Realme Pad Mini review
A rare worthwhile competitor in the small tablet space, the Realme Pad Mini impresses with its design and gaming performance but general usability and software support could be better.
The Realme Pad served as the company’s first play into the tablet market, arriving towards the end of 2021. Now, it’s looking to turn that one product into a range, with something a little bit more portable, in the Realme Pad Mini. Hot on the heels of the Realme 9 series’ arrival, the Pad Mini is not only the company’s second-ever tablet, it’s a somewhat unusual entrant in the tab space; being one of only a handful of smaller-screened slates from a reputable brand.
Apple, famously, has the market cornered, with its own iPad Mini but Samsung has long been offering up smaller entries within its Galaxy Tab series that hover around the 7in to 8in mark, while many of Amazon’s Fire slates also operate in the same space; in terms of both display size and affordability. After the Android tablet market’s relative dormancy over the last few years, renewed interest – primarily from Chinese brands, like Xiaomi and Oppo – has injected fresh competition into the space, and Realme’s Pad Mini looks like an ongoing statement that Realme’s keen to get in on the action.
Design and build
Last year’s Realme Pad set the tone for what the aesthetics of a Realme tablet should look and feel like, and all of that original slate’s key design traits carry across to the Pad Mini.
As in the smartphone market, the resurgence of straight-sided slab-like design work is alive and well in the tablet space too, with the Apple and Samsung being staunch advocates of the style. Based on its tablets, this take is clearly something Realme has also been drawn to.
Like the standard Realme Pad, the Pad Mini sports a milled aluminium frame with light chamfering along its back edge, with what are assumed to be antenna divides, splitting the rear into three sections, visually. The back is flat and near-featureless, save for a single rear camera, pushed tight into one corner, while Realme’s logo sits unobtrusively diagonally across in the other.
There’s a lot more going on along the edges of the Mini, with what looks to be a colour-matched metal power key and volume rocker on one side, a SIM tray (on the 4G LTE model, at least) on the other, speaker grilles on the top and bottom (when the tablet’s being held in portrait), a microphone and USB-C port on the bottom, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top.
While a thickness of 7.6mm sounds pretty slimline when talking about phones, in the tablet market, it’s not quite as waiflike a measurement as you might think. Being a more affordable slate, Realme has used an old engineering trick that helps the tablet appear thinner when in actuality the black bezel of the display protrudes from the frame slightly.
Provided you don’t have especially small hands, you can grasp either side of the Pad Mini in one hand (for a more secure grip than is possible on most larger tabs), while using it with the other. However, at 372 grams, it’s deceptively heavy for a smaller slate and might get tiring to wield after a while, especially for younger users.
There’s no bumper case in the box, as you might find with Amazon’s Kids Edition tablets but there’s also little concern about Realme’s build quality here, with a precision-milled unibody that feels reassuring rigid and well-built in hand.
Display and audio
To justify its ‘Mini’ nomenclature, Realme has dressed its newest tablet with an 8.7in 5:3 display; although that’s actually one of the largest panels you’ll find in the category (along with the similarly sized Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite), before jumping up to more conventional tabs with displays measuring 10in and up.
It’s proportionally in line with your average paperback book, meaning bookworms might appreciate the Pad Mini as a portable full-colour backlit eReader of sorts; helped by the fact that Realme’s software includes a bevvy of options to tweak and tune the viewing experience.
There’s Eye Comfort mode, which warms the colour temperature of the visuals, a dedicated Reading mode that switches everything to monochrome and a system-wide Dark mode that, when reading, can serve up white-on-black text.
While the IPS LCD’s colour and contrast are surprisingly solid for such an affordable slate (even if settings to increase vibrancy or saturation would have been nice), it doesn’t quite measure up on brightness, which even at its maximum (which Realme quotes as 360nits) isn’t enough to effectively combat bright sunlight, when viewed outdoors.
A pixel density of just 179ppi also hurts the viewing experience, with obvious pixelation around on-screen elements, not to mention limitations on finer details; such as how small text can be before quality is impacted too heavily. Although I understand Realme’s desire to keep the Pad Mini affordable, just because the display is smaller doesn’t mean choosing the right panel for the need it’s trying to fill should be any less important.
The story is a bit brighter where audio is concerned, with that standard 3.5mm jack making wired headphone use wholly accessible – an absent feature on plenty of tablets, nowadays.
As for those stereo speakers, when holding the Pad Mini in landscape, the offset grilles make it comfortable to hold without obscuring their output and there’s a clear stereo separation that flips automatically if you rotate the slate 180° (when in portrait, no matter which way around you hold the Pad Mini, the left channel comes out of the speaker nearest the front-facing camera, while the right channel comes out of the one by the USB port).
There’s acceptable clarity and good loudness from the pair of drivers inside the Pad Mini but they lack any real bass, with an otherwise flat profile that’s functional but not exceptional.
Software and features
‘Realme UI for Pad’ (atop Android 11) feels notably different to the user experience found on the company’s smartphones. For a start, it looks and handles a lot more like stock Android, and beyond the settings menu, there’s little that suggests much else has been done to differentiate it. (even the setup process hasn’t been tweaked to say ‘tablet’ instead of ‘phone’).
