Artist Review: Xiaomi Pad 5 (2021)
The Xiaomi Pad 5 is the budget tablet to beat in 2021 in terms of value for money. No other tablets come close. It really is quite amazing what Xiaomi has done here with the specifications they managed to squeeze into this tablet.
Below are the specifications of the tablet together with the Pro model, and with the iPad (2021) came out in September 2021.
| Model | Xiaomi Pad 5 Wi-Fi (2021) | Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 5G (2021) | iPad 9 (2021) |
| Display | 11-inch LCD @ 120Hz | 11-inch LCD @ 120Hz | 10.2-inch LCD @ 60Hz |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1600, 16:10 | 2560 x 1600, 16:10 | 2160 x 1620, :4:3 |
| Chip | Snapdragon 860 | Snapdragon 870 5G | Apple A13 |
| RAM | 6GB | 6. 8GB | 3GB |
| Storage | 128GB | 128. 256GB | 64. 256GB |
| Main camera | 13MP f/2 | 50MP f/2.5 | 8MP f/2.4 |
| Speakers | 4 way | 4 way | 2 way |
| Battery | 8720mAh | 8600mAh | 8557mAh |
| OS | Android 12, MUI 12.5 | Android 12, MUI 12.5 | iPadOS 15 |
| Weight | 254.7 x 166.3 x 6.9 mm | 254.7 x 166.3 x 6.9 mm | 250.6 x 174.1 x 7.5 mm |
| Weight | 511g | 519G | 487G |
| microSD card slot | No | No | No |
| Stylus support | Xiaomi Smart Pen (US 65) | Xiaomi Smart Pen (US 65) | Apple Pencil 1 (US 99) |
| Price (US) | 300. 400 | 450 | 329 |
The unit I’m reviewing is the one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. I went with the non-Pro version because of the significantly lower price.
The only area the iPad 2021 can compete is with the Apple A13 Bionic chip. According to benchmarks, Apple A13 Bionic chip is comparable to Snapdragon 870, and is faster than Snapdragon 860 by around 20%. In the real world, the user experience is going to be quite similar though when it comes to general use of the tablet.
Other than the processor, the Xiaomi Pad 5 has better specifications than the iPad 2021.
I bought my Xiaomi Pad 5 here in Singapore for US 300 equivalent, and the Xiaomi Smart Pen for another US 65. The local price here in Singapore for the Xiaomi Pad 5 is US 300. The current price on AliExpress is US 400~, and the pre-order launch price was US 300.
The thing with Android tablets is can drop quite quickly. So if you have the time to wait, I recommend waiting till the November and December shopping period for deals. If you can get this Xiaomi tablet at US 300, it’s an incredible deal. If you can’t and want to buy it at US 400, it’s still a good deal. I’ve reviewed many tablets this year and this the best one in terms of value.
At the US 300 to 400 price range, you’re going to get a terrific user experience with the Xiaomi Pad 5 over the iPad 2021. on that later.
What’s included
The tablet comes with a 20W charger and USB-C cable. The Xiaomi Smart Pen is sold separately for US 65.
Design of this tablet is very similar to the iPad Pro with its uniform thin bezels, flat sides, speaker and button placement. When I took the tablet out of the box, I went “Wow, this is the Xiaomi iPad Pro”.
The main differences in design to the iPad Pro is the shape of camera module is different.
And the glass of the Xiaomi tablet raises above the metal frame. The Xiaomi tablet is 6.9mm thick while the iPad Pro is 5.9mm.
Build quality is solid. This tablet looks and feels premium.
That’s the keyboard connector for the Xiaomi Keyboard Case which is around US 85.
There are 4 speakers, two at the top and two at the bottom. Audio quality from the speakers is fantastic.
Xiaomi Smart Pen attaches to the side of the table magnetically for charging. The magnets are not that strong though.
If you use a flip case with magnets, the pen may not be able to charge properly (according to my friend).
The Xiaomi Smart Pen is a Bluetooth stylus. Battery life is rated at 8 hours. Unlike the Samsung S Pen, the Xiaomi pen needs battery to work. But since the pen is always attached by the side of the tablet. Battery life is not going to be a problem.
Bluetooth pairing is done through tablet settings. One downside is there’s no battery life indicator for the pen. Update Nov 2021: Pen’s battery life indicator is now available.
The LCD is vibrant and bright. Colours look great.
The 11-inch display is a good size to work with. It’s about the size of an A5-sized sketchbook. You can rest your hand on the display and still have a large leftover area to draw on.
Resolution is 2560 x 1600 and aspect ratio is 16:10. Pixel density is 274 PPI. All the visual look sharp with no noticeable pixelation. This is just a really good display.
When playing YouTube videos, black bars are small. And you can play YouTube videos at 1440P.
The display is also laminated so the gap between the line and the pen tip is minimal, not noticeable when drawing or writing. There’s no parallax or misalignment. Tracking is accurate.
