Read Video Transcription▼
This is the Xiaomi Pad Mini and despite
the name, it absolutely packs a punch.
Equipped with the flagship Dimensity
9400 Plus chipset, but it isn’t all
about performance. We’re talking about
value. And fun fact, we actually bought
this tablet during a sale and saved over
7,000 pesos in discounts. So, why choose
the Xiaomi Pad Mini over many other
options out there? I’ll tell you why in
this review. Roll that intro.
Probably the best thing about the Xiaomi
Pad Mini is of course its size. It only
has a screen size of 8.8 in and a thin
frame measuring just 6.46 mm. This makes
it relatively easier to use the tablet
one-handed. In my opinion, it’s the
sweet spot as to how large a tablet
would be while still providing decent
screen real estate and much needed
comfort. Adding points of practicality
is the optional case with a built-in
handle.
Tada. This provides a more comfortable
grip for longer use, and it even doubles
as a stand when set on a table. It’s
pretty neat if you ask me. Going back to
the tablet itself, it has that standard
look that we’re used to. A metal unibody
design with flat edges. [music] From the
back in landscape orientation, we’ll
find the single camera lens on the upper
right corner and the Xiaomi logo on the
left. There are no pogo pins for a
keyboard attachment here, which makes
sense since Xiaomi didn’t make a
dedicated physical keyboard either. In
this case, we paired it up with a
third-p party keyboard to still be able
to do a mini laptop setup. So, you still
have that option. We did notice that the
Xiaomi Focus Pen can connect to the
tablet, though. So
there you go. There. Our unit is in the
gray colorway. And while it does sport a
matte finish, it’s still prone to
smudges. This becomes even more
noticeable if you have sweaty hands, but
it can be easily minimized by using the
case, which is a full leather finish. We
have the power button on the left, a
speaker grill, and a microphone. At the
top, there’s the volume rocker alongside
a magnetic strip for charging and
storage of the stylus, which we
mentioned earlier. Also, there’s the
second mic just beside the rear camera.
Over here on the right, there’s the
second speaker grill, the USBC port, and
another mic. At the bottom, there’s
another USBC, which is a USB 3.2 Gen 1.
More on that later. When it comes to
extra protection, you may need to be a
bit more careful while using this
tablet. For one, it doesn’t have an IP
rating, and second, its display doesn’t
have any glass protection, so that’s
something to keep in mind. Now, speaking
of display, again, the Xiaomi Pad Mini
sports an 8.8 in screen. However, this
one uses an IPS LCD panel, which might
make some people off despite the fact
the overall visual experience has been
great in our opinion. The details are
sharp thanks to its 3K resolution. The
colors are decent and it has nice
viewing angles. We also get thin uniform
bezels all around and an insane refresh
rate of up to 165 hertz. Although not
all apps, let alone games run at that
level, it’s still great to have. As
expected from an IPS LCD panel, the
blacks aren’t going to be as deep as
compared to OLED. So, when watching
shows or movies, you’ll usually notice
the black borders looking a tad bit
grayish. [music] Screen brightness also
takes a hit here since the tablet only
supports 700 nits of luminance in high
brightness mode or HPM. This means you
should probably use the tablet more
often [music] indoors. One thing we
really liked about this tablet is its
audio performance. It gets incredibly
loud, enough to fill in a small room
while maintaining balanced sound even at
max volumes. The highs and mids come
through clearly, and the bass is
surprisingly punchy, though it doesn’t
quite match the depth you’d get from the
likes of iPad Pro. Still, I must say
it’s easy to get immersed in how good
the audio sounds, especially with the
stereo speakers enhancing the overall
experience. For biometric security, the
tablet doesn’t come with a dedicated
fingerprint sensor, but it does support
face unlock. It’s quite quick in
unlocking the device, though not very
secure, [music] so you’d rather stick to
using PIN or pattern. Moving on to
cameras, nothing really impressive here.
As you generally expect with tablets,
the camera capabilities are decent at
best. The Xiaomi Pad Mini features a
single 13 megapixel rear camera and 8
megapixel selfie shooter. Taking a look
at our sample shots, the image quality
is acceptable. The detail is sharp in
well-lit areas, but it becomes rather
soft for indoor shots. And the colors
look a bit more saturated, though it
offers decent dynamic range. It does
have a portrait mode, but it’s not good
at separating the subject from the
background. Selfies are pretty decent,
too, with nice skin color and texture
for bright shots, although details are
less sharp. I like the fact that the
selfie camera already uses a wide angle
lens, so more content can fit the frame.