The result is clean and should be easy enough to get to grips with for newcomers. However, more could have been done to capitalise on the additional screen real estate that even a smaller tablet like this affords a user; compared to what fits on a conventional smartphone-sized display.
Android’s native split-screen multitasking is all you have to work with, so there’s no Smart Sidebar or floating window apps to speak of; as can be found on various Realme phones. This feels like either a huge oversight or possibly an intentional move by Realme to dissuade users from trying to multitask, for risk of overtaxing the tablet’s modest hardware, either way, don’t expect this to be a productivity beast.
There are some signs that Realme has made an effort to be intentional with the Pad Mini’s software experience, with entries like Google Kids Space and YouTube Kids positioned front and centre on the primary home screen. Navigation is also supported by Realme’s own ‘Assistive Ball’, which isn’t so much some sort of medical aid as it is a floating navigation button that can be dragged around the display to be kept within easy reach and used to navigate back, home or into the open app switcher.
The other quirk that often comes with affordable phones and slates is their limited update support and at present, it’s unclear whether the Pad Mini will live to see an upgrade to Android 12 or beyond. The standard Realme Pad originally launched with a similarly murky future ahead of it and it wasn’t until four months after the tablet’s unveiling that promise of a move to Android 12 surfaced, which itself isn’t set to roll out until Q3, 2022.
Performance
Android tablets that run on Unisoc chipsets (like the Nokia T20) aren’t typically known for their grunt and that’s just as true with the Realme Pad Mini. It’s evident from the choice of silicon that the company had a different set of use cases in mind, compared to the standard Realme Pad, which sports a more capable MediaTek Helio G80 processor.
Based on the experiences delivered by the Unisoc T616 and 4GB of RAM-powering the Pad Mini tested in this review, the lower 3GB RAM model is best left alone, no matter how enticing its lower asking price might seem.
From waking the tablet up with a button press or a double-tap of the display (there’s no fingerprint sensor, but there is face unlock), to swiping around the UI, to app load times, there’s an ever-present delay that you’ll either learn to live with or resent; either way, it’s doesn’t make for the most seamless user experience.
While I never expected the Pad Mini to offer high fidelity mobile gaming, it did exceed expectations in that department, with titles like Asphalt 9 running without much complaint and Call of Duty Mobile topping out at medium graphical settings and high frame rate settings (bearing in mind the Pad Mini’s display is fixed to 60Hz), with only the occasional dropped frame, extended loading screen or noticeable input lag.
Confusingly, so long as you’re not looking to do some competitive online multiplayer, the Pad Mini actually delivers better performance whilst gaming than it does when swiping around the general user experience.
Battery life
A large portion of the Pad Mini’s weight comes from its 6400mAh battery, which twinned with the modest display resolution and internals grant it strong longevity, even with the 4G cellular model tested here.
demanding actions, like gaming, obviously put more strain on the battery, with the average round of Warfare on Call of Duty Mobile sapping up to 5% charge (with auto-brightness on), otherwise it should serve up around 9.5 hours of screen-on time per charge.
As for recharging the Pad Mini, while its generously-sized battery lasts a long time, it also takes a long time to refill. Realme includes an 18W charging in-box, but even with what the company brands as ‘fast’ charging, it takes around 2.75 hours to fully replenish the Pad Mini, with the battery refilling at a rate just shy of 12% every 15 minutes (up until 80% when that rate then slows).
Cameras
Generally speaking, tablet cameras are best when used sparingly or not at all (assuming you also have a smartphone or dedicated camera on hand, as the sensors on those will undoubtedly be better), and that’s especially true when talking about budget slates, like the affordable Pad Mini.
As mentioned earlier, there’s a single 8Mp sensor on the back (without an LED flash or any other accoutrements), while a 5Mp front-facing snapper sits nestled into the Pad Mini’s relatively-thick bezel.
Image quality is serviceable if you’re snapping a picture of a receipt or your want to make video calls using the front-facer but just make sure there’s plenty of light, as both sensors struggle if there’s anything but an abundance of the stuff.
Post-processing tries to make something of the images, but even in well-lit conditions and with some nice colours, detail is poor at best and, in truth, a murky mess most of the time.
Realme does include manual controls and video capture, but quality takes an even deeper dive with the latter, particularly as there’s no stabilisation to speak of.
Price and availability
Depending on where you are in the world, you’ll likely find the Realme Pad Mini available in one of four SKUs, each in one of two colours: grey (pictured) or blue.
- 3GB RAM 32GB storage, Wi-Fi-only = €179.99/INR ₹10,999
- 3GB RAM 32GB storage, 4G LTE = ₹12,999
- 4GB RAM 64GB storage, Wi-Fi-only = €199.99/ ₹12,999
- 4GB RAM 64GB storage, 4G LTE = €229.99/ ₹14,999
You can pick the Pad Mini up directly from Realme’s own web store, with availability in eastern markets, including India and the Philippines and across select areas of Europe, such as France, Spain, Italy and beyond. UK availability is on the cards, however, the company hasn’t yet confirmed when or how much it’ll cost in the region.
While there’s a different chipset running the show, the aforementioned Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is the most like-minded alternative to the Realme Pad Mini, despite having launched back in 2021. It arrived at a similar asking price, with a similarly sized and specced display, and also runs Android 11.