The display has 120Hz refresh rate so you can expect smooth animation with scrolling webpages, pan-zoom-rotate, swiping across the home screen.
The latency, unfortunately, is not different from using a 60Hz display. There’s still a gap as the line is trying to catch up with the pen tip. The difference with 120Hz and 60Hz when it comes to latency on the Xiaomi tablet is, at least the lines don’t appear in a choppy manner. There’s the latency gap, but at least the animation of the line appearing is smooth.
Anyway, latency is not an issue unless you’re someone who draws really quick, and I mean REALLY quick. With my normal drawing speed, I don’t even notice or think about the latency.
General performance
The overall performance of the tablet is smooth and lag-free even with many apps open. I tried playing Genshin Impact and the gaming performance is smooth.
Apps launch fast. Switching between apps is fast. 120Hz refresh rate also makes the performance feel more snappy.
The main downside is apps in the background will often refresh when you switch to them. It’s not a big issue since apps and webpages load fast. Apps that use a load of RAM may take longer to reload. For example, when I play Genshin Impact and switch to web browsing, and switch back a few seconds later, there’s a good chance the whole game will reload.
Since I don’t really game, my overall experience is pretty smooth, a positive experience.
Xiaomi Smart Pen
The Xiaomi Smart Pen is sold separately for US 65.
The design is almost cylindrical except for the flat side that attaches to the side of the tablet. The body has a nice matte texture. It has a nice weight and is comfortable to hold.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 5, Mi Pad 5 Pro. АКСЕССУАРЫ И ЦЕНЫ! (БЮДЖЕТНО)
The two side buttons are pre-programmed to shortcuts for taking screenshots and taking notes. These buttons are placed slightly higher and further away from the pen tip compared to the Samsung S Pen. I like the button placement because it’s difficult for me to press the buttons accidentally.
The pen tip actually has matte surface coating on it. Despite the matte textured surface, the pen glides on the glass too smoothly for my preference. When drawing straight lines, if you don’t have good technique, the pen can glide away from the intended path. I won’t say it’s that slippery but it’s definitely very smooth. It’s going to take some time to get use to it, especially when you need to draw accurately.
The pen tip should last for a long time as it’s so smooth on the glass. I probably don’t recommend apply a matte screen protector because it’s going to wear down the pen tip faster, and it’s difficult to find replacement tips.
There’s only one replacement tip included. At the time of this review, replacement tips are not available. When I reviewed the Huawei MatePad Pro with their Huawei M Pencil, it took several months for replacement tips to be available. If you want to look for replacement tips, the best place is on AliExpress.
Pen performance and line quality test
Initial Activation Force (IAF) is low but you still need to apply slight pressure to get a line.
Jitter or wobble is not very noticeable with slow diagonal lines.
3a. Lines are not able to taper as smoothly compared to Apple Pencil or those pen tablets or pen displays.
3b. This makes drawing certain subjects more challenging, e.g. blades of grass, hair. Whether this will affect your work will depend on the type of art you create. If you draw professional comics, then the pen performance may not be good enough.
Line transition from thin to thick is smooth. However due to the IAF, it’s difficult to make the line go back as thin as it can be.
Dots can be drawn easily.
Maintaining consistent pressure to draw lines with consistent width is not difficult. There’s minor changes in the thickness but nothing too significant.
Tilt sensitivity works great. You can get different thickness for broad strokes depending on the angle of tilt. It’s easy to get smooth thin and thick transition with tilt.
Palm rejection works flawless with apps where you can choose to have only pen input for drawing.
Apple Pencil is still the best stylus on a tablet. Xiaomi Smart Pen and Samsung S Pen are on par and come in at second place. The pen performance that you see above is probably the best an Android tablet and pen can put out so far. There’s still room for improvement before the performance can match Apple Pencil.
Drawing experience
My overall drawing experience is still quite positive despite the issue with IAF.
Huion Sketch
Huion Sketch
Medibang Paint
Drawing apps on Android
Google Play Store is included.
There’s a good selection of drawing apps on Android although the variety is not as huge as what you can find from the Apple App Store. But even if you have an unlimited selection of drawing apps, it’s not like you’re going to use that many apps. The main downside to the Google Play Store is the lack of graphic design apps, e.g. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Affinity Designer.
Clip Studio Paint is probably the best illustration app available on Android. It’s basically the same desktop version ported over to Android so you get all the tools and features. It’s a subscription based app on the tablet and you cannot reuse your desktop license.
Medibang Paint is a freemium alternative to Clip Studio Paint. It’s quite capable too. Freemium means it’s free to use but some tools and features are locked behind the paywall.
Concepts is my favourite drawing app. It’s a vector illustration app with infinite canvas.
