Xiaomi Pad 8 Review: Should you spend ₹33,999 on this tablet?

Xiaomi has been aggressively bringing in a lot of devices in the Indian market in the last few months. But by far, my favourite of them has been the Xiaomi Pad 8, which I have been using for the last month or so as my daily driver, and here are my two bits on how the tablet performs in the real world.

A little bit of context:

I am not new to the world of Android tablets. In fact, I have used the OnePlus Pad 3 as my daily driver for the last year or so. I am not someone who uses a lot of Windows apps, and my work mostly involves a lot of writing, which requires the tablet to be comfortable and the display to be bright enough that it can be used even while travelling.

Some compatibility issues will always remain with Android tablets, such as the lack of good extension-supported browsers or some apps not being optimised for tablets, but these are things that you get used to in the long run.

So my expectation from the Pad 8 was simple. I wanted the tablet to be mobile enough to be used while travelling, it should have a good display with enough brightness to handle some tough viewing angles, and its accessories should make my job easier while writing for hours. Let me explain how the tablet fared in these areas.

What you get with Pad 8 and accessories:

Inside the box of the Xiaomi Pad 8, you get the tablet itself along with some documentation, a 67W adapter, a USB Type-C cable, and some documentation.

I used the Pad 8 with the Xiaomi Focus Keyboard, which comes with a built-in hinge that has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The clear advantage is that the hinge allows you to use the Pad 8 even on not-so-reliable surfaces, say when you are working in a cab or if you are sitting in a meeting that requires you to have the tablet on your lap. This was one of my biggest pain points with the OnePlus Pad 3, whose case easily separated from the tablet the moment you kept it on even a slightly shaky surface.

Another advantage is that the keyboard is backlit, so you can use it to type even when working at night. But that’s where the positives end. The typing experience itself isn’t all that great, and I could never get used to typing fast on the device.

The Pad 8 also comes with a smaller 11.2-inch form factor compared to the larger 13.2-inch panel on the Pad 3. This means that Xiaomi has also had to fit a smaller keyboard, which just didn’t sit well with my hands. The touchpad on the Pad 8’s keyboard is also very tiny compared to the huge trackpads I have grown accustomed to using on the Pad 3.

The silver lining is that Xiaomi still continues to support Windows-like shortcuts on the Pad 8. So you can press Start + D to get to the home screen or Alt + Tab to see the recent menu.

Design and display:

The smaller display on the Pad 8 has also allowed Xiaomi to get the in-hand feel of the tablet right. It comes with an all-metal design with an aluminium frame and a matte finish on the back, which protects the tablet from smudges and scratches.

It’s also quite sleek at just 5.75mm thickness and weighs around 485g, making it easy to hold if you plan to use it without a stand or case.

As for the display, the Pad 8 comes with an 11.2-inch IPS LCD panel with a 144Hz refresh rate, HDR10, and Dolby Vision support. The tablet comes with 600 nits of typical brightness and 800 nits in High Brightness Mode (HBM).

I really liked the display on the Pad 8 and, to be honest, it’s one of the best you can find in this segment if you’re using it indoors for streaming videos or even some light editing. However, I did find the peak brightness slightly lacking when using the tablet during cab rides, where sunlight occasionally peeks in. The OnePlus Pad 3, with 900 nits of HBM, isn’t perfect in this scenario either, but it does feel a bit brighter in comparison.

The 144Hz refresh rate is definitely a nice touch, but for someone like me who doesn’t really play a lot of games, it was more of a nice-to-have premium feature than a must-have.

As for the must-have feature, the Pad 8 comes with a quad-speaker setup with up to 200% volume boost. The sound quality is impressive with good bass and clear vocals, but the overall loudness did feel a little lacking for me, especially when compared to the OnePlus Pad 3.

Performance and software:

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor on the Xiaomi Pad 8 is a very reliable performer and, paired with LPDDR5T RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage, it translates into silky-smooth performance. I didn’t notice any hiccups on the tablet during my review period while multitasking with split-screen apps, streaming videos, or even while running demanding games.

Unlike some of its phone launches, the Pad 8 comes with HyperOS 3 based on Android 16. The software is clean, and I didn’t notice any ads in the UI either in the app menu, home screen, or the lock screen. There were very limited pre-installed apps as well, which include LinkedIn, Gemini, Spotify, Netflix, WPS Office, and a few other first-party apps.

You get a good set of features with HyperOS 3, which include 40+ keyboard shortcuts, a split-screen system that supports various aspect ratios, a dedicated Workspace mode that opens apps in floating windows, an iPad-like dock at the bottom, and some AI features like AI Calculator and AI Writing Assistant.

One area that I think is very important for a tablet is the split-screen interface. I like that Xiaomi gives you options of various aspect ratios and even lets you quickly turn one of the apps into a floating window. However, this implementation isn’t without its issues.

For instance, when you adjust the proportion of the second screen, there’s a slight 1–2 second delay that completely disrupts the workflow. Also, once you’ve selected two apps, there’s no easy way to swap one out for another directly from the dock or app library, meaning you have to close the split screen and start again.

There are a lot of interconnectivity features on the Pad 8 as well, such as answering phone calls and notifications from the tablet, synced clipboard, dragging and dropping apps from phone to tablet, and quickly transferring files via NFC. However, all of these features are dependent on you having a Xiaomi phone with you.

Battery:

The 9,200mAh battery on the Xiaomi Pad 8 does the job pretty well, and in my daily use that involved around 8–9 hours of work and streaming some videos while the tablet was constantly connected to Wi-Fi, it lasted around a full day and a little bit more. This is a very decent output from the tablet, but the supported 45W charging means when the battery finally drains out, it will take you around 1.5 hours to fully top up the tablet.

The quality of the 8MP front camera is good enough for attending occasional video calls, but just don’t expect it to capture your selfies well. The 13MP rear camera does what’s expected of it and captures decent shots for documents or the occasional photo.

One feature I absolutely love, though, is that the Pad 8 comes with a built-in LED indicator that lights up any time either the front or rear camera is opened. This feature is definitely a lifesaver if you want to avoid those embarrassing situations where you end up accidentally turning on your camera during a meeting.

Verdict:

At a starting price of ₹33,999, the Xiaomi Pad 8 gets most of the basics right. The good-quality 144Hz IPS LCD display, ever-reliable Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, the big 9,200mAh battery, and the clean yet feature-rich UI mean that this will probably be one of the most well-rounded options you can get in this segment.

There are a few loose ends here, like the slower 45W charging, the softer speaker setup, or the not-so-practical split-screen mechanism, but none of them are deal-breakers. I would, in fact, put it this way: the Pad 8 is a good tablet, just not a perfect one.