The main difference – aside from running Samsung hardware and software – is that it’s consistently received security patches since release, not to mention its time in the market means that, despite offering a similar experience (it sports a 2Mp front-facer, instead of a 5Mp unit, as on the Pad Mini), it’s already received at least once price drop that’ll likely continue to fall.
Other alternatives include the more recent Galaxy Tab A8 or, if you’re not dead-set on a straight Android experience, Amazon’s ludicrously affordable (but older) Fire 7 or Fire HD 8 Plus.
Verdict
While worthwhile affordable Android tablets are few and far between, just because the Pad Mini is both cheap and from a reputable brand, doesn’t make it an automatic buy.
The design language and build quality set out by the original Realme Pad carry across beautifully to the Pad Mini; making it one of the better-looking tablets in the affordable space and aesthetically above its standing in the wider tablet market.
Aspects like display and camera quality are par for the course for a slate at this price point, while gaming performance surpassed expectations, especially when other aspects of the user experience, including UI navigation and app load times, were consistently underwhelming.
If only Realme had spent more time tailoring the user experience to better serve the form factor offered up by the Pad Mini, would it make for a stronger recommendation, however, the unclear update roadmap means that, even though it doesn’t require a huge investment, the long-term value of the Pad Mini remains questionable.
If you’ve decided that the Pad Mini doesn’t meet your needs, check out our rundown of the best mini tablets, best Android tablets and best overall tablets to see what else the market has to offer
Specs
Realme Pad Mini: Specs
- 8.7in 5:3 WXGA (1340×800) IPS LCD
- 12nm Unisoc Tiger T616 processor
- 3GB RAM or 4GB RAM
- 32GB or 64GB UFS 2.1 storage
- microSD expandable up to 1TB
- Aluminium unibody
- 8Mp f/2.0 76.9° rear camera
- 5Mp f/2.2 77° front camera
- Stereo speakers
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Android 11 w/ Realme UI for Pad
- Wi-Fi
- GPS
- Bluetooth 5.0
- 4G LTE (optional)
- USB-C
- 6400mAh battery w/ reverse charging
- 18W fast charging
- 211.8mm x 124.5 x 7.6mm
- 372g
- Colours: Grey, blue
realme Pad Review: Cheap Tablet For Netflix YouTube
My review shows that the realme Pad is a pretty good tablet for watching Netflix and YouTube thanks to its solid screen and good speakers.
Starting at 199 Euros, the realme Pad is a direct competitor to very popular tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 and Amazon Fire HD 10. This tablet offers a 10.4-inch Full HD screen, a full metal body, and an Helio G80 processor. Can it beat its competitors? That’s what you’ll learn in this realme Pad review.
Design Built Quality
The design and build quality of the realme Pad is excellent, especially once you factor in its cheap price. We get a full metal body with a slim plastic strip at the top. It’s just 6.9mm thin and weighs 440g. You can get it in gold and grey.
As is still common in this price range, we get a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the side, as well as a standard USB C 2.0 port and a microSD card slot. Like the Galaxy Tab A8, the realme Pad has four speakers, and the sound quality of those speakers is much better than Samsung’s. The bass is noticeably stronger.
There is no fingerprint scanner but you can unlock it using facial recognition. That is done using the webcam alone which works fine but isn’t very secure. Both cameras offer a resolution of 8-megapixels and while the webcam takes pretty good photos and videos, the main camera could be better. It’s a cheap 10-inch tablet, so we can’t expect high-end results, of course.
Display: 10.4 Inches
The realme Pad has a 10.4-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 2000 x 1200 pixels which is normal in this price range. I think the display is sharp enough, viewing angles are fine, and with 360 nits, it’s bright enough for inside use but too dark to comfortably use in direct sunlight.
I thought it was the same screen Samsung uses for the Galaxy Tab A8 but I think it’s not because colors look much nicer on the realme. The tablet has a Widevine level of L1 which means you can watch Netflix in HD quality. And thanks to the solid screen and good speakers, it’s a great affordable Netflix tablet.
Hardware Performance
Inside the realme Pad runs a MediaTek Helio G80 octa-core processor with 3GB or 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. You can get it with LTE too. I’ve gotten the version with 4GB and 64GB.
The Geekbench 5 benchmark shows that both the CPU and graphics performance is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 and Amazon Fire HD 10 Plus. The differences are very minor. In the 3D Mark Wild Life test, the realme Pad sits a little bit below the Galaxy Tab A8. At the same time, it’s quite a bit faster than the Nokia T20, which is another direct competitor.
As you can guess by looking at those benchmarks, the realme Pad is not the best gaming tablet. However, it is capable of running most games, you just can’t select high graphics settings. PUBG Mobile, for instance, runs fine when graphics are set to HD but you cannot even select HDR or Ultra HD graphics. The same goes for Asphalt 9. It runs, but especially if you want a smooth race, you should select lower graphics.
Everyday tasks run fine, but it’s not as snappy as a high-end tablet, of course. You can watch YouTube and surf the web in Chrome at the same time without any problems. And other apps like Lightroom perform okay too. But if you switch fast between lots of apps, you will experience lags and stutters.
Software: Android 11
Out of the box, the realme Pad is running Android 11 with its realme UI which customizes Android very little. Basically, it’s vanilla Android with lots of Google apps pre-installed which includes a kids mode. You can open apps in a split-screen view, there’s a dark mode, a blue light filter, and so on.