Other notable drawing apps on Android are Krita, Infinite Painter, Sketchbook and Huion Sketch.
iPad 2021 vs Xiaomi Pad 5
The iPad 9 (2021) is only better because Apple Pencil performance is better. Other than that, the design is dated, there’s only 3GB RAM and 64GB storage. Display is not laminated. Speakers are not true stereo. Display is 60Hz.
If I have US 400. 500 to spend, I’ll probably go with the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro because despite the drawing performance not being as good as the Apple Pencil, the overall package just provides way more value for money.
Actually, if you’re not into drawing, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is the obvious choice to buy, hands down, no brainer.
I feel like if I were to buy the iPad over the Xiaomi Pad 5, I would go “I wish I had bought the Xiaomi” everyday. Whereas if I have the Xiaomi, I really don’t feel like I’m really missing out too much.
I’ve reviewed many tablets over the years and I’ve come to the stage where I just use whatever that’s in front of me as long as it can get the job done. I don’t mind if it’s an iPad or Android tablet, but I won’t use Windows tablets for professional digital drawing.
As to which tablet to get, my advice is to look at your workflow and the type of art you make, and choose the tablet that best suits your art style. If your art requires absolute precision, and you should know that by now, then the Xiaomi is probably not for you.
The other main reason, besides Apple Pencil, to choose the iPad is the variety of drawing and graphic design apps available from the Apple App Store. The variety is larger that’s for sure but note that you’re not going to be using that many drawing apps at the same time. Most people gravitate towards Procreate and just that so it doesn’t really matter if the variety is huge.
What’s really missing with Android really is graphic design apps such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and Affinity Photo and Designer.
Conclusion
What Xiaomi has done with the Xiaomi Pad 5 is impressive. You can now get a great looking tablet with good performance for a fraction of what Apple is charging. FYI, the iPad Air (2020) with 64GB storage is priced at US 599 and that doesn’t even come with a 120Hz display or 4-way speakers!
In terms of drawing performance, it’s good but not as good compared to the Apple Pencil. Drawing performance is on par with the Samsung S Pen. The only thing I didn’t quite like is how slippery the screen is when drawing so that affects accuracy. That will take some time to get used to. The main thing is I still enjoy drawing on this tablet very much.
As a tablet for general use, it’s 5 out 5 stars. As a tablet for drawing, it’s probably 4.5 out of 5 stars. Would I recommend getting this tablet over the iPad 2021? Absolutely because the overall user experience is just so much better. E.g. Better display, audio, more storage, nice design, USB-C, cheaper.
I’m someone who’s budget conscious like to get the most value. For years I’ve been recommending refurbished iPads over new models because the refurbished ones are the better deal. So in this case, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is the better deal, and provides way more value than an iPad.
Oh, if you want to buy the tablet, make sure to get the global ROM for the default English interface.
Pros and cons at a glance Beautiful design Solid build quality 4-way speakers with fantastic audio quality USB-C Pen snaps to the side for charging Tilt and pressure sensitivity works well Palm rejection works well Vibrant and bright display Sharp visuals with no pixelation (274 PPI) 2560 x 1600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio 120Hz refresh rate Laminated display Base model with 6GB RAM, 128GB storage Snapdragon 860 has good performance 10-14 hours battery life Extremely competitive pricing for the non-Pro model. No battery indicator for Xiaomi Smart Pen. Apps in background often reload. Slippery display when drawing. Replacement pen tips impossible to find currently. Possible Android OS updates not guaranteed
The Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 and Mi Pad 5 Pro may be the new flagship tablet killers
There’s been a flurry of new devices in the past few days, but amidst the hype for products like the Mi Mix 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, you might’ve missed a couple of new tablets from Xiaomi. The Mi Pad 5 and Mi Pad 5 Pro have been launched by Xiaomi, and they’re now amongst the most powerful Android tablets in the market.
Mi Pad 5 specs
The Mi Pad 5 comes with a very respectable system-on-chip in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 860, which is a similar to a beefed up Snapdragon 855 chip. It comes with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and you can have either 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Also, it should be noted that the Mi Pad 5 is a Wi-Fi-only tablet, with no 5G or SIM support.
As for the screen, it packs an 11-inch, WQHD IPS LCD display capable of a refresh rate up to 120Hz. It also has some pretty good features in the form of a 1500:1 contrast ratio, support for HDR10, TrueTone colour display and Rheinland hardware low blue light certification. The Mi Pad 5 will likely do well in bright rooms too, as it goes up to 500nits of brightness.
You get a single 13MP rear camera on the Mi Pad 5, though the camera bump may look like it’s a dual camera setup. The front camera meanwhile is a 8MP sensor, which is also capable of face unlock. Meanwhile, it doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio jack but there is a quad-speaker setup with Dolby Atmos located on the sides of the tablet chassis.
Other specs of note include a large 8,720mAh battery with support for 33W fast charge via USB-C. As mentioned earlier, you’ll need a Wi-Fi connection for the Mi Pad 5, which only supports up to Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. It comes in three colourways: black, white and green.
