When you cross the design language of an iPad with the specs of the Nexus 9, it makes for a mouth watering proposition. Add to that an oh so low price tag of Rs. 12,999 and you have a winner. Well, that's exactly what Xiaomi has done with its Mi Pad. The company announced its Nvidia Tegra K1 powered tablet in India today. The device will sell on Flipkart from 24 March and as if to make it more attractive, Xiaomi is not going for the flash sale model for the tablet. The device will be available on Flipkart like any other product. Now tablets haven't really been successful in India, but if anyone has a chance, then its Xiaomi, with its Mi Pad.
It's a 7.9 inch tablet, which comes with a 2K display, just like the Nexus 9. The display is one of the best that Xiaomi has to offer amongst all its products. Oh and the 2048x1536 pixel resolution is exactly what the Retina iPad Mini 3 has to offer.
Looking at the design, the Mi Pad looks exactly like the iPad Mini models. Of course, the iPad has a much more premium build, but that comes at a price. The Mi Pad on the other hand fits its price tag and the plastic glossy back doesn't bother us much.
There's an 8MP camera on the back, along with a 5MP front camera. Xiaomi has done well with its cameras, so the expectations from this one are big, even though tablet cameras aren't very good in general.
It's a WiFi only tablet though, which means it won't be useful for those looking to make phone calls from their tablets.
The Mi Pad is one of the few tablets in India that has the Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset. The Nexus 9 from Google also runs on the same processor, but is priced above 25k.
We've been gaming on it for a while now and the tablet doesn't seem to heat up very easily. We'll confirm after some more rigorous tests.
Another aspect of the Mi Pad that is similar to the Nexus 9 is the 6700 mAh battery inside. This should offer ample battery life for the tablet, but that will only be confirmed once we've completed the full review.
The overall build quality of the Mi Pad is quite good. It is heavy, but sturdy, which makes us like it.
Overall, the Xiaomi Mi Tab seems to be the best tablet you can buy right now. The pricing and specifications make it a truly disruptive device that Xiaomi has long been known for. In fact, the Xiaomi Mi3 was the last product to provide such value.