Phonandroid Test Xiaomi Pad 5: Lots of strength and very few weaknesses

Parbruno Mathieu on 07/10/202119 Com's

One day after the Apple annual mass and its new iPads, Xiaomi has unveiled a new tablet: the PAD 5 offers very interesting specifications and a very aggressive price.Good deal or flop, one thing is certain: Xiaomi is not there to make the earthenware dog in front of the apple.We have therefore tested the Xiaomi Pad 5 from all angles and give you all our impressions, all our conclusions.

Xiaomi Pad 5

The Xiaomi Pad 5 is an all-in-one tablet, which adapts and works according to your needs as a position of...

Best prices

Ces prix ont été actualisés le 30/01/2022 par All4affiliates. Ils sont listés en ordre croissant et hors frais de livraison. Seuls les prix affichés chez les marchands font foi.

Test carried out by Pierre-Edouard Laurent

We are in 2021 after Jesus Christ.Everyone of the tablets is dominated by the iPads… everything?Nope !An industrial giant of irreducible Chinese resists again and always in the invader.His name Xiaomi.And PAD 5 is the last offspring of the tribe.A prodigal son on which Xiaomi puts great hopes.

Technical sheet of Mi Pad 5

Xiaomi Pad 5
Poids	511 g
Dimensions	254,7 x 166,3 x 6,9 mm
Ecran	11 pouces LCD IPS 16/10 HDR 10Définition 2560 x 1600 pixels
Photo arrière	Capteur 13,1 MP
Photo (avant)	Capteur 8 MP
OS	Android 11 avec surcoucheMiui 12.5
SoC	Snapdragon 860
GPU	Adreno 640
Espace de stockage	128 ou 256 Go
MicroSD	non
RAM	6 Go
Batterie	8720 mAh
Recharge rapide	oui
Connectivité	USB-CBluetoothWi-Fi

Price and availability

The Xiaomi Pad 5 is on sale at a public price of 399.90 euros in 128GB version with 6 GB of RAM.The device is available in pearly white or mineral gray color, whether on the Internet or in French specialized shops, including Xiaomi stores.

Xiaomi Pad 5

The Xiaomi Pad 5 is an all-in-one tablet, which adapts and works according to your needs as a position of...

Best prices

Ces prix ont été actualisés le 30/01/2022 par All4affiliates. Ils sont listés en ordre croissant et hors frais de livraison. Seuls les prix affichés chez les marchands font foi.

Do not confuse it with the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro which has another SOC (Snapdragon 870), a larger photo sensor (50 mpx) and a 4G/5G module.But this model is not currently marketed in France and Europe.It is found on the web, but it is a "global" version with English or Chinese Rom, sold for the Chinese market.

Finally, last small precision: the tablet can be accompanied by a stylus, which is marketed at 69.90 euros.

The design of an iPad Pro but not the same price

Not easy to do original and even less aesthetic with a tablet.A large touch screen, pimples for volume and on/off, a tablet needs nothing more.Also the look of this pad 5 is, after all, very classic.There are about 9 mm border around the screen.The purists will cry out to the great gods that it is a terrible ugliness.Others (of which I am a part), will retort that a larger border preserves the screen a little more against the inevitable daily shocks and allows easier handling without triggering a thousand windows and inadvertent applications.

For an entry -level tablet, it is doing very well (let us remember its price: only 399 euros, there are only Apple fanboys that will cry out for facies).In order not to disorient the regulars of the iPad, the ON/OFF button is located at the top right while the volume buttons are located on the right edge, at the top.What coincidences ... PAD 5 is barely 4mm thicker than an iPad Air and even thinner 6mm than a latest generation iPad.Its dimensions remain small compared to this last iPad.

On the scale, this Android tablet displays 13 g more than an iPad.On the high-end segment, we could observe that the iPad Pro 11 ’’ is lighter (-43 g), lower (-10mm) and longer (+10mm).But is it really relevant for a tablet?Knowing that an iPad Pro costs 500 euros more than a Mi Pad 5 (Basic RAM 8GB/128 GB) and even 610 euros more for the 8GB/256 Go version.Unless we are wealthy or a graphics pro, the choice is quickly made.

The small defect that we can really blame him for is the camera that exceeds the chassis.Admittedly, this defect is present on numbers of smartphones and tablets, but this requires constantly ensuring that the lens is not unintentionally wiped off.The ideal is therefore to buy a protective cover for a few tens of euros.