Mi Pad 5 Pro
If you need a little bit more oomph under the hood, the Mi Pad 5 Pro might be more up your alley. It gets a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 system-on-chip, which sits between the Snapdragon 865 and the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888. You get 6GB of LPDDR5 RAM in the Mi Pad 5 Pro, while that gets bumped up to 8GB of RAM in the Mi Pad 5 Pro 5G. Similarly, the Mi Pad 5 Pro offers either 128GB and 256GB of storage, while the Mi Pad 5 Pro 5G gets just 256GB.
The screen though remains unchanged from the Mi Pad 5. Xiaomi have again fitted an 11-inch WQHD IPS LCD display on the Mi Pad 5 Pro and Pro 5G, with the same feature set too. While some might find it a little disappointing that they didn’t put an AMOLED display in their tablet with a ‘Pro’ moniker, it could be to keep low enough to make it an appealing option. The speakers though have been upgraded to an eight-speaker Dolby Atmos setup, though again there’s no 3.5mm audio jack.
Other features of note include a slightly smaller battery than the Mi Pad 5 at 8,600mAh, though you’ll probably be able to charge it up much quicker thanks to support for 67W fast charging. Both tablets support Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, while the Mi Pad 5 Pro 5G has a nanoSIM slot too. The Mi Pad 5 Pro will come in either black or white, while the Mi Pad 5 Pro 5G is limited to just a black variant.
Pricing and availability
Xiaomi also released some accessories for their tablets, which include a keyboard and a stylus. The Xiaomi Inspiration Stylus has 4,096 pressure points and two buttons on the side, which can be set to perform specific instructions like open certain apps or take a screenshot. You can keep it by magnetically attaching it to the top of the tablet, which in turn charges it as well. The 63-key keyboard on the other hand attaches to the tablet via pogo pins, and acts as a folio cover for the tablet too.
The Mi Pad 5 series has already been made available for purchase in China. Unfortunately, there’s no word just yet on whether or not they’re bringing it to Malaysia, but seeing as Xiaomi had previously registered the Mi Pad 5 with SIRIM, it could just be a matter of time.
Mi Pad 5, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage — RMB 1,999 (~RM1,307)
Mi Pad 5, 6GB RAM, 256GB storage — RMB 2,299 (~RM1,503)
Mi Pad 5 Pro (Wi-Fi only), 6GB RAM, 128GB storage — RMB 2,399 (~RM1,633)
Mi Pad 5 Pro (Wi-Fi only), 6GB RAM, 256GB storage — RMB 2,799 (~RM1,830)
Mi Pad 5 Pro 5G, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage — RMB 3,499 (~RM2,287)
Keyboard folio — RMB 399 (~RM260)
Stylus — RMB 349 (~RM228)
If Xiaomi does bring their Mi Pad 5 tablet lineup to Malaysia, it could be very well received indeed. If we look at the pricing for the tablets, it’s priced very aggressively especially when compared to similar devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 that launched at RM3,299. The Mi Pad 5 Pro tablets especially offer even more horsepower thanks to the Snapdragon 870 SoC. While the lack of an AMOLED screen is a little disappointing, it’ll hardly be missed if it keeps this low.
For more information on the Mi Pad 5 and Mi Pad 5 Pro lineup, you can check out their respective product pages on Xiaomi China’s website.
Xiaomi’s first USB 3.2 Gen 1 compatible with good expandability
Until now, Xiaomi smartphones and tablets have stubbornly adopted only USB 2.0, which does not allow for high-speed data transfer or video output.
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 is finally the first Xiaomi tablet to support USB 3.2 Gen 1, allowing you to connect it to a monitor for multi-window operation on a larger screen or connect a large storage device for quick backup.
This review is based on V13.1.4.0.SLZCNXM, 8GB256GB version.
- 1 Xiaomi’s first USB 3.2 Gen 1 compatible with good expandability
- 2 Large 12.4-inch screen
- 3 Large screen is nice, but heavy
- 4 50MP camera on a tablet
- 5 Only face unlock is available
- 6 Long-awaited USB 3.2 Gen 1 port
- 7 Dolby Atmos-enabled quad speakers
- 8 Stylus pen support
- 9 Maintains high performance with perfect heat dissipation
- 10 Powered by MIUI Pad
- 11 Conclusion
Included is a 67W charger, USB Type-C cable, and instructions.
Large 12.4-inch screen
Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 has large 12.4 inch screen.
Unfortunately, it is IPS instead of AMOLED, but the colors are reasonably good.
The refresh rate can be adjusted in two steps of 60Hz and 120Hz.
There is no protective film applied.
The total touch latency measured by the WALT Latency Timer is 51.8ms, which is large and comparable to the OPPO Reno7 A, a low to mid-range smartphone.
You can also use MEMC frame interpolation if you add your video app to the sidebar.
Large screen is nice, but heavy
The back of the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 is metallic and does not show fingerprints very well.
