Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 review

The Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 is one of the best Android tablet releases out of China this year so far. Finally, someone has moved away from MediaTek’s six and ten core SoC’s that seem to be everywhere from the likes of Alldocube, Teclast, and Chuwi.

Don’t get me wrong, while they aren’t bad chipsets but they are lacking somewhat in performance especially where it counts the GPU if you plan to game that is. The first generation Mi Pad used a Nvidia Tegra, quite a performance beast back in the day and great for gaming. Then the Mi Pad 2 was in many ways a step-down and used the Intel Atom X5 Z8500 with Windows or Android. The 3rd model Mi Pad 3 when with the MediaTek MTK8176. And the 4th version sees the 4th chipset manufacture change and in my eyes the best.

---

Specs:

Dimensions: 200.2 x 120.3 x 7.9 mm (7.88 x 4.74 x 0.31 in)

Weight: 342.5g

Build: Front glass, aluminum body

Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (14nm architecture)

CPU: Octa-core (4x2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260)

GPU: Adreno 512

Operating System: MIUI 9 (upgradable to MIUI 10), based on Android 8.1

Memory: 3GB or 4GB RAM

Storage: 32GB or 64GB ROM

Expandable storage: Supported, Up to 256GB microSD (dedicated slot)

Display type: IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Display size: 8.0 inches, 185.6 cm2 (~77.1% screen-to-body ratio)

Screen resolution: 1200 x 1920 pixels, 16:10 ratio, ~283 ppi density

Mobile network support: LTE only

Wi-Fi support: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Bluetooth support: 5.0

GPS support: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS

USB: Type-C 1.0

Rear camera: 13MP, f2.0

Front camera: 5MP, f2.0

Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 6000 mAh battery

Color: Black, Rose Gold

---

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, 8-cores and a very decent mid-range SoC. This is paired up with 3GB and 32GB of eMMC 5.1 storage on the base model or 4GB of RAM and 64GB eMMC storage on this model reviewed. The Antutu score of 144,000 range isn’t bad, in fact great. The fastest Android tablet reviewed to date here on the site. The eMMC is 5.1 spec so speeds are good, nothing compared to UFS 2.1 in the flagship mobiles but it’s still fast.

The build is a full metal unibody with only a plastic antenna strip at the top for the GPS (4G model only) BT 5.0 and Wireless AC. Type-C port, twin loudspeakers that sound decent, 3.5mm headphone jack and front 5MP and a rear 13MP camera that can even shoot in 4k if you use Open Camera from Google Play Store.

The new screen isn’t the Mi Pad 1-3’s 4:3 aspect ratio 2048 x 1536 iPad Mini retina screen this time. But in my eyes, it’s not really a step-down. Sure it’s not as sharp, but the screen is much brighter and it can be held with one hand easier. The 1920 x 1200 resolution is sharp enough at 8-inches and the 16:10 aspect ratio means 16:9 content will have borders if it doesn’t scale. It’s fully laminated (Something the new iPad 9.7″ 2018 model isn’t) and even usable in direct sunlight as you can see from these samples and the review video. PDF’s and eBook’s look good and there is a black and white reading mode with the reading blue light filter mode to. Overall it’s a great screen Xiaomi has selected for the Mi Pad 4.

Performance of the Mi Pad 4 overall is great, it’s fast and fluid. But some minor UI stutters where seen in full-screen gesture mode, something plaguing recent MIUI 9.0 Rom’s using full-screen gestures. It runs Android 8.1 and the security patch level is May 2018.

Gaming is also great on the tablet with the “easier” 1920 x 1200 resolution to drive the Snapdragon 660 has no trouble with all of the latest games only on the highest settings with very demanding games will you see any stutters or FPS dips. PUBG is a joy to play on the tablet and much more enjoyable than playing on a mobile with this later screen. On high FPS and HD graphics it’s very fluid and no real lag at all. It’s really ideal as a gaming tablet with this great screen and the powerful chipset. But not only that the 6000mAh battery means you can game for 7 hours as long as you have good wireless reception and your brightness isn’t more than 50%.

And continuing on the top of battery life it’s good, really good. I managed over 11 hours of use with plenty of YouTube and Amazon Prime video streaming. Gaming too, it holds up really well and support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 so charges quickly.

Overall the Mi Pad 4 is one of the best tablets reviewed this year and comes recommended. A big step up over the Mi Pad 3 which on launch was an absolute disaster with a buggy unstable ROM. Not the case here, the Mi Pad 4 is a clear winner.

---

Pros:

a. Fast chipset, feels very quick and smooth

b. Bright, fully laminated IPS screen

c. Great for gaming, good steady FPS

d. Great loudspeakers and 3.5mm output

e. Great cameras (For a tablet)

f. Support face unlocking

g. Up to 10 hours plus on screen battery life (with 6000mAh battery)

Cons:

a. No fingerprint reader

b. No HDMI output

c. Only the LTE model has GPS