Now, Android 11 is a bit old. But according to AndroidAuthority, realme wants to update the tablet to Android 12 later this year and is promising three years of security updates. That’s not perfect but pretty good.
Battery Life
In my battery test, the realme Pad got a runtime of 8.5 hours. For this, I’m always looping an HD YouTube video at maximum brightness until the tablet shuts itself off.
realme Pad Review: Final Verdict
So, is the realme Pad a tablet you should get? Well, maybe yes, but it depends on what you’re looking for. I think the realme Pad is a great choice if you’re looking for an affordable Netflix tablet. It offers a decent screen and, for this price range, very good speakers. I also like that we get a good amount of storage. The 64GB version costs as much as the 32GB version of most competitors, which is great. Its built quality is very good too.
Everything else, and that includes its performance, in particular, is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. Usually, Samsung is a bit better with updates. I’m expecting the Tab A8 to at least get Android 13. So, if you care about up-to-date software more, the Samsung is probably the better choice for you.
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RealMe Pad Review with Pros And Cons – Clear Winner
RealMe just launched its first tablet in India and by far it’s looking good. As of now, we don’t have the best tablets under Rs 20,000 but after the launch of RealMe Pad, things could change.
Just like any other product, RealMe Pad does have its Pros and Cons which we will talk about in this review but before that let me share with you RealMe Pad Price.
RealMe Pad Price in India
RealMe Pad price starts from 13,999 for 3GB of Ram and 32GB storage and this is a Wi-Fi model while 4GB Ram and 64GB storage is priced at Rs 17,999 and this variant has Wi-Fi4G connectivity.
The RealMe Tab is available in Gold and Grey colour option and it will go for sale on 16th September 2021 via Flipkart.
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RealMe Pad Review
RealMe Pad is not for everyone, if you’re looking for a gaming tablet then you will be disappointed with RealMe Pad but if you want a tablet for entertainment purposes or work then you will be more than happy with RealMe Pad.
Also, we don’t have many tablet options under Rs 20,000 in India. So it’s good to see, RealMe has a launched good table at a good price tag.
The tablet is powered by MediaTek helio G80 SoC which is not the best processor as this is a tablet and not a smartphone, you won’t face any problem,
You can also play a little bit of gaming but don’t expect the gaming experience to be smooth.
Talking about the camera, most of the budget tables doesn’t have the best camera and one should not buy the table for cameras.
Still, if you want to take Zoom call, RealMe has provided 8MP rear and 8MP front cameras which will be enough for video calling.
Audio Quality
Yes, the RealMe Tab has Stereo speakers (4 speakers). So there won’t be any kind of problem listing to music or watching movies without earphones.
Display Quality
The tab also has a massive 10.40-inches display and it looks good, it doesn’t look like a 2019 or 2020 design. Also, the RealMe tab has an Aluminium frame and back which is another plus point.
So whether you want to watch movies or use social media, the 10.40-inches display will give the best possible result.
Battery Life
It has a 7,100 mAh battery with 18W fast charging. Again, battery life will depend on daily usees but in short, the tab will last for a day or two, depending on what kind of work is done on a tablet.
Verdict
Yes, RealMe Tab is worth buying because it has almost everything that a budget tablet should have. Again, if you want a gaming tablet then RealMe Tab is not for you, for gaming you have to spend around 30k for better performance.
RealMe Tab Full Specifications
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Realme Pad Review
Realme has entered the tablet space with the aptly named Realme Pad as its first product.
Instead of going all out by putting all the top-tier specs for their first release, Realme went the Smart way by coming out with a budget-friendly tablet that everyone can attain. But is it the one for you? Are the specs and features enough to satisfy your needs? We find out in our Realme Pad review.
Realme Pad Specs
Design and Build Quality
The Realme Pad gives a good first impression the moment you take it out of the box. It looks really premium and feels very sturdy thanks to its aluminum build and CNC speaker grills. It also has chamfered edges.
When you pick it up, all you feel is solid metal in your hands. Although it made the device heavier than it should, so unless you have a stand for it, it can get tiring to use after some time.
Speaking of which, since it has chamfered edges and an all-metal build, you might want to put a case on this thing (if you can find one.) Not to protect the smartphone itself, but actually to protect the user in case you drop it while using laying down. Also, since it’s large and very thin, a chunkier case could provide a more secure grip.
Let’s take a closer look at the back. Unlike their smartphones, Realme went with a very clean, minimalistic, and almost boring design for their first tablet. This is where an exaggeratedly large and bold Realme logo could’ve made sense, but instead, they went with a small one. The one we got here is the Real Grey color, while a Real Gold option is also available.
The finish made it safe from fingerprint marks and smudges. There’s a silver line that goes from top to bottom that adds a bit of character and could also be the Wi-Fi antennas. There’s also a quite noticeable camera bump that makes us worry about the lens.
Since it uses an IPS panel, the bezels are quite thick, but you can tell they did their best to keep it at the minimum. What’s interesting is, the bezels are uniform thanks to the lack of physical buttons, making it quite a joy to look at for people with OCD.
The 8-megapixel front-facing camera is on the left side, so it’s in the center when you’re video calling in landscape mode.
It has three physical buttons. There’s the lock/power switch on top, and the volume control on the right. They are close to each other so you can easily take screenshots using one hand.
