5 days ago
17
Xiaomi just launched two new tablets globally: the regular Xiaomi Pad 7 and the Pad 7 Pro. They pretty much look exactly the same on the outside. But as you’d expect, the Pro has better specs overall—which makes sense, considering the price difference.
You see, the standard Xiaomi Pad 7 starts at PHP 19,999 (8GB+128GB), while the Pro variant carries a higher price tag at PHP 29,999 (8GB+256GB).
With that much of a price difference, is the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro super worth it? Or would you rather go for the Xiaomi Pad 7 that is more affordable?
To answer that, we took the tablet in for a full review.
Design and Construction
At first glance, we see a very familiar yet practical design. The Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro retains the sleek, unibody aluminum chassis of its predecessor. Except, the frame is a bit thinner, measuring 6.18 mm, compared to last year’s Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro, which was 6.26 mm thick.
The tablet is fairly lightweight at 500 grams, but it goes a bit heavy once you attach its dedicated keyboard.
It has a matte finish on the back that is nice to the touch, though it’s not as resistant to smudges. The sides are still flat—which honestly looks more premium compared to other tablets with curved edges in my opinion.
You sacrifice a bit of comfort, but we mostly use our tablet docked to the keyboard anyway.
Going back, there’s the Xiaomi branding on the left, and it is joined by the three magnetic dots that allow for easy attachment to a folio case or a physical keyboard.
For I/Os, in landscape orientation, we have the power button on the left, the USB Type-C port on the right, and the volume rocker at the top. Also found here is a magnetic strip, which is meant for attaching and charging the stylus. You may also notice the quad speaker setup from the sides.
For biometrics security, the tablet features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor along with face unlock. Unlocking the tablet is quick, though we recommend using the fingerprint sensor, as it is more secure.
Additionally, when using the tablet in landscape mode, we appreciate the power button placement, as it’s easy to reach.
However, like most tablets out there, this one doesn’t have an IP rating. So, you will need to be careful not to spill coffee or any drink on the tablet.
Display and Multimedia
Now, let’s move on to the most important bit: that large display.
The Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro boasts an 11.2-inch IPS LCD panel with a crisp 3.2K resolution and a buttery smooth 144Hz refresh rate. And I like the thin, uniform bezels.
It is a glossy screen, so you will encounter stubborn reflections often. Thus, applying a matte screen protector is a no-brainer here.
It offers a decent 800 nits of peak brightness and since it’s an IPS screen, it has fairly good viewing angles too. However, it lacks vivid colors and deeper blacks, as expected from an LCD panel.
Despite the fact, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro can still deliver a satisfying viewing experience. It has Widevine L1 for streaming HD content and the tablet supports up to 4K resolution or 2160p playback in YouTube.
Adding to that is its quad-speaker setup, that outputs sound with good clarity. It has a nice punch to the bass, though it’s not as deep to my liking. The audio can get quite loud, and the tablet even offers a 200% volume boost.
Long story short, in terms of viewing experience, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro delivers more than good enough visuals and sound in its class.
Camera
On the subject of photography, this is certainly not its strongest suit, and don’t get us wrong, that holds true for most tablets out there.
As for the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro, what matters is its cameras work as intended. It has a single 50-megapixel camera at the rear with phase detect autofocus, and a front-facing 32-megapixel ultrawide camera.
The addition of an ultrawide sensor as the selfie camera makes a lot of sense for a tablet, and this should be helpful for online meetings and the like.
The image quality is okay with decent clarity and colors, but it struggles to capture detail in strong highlights or shadows.
The same goes for video, capable of recording up to 4K at 60 fps from the rear. However, just like we always say, you’re better off using your smartphones to shoot content.
But if you’re mainly using a tablet for your class lectures or online conferences, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro will do just fine.
Performance and Benchmarks
If you’re looking to game on a tablet, this is where the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro really stands out. It boasts the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, and while it’s not as powerful as the regular 8 Gen 3, its overall performance is still pretty solid.
Clearly, the tablet smashed our benchmark tests with great results. In ANTUTU, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro surpassed a score of 1.5 million, and it even maxed out our 3DMark Wild Life test, which is a graphic-intensive task.
The same goes for the Geekbench CPU and GPU tests, with its Vulkan score exceeding 10,000 points.
Check out the rest of our benchmark results below:
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 |
| AnTuTu V10 | 1,540,924 |
| AnTuTu Storage | 216,197 |
| S.Read Speed | 4102.3 MB/s |
| S.Write Speed | 3830.0 MB/s |
| 3DMark Wild Life | MAXED OUT |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Single-Core | 1,957 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Multi-Core | 5,297 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU OpenCL | 8,881 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU Vulkan | 10,065 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 performance | 15,096 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 battery life | 11 hrs & 18 mins |
These numbers mean that the tablet should handle anything you throw at it.