The anthracite tinted aluminum shell is superb, but the fingerprints are inevitable.It should be noted in passing that the repairability index (provided for by French law relating to the circular economy) is 7.2/10, an excellent note for such a compact device.As a reminder, Ifixit, dismantling and repair specialists, had given the 3/10 note to the iPad Pro 11 ’’…

Performances & autonomie

Xiaomi equipped the Mi Pad 5 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 SOC, released at the start of 2021.The Chinese manufacturer had already fodder its entry -level smartphones (Poco X3) with such a chip.It is not the ultimate in processors, but it is not ridiculous either.6 GB of RAM come to support the SOC.For storage, PAD 5 is available in 128 GB (test model) and 256 GB versions.Unfortunately, Xiaomi was a little too inspired by the iPad.This tablet does not have microSD housing which offers a double advantage.First, the transfer to a memory card via an external reader is much faster.Second, external memory is scalable and above all much cheaper than internal memory.

Xiaomi has saved other savings to lower the production cost of his tablet.Thus, there is no fingerprint reader, GPS module, or NFC.For a tablet, these shortcomings are acceptable.

On Geekbench, in multicoeing processors, our tablet is placed just behind a Samsung Galaxy S20+ (equipped with an exynos 990@ 2GHz).On Wild Life, the Mi Pad 5 supplants a powerful Huawei P40 Pro (Kirin 990 @2.86 GHz).For the entry -level version of PAD 5, it's very honorable.FYI, the Pro 5 version has 6 GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, which should ensure a higher score.Finally, note that, out of the 128 GB of memory, 25 GB are already allocated to the system.

Xiaomi integrated a battery with a capacity of 8720 mAh, or 43.6 Wh.In comparison, the iPad Pro has a 28.65 Wh battery.We have carried out several tests (with volume and medium level backlight).The following results emerge:

A 120 Hz screen is better?

Xiaomi did not succumb to the trend of the Amoled for his new tablet.We are dealing with a good old IPS slab (much cheaper than the OLED equivalent).The Chinese manufacturer has still introduced a 120 Hz refreshment.What is the consumer benefit of such technology?A frequency twice as fast is more comfortable for your mirettes when you scroll ardently on Phonandroid.com or your playlist.There is no jerk.In addition, the gaming experience is much more fluid.Any Fortnite gamer will suit it.

In terms of colors, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is by default configured in "intense" mode, that is to say that the colors are dynamically adjusted according to the published content.Thus, a natural color temperature for office automation and more saturated and warm colors for videos.With the home interface, it is possible to adopt a colorful "saturated" (colors are more intense) or "standard" (constant contrast) profile.Miui 12.5 Authorizes moreover to adapt the colors to the ambient light (the result is not breathtaking) or to choose the color temperature.

In practice, the rendering is pleasant even if it sins on the side of deep blacks.To compensate for the absence of OLED (and attract the greatest number), Xiaomi has implemented some technologies.On the one hand, the IPS slab enjoys a colorimetric space DCI-P3.In other words, the GPU Qualcomm Adreno 640 transforms the video signal so that it is better perceived by our eyes with a more extensive gamut than what Rec 709 plans (of our TVs and screens).Clearly, you see with more nuances than with an ordinary IPS slab.On the other hand, Xiaomi combined with Dolby to set up the Dolby Vision.With this techno, the images benefit from a larger color beach (HDR, High Dynamic Range), higher than the UHD Premium standard (limited to 10 bits).The images are indeed coded on 12 bits (instead of 10 in classic HDR).They will therefore be brighter, more contrasting, more "rich".By deduction, the "intense" profile therefore corresponds in fact to the Dolby Vision while the "saturated" profile should correspond to the DCI-P3.

But the display quality is not only judged on its technologies, the definition remains crucial.On this point, the Xiaomi Pad 5 does not have to be ashamed in front of an iPad.The 11 ″ screen has a 2560 x 1600 pixel matrix (WQHD+) is more pixels than an iPad Air 10.9 ″ (2360 x 1640) and even more than an iPad Pro 11 ″ (2388 x 1668).In terms of backlighting, the pad 5 seems to be playing with an iPad Air.And for good reason, the two benefit from a brightness of 500 nits.Pleasant to boot the web in a living room bathed in light or bing-watcher a series in the darkness of a bedroom.

The small problem lies in the fact that this tablet is a real mirror which reflects the ambient rays.Outside, with a strong sun, impossible to look at anything in front of the star of the day.On this point, the iPad Pro 11’ is brighter (600 nits).Despite the activation of Dolby Vision technology, the backlight to the maximum, the adaptation of the colors started, the manufacturer of the Empire in the middle offers us a show of Chinese shadows outdoors.However, this is not harmful since use is more interior for work as for entertainment.This is why Xiaomi preinstabricated the WPS office suite, as well as the Netflix app.