The buttons are fine with a tactile and audible click when pressed. I just wish they are bigger and protruded further since they are sometimes hard to locate on a device this large. Also, having a larger power button lets you easily know which is up, so it’s less confusing when auto-rotate is enabled. But, we’re just nitpicking here.
There are four speaker grills on this device for a stereo speaker setup. The first two are on the top, joined by the power button, while the other two are on the bottom, sandwiching the USB Type-C port. We also have the 3.5mm headphone jack down here, which you can almost miss since it’s in the far left corner, almost pointing to the edge.
The left side is clean, while the right (or top in landscape), has the aforementioned volume controls, a tray for a microSD card, and the microphones that were placed intelligently so it can pickup your voice clearly in video calls.
Sadly, the Realme Pad didn’t get to have a fingerprint scanner, so you’d be relying with screen patterns, pins, and face unlock which worked surprisingly well during our testing that we didn’t miss the fingerprint sensor.
Overall, the Realme Pad sure is a stunner thanks to its elegant design and solid build quality.
Display and Sound Quality
One of the main reasons why you’d be going with a tablet instead of smartphone is the large display. That’s something the Realme Pad can provide thanks to its enormous 10.4-inch FHD panel. But since it’s only an IPS panel, don’t expect vibrant colors that OLED screens offers.
In fact, even compared to other IPS panels, the Realme Pad lags behind in features, possibly due to its price. For one, it only has a standard 60Hz refresh rate and doesn’t have HDR support. On the upside, it does have Widevine L1, so you can watch movies on streaming platforms like Netflix at FHD resolution.
Overall display quality is fine. It gets bright enough to be used outdoors, gets dim enough for night reading, has acceptable colors if you plan on doing basic photo editing or streaming content all day. What’s important is, it has a large screen real-estate for working or learning.
The best feature of the Realme Pad is its quad-speaker setup. They can get really loud, with fair balance, and since they’re 10.4-inch-screen apart, stereo separation is audible for a more immersive experience. There’s even a Dolby setting easily accessible on the drop-down menu.
My only gripe is that it lacks sound clarity. Still, there’s no denying that it’s the handset’s best asset. Heck, it’s so loud you can use it all by itself and forget about external Bluetooth speakers if you’re hanging out with a couple of friends.
Hardware and Performance
This is possibly where the Realme Pad will show its weakness. This device is powered by a Mediatek Helio G80 processor. Yup, the same chipset powering some low-end smartphones. The unit we’re reviewing here is the 3GB/32GB model, but 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB models should be available in the market, too. All models come with a microSD card support up to 1TB for the hoarders out there.
Realme Pad benchmark scores
The performance is acceptable for the price, but could be better. You can do a lot with this smartphone: social media browsing, check emails, participate in online classes or meetings, do word documents, spreadsheets, presentations, basic photo or video editing, etc.
All of those tasks are doable, but do expect hiccups and lags here and there.
We have similar sentiments with the gaming performance. Call of Duty Mobile was playable at Medium graphics quality and High frame rate. Those are the highest settings available for this device, no Ultra.
Under those settings, the game ran smoothly, albeit with occasional frame drops. Also, playing shooter games on a phone this enormous can be hand straining. Either stick with basic games or get yourself an external controller.
Software and User Interface
The Realme Pad runs on Android 11 with a dedicated Realme UI for tablets. It looks bare and basic, and we like it. We wish this is the same interface that Realme smartphones have.
What I really like is the lack of bloatware. Pretty much all the native apps here are from Google. Since tablets are used by kids mostly these days, Realme preloaded Google’s Kids Space and YT Kids apps. You’re not buying this tablet for kids? Tough luck, since they cannot be removed, although can be disabled.
It even uses Google Photos for the gallery, but the camera app is pure Realme UI, minus the features that the hardware can’t support.
The drop-down menu is a little narrow. It does provide a cleaner look, but I wish it took better advantage of the large screen.
Like a lot of Android devices, it uses Google’s own keyboard. Those with bigger hands can type on it easily in landscape mode, while others may have to lay it on a table and use their index fingers instead of thumbs.
We wish tablet keyboards have a split mode like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 that puts a large gap in the middle so the keys are in the corners for your thumbs to easily reach. There’s a learning curve there, but worth it once you get used to it. Alternatively, you can always use an external keyboard on the Realme Pad if you’re really using it for work.
The Realme Pad also has a split-screen feature. Again, we wish Android tablets would copy Samsung foldables. Instead of limiting to two apps side-by-side, users should have the ability to run up to four apps all at once, displayed in four quadrants. Although, the underwhelming hardware may not be able o handle it anyway, so I guess we’ll give it a pass.
Bottomline, we appreciate Realme for allowing users to choose what they want in their tablets in terms of apps installed and aesthetics. The UI is bare and clean and it’s up to users to dress it up whatever they like.
Cameras
The Realme Pad has 8-megapixel cameras in front and back. Not the best cameras around, but more than enough for a device of this caliber.
Quality-wise, the rear camera takes fine photos if you really need to. It’s sharp enough to take pictures of notes and presentations in classes. The colors are acceptable for casual snaps, and low-light images look dull but usable if you really have to use it.