It weighs 621.8g, and while it is natural that it would be heavier with a 10,000mAh battery, it is subtle that it weighs about 50g more than the Galaxy Tab S8, which weighs 572g with a 10,090mAh battery.
The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, which I tried at the same time, was lightweight despite its large screen, so I couldn’t resist picking it up.
I think it is good for use with a stand cover or something to hold it in place.
MP camera on a tablet
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 also has a larger camera, the Samsung S5KJN1 50MP camera.
The camera does not just stick out, but has a hidden antenna around the 50MP mark, allowing network communication without being blocked by the hand.
In night scenes, the camera can suppress the white splash, but it cannot shoot brightly.
Only face unlock is available
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 does not have a fingerprint sensor and unfortunately can only be unlocked with face unlock.
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro was equipped with a fingerprint sensor, but the higher-end model is not equipped with one… It’s sad.
Long-awaited USB 3.2 Gen 1 port
Xiaomi, which has been installing USB 2.0 ports on its high-end smartphones, even those costing more than 1300, has finally delivered a USB Type-C port with USB 3.2 Gen 1.
Video output in DisplayPort Alt Mode is of course possible, and if an external SSD or other device is attached, photo and video data can be transferred at high speed.
It would have been better if there was a PC mode specialized for video output, but for some reason, the PC mode that was included in the Xiaomi Mi MIX Fold is not included.
Dolby Atmos-enabled quad speakers
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 has quad speakers with Dolby Atmos support.
Bass is strong and highs are a bit pushed out by other sounds, but they are clearly audible without being crushed for a speaker.
It appears to have three CS35L41 amplifiers.
The audio output latency was 33 ms when measured with the WALT Latency Timer.
Stylus pen support
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 has a power button on the side near the camera.
On the side where the power button is located, there is a part that at first glance looks like a SIM slot… but this is for attaching a stylus pen.
With the dedicated stylus pen, drawing and memo input can be easily performed.
It supports 4096 levels of pressure detection, and when using the pen, the touch sampling rate become 240Hz.
In a normal high-end smartphone, 240Hz is only the minimum line, so it is unlikely that latency will be greatly improved even in pen mode.
As a beta feature, there is also a Scribe function that allows handwritten English or Chinese text to be inserted into the text input field.
Maintains high performance with perfect heat dissipation
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 has better heat dissipation performance than a smartphone due to its larger area, and combined with the fact that it is equipped with Snapdragon 870, which has a good balance with heat generation, it is easy to maintain high performance for a long time.
In Geekbench 5, the Genshin disguised version has a single-core of 908 and a multi-core of 3261, while the normal version has a single-core of 986 and a multi-core of 3287.
The difference is small, but it seems to be throttling by package name.
In the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, the score was 4008, with a temperature rise from 30°C to 36°C (6°C increase) and 14 to 30 FPS.
Stability is high and temperature rise is controlled.
PCMark Work 3.0, which measures performance in everyday use such as document manipulation, scored 12101.
Storage is on par with a fast UFS 2.1 phone and slower for a UFS 3.1 device.
Playing Genshin at the highest quality and 60 FPS setting and measured with WeTest PerfDog, the power consumption was 124.92 mW per FPS at an average of 57.1 FPS.
Battery temperature was comfortable, rising only to 38°C at maximum.
In World of Tanks Blitz, when played at 120 FPS settings and all graphics settings at their highest values, the average was 115.2 FPS, with a power consumption of 69.21 mW per FPS.
Powered by MIUI Pad
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 is powered by MIUI Pad, which allows you to use tablet-friendly features.
Swiping up on either side of the gesture bar brings up a dock bar where you can open recently used apps and more.
You can use the on/off gesture with a double tap.
The function to keep the light on while looking at the screen, which is included in MIUI 13.1, is apparently not included.
Conclusion
- LCD instead of AMOLED
- No microSD card support
- No fingerprint sensor
- No GPS support
- Heavy
The Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 is a tablet with Snapdragon 870 and a 10,000mAh battery that can consistently deliver high performance thanks to its large heat dissipation area.
Thanks to the first USB 3.2 Gen 1 support in Xiaomi’s Android products, it can also output video and quickly transfer recorded videos to the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 12.4 for viewing.
However, it is noticeably lacking in some areas compared to competitors’ tablets in the same price range, such as the fingerprint sensor and GPS (which was supported in the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro) and the microSD card support.
Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro Wi-Fi ROM Update
Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro Wi-Fi firmware (codename elish ) below are the stock stable MIUI, which can be downloaded as Fastboot ROM, Recovery ROM and OTA Update.
Tablet model name corresponds to M2105K81AC. Xiaomi ROM are downloaded free of charge from the official website bigota.d.miui.com. We post links to stock Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro Wi-Fi flash files and original updates.
China 14.0.3.0.TKYCNXM
Latest version of the stable Chinese firmware for Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro Wi-Fi by Xiaomi.