What I don’t like here, however, is the
camera placement. It’s on the left side
in landscape orientation, so you’re not
going to be centered in frame. In terms
of video capture, that tablet can shoot
up to 4K at 30 frames per second from
the rear, and the front is limited to
1080p at 60 frames per second. [music]
The video quality is also acceptable.
The details and colors look all right.
The dynamic range is okay, and there’s
some form of image stabilization here,
which is likely electronic, making the
shots a little less shaky. However, the
quality gets worse from the selfie
camera. In low light setting, faces can
become too smooth and pale, and the
overall image is a bit washed out. So,
here are your colors and details. Uh,
there we go.
>> So, yeah. What do you guys think? Let us
know in the comment section below.
Still, it’ll be useful for stuff like
online meetings, taking photos of
documents, or even random quick snaps
just in case you don’t have access to
your phone right away. Now, perhaps the
biggest selling point of the Xiaomi Pad
Mini is its flagship level performance.
Under the hood, the tablet is equipped
with MediaTek’s flagship chip from 2025,
the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 Plus. It’s
the same chip powering the likes of the
Xiaomi 15T Pro. As you can see in our
benchmark results, the Xiaomi Pad Mini
achieved favorable results. In Hanutu
V10, it achieved over 2.4 million
points. And in 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme,
it achieved an average frame rate of
about 33 FPS. Those
[music]
numbers already show how powerful this
tablet is. Navigating around is buttery
smooth, app loading times are fast, and
gaming is a breeze. We tried to play
both casual and graphic intensive games,
and the tablet handled them quite well.
Mobile Legends ran effortlessly at 120
fps with ultra graphic settings. In Call
of Duty Mobile, while it was playable at
120 fps, the graphics will be capped at
medium setting. You can crank it to
ultra graphic, but the frame rate will
be capped to 60 fps. Meanwhile, in
Withering Waves, the tablet was able to
run at 60 fps even with maxed out
settings. However, there are some
stutters here and there, especially with
moments where a lot of visual effects
are happening at once. Adding to that,
the tablet quickly heats up when all the
settings are toggled to max. So, I would
recommend lowering the graphics settings
to at least medium, especially if you
plan to play for long periods. My
[snorts] only real gripe is the limited
memory and storage options. In the
Philippines, you only get the 8 GB plus
256 GB version, while other countries
like Singapore get a 12 GB plus 512 GB
option. Sure, apps open quickly, but the
RAM management isn’t the best. When I
switch between apps, they usually reload
when I come back to them. Onto the
software side, the Xiaomi Pad Mini,
being a 2025 release, shipped with Hyper
OS2 based on Android 15. Fortunately,
during the time we bought this, the
Hyper OS3 update is already available,
and we’ve been using the latest version
throughout our review. The UI design is
pretty much the same as before in Hyper
OS2, but you can appreciate the
smoother, bouncier animations in certain
places. And the overall visual design,
even though mostly inspired by iOS,
looks great in our opinion. There were
some bloatware here on bootup like
Netflix and Spotify, but they can easily
be uninstalled if you want to. Of
course, this being a tablet, there are
multitasking features available like
floating windows and split screen.
There’s even workstation mode, allowing
you to open up to four windows for
quickly switching from different apps.
While that is useful, I mostly found
myself using the tablet in regular mode,
usually just in split screen mode and
two floating windows. Xiaomi HyperAI is
also available here, offering a suite of
AI tools for notes, gallery, and
real-time communications such as AI
translate and AI subtitles. Sadly,
Xiaomi did not say anything about update
policy for the Pad Mini, but we’re
expecting at least two major OS upgrades
and three years of security patches.
Battery wise, the tablet packs a 7,500
mAh battery with 67 watts of wired
charging. It also supports 18 watts of
reverse wired charging for juicing up
small accessories. Now, the battery
isn’t that big, but was still able to
deliver a decent battery life. In our PC
Mark test, the Xiaomi Pad Mini passed 13
hours and four minutes of uptime. In our
proprietary video loop test, it
registered 11 hours and 26 minutes of
battery life. When we only did light
work and watching content from time to
time, the tablet lasted even longer,
getting over a day of typical use.
Remember the dual USBC ports? Both
support up to 67 watts fast charging,
but only the port on the longer side
supports USB 3.2 2 Gen 1 and Display
Port 1.4. [music] Charging doesn’t take
long as the included charging brick gets
the tablet from zero to full in the
button R. And yes, you actually get a
charger in the box. There’s no bypass
charging here, but oddly enough, there’s
a setting called slow charging hidden in
the game turbo page. As the name
suggests, it slows down the charging
speed to prevent overheating, so playing
games while charging shouldn’t damage
the battery in the long run.