The 8-megapixel front camera has a 14mm focal length for a wide field of view, so rest assured you’re in the frame even if you’re face is near the tablet when you’re using it intight spaces. The image quality is good, too. Selfies in well-lit scenarios has decent sharpness and acceptable color tones. Low-light performance is grainy, but still usable. Overall, it’s more than enough for selfies and video calls.
Battery
Realme rigged its first tablet with a 7,100mAh battery, which is not the largest we’ve seen as most tablets have at least an 8,000mAh capacity. On the upside, battery performance is still quite impressive.
It was able to get 12 hours and 32 minutes of screen-on time in PCMark’s battery test. This test is done by running synthetic tasks over and over until the battery drops from 100% to 20%. We ran the test with the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off and the screen brightness and volume set to 50%.
This means that, those who would only use it for word documents, presentations, and other light task may get up to two days of juice out of it. But if you plan on using its quad speakers and display heavily, like for video meetings, gaming, or watching movies, then you might have to reach for the charger before the day ends.
Speaking of charging, the Realme Pad comes with an 18W charger. Not the fastest since a full charge may take about three hours. But considering the price, it’s hard to complain.
Connectivity
The Realme Pad technically comes with 4G LTE connectivity, but that’s for the higher-end models with larger RAM and storage capacities. No word yet when we’ll get those models in the Philippines, as the 3GB/32GB variants that we have now don’t come with LTE.
Having a mobile network should be great for those who don’t have Wi-Fi at home or who plans to use the phone while on the go.
On the upside, the antennas it got worked fine during our testing. It has dual-Band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and a USB Type-C port.
Verdict
There’s no denying that the Realme Pad is a great device. Despite its cheap SRP, this tablet was able to provide everything that its target market needs, plus more.
Its large screen with decent colors and loud quad speakers are great for work and entertainment. The clean interface is a breath of fresh air making it more appealing to use, the cameras are reliable, and has a cherry on top, it comes with a fancy and sturdy build and materials.
However, while the performance is fine, Realme could’ve gone with a more powerful processor. A larger battery would’ve been nice, too. But we’re obviously just nitpicking here. At the end of the day, the Realme Pad is still one of the cheapest tablets that you can get without a huge compromise in features.
Realme Pad price in the Philippines
The unit that we have here, the 3GB/32GB (Wi-Fi only), has a price of Php10,990 in the Philippines. The local for the 4GB/64GB (LTE) and 6GB/128GB (LTE) are Php14,990 and Php16,990, respectively, but their availability dates are yet to be known.
- Sturdy, premium, thin, and lightweight build
- Large display with decent colors
- Loud quad speakers
- Reliable cameras
- Clean interface
Realme Pad X Review: The Best Mid-Range Tablet With 5G
We are now bringing you our Realme Pad X review. It is the company’s third and most expensive tablet yet. Its pricing starts at ₹19,999 and goes up to ₹27,999.
Interestingly, none of the Realme Pad X variants have direct competitors. The Motorola Tab G70 and the Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab have cellular connectivity but the base variant of the Realme Pad X, which is closer to their pricing, doesn’t. The base variant of the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5 is priced close to the top-end variant of the Realme Pad X but lacks cellular connectivity. So, it will not be an apples-to-apples comparison. And that works in favour of the Realme Pad X.
The Realme Pad X is the most affordable tablet with 5G connectivity in India. It is also the only tablet below the ₹70,000 mark to offer 5G connectivity. That’s quite an achievement for a tablet that costs just ₹25,999.
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The other specs of the device also look very impressive. It has a 10.95-inch WUXGA LCD, Snapdragon 695 processor, up to 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, 8,340mAh battery, 33W Dart Charge, quad-speaker setup, a 13MP rear camera, and an 8MP front camera. The front-facing camera has a feature called Limelight, which is similar to Apple’s Center Stage, and it pans and zooms to keep the subject’s face in the frame during video calls.
The Realme Pad X looks excellent for its price. But the question remains: how does all that translate into real-life usage? Is the Realme Pad X the best tablet in its price range, and should you buy it? Well, let us dig deep and find out in our in-depth Realme Pad X review.
Realme Pad X In-Box Content
Design And Build Quality
The Realme Pad X follows the same design strategy as its two previous tablets: Realme Pad and Realme Pad Mini (Review). It has a symmetrical and minimalistic design, a very thin waistline (7.1mm), narrow bezels around the display, and flat sides. All these aspects make the device look modern and premium. It is undoubtedly one of the best-looking tablets on the market.
Realme hasn’t mentioned if the device has a metal or a plastic frame. It feels very strong and has no body flex whatsoever. To add to that, its surface finish made me think that it has a metal body and a metal back panel. However, I found that it has no visible antennas (which are made from plastic and stick out in a device with a metal frame). That made it clear that the tablet uses a plastic frame. Similarly, upon close inspection, I found that the back panel is also made using plastic.
Using a plastic frame and a plastic back panel for a tablet is not bad by any means as long as it is strong enough to withstand daily wear and tear for a few years and feels premium for the price. All the cutouts on the Realme Pad X are precise, the buttons feel firm, and the overall workmanship is excellent. It doesn’t leave any room complaints even with its plastic body.
Even though the device has flat sides and sharp-looking edges, it feels comfortable to hold. The edges do not dig into your palm and make you feel uncomfortable even when you hold the device for a long time. Overall, the Realme Pad X looks gorgeous and has an excellent build quality.
