Xiaomi Pad 6 review

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 is pretty solid for this tablet. It’s nowhere close to the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 on the OnePlus Pad and for almost ₹10K less, it's not the comparison that concerns the Xiaomi Pad 6. We could multitask on this thing with ease. Opening multiple windows, gaming and even editing a photo in Lightroom is easy peasy for the Xiaomi Pad 6.

Bring the Xiaomi Smart Pen (2nd Generation) into the fray and you can jot down notes and scribble some stuff at your leisure. It’s good but not exceptional per se. You won’t be able to replace a Wacom if that’s your concern. If you long-press the primary button on the Pen (₹5,999) it will open the Notes app and the second button lets you take a screenshot. Editing photos in Snapseed and Lightroom was quite fun but it’s nothing that you can’t do with your fingers. Samsung and Apple do a better job of integrating the stylus with their OS. Outside the confines of the Notes app, you can’t scribble in search bars or anywhere else that could use a good pencil work.

It also doesn’t heat up much. In fact, we spent an hour playing The Division Resurgence and the game was running at locked 30FPS with all the graphical settings pushed to the max. The game doesn’t support more than 30FPS right now because it’s in Beta but regardless, there was negligible thermal throttling on the Xiaomi Pad 6. It will run for a day and a half, maybe even two if you use it sparingly. It’s a bit bulky though and for that reason watching Netflix or anything while holding the tablet can get tiring.

With Dolby Atmos and Vision support, movies and TV shows look great. This is an LCD display but the colours are well-graded for binge-watching content. The first episode of Our Planet on Netflix comes out with commendable sharpness with tight highlights and deep blacks. This 11in display has a 2.8K resolution so everything looks crispy on this display. Motion smoothness is also well-judged for a 7-stage refresh rate display (30/48/50/60/90/120/144Hz). There’s a slight blue tint when you look at it from an off-axis but nothing too alarming. The 144Hz is also quite the number cruncher. For gaming and scrolling through apps, the refresh rate is almost addictive. We even downloaded Instagram and it worked really well. In fact, Instagram works better here than it does on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.

So far the best reason to pick up the Xiaomi Pad 6 is for its all-round performance. It’s good for work, play and entertainment. However, the 16:10 aspect ratio is perfectly suited for entertainment and so, Xiaomi has also added Dolby Atmos support for its stereo sound. It doesn’t have the richness and full-bodied sound of an Apple iPad or Samsung but it does have some depth for the price. At full volume, you can hear a bit of sibilance in David Attenborough’s words. It supports Hi-Res Audio (wired and wireless) but it doesn’t have a headphone jack.

Back to the tablet. Yes, there are no ads on this device. Xiaomi Pad 6 is as clean as it can get. Surprisingly no bloatware here either so you can strut around the UI problem-free. Xiaomi has focused its attention on adding meaningful tablet features to the OS through multi-window support and even a Beta feature where you can mirror the entire screen of Xiaomi 13 Pro. Currently, this Beta feature only works with the 13 Pro and both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi network and have Bluetooth enabled. You have to go to Settings > Connection & Sharing > Connected devices > Connect to phones (Connect to tablet). Do this on Xiaomi Pad 6 and Xiaomi 13 Pro and it should work. Oh, and you need to log into your Xiaomi account on both devices.

We didn’t have the keyboard (₹4,999) while reviewing this tablet so we can’t tell how the typing experience is with the keyboard. Although, the UI supports keyboard shortcuts and works as a folio case. You won’t get trackpad support like the iPad or the OnePlus here.

The Xiaomi Pad 6 is a worthy upgrade from the Pad 5. The metal body gives it a premium feel and the camera module makes it homogeneous with the Xiaomi 13 Pro. Although there’s only a single camera at the back for such a big module. The front camera is also great and can be used to unlock the tablet with your face. We don’t recommend it. There’s no fingerprint sensor here either. Admittedly, there are some cutbacks on this device to bring the price down but the performance will put your mind and pocket at ease.

This tablet can be your work machine (for writing and office work only), an entertainment tablet, a home automation centre and even a good gateway to indulge in leisurely photo editing and artsy stuff with the pen. If you want something more powerful then the Apple iPad and OnePlus Pad are definitely worth the extra cash out. Mostly because Xiaomi hasn’t said anything about future OS updates and how many years it plans to support this device. We only have word on the 3 years of security patch for this device. So if you have your pockets snipped, the Xiaomi Pad 6 is a worthy tablet.