth & Availability

The Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is listed at a £529 worth, nevertheless it’s out there at £449 from Mi.com for the 8/256GB mannequin, which is an efficient aggressive worth 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 in case you would reasonably purchase it elsewhere, although, as talked about earlier, Xiaomi is very prone to provide reductions on the equipment at checkout together with different perks.

Its key rivals embody the most recent iPad Air, Honor MagicPad 4 and OnePlus Pad 3.

For these desirous to spend rather less, the £399 Xiaomi Pad 8 gives 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 listing of the perfect tablets proper now for extra choices.

Must you purchase the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional?

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

The equipment that Xiaomi gives are good, however they appear slightly costly at full worth. The Focus Keyboard is a good pairing for these wanting a compact productiveness pill that’s pretty much as good for getting work executed as it’s for leisure when you clock off.

General, if it ticks the appropriate bins for you, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Professional is a good Android pill and comes extremely beneficial.

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 (non-obligatory)
• Quad audio system
• 50Mp foremost digicam, f/1.8
• 32Mp entrance digicam, 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)