Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2 Pro Review: Great Deal or Overhyped?

We’ve extensively tested the new Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2 Pro over the last few weeks, comparing it with direct competitors like the Lenovo Idea Tab Plus, the Honor Pad 10, and its own predecessor, the Redmi Pad Pro. The Redmi Pad Pro was our value pick last year. Can it keep the title this year? Well, we actually found one major weakness that might make it unusable for some people.

Hardware and Performance

We’ll start with its greatest strength: the hardware and performance. Xiaomi has equipped this tablet with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor. You can find two storage variants: 6GB RAM with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage. You can also expand the storage using a microSD card.

Our Geekbench comparison shows that the CPU performance is about 20% better than the Redmi Pad Pro, while the GPU performance has more than doubled. This puts its performance roughly on par with the Honor Pad 10. Also, it’s significantly better than the Lenovo Idea Tab Plus, a direct and very new competitor.

For everyday tasks, the performance is excellent. Browsing the internet and a bit of multitasking all run smoothly.

For our gaming test, we naturally installed Fortnite. At the lowest graphics settings, you can select a 120 FPS preset, and the game feels super fluid. However, it seems to always be capped at 60FPS regardless of settings even on the 120FPS mode. That’s probably a software bug. Regardless, even with epic graphics settings, the game still runs smoothly. 

With max graphic settings, Minecraft causes the tablet to stutter. But sure, Minecraft runs flawlessly once you turn the settings down a bit. 

The same goes for almost every other game. We also played Crossout, and that runs between 70 to 100 FPS at maximum settings, which is great.

Especially when you consider the price, the performance is very strong, making it our new value pick in this category.

Design and Build

At 12.1 inches, the Redmi Pad 2 Pro is a larger tablet, weighing in at a rather heavy 610g. We were surprised by the weight, as the similarly-sized Idea Tab Plus weighs only 530g. However, the Redmi does pack a very large battery. At 7.5mm, it’s also comparatively thick.

Overall, the build quality is solid, but not outstanding. While it’s largely made of aluminum, the transition from the display to the body doesn’t feel very premium. On the bright side, there’s a headphone jack in addition to a USB-C port. Unfortunately, the USB-C port only supports USB 2.0 speeds. 

We wish it had a fingerprint reader, but that’s typically only standard on tablets that cost more than double as much. 

There’s an 8-megapixel camera on both the front and back, capable of recording Full HD videos. The quality is okay for video chats but not much more. 

Display and Speakers

The 12.1-inch LCD panel has a 2560 x 1600p resolution and a refresh rate of 120Hz. Standard brightness is 500 nits, with a peak brightness of 600 nits.

When viewed straight on, the display is pleasantly bright, even slightly brighter than its predecessor, and it’s nice and sharp. However, at an angle, it shows some significant weaknesses: it looks noticeably darker than the competition, including its predecessor.

The major weakness isn’t just the poor viewing angles; it’s also HDR content. HDR video looks very dark on the Redmi Pad 2 Pro; colors appear flat and lack vibrancy. The predecessor was significantly better here, and the other competitors don’t have issues with HDR either.

This weakness can be put into perspective depending on how often you watch HDR content. For instance, I almost never do, partly because my Netflix subscription doesn’t include HDR. It only came up because we perform an HDR test as standard procedure. But clearly, if you have a Netflix subscription with HDR, the Honor Pad 10 and Lenovo Idea Tab Plus are much better suited for you.

Aside from the HDR issue, Netflix is just fine on the Redmi Pad 2 Pro. Furthermore, the speakers are actually a highlight for the price. They get louder than all the competitors and sound quite good with Dolby Atmos enabled.

Stylus and Keyboard Cover

Xiaomi offers both an official keyboard cover and the Redmi Smart Pen for the Redmi Pad 2 Pro. Both must be purchased separately, and also charge separately via USB-C.

The keyboard cover connects via Bluetooth. Since the display is so large, the keyboard can also be large, making it quite comfortable to type longer texts on. However, the entire thing is plastic and doesn’t feel high quality. We also miss a touchpad, although all competitors unfortunately lack one too. It’s safe to say that an official cover like this is almost always better than third-party options.

The Redmi Smart Pen works surprisingly well. In the “Noteshelf 3” app, the pen reacts quickly and accurately and is comfortable to hold. It’s definitely very usable for taking notes or making a quick sketch. Still, if the stylus is your top priority, we’d recommend the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite with the S Pen instead.

Software

The tablet ships with HyperOS 2 based on Android 15. According to the Xiaomi Security Center, security updates are guaranteed until November 2029. That’s four years of support, which is solid for a device in this price range.

HyperOS 2 is pleasantly clean, responds quickly, and features nice animations. Crucially, there is no pre-installed bloatware, which is great. Though there’s no desktop mode, you can’t connect the display to external monitors anyway.

Battery Life

The battery is exceptionally large at 12,000mAh and charges with 33 Watts. In our battery test, where we run an HD YouTube video on an endless loop at maximum brightness, the Redmi Pad 2 Pro achieves a runtime of 8.68 hours. That’s a decent score, but it’s not beating any records. 

Redmi Pad 2 Pro Review: Our Verdict

The Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2 Pro definitely has a few weaknesses. The viewing angles could be better, HDR content isn’t reproduced well, and it’s very heavy for its size. But in return, the processor performance is excellent for the price, the speakers are loud, and the stylus and keyboard are solid accessories.

Overall, we think the price to performance ratio is outstanding. That’s mainly thanks to the price. The MSRP is 299 Euros, but you can already get it for under 250 Euros. We strongly expect the price will quickly drop closer to 230 Euros, and likely even toward 200 Euros during Prime Day and similar sales. At that price, it’s genuinely excellent.

The Honor Pad 10 is a good competitor, but its prices unfortunately don’t fall as quickly. However, before you make any decision, you absolutely must check out our review of the Xiaomi Pad 7. That tablet is significantly better than the Redmi Pad 2 Pro, and its prices are already around 300 euros, just a bit more than the Redmi.