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Xiaomi Mi Pad 4: Specs and features
.Όπως αναφέρθηκε παραπάνω, η Xiaomi έχει τοποθετήσει μια νέα ψηλότερη οθόνη στο Mi Pad 4, που είναι τόσο ελαφρώς μεγαλύτερη σε 8in και υιοθετώντας αναλογία 16:10. Αυτό εξακολουθεί να είναι ένα πάνελ IPS, το οποίο κάνει εξαιρετικά, ζωτικά χρώματα και πολύ καλές οπτικές γωνίες. Είναι μια οθόνη πολύ καλής ποιότητας, αν και η ανάλυση έχει μειωθεί από 1536×2048 σε 1920×1200 pixels, με αποτέλεσμα το pixel pitch μόλις 283ppi σε σύγκριση με τα προηγούμενα 326ppi – ο μαγικός αριθμός που ισχυρίστηκε η Apple ήταν η ποιότητα Retina, όταν ήταν στην πραγματικότητα αξίζει να αντιγράψετε το iPad mini
It’s doubtful that the human eye would actually notice the difference in clarity between the two, and the Mi Pad 4 offers sharp images and clear text.
Blacks are pretty good too, with a claimed contrast ratio of 1200:1, while our tests with a Spyder revealed a max brightness of 349cd/m2. That’s not at all bad for a budget tablet, and should make the screen much easier to read in sunlight.
Processor, memory and storage
The Mi Pad 3 was fitted with a MediaTek MT8176 hexa-core processor with PowerVR GX6250 graphics and up to 4GB of RAM, which has here been replaced with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 and, again, up to 4GB of RAM.
The Snapdragon chip is an octa-core model built on the 14nm process and is significantly faster, integrating a powerful Kryo CPU, Hexagon 680 DSP and Adreno 512 graphics. Even using the 3GB RAM Mi Pad 4 sampled here the Xiaomi displayed a significant increase in performance over its predecessor – you can compare the results of the two tablets in the chart below.
Although this is a mid-range chip, the Mi Pad’s benchmark results aren’t far off those of last year’s flagship phones. And in real-world use we found no issues with lag when opening apps and navigating menus.
Storage is very good if you opt for the 64GB Mi Pad 4, especially now that you can add a microSD card up to 256GB in capacity.
Connectivity
This version of the Mi Pad 4 does not support a cellular connection, though there is an LTE model available. Do note that this model does not support FDD-LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means you won’t be able to add a SIM from O2 or any other operators that piggyback its network (such as Sky Mobile and GiffGaff).
There’s also no support for NFC, as you might expect on a budget tablet, but we’re more surprised by the lack of GPS. It is possible to use apps such as Google Maps, but it uses Wi-Fi scanning to pinpoint your location.
Aside from this you’ll find Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
Cameras
It’s not often you’ll pick up a tablet to use it as a camera, but if you wanted to you could with a 13Mp camera on the rear. The Camera app is much more basic than that which you’d find on Xiaomi’s phones, which isn’t really a surprise. You do get HDR and a variety of filters, but not much else.
Round the front where you’re more likely to take advantage of the camera for video chat is a 5Mp selfie camera. Again, the app is basic, but functional. You can also use this to unlock the tablet using face recognition.
Battery life
Inside this Mi Pad 4 is a 6,000mAh battery, which is down from the 6,600mAh cell inside the Mi Pad 3. According to Xiaomi battery life remains the same, with up to 12 hours video playback possible.
We used the Geekbench 4 battery test and recorded 8 hours 14 mins. It’s not a standout score in this test, with those that promise all-day life scoring closer to 11 hours, but it’s still higher than both the now ageing iPad mini 4 and more recent iPad 9.7in.
As before you should be able to get about 8 hours life from the Xiaomi, but your exact mileage really depends on what you’re tasking it with and at what volume.
Software and apps
Software is a bone of contention with the Mi Pad 4. It runs MIUI 9, and there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s just not what users are familiar with in the UK. And we’re not just talking about the fact it removes the app tray and lays out all your shortcuts on the home screen.
MIUI has a bunch of its own apps for things like music, video and weather, and there’s an App Store where you can source more but it’s all in Chinese.
Fortunately Google Play is also available via the Mi App Store, so you can add all the Google services with which you’re familiar, as well as an English keyboard, it’s just that it doesn’t come this way out of the box. It’s easy for me to say this is a simple process, but I’ve done it so many times I could do so with my eyes closed – it’s possible having to do this would be offputting to someone not familiar with MIUI.
Apparently the International version ships with Google Play preinstalled, but we’re testing the Chinese version and have not seen a Global ROM version of the Mi Pad 4 for sale.
MIUI typically has a load of extras you won’t find in standard Android, such as dual apps and second screen, though our review sample doesn’t appear to have those particular features. We did find Quick Ball, which places onscreen shortcuts to common actions, and a full-screen display mode which removes the onscreen navigational buttons and requires you to navigate the menus using gestures.
Mi AI is also on this device – Xiao AI is Xiaomi’s own voice assistant, but it’s not optimised for English language. You can install the Google Assistant once you’ve configured Google Play, of course.