We tried playing Zenless Zone Zero and setting the game’s image quality to High was a piece of cake for the tablet. But, if you have a keen eye for visuals, you may notice that the quality, even at High graphics, doesn’t quite match that of other devices with a flagship chipset.
What I mean is, the character model for example, it is not as sharp up close—which isn’t technically a bad thing.
For casual games, the tablet did me a solid. Although, the large screen might be too much for competitive MOBA games like Mobile Legends or Pokémon Unite.
Users can only notice the tablet going a bit slow sometimes when running multiple apps in floating windows. Especially in Workstation mode, the animations are not that smooth in some scenarios, but the tablet is quite responsive, nonetheless.
For config, our unit comes with 12GB of RAM paired with 512GB of storage. There’s even an option to extend memory up to 12GB more, but we usually set it off during our use.
OS, UI, and Apps
On the software side of things, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro runs the latest HyperOS 2 based on Android 15.
Looking at the UI design, it is still largely similar to HyperOS 1, except it comes with smoother animations and a wider range of customizations.
We actually got a minor update recently and the “AI Services” that we mentioned in our hands-on review is gone and replaced by Xiaomi HyperAI. This essentially does the same things as we said before, having AI tools built-in to system apps like Notes, Gallery, and Recorder.
Google Gemini is also here as its main voice assistant and there’s Circle to Search which is still weirdly not working on this unit.
We personally like the Workstation mode that turns the tablet UI to a desktop experience, or at least close to it. In this mode, you can open multiple apps in floating windows.
The maximum so far is up to four windows, and we think that’s more than enough for most productivity tasks.
Xiaomi also throws in the Mi Canvas app where you can draw, paint or sketch which is especially useful when combined with a stylus.
Connectivity and Battery Life
Speaking of accessories, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro offers convenient magnetic pairing for compatible keyboards and styluses.
Our unit was bundled with the Focus Keyboard and the Focus Pen, both of which paired quickly with the tablet by simply attaching them in specific places. The stylus goes at the top, while the case can be securely attached to the back.
We mostly used the Focus Keyboard, and interestingly, it comes with backlit keys and its own trackpad—that you can actually press like a normal trackpad. It has a nice tactility, and the same goes for the keys, offering a comfortable typing experience.
It’s worth mentioning that the tablet features trackpad gestures as well along with handy keyboard shortcuts. There is a bit of a learning curve here, but once you get the hang of it, you can really power through your multitasking.
Connectivity-wise, the tablet supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, and no, there’s no option for a cellular model.
In terms of battery, the tablet packs an 8850mAh unit paired with 67W of fast charging, and in our experience, it delivers an adequate battery life.
The Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro mostly lasted me half a day of use before needing to recharge, and that includes watching Netflix content and playing mostly Zenless Zone Zero.
In our PCMark battery life test, the tablet gained 11 hours and 18 minutes of runtime. That’s a bit short, but hey, we can easily get the tablet up and running again, as it takes less than an hour to fully charge.
Pricing and Verdict
Wrapping this up, the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro impresses with its flagship-level performance, premium design, and productivity-focused features. These key-selling points surely make it a compelling choice for users who demand more from their tablet.
Its Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset delivers powerful performance for both gaming and multitasking, while the sharp 144Hz display and quad-speaker setup enhance the overall multimedia experience.
At PHP 29,999, it’s indeed a solid pick over the regular variant. But for those who don’t need all the extra power, the standard Xiaomi Pad 7 is a neat budget-friendly option.
Whether you’re after a powerful tablet for productivity or an affordable device for entertainment, Xiaomi has both ends of the spectrum covered. The choice is yours: go Pro for the high-level performance or save a bit and still enjoy a well-rounded tablet experience.
Either way, Xiaomi delivers.
What we liked:
- Flagship-tier performance
- Good IPS-level display, above-average sound
- Easy accessory pairing via magnets
- Minimal bloatware
- Inclusion of AI features
What we didn’t like:
- Bugged Circle to Search
Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro specs:
11.2-inch 3.2K IPS LCD
3200 x 2136 pixels, 144Hz refresh, 3:2 aspect ratio
800-nit (global) peak brightness
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3
4nm, octa-core, up to 3.0GHz
8GB, 12GB LPDDR5x RAM
256GB, 512GB UFS 4.0 storage
50MP f/1.8 single rear camera, PDAF
32MP f/2.2 ultrawide selfie shooter
Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen1)
Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
Quad speakers, Dolby Vision/ Atmos, supports stylus (magnetic), IR blaster
Xiaomi HyperOS 2, Android 15
8850mAh battery
67W charging (wired)
251.22 x 173.42 x 6.18 mm
500g
Black, Pine Green, Sky Blue (colorways)
