Xiaomi Pad 6 Review: Incredible Value or Cheap iPad Clone?

The Xiaomi Pad 6 is an exciting successor to the Pad 5. Once again, Xiaomi competes directly against the flagship tablets from Samsung and Apple. New features include a 144Hz display, there is a revised stylus, and new hardware. How well does it compete against its competition and predecessor? That’s what you’ll learn in this Xiaomi Pad 6 review.

Let’s check out its pricing first. In Europe, you can get it starting at 399 Euros, while it costs Rs. 26,999 in India. Xiaomi has not launched it for the US market yet but I’m assuming they will because the predecessor has been released in the United States too.

Display: 144Hz

We’ll start this review with the screen, because there is an important new feature here. The Xiaomi Pad 6 is the first tablet to be released with a 144Hz display. The flagships from Samsung and Apple, as well as the Pad 5 predecessor, manage 120Hz only. This makes animations look especially smooth – but I have to admit that it’s really hard to see a difference to 120Hz.

You can lower the frequency in the settings to save the battery. Here, 90Hz is a good compromise.

Other aspects of the screen are also very good. It’s an 11-inch IPS display with a nice high resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels. Texts and icons look very sharp, even when you hold your nose directly in front of it. It’s fully laminated, of course, viewing angles are stable, and it’s very bright. I was able to work well with it outdoors.

The display is therefore a highlight, especially at this price, and has the qualities of a flagship tablet. It is equally suitable for movies and TV shows because it has a Widevine level of L1 and thus you can watch Netflix with HD resolution. Furthermore, the four speakers on the side are excellent – almost as good as on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8.

Xiaomi Pen

You can use an active pen to write on the screen, which you have to buy separately, just like on the predecessor. I think it’s quite a shame that the old pen does not work with the new tablet. However, the new stylus works with the old Pad 5.

Well, the stylus is white this time and somewhat resembles the Apple Pencil. The hard tip is also very similar. On the sides, the stylus has two buttons and it is charged via induction on top of the tablet.

The pen of the predecessor was already pretty good and the new one is finally on the level of the S Pen or Apple Pencil in terms of quality. It’s nice and precise, responsive, and handwriting looks clean. I was able to draw and write with it well and an artist, who I often let test pens and tablets, also likes it.

Regarding the stylus, the only drawback remains the software. You can install apps for the stylus from the Play Store, of course, and they work great. But with Samsung Notes, the Galaxy Tab S tablets have a really good note-taking app that is not available for Xiaomi. Apple also has many really good features for the Pencil and even more optimized apps in the App Store.

Unfortunately, Xiaomi lacks all that and the apps optimized for pens in the Play Store are limited. However, a few standard features are pre-installed, for example, you can create and edit a screenshot. They also work well.

Hardware & Performance

The Xiaomi Pad 6 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, which is supported by 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. Unfortunately, they do not offer an LTE option and GPS is also missing. A stronger version is be the Xiaomi Pad 6 Pro, but I don’t think it’ll be available outside of China.

The Snapdragon 870 is a slightly older flagship processor and thus the performance in benchmarks like Geekbench 5 is a good bit better than the predecessor, but it’s weaker than the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8. And the Apple iPad Pro is much more powerful anyway.

The 3D Mark Wild Life test, which examines the graphics performance, also shows exactly that. Here, the performance is significantly better than that of cheaper tablets like the Xiaomi Redmi Pad or Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE. But the Samsung S8 remains more powerful. It is also very interesting that the graphics performance in Geekbench is better on the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro Gen 2.

However, it’s really hard to notice a difference to the S8 or Lenovo in real life. Multitasking works well, even with multiple apps, and the Xiaomi hardly stutters when you quickly switch between apps. The same is true for Samsung.

My gaming test shows the same. I was able to play PUBG Mobile well with UltraHD graphics. It runs nice and smooth and looks good too. The same goes for the racing game Asphalt 9. Genshin Impact also needs a lot of graphics power and the role-playing game also runs smoothly. So it’s definitely suitable as a gaming tablet.