Recovery ROM
Version 14.0.3.0.TKYCNXM System MIUI 14 Android Android 13 Release date 2023-03-27 File size 4.46 GB Official Link Download (.zip) Changelog
Fastboot ROM
Version 14.0.3.0.TKYCNXM System MIUI 14 Android Android 13 Release date 2023-04-09 Flash file size 5.34 GB Official Link Download (.tgz) Changelog
OTA Update
Version 14.0.3.0.TKYCNXM File size 114.86 MB Apply for 14.0.2.0.TKYCNXM Official Link Download (.zip)
Older official Chinese firmware for Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro Wi-Fi:
MIUI 13.0.10.0.RKYCNXM Recovery (3.71 GB) 2022-06-12 Fastboot (4.58 GB) 2022-07-18 OTA (333.67 MB) for 13.0.8.0.RKYCNXM
MIUI 13.0.6.0.RKYCNXM Recovery (3.82 GB) 2022-02-07 Fastboot (4.68 GB) 2022-03-04 OTA (100.43 MB) for 13.0.4.0.RKYCNXM
MIUI 13.0.4.0.RKYCNXM Recovery (3.82 GB) 2022-01-05 Fastboot (4.66 GB) 2022-01-13 OTA (691.40 MB) for 12.5.16.0.RKYCNXM
MIUI 12.5.16.0.RKYCNXM Recovery (3.54 GB) 2021-11-29 Fastboot (4.35 GB) 2021-12-06 OTA (535.62 MB) for 12.5.8.0.RKYCNXM
MIUI 12.5.14.0.RKYCNXM Recovery (3.54 GB) 2021-11-11 Fastboot (4.35 GB) 2021-11-15 OTA (535.91 MB) for 12.5.8.0.RKYCNXM
The latest MIUI update doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best. Read the reviews on the 4PDA or XDA Developers websites before installing new software update to Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro Wi-Fi elish. If you downloaded Flash File, Full ROM or the latest OTA Update and encounter problems with your device after installation, please write about it in the Комментарии и мнения владельцев section, quoting the number of the buggy firmware.
Xiaomi releases monthly and quarterly security patch updates for Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO for 2-3 years after market launch. Monthly and quarterly security updates include Android security patches from Google as well as Xiaomi fixes.
Xiaomi Pad 5 review
The Xiaomi Pad 5 is a fantastic all-rounder Android tablet with a good-looking screen, lots of processing power and well-optimized software. In fact, it’s the best rival to the entry-level iPad we’ve seen so far, especially at a similar price. Our few problems with the tablet are issues that most slates face, like the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack or the fact that arguably necessary peripherals will cause you to spend more money, but that just shows how well-rounded this slate is.
Pros
- Xiaomi’s software works great on large display
- The screen looks fantastic
- Impressive battery life
Cons
- – Selfie camera has an awkward placement
- – No headphone jack
- – Comes with no peripherals
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Two-minute review
If 2020 was the year of foldable phones, 2021 is the year of the Android tablet, with over a year of home working and learning prompting a resurgence in demand for the previously-struggling tech form factor. The Xiaomi Pad 5 marks the Chinese tech giant reviving its slate line, which last saw an installment in 2018, though this is actually the first Xiaomi tablet to get a global launch.
We’re glad the Xiaomi Pad 5 is getting sold in loads of countries too, because this is a superbly well-rounded tablet that marks the best Android rival to Apple’s popular entry-level iPad we’ve seen so far.
Not only does the Pad 5 have a price that’s similar to the iPad’s, but it has a better-looking display, almost as much processing power, and a long-lasting battery, making it great as a productivity slate or for entertainment fans, handling gaming and streaming well.
The key feature here, that makes the Xiaomi tablet fantastic for productivity, is in the software. Apple’s iPadOS is generally considered a superior tablet operating system to stock Android found on lots of slates, but Xiaomi has clearly been taking notes. MIUI for Pad, the Android fork which the company uses for the Xiaomi Pad 5, has a few key features that make it adaptable as a portable work station, like a control center that’s separate from the notification list, and lots of stylus shortcuts.
Well, you can make the most of the stylus tools and keyboard folio benefits if you buy them separately. Like Apple, Xiaomi is selling these peripherals separately, not throwing them in like Samsung does with its S Pen stylus, which means if you want to make the most of the tablet. and you probably will, if you’re hoping to use it for productivity especially. you’ll have to spend a little extra dough.
We tested the Xiaomi Pad 5 without the keyboard or stylus, using the slate ‘as nature intended’ so to speak, or how you’d find it straight out of the box. We’ve generally found that optional accessories only improve the tablet experience though, so would recommend checking out the extras.
If ‘you have to buy extras instead of getting them for free’ doesn’t exactly sound like a scathing criticism of the tablet, you’ll find the two other cons listed above. the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the fact the selfie camera is on the screen’s short edge. equally head-scratching. However the truth is, there’s very little to dislike about the slate, as it’s a great-value device, so writing the ‘cons’ list was a rather hard task.