Audio quality

Sound is too often the poor multimedia parent on a tablet.Xiaomi engineers did not skip our esgourdes.Rather than being satisfied with two mini speakers, framing the USB-C power port, there are two other speakers, on the opposite edge.These devices are not there for the decorum.They are at the service of the hearing experience mitted by Dolby (yes again them): Dolby Atmos.Even if the sound is powerful (thanks to the 4 speakers) and more enveloping than usual (thanks to the Dolby Atmos), do not exchange however to experience the same rendering as with a system 7.1 living room or a great helmet/headphones.

On the other hand, the sound is very good for such a small device.We could almost do without a small Bluetooth speaker, at least indoors.Besides, bluetooth/wifi wireless is the only possible connection to connect to an audio device since Xiaomi has removed the traditional Jack 3.5, as on the iPads ... Nothing unacceptable for a tablet dedicated to living in the living room or the bedroom.

Photo

Unlike a smartphone, video equipment is the cadet of the criteria of a tablet.Because a tablet does not enter a jeans pocket and remains at home generally.Yet the Mi Pad 5 can pride itself on a 13 -megapixel back sensor and an 8 megapixel facial.What to think?They do the job.

The definition is high enough to zoom in and crop the photo, but the rendering seems a little too reworked digitally to our taste.And again, the "AI" mode was not activated during our various shots.To scan a book page or a document, it's more than enough.There is, of course, a myriad of Instagram style filters to personalize your photos.In addition to the classic shooting modes (delayer, formats, etc.), there is a tiltshifiting mode, which gives the illusion of a deported perspective.

Environment and Google Play Inside

To run this tablet, Android 11 is in control.Not just any Android, Android Labeized RKQ1.200826.002, l’OS mobile de Google avec un patch de sécurité datant du 1^er mars 2021.And since then there have been other security updates, who respond to subscribers absent from the tablet.

This tablet takes advantage of the latest Android refinements.Unlike the Matepad 11 of his compatriot Huawei, Xiaomi can benefit in peace from the American mobile bone.The Chinese company has indeed been withdrawn since May 2021 from the blacklist listing companies related to the Chinese army.Xiaomi therefore enjoys Android 11 with the Google Play Store apps platform.You are free to install hundreds of apps and exploit all Google services.

Despite everything, Xiaomi remains cautious and has enriched his tablet from his famous Miui, his Android software overlay.The interface can therefore disrupt conventional users of Google mobile OS.But this MIUI version 12.5.2 is pleasant to use, certainly not binding.We have found the same advantages as those of competing Androids, whether Samsung or Lenovo for example.

In conclusion

The Xiaomi Pad 5 works clearly on the flowerbeds of the iPad, more particularly of the iPad Pro.The services are very close and even often to the advantage of the Chinese tablet.For less than 399 euros, the buyer benefits from the power of Android, its colossal software library for less than half of the price of an iPad Pro!Apple fanboys may retort that iPads are more reliable or more scalable in time.But invest at least 500 euros more in a tablet that will probably be obsolete in 2 or 3 years?The pill is difficult to swallow.

Whatever your uses and your situation, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is an excellent choice.Its power, its superb screen, its stylus (unfortunately optional), its 13 Mpx camera, its autonomy, the presence of Google Play Store are all assets to convince a large audience.It may only be artists accustomed to their specific macOS/iOS apps that will reluctant to adopt an Android tablet.For the others, this Xiaomi Pad 5 is the perfect family companion to play, watch videos on Netflix or Disney+, look for a recipe, read an article, follow a stream on Twitch or listen to your playlist during his sport.Integrating an OLED slab and a microSD slot would have crushed competition, but the Chinese manufacturer preferred to limit production costs to make his tablet more accessible and it is fully understandable.

Xiaomi Pad 5

The Xiaomi Pad 5 is an all-in-one tablet, which adapts and works according to your needs as a position of...

Best prices

Ces prix ont été actualisés le 30/01/2022 par All4affiliates. Ils sont listés en ordre croissant et hors frais de livraison. Seuls les prix affichés chez les marchands font foi.Note finale du test : Xiaomi Pad 5

It is not the fastest or most beautiful tablet in the world but it fills its job perfectly: offer quality multimedia at the right price.Not only will the Xiaomi certainly constitute a bestseller in the Android community, but it makes an eye to the users of iPad Pro (version 11 ’’).Apple's advance on this market is suddenly reduced.The Chinese manufacturer does not eye Early adopters with expensive technos (OLED, 5G screen, etc.) but wise consumers and economics.Between a tablet at € 399 and another at € 899, which offer very similar services, many will not enter the wars of cloches and will just buy the cheapest, even if it means buying your little sister in 2 years with moreelectronic ... for the same price.

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