Design & Build Quality

Compared to the predecessor, Xiaomi has improved the design. The basic design is similar, but while we had a plastic back on the Pad 5, we get a full metal chassis on the Pad 6. This makes it feel a bit more premium.

However, it’s not built quite as high-end as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 or Apple iPad Pro. The transition from the display to the body is not quite as elegant as in the more expensive rivals.

Read: The Best Xiaomi Tablets Tested

Xiaomi has copied a bit too much from Apple for my taste. Not only is a headphone jack missing, but also a microSD card slot. So, you cannot easily expand the storage. A fingerprint reader is also missing and it supports facial recognition using the webcam only. While that works fine, it’s not super secure.

However, it is nice that we get a USB C 3.2 port that can also be used for connecting external monitors. This works well and it’s convenient when you also connect a mouse and keyboard. However, it’s a shame that there is no desktop mode and the screen is mirrored only and not expanded.

There is an 8-megapixel webcam in the center front, which can also be used for decent video chats. On the back is a 13-megapixel camera with depth sensor, which takes good pictures and videos.

Keyboard Cover

Almost nothing has changed regarding the optional keyboard cover. Nevertheless, the cover of the predecessor is not compatible with the Xiaomi Pad 6. That’s very disappointing and means you’ve got to buy it again.

It’s a lightweight keyboard cover that magnetically connects to the tablet. When folded, the back and the display are protected, but the sides can get scratched. I think it’s a shame that you can set it up at one angle only. And when getting some real work done, I’m missing a touchpad.

The keyboard itself is okay. Among other things, I wrote this test using it and it worked well. Well, but it is not outstanding. Compared to Samsung and Apple, it feels a bit cheaper and every now and then a few little things don’t work. For example, the space bar does not respond when I hold down the shift key and want to write several words in large letters.

Sure, this is only a minor issue and overall the keyboard cover is good. But it could be better with a touchpad and several angles.

Software: Android 13 With Updates

The Xiaomi Pad 6 runs Android 13 with MIUI version 14, the latter being Xiaomi’s own interface. When I reviewed the predecessor I said that it is uncertain if it will get any updates. Here, Xiaomi positively surprised me and actually released major software updates for both the Pad 5 and the cheaper Redmi Pad. Therefore, I assume that Xiaomi will also take care of updates for the Pad 6.

As typical for Xiaomi, the interface is very customized. And many Xiaomi apps are preloaded, including a dedicated browser and a Notes app that looks like a clone of Apple Notes. I don’t like the Xiaomi apps, but most of them can be uninstalled anyway and I use the ones from Google and Microsoft instead.

In the end, the interface is okay and works just fine.

I have the Chinese version here, which often lacks the Google Play Store out of the box. However, you can simply install it yourself and some stores will install it for you. However, I generally recommend waiting until the Xiaomi Pad 6 is regularly available in your country. Because then you’ll have the Google Play Store and proper warranty and support.

Battery Life

In my battery test, the Xiaomi Pad 6 achieved a runtime of 8.15 hours. I think that’s a pretty good result, especially because the display is very bright and I ran the test at 144Hz. If you switch down to 90Hz or 60Hz, the battery will last a few hours longer.

Xiaomi Pad 6 Test: Final Words

So, can I recommend the Xiaomi Pad 6? Yes, I definitely can. It’s definitely one of the most interesting tablets of the year, and it’s especially exciting if you’re looking to save money compared to flagship devices. It offers a nice display, a good pen, a high-quality build, powerful hardware and up-to-date software.

However, it cannot completely replace flagship tablets. The software for pens in particular is better on Samsung and Apple devices. Furthermore, the keyboard cover of Xiaomi could be a bit higher-quality. But Apple in particular is much more expensive, and it’s okay if we have to make a few compromises to get a much cheaper price.

For this review, I also compared the Xiaomi Pad 6 with the Xiaomi Redmi Pad and again thought that it is quite a good deal. At least if you do not need top performance, you can save a lot of money and still get a great tablet with the Redmi Pad.

Also read: The Best Xiaomi Pad 6 Alternatives