People locked to the Apple ecosystem likely won’t consider buying the Xiaomi Pad 5 (and that kind of tech fan probably hasn’t read this far into the review) but if you’d consider an Android tablet, whether you’re a working professional, a student or someone who wants a capable entertainment machine, this is a great choice.
Xiaomi Pad 5 price and availability
The Xiaomi Pad 5 was released on September 25 in the UK. the company doesn’t launch its products in the US, so don’t expect to pick it up there. But while the thing currently isn’t on sale in Australia either, Xiaomi products often do launch there, so a release could come further down the line.
The tablet costs £369 (roughly 500, AU690), which gets you 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. some other regions have a version with 256GB of storage on sale too, but that’s not available in the UK.
At that price, the tablet is a close rival for the iPad 10.2 (2021). the price for that starts at 329 / £319 / AU499, but it’s for 64GB of storage, and there’s no 128GB version, as storage jumps up to 256GB for more money.
Design
If we were to compare the Xiaomi Pad 5’s appearance to that of one of Apple’s roster, it’d be the iPad Air 4. it’s a device that’s thin, has a narrow bezel and boasts a minimalist design.
The slate has a thickness of just 6.9mm and dimensions of 254.7 x 166.3mm. weighing 511g it’s certainly not the lightest tablet we’ve seen, and is in fact one of the heaviest tablets we’ve tested relative to its display size, but the difference is a matter of grams.
Купив сину планшет Xiaomi Mi PAD 5 із Aliexpress�� Розпакування та перевірка
Round the edges of the slate, you’ll find a power button on the top edge and volume rocker on the right edge (when you’re holding the slate in portrait orientation). The front-facing camera is above the screen when holding the device in this orientation. that does mean that when you’ve got the slate landscape, and are on a video call, when looking at the display you appear to be looking far from the camera, which isn’t ideal. Some tablets have the front-facing camera on the long edge, which is better for video calling.
There’s a USB-C port on the tablet but no 3.5mm headphone jack, so if you like wired audio, you’ll need to get an adaptor.
The back of the tablet is made of plastic, and it feels sturdy. we didn’t exactly ‘rough up’ the slate, but it felt durable enough. you’re likely to be snuggling it up in a case or keyboard folio though. You can get gray, white or green versions of the Xiaomi Pad 5.
The back of the tablet has a slight camera bump, which seems inspired by those on the Xiaomi Mi 11 and Mi 11 Lite in terms of its oval design. It doesn’t stick out too far, so we could easily put the slate face-up on a table without it wobbling too much.
This is the kind of tablet you can definitely use two-handed or prop up in a stand or case, but unlike your iPad mini, it’s not ideal for holding in one hand and navigating with the other, due to its size.
Display
One of the key specs of the Xiaomi Pad 5 is its 11-inch screen, which boasts a 1600 x 2560 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and the ability to display over a billion colors (there are that many?!).
The display looks great, with bold colors and good contrast, and the high resolution certainly helps make streaming from various services, or playing games, look crisp. We watched a few movies and played several games and were impressed with what we saw.
The screen aspect ratio of 1.6:1 means the slate is suited for work, as you can split-screen two different documents while ensuring both get a roughly A4 shaped slice of display.
As in Xiaomi’s phones, and lots of other tablets for that matter, there is a range of modes for changing how the screen looks. you can adjust the color temperature, blue light and ambient light. Some of these can be used to simply make the screen look more appealing, but others are useful for people with sight problems to increase ease of viewing.
Specs, performance and camera
The Xiaomi Pad 5 uses the Snapdragon 860 chipset. that’s not quite as powerful as the M1 in the iPad Pro (2021) range or the Snapdragon 865 Plus in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 series, but it still provides lots of processing power, and beats out many other tablets.
We put the tablet through the Geekbench 5 benchmark test and it returned a multi-core score of 2631. that’s a high, but not top-end score, with the best phones and tablets reaching 4,000. That score puts it just a touch weaker than the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus which got 2,846, but a difference of 200 points won’t be noticeable in day-to-day use by most users.
The chipset is joined by 6GB of RAM, as well as 128GB or 256GB of storage depending on where you live. If you get the choice, we’d recommend the 256GB version for students or business users, as it ensures you can download lots of games, movies or songs and still have space for all your work and files.
Unlike some tablets on the market, Xiaomi doesn’t offer an LTE model of the Xiaomi Pad 5. you’ll have to use this while it’s connected to Wi-Fi or a hotspot.
We used the Pad 5 to test out several mid-range and top-end games, like Tropico, Northgard and Call of Duty: Mobile, and found they ran well. We could bump up the graphical settings to max in games that had them, and rarely found stutters or lag that affected the gameplay at all. In short, the not-quite-top-end chipset didn’t matter much.