Display
The Realme Pad X sports a 10.95-inch LCD with 2,000 x 1,200 pixels resolution. Most other tablets in this price range offer a display that has a size between 10 inches to 10.5 inches. So, in comparison, the Realme Pad X has a slight edge over most of its competitors.
The display is large enough to watch videos comfortably even when the tablet is in the lap. You don’t have to bring the tablet closer to your eyes to see the content clearly like you have to do with other 7-inch or 8-inch tablets. The web browsing experience on the Realme Pad X is also similar to what you are used to on a laptop or a desktop. Since the screen is big, you can see everything on the webpage clearly without having to zoom in.
Playing games, however, is not ideal on this tablet. The device is so large that your fingers don’t reach all the in-game controls.
The display has a pixel density of around 213 PPI. It is adequate to see the text throughout the UI and on the web pages without any noticeable pixelation. However, videos don’t look very sharp, and you might wish that the display had a little more sharpness. That being said, I think the screen sharpness is good enough for the price.
The brightness is enough for indoor usage most of the time. However, it becomes a little tricky to see the content on the screen if there’s an overhead source of light. And then using it outdoors makes it even harder to see what’s on the screen. The display should either be brighter or less reflective.
The display also has poor black levels – they look washed out and pale. As a result, the display has a low contrast ratio, and the content doesn’t look all that vibrant. That being said, it doesn’t look too bad either.
The display has a 60Hz refresh rate. If you have been using devices with a 60Hz refresh rate screen, you won’t find any issues with the Realme Pad X. But if you are used to devices with a higher refresh rate display, you will immediately feel that the screen of the Realme Pad X is not as fluid. You can get used to it over time, though. No other tablets in this price range have a 120Hz refresh rate display, so it is hard to complain. But if the Realme Pad X came with a 120Hz refresh rate display, it would have been a very smooth experience, especially while navigating through the UI and scrolling web pages.
Performance
The Realme Pad X uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, and the brand is offering the tablet in two configurations in India: 4GB RAM 64GB storage and 6GB RAM 128GB storage.
The Snapdragon 695 isn’t a very popular SoC, but it is quite powerful. It offers a fast and smooth performance on the Realme Pad X. Tasks like navigating through the UI, opening apps, switching between the apps, and scrolling through web pages feel fast.
The tablet never stutters or hangs even when you open multiple apps back to back and switch between them quickly. It never makes you feel like it lacks raw horsepower. The presence of 6GB of RAM also contributes to that quick performance.
Even gaming on this device is extremely smooth. The tablet supports Max Frame Rate in Call Of Duty: Mobile with up to High Graphics settings. That’s quite something for a lower mid-range tablet. All in all, the Realme Pad X is a great performer for most day-to-day tasks and even some gaming.
Software
We recently reviewed the Realme Pad Mini. It came with Realme UI for Pad user interface customisation. However, the software did not have any custom UI elements. Instead, it was just stock Android UI. The Realme Pad X, however, is totally different. Its Realme UI 3.0 for Pad interface is a slightly tweaked version of Realme UI 3.0 that we’ve seen on Realme smartphones.
That means it has all the additional features over stock Android that Realme UI 3.0 is known for. That includes plenty of options for UI customisation, privacy features (like the ability to hide and lock apps), dual-apps, and dual-channel acceleration, that make using the device a lot more convenient. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Realme UI 3.0 for Pad has some additional features to take the advantage of the large screen and make the tablet more productive for you.
For starters, there’s a split screen option. It allows you to use two apps side by side, just like you’d on a desktop or a laptop. You can also use an app in a floating window so that you can navigate through the UI while still being able to access the desired app.
Then there is a sidebar which stays tucked on the side of the screen. You can use it to launch any app quickly from anywhere. The Realme UI 3.0 for Pad interface has a bunch of such features which make good use of the large screen and increase the productivity you can have on the device.
Even with all those features, Realme UI 3.0 for Pad is still not as good as One UI 4.0 on Samsung tablets. Samsung’s interface for tablets has way more features that take more advantage of the large screen and its design feels significantly more polished. That being said, Samsung’s tablets also cost a lot more for hardware compared to Realme tablets.
Even though Realme UI 3.0 for Pad is not the best in the industry, Realme is at least going the right way. If the brand builds up on Realme UI 3.0 for Pad by adding more features and making it look more polished, I think it will be a great UI for tablets in no time. At the moment, it has all the necessary features you need to use the tablet comfortably.
Battery Life Charging Speed
The Realme Pad X is powered by an 8,340mAh battery. Most other tablets with similar screen sizes and price tags come with a battery capacity of around 7,000mAh. In comparison, the one in Realme Pad is significantly larger.
On a single charge, I got around 48 hours of battery backup with almost 10 hours of screen-on time. That includes watching videos, browsing the web, going through social media feeds, and playing games. That’s spectacular battery life, in my opinion.
When I do not use the Realme Pad X much, it goes on for a week with around 5-6 hours of screen-on time. If you are someone who uses the tablet for reading news for an hour a day, you will have to charge the Realme Pad X only once a week.
