Redmi Pad first impression: Looks premium, costs pennies

Redmi Pad looks expensive at first glance with a slate-like and thin design. Read our first impression of the newly launched tab here.

Redmi Pad starts at an introductory price of ₹12,999 for the base 3GB RAM + 64GB storage. (Redmi)

Redmi introduced a budget tablet series in India on October 5, 2022 in three configurations- 3GB RAM + 64GB storage, 4GB RAM + 128GB storage, and 6GB RAM + 128GB storage. Though the device has been introduced in the budget segment; its slaty and thin design gives a premium feel. It looked like an expensive tablet when I held it for the first time. It is available with an introductory price of ₹12,999 (MRP: 14,999), ₹14,999 ( ₹17,999) and ₹16,999 (MRP: ₹19,999), for 3GB RAM + 64GB storage, 4GB RAM + 128GB storage, and 6GB RAM + 128GB respectively. Though I didn't get much time to use it; read our first impression of the Redmi Pad here.

Redmi Pad: Design, display and performance

The Redmi Pad comes with a metal casing with flat rails around the edges and curved corners. It looks thinner but weighs almost half a kilo (to be precise, it weighs 465g). It comes in three colour options-- graphite grey, mint green, and moonlight silver and we have mint green. The design and looks of the new Redmi Pad is pretty impressive.

On the front, it has a thick but uniform bezel around the edges while on the back, it has a premium finish with the camera placement on the sides in the vertical position. The device has a 10.61-inch screen, which is neither too big nor small. The 2K IPS LCD screen with 2000x1200p resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate, offers a good user experience in terms of browsing the web and reading news or e-books. The power button is placed on the top; it doesn't house a fingerprint sensor. But it does come with face unlock instead.

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The tablet has four speaker grills but lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack on the tablet. But it doesn't seem to be a bummer since I use TWS earbuds. However, those using wired earphones will have to get a Type-C to 3.5mm converter.

The Redmi Pad offers impressive performance as I have been using it to binge on all my favourite content as well as reading e-books. From colour accuracy to favourable HDR results and HD content support for OTT apps like Prime Video and Netflix, the Redmi Pad seems to set a bar in the budget segment. Furthermore, the battery stamina of the 8000 mAh unit lasts for more than a day and a half so far. On the software front, It runs on MIUI 13 based on Android 12 out of the box, and the company promises two years of Android updates and three years of security update as well.

I'm yet to explore the detailed specifications like camera features, gaming performance and other aspects of Redmi Pad. For a detailed review, you'll have to wait a few more days.