Navigating the tablet’s menus was also fairly snappy, though we did occasionally see stutters when we were jumping between apps or quickly steaming through menus. This was more noticeable when holding the tablet in portrait orientation; landscape, the tablet floated through menus like a Cloud. The 120Hz refresh rate makes up for in smoothness what any lag loses, though.
The Xiaomi Pad 5’s quad speakers were fit for purpose for music streaming and watching movies, but they lacked bassy punch, so they weren’t the best speakers we’ve heard on a tablet. Saying that, the volume went impressively loud. that’s great for using the slate as a portable speaker, but your neighbors might not be thrilled.
The 8MP front-facing and 13MP rear cameras are both… well, this is a tablet, so you shouldn’t come in expecting smartphone-level imaging. Saying that, there’s clearly some of Xiaomi’s image post-processing at play: snaps looked fairly bright, with colors that looked bold for tablet photography, though some selfies could look overexposed.
Software
The ace up Xiaomi’s sleeve in making its Pad 5 a useful work device is MIUI for Pad, the software it uses. This is a fork of MIUI, the software used in Xiaomi phones, which in itself is a fork of Google’s Android.
While stock Android isn’t quite a perfect match for a tablet’s large form factor, MIUI for Pad brings lots of tweaks and changes to the formula to make it far more useful on the Pad 5’s 11-inch screen.
Like iPadOS, MIUI keeps notifications separate from shortcuts and quick toggles, so if you swipe down from the left side of the screen you’ll see your notifications, but if you swipe down on the right half you’ll get options like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi settings.
There are other changes. it’s easy to open multiple apps at once, whether that’s as two apps side-by-side or as one app in a bubble appearing over another. In addition, the user interface has been redesigned to look better on a larger screen, and Xiaomi is reportedly optimizing top apps to work well on the bigger screen.
MIUI is often quite buggy on phones, but we’re happy to report that we didn’t have a single issue on the Pad 5. Sure, you use a smartphone a lot more frequently than a tablet, so it’s possible we just didn’t have the exposure required to notice this kind of issue, but it still felt like a smooth experience.
The well-optimized software is the top reason we’d call the Xiaomi Pad 5 the best iPad rival running Android, but for creative types there is something to consider before you leap at this slate. Being the best sometimes isn’t good enough, and iOS still has the benefit of lots of useful creative apps you won’t find on Android like Lumafusion, Final Draft Mobile or Affinity Photo.
Still, app supply is the key reason we recommend the Xiaomi Pad 5 over the Huawei MatePad 11. both have similar specs and designs, but with the latter unable to access the Google Play Store (and thus relying on other, less reliable methods for installing apps), the Xiaomi gets points for ease of use.
Battery life
The 8,720mAh battery in the Xiaomi Pad 5 sounds rather average for a slate of its size, but during our time with the device we learnt to appreciate the actual lasting power of this tablet.
Xiaomi estimates you’ll get 5 days of music playback, 16 hours of video playback or 10 hours of gaming time on the slate; from our experience, these are actually underestimations, and while playing titles like Tropico or Northgard, or streaming audio or movies, we found the slate could last a little longer.
Those estimates are already a little north of Apple’s equivalents for its iPad, and we found ourselves consistently impressed by the battery power of the device. This battery will make it great for a student who needs to carry it round to loads of different lectures in a day, then settle in for a movie in bed after.
Charging is also fairly impressive, at 33W. that’s fast for a tablet, though Xiaomi’s phones go at up to 120W. At that speed, the slate takes about an hour and a half to power to full. though it’s worth pointing out that the in-box cable only supports 22.5W charging, so if you want faster speeds than that, you’ll need to use a different lead.
Buy it if.
You need a great Android tablet Xiaomi has successfully adapted the Android operating system to the larger tablet form factor, and MIUI for Pad feels more intuitive than lots of other Android forks for slates.
You need a long-lasting workhorse We were impressed with the Xiaomi Pad 5’s battery life, and it feels well-suited for a hard day’s work if you’re a student or similar.
You need a decent camera Most tablets have pretty awful cameras that look desaturated, dark or dull, but we didn’t mind how the Xiaomi Pad 5’s front or back snappers looked. Sure, it won’t compete with your average smartphone, but these are better than most tablet cameras.
Don’t buy it if.
It maxes out your budget If you have the cash for the Xiaomi Pad 5 but no more, you might want to opt for a cheaper device simply so you can buy some peripherals for it too.
You need a lightweight model Despite its slender build, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is one of the heavier tablets we’ve used. if you need something super lightweight there are better options like the iPad mini (2021).
You need a headphone jack Some people might want to plug headphones and a charger, hard drive, or other wired accessory into their tablet at the same time, particularly creatives. this will be hard if you don’t have one or more splitters, and there are a few tablets on the market that still have 3.5mm headphone jacks.
First reviewed October 2021
