XIAOMI PAD 5

In the February 2022 issue, I reviewed the Xiaomi Pad 5, a bangfor-the-buck tablet. After using it for over six months, here are some additional thoughts on the tablet.

- GABRIEL PE

DESIGN ★★★★★

The Xiaomi Pad 5 has an 11-inch IPS display with a WQHD resolution (2560x1600), a 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10 and Dolby Vision support. The display has served me well as the tablet became my usual Netflix machine.

The display is still vibrant as the day I got the tablet. I have also since then found the display to be good, even under direct sunlight. I found it a joy to use when I needed to work outside since most laptops can't handle extreme sunlight.

As for the color, there is no visible discoloration on either the body or display. I have been using the separate keyboard case, so the tablet is still free of scratches. Even the display has no visible scratches despite constant use of the Xiaomi Smart Pen.

Another thing I noticed about the tablet was how much of an eye-catcher it is.

People would usually ask what it was before asking how it performed.

HARDWARE ★★★★★

The Xiaomi Pad 5 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 processor with Adreno 640 graphics. It has 6GB of RAM and my unit has 128GB of internal storage.

I am honestly surprised at how well the Qualcomm SD 860 continues to perform, despite it being a three-yearold chip, having been launched in April 2019. I was expecting it to have slowed down considering its age, the tablet's age, and the myriad of software updates rolled out by Xiaomi; but amazingly, the tablet continues to perform beyond expectations.

There's also the 6GB RAM, which I thought would be a limiting factor. While I wouldn't recommend getting a device with only 6GB of RAM in 2022, so far I have not found it lacking. As my on-thego work device, I usually open multiple programs on the tablet so I expected that the RAM would be my first complaint.