With an increase in the size of smartphone screens, the sales in the tablet market are flailing each day. Still, Xiaomi is taking a gamble and today introducing the successor to its Mi Pad 2. The Chinese upstart is calling their new tablet PC, as expected, the Mi Pad 3. The said device has been launched quietly, without much hubbub and a launch event.
Xiaomi has refreshed its tablet computer after more than a year, as the Mi Pad 2 was launched back in 2015. There are pretty much no changes to the design of the device as compared to its predecessor. The Mi Pad 3 still sports a metal unibody design and a textured rear panel, but only a Champagne Gold color option. The internal specs, on the other hand, have been upgraded in this iteration.
The Mi Pad 3 features a 7.9-inch screen (the same size, optimal) with a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536 pixels and a pixel density of 326ppi. The display has been upgraded with new features such as eye-protection mode — similar to iPhone’s Night Shift — which reduces the amount of blue light emitted by the screen for a comfortable reading experience. It also tags along a black and white mode to convert the screen into an e-ink display.
As for the internals, the Mi Pad 3 is powered by a hexacore MediaTek MT8176 chipset clocked at 2.1 GHz. This is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage, which cannot be expanded any further due to the lack of a microSD card slot. It is powered by a massive 6,600 mAh battery pack — a highlight of this device.
In the camera department, which one shouldn’t talk about in tablets because they aren’t meant for professional photography. The Mi Pad 3 comes equipped with a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a decent 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It has been equipped most connectivity options — 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth, and USB Type-C port (quite similar to the previous iteration).
The most disappointing feature of the Mi Pad will, however, have to be the software. The tablet is powered by Android Marshmallow, even when the Nougat 7.0 update has been available for months (we’ve even started receiving developer builds for Android O). It has been customized by the company’s own MIUI 8 on top.
Xiaomi’s Mi Pad 3 has currently only being launched China for 1,499 RMB (approx ₹14,000). You’ll be able to purchase the tablet on JD.com, Xiaomi’s official website, and Suning from April 6th. There is no information on when the company plans to introduce the tablet in other markets, especially India.