The tablet features 33W charging speed, which, I think, is quite good given what the competitors are offering. That 33W charging speed works over the Dart Charge charging protocol. It took the tablet exactly 120 minutes to charge from 0% to 100%. That’s quite fast for a tablet with an 8,340mAh battery. However, I do wish brands start offering faster-charging speeds on tablets just like they are doing with smartphones.
Cameras
Rear Camera
The Realme Pad X comes with a 13MP camera at the rear. This is an entry-level camera sensor, and it’s similar to what you get with most other Android tablets in the mid-range price category.
The images taken with the rear camera have below average level of detail. Larger objects look fine, but the smaller things like text on a number plate or leaves look smudged. Details are not as good as what you can get from a modern-age mid-range smartphone. And that’s the part of the deal when buying a tablet. A majority of consumers don’t use tablets to click images or capture videos, so a passable camera is all that tablets need.
The colours look slightly dull than what they are in reality, but the images don’t look washed. They have a good amount of brightness, but once again, they are not as bright as the images taken from a similarly-priced smartphone. The dynamic range is surprisingly good, though. Take the image below, for example. You can see the outline of the clouds in the bright sky as well as the details in the shadows clearly.
Overall, the image quality from the rear camera is good enough for you to capture usable photos when you don’t have a smartphone around.
Front Camera
The front camera is where things get interesting. Like many other mid-range tablets out there, the Realme Pad X also comes with an 8MP front-facing camera. However, it has a wider viewing angle (105-degree) than that of most other tablets. importantly, it has a feature called Limelight, which uses that wide FoV and AI to keep you in the middle of the frame during video calls. This feature is similar to Apple’s Center Stage that you get with the new iPads.
Realme’s Limelight feature currently works with Google Duo, Google Meet, and Zoom. We tested it and are extremely pleased with its performance. The feature works just like it is advertised. It tracks your face and keeps you in the centre of the frame during a video call so that you are fully visible to the other person even if you move around the tablet.
What’s impressive is the amount of frame adjustment it offers. Suppose you are on a video call where you are sitting on a chair, and the tablet is kept on your table, and for some reason, you get up from the chair, the Realme Pad X can move the frame all the way up till your face is visible when you are standing straight. We were also very pleased to see that this feature works even when there is a fairly low amount of light in the room.
Since a tablet has a larger screen than a smartphone, it is usually more suitable for family video calls as it allows the family members around you to comfortably see the video feed from the person on the other end of the call. The excellent front-facing camera (especially the wide viewing angle and Limelight feature) on the Realme Pad X will serve very well for video calls where there are other people around you attending the call.
What about the general image quality from the front-facing camera, though? Well, it performs brilliantly. The images come out bright, and they have a pretty good dynamic range. The colours are close to how they are in the real life. The amount of details is also not bad for the price of the device. Selfies don’t look as good as what you would get from a similarly-priced smartphone, but it is totally acceptable for a tablet.
Audio Quality
The Realme Pad X has four speakers, two at the bottom and two on top, in a stereo configuration. The audio reproduction of these speakers is fantastic. For starters, the volume is loud enough to fill a 10×10 feet room with sound. The high and mid frequencies sound very clear. The bass is slightly on the lower side but totally acceptable for the price of the device. Except for the low frequencies, the audio quality is very close to what you get from the base iPad.
The Realme Pad X has one of the best-sounding speakers on Android tablets, irrespective of the price range. It is a joy to watch videos and movies on this tablet.
Connectivity And Call Quality
The Realme Pad X is the most affordable 5G tablet in India. If you are in the market for a tablet with cellular connectivity, getting one with 5G makes total sense since Airtel and Jio are expected to launch their 5G network as soon as this month. So, the Realme Pad X has that going for it.
Unlike iPads, you can take calls on the cellular version of the Realme Pad X. However, the tablet lacks an earpiece. So, if you take calls on it, the audio will come through the four loudspeakers, and everyone around you will be able to hear it. Even if Realme offered an earpiece, it would look too weird to hold this huge tablet to your ears for taking calls. The calling option should just be considered as an add-on. It is not meant to be used as a smartphone. While we are at it, it is worth mentioning that call quality is very good—people on either end of the call were able to hear each other properly.
The tablet also supports VoLTE and VoWiFi. Its cellular network reception was good, and I got the same data speeds with the Realme Pad X as I got with my Apple iPhone 13 Pro. There is also Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 onboard, both of which work as they are supposed to.
Is Realme Pad X Worth Buying?
If you are in the market for a tablet under ₹20,000, the base variant of the Realme Pad X is the best option. No other tablet in that price category is as feature-packed as this one. Even if you are looking for a tablet with cellular connectivity and a budget of around ₹25,000, the Realme Pad X is the best option right now. Its 4GB64GB cellular version offers the highest features for the price.
The only thing that could’ve been better in the Realme Pad X is its display. Higher brightness, slightly better blacks, and a 120Hz refresh rate would’ve made the tablet perfect. That being said, the display is still good given the asking price. Apart from that, the Realme Pad X hasn’t given us any room for complaints. It has a peppy performance, feature-rich software with tablet-specific enhancements, great-sounding speakers, a long battery life, modern design, and sturdy build quality.
If you don’t need cellular connectivity, and if you can stretch your budget up to ₹27,000, I would suggest you go with the Xiaomi Mi Pad 5. It offers a 120Hz display and a significantly faster processor. It is a better device overall for someone who doesn’t require cellular connectivity.