Connectivitywise, the tablet is limited
to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Before we
move on to our verdict, let’s talk about
the price. The Xiaomi Pad Mini retails
for 25,999
pesos, but during a sale last January,
you were able to snag it at just 18,700
pesos. All things considered, the Xiaomi
Pad Mini gets many things right for its
price. You’re getting a flagship tier
performance, a decent IPS screen, and a
respectable battery life with fast
charging capability, all packed into a
compact frame. In a market where bigger
screens dominate, that alone makes it
stand out. It’s giving more than enough
power for literally any games and smooth
multitasking without feeling overkill
for everyday use. On top of that, the
build quality feels premium and the
lightweight design makes it easy to
carry around. It’s honestly great for
commuting, traveling, or just chilling
on the couch. Overall, the Xiaomi Pad
Mini is one of the most value packed
tablets right now, giving strong
competition even to the likes of the
iPad Mini. If you’re someone looking for
a tablet, the Xiaomi Pad Mini definitely
hits the sweet spot between performance,
portability, and affordable price. But
what do you think of the Xiaomi Pad
Mini? Will you get it anytime soon? We’d
love to hear thoughts in the comment
section below. If you find this video
helpful or informative, hit the thumbs
up. Subscribe to our channel that bell
icon so you won’t miss any of our future
uploads. See us on our socials at
Facebook, Instagram, X, and Tik Tok. And
see you.com playlist tech news and
reviews. Once again, this has been CJ
and I’ll see you guys in the next video.
Bye. See you later.
⚠️ This transcription is auto-generated from YouTube captions. Some text may not be 100% accurate.
Ever found yourself wanting a tablet that’s powerful enough for work but compact enough to actually carry around without feeling like you’re lugging a laptop? We’ve been there too. That’s why when we got our hands on the Xiaomi Pad Mini, we knew we had to put it through its paces. Spoiler alert: this little device might just surprise you with what it can do. In our latest video review, we’re diving deep into what makes this compact tablet stand out in a sea of bigger, bulkier options. We’re talking about flagship-level performance packed into a form factor that actually fits in one hand. And here’s a fun tidbit we discovered while filming: we managed to snag this unit during a sale and saved a pretty penny. But is it all about the size and the deal? What about daily use, battery life, and whether it can actually replace your laptop for quick tasks? We answer all that and more. Watch as we test its limits, show you its quirks, and determine if this is the perfect companion for students, professionals, or anyone who’s always on the move.
What You’ll See in This Video
- Compact 8.8-inch screen with thin 6.46mm frame for easy one-handed use
- Powered by the flagship Dimensity 9400 Plus chipset for strong performance
- Optional case with built-in handle doubles as a comfortable grip and stand
- Metal unibody design with flat edges, available in a sleek gray colorway
- Compatible with third-party keyboards and the Xiaomi Focus Pen for versatility
Curious to see how this mini powerhouse performs in real-world scenarios and whether it’s worth your hard-earned money? Don’t just take our word for it. Watch our full video review to get all the details, see it in action, and find out if the Xiaomi Pad Mini deserves a spot in your gadget bag.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Xiaomi Pad Mini good for students?
Based on our initial testing, its compact size and performance make it a strong contender for note-taking, reading, and light productivity tasks, especially when paired with a stylus.
Can you use it like a mini laptop?
Yes. While there’s no official Xiaomi keyboard, we show in the video how it pairs with third-party Bluetooth keyboards for a basic laptop setup.
Is it available in the Philippines and how much is it?
Yes, it is available locally. We actually bought our review unit here. Watch the video to find out the exact price and how we got over PHP 7,000 in discounts during a sale.
How’s the battery life for watching videos?
We put the battery through its paces with our typical usage mix. For the full results on screen-on time and charging speed, you’ll have to check out our video review.
Frequently Asked Questions
What chipset does the Xiaomi Pad Mini use?
The Xiaomi Pad Mini is equipped with the flagship Dimensity 9400 Plus chipset.
What is the screen size of the Xiaomi Pad Mini?
The Xiaomi Pad Mini has an 8.8-inch screen size.
Does the Xiaomi Pad Mini have an optional case?
Yes, there is an optional case with a built-in handle that doubles as a stand.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply