Mi Pad 3 Comprehensive Hands On Detailed Review and Photos
by mitch002
by mitch002
It took a while for Xiaomi to release the Mi Pad 3, while everyone is so focused on the next Xiaomi smartphone, lets take a side step and take a good look at the flagship tablet of Xiaomi aka the Mi Pad. Now on its 3rd evolution, based on my observation, nothing has changed aesthetically, but internally there was a major overhaul of SoC (well they also did that same trick on the Mi Pad 2).
Whats in the Box?
Video Unboxing!
Xiaomi Mi Pad 3: Is This a Clone of the Mi Pad 2?
This question is quite reasonable as both models come with a 7.9-inch LCD screen at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 (aspect ratio 4: 3) and 326ppi pixel density. By the way, all these parameters are identical with the iPad Mini, well except the Mi Pad 1. But in actual comparison to the 16:9 ratio, 4:3 ratio display brings a larger display area which in return is more easier to read.
Something worthy to mention, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3’s screen is made by a full fit technology. Full fit what? Full fit technology simply means the protective glass (not sure if its corning gorilla glass as there is no mention in official site) and display layer are very close to each other. Thanks to a lack of additional air layer the screen provides more transparent perception in return.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 3’s rear is a photocopy of the Mi Pad 2’s back panel. Both models are made of one-piece all-metal body, which passes a sandblasting process. We are not sure why it took Xiaomi roughly 16 months to release this unit if there is no improvements in the design, just the internal components. The chances is that Xiaomi feels that the design of the Mi Pad 2 is already perfect, thats why there is no changes in the design.
A 13MP camera is located on the left upper corner. It has no protrusion. It has no LED Flash.
The USB Type-C is located on the bottom of the device, which comes with a standard 5V / 2A charger, the charger is new in design which is similar to that from the Redmi 4X. All other units gets released with the old black charger, by far its the Mi Pad 3 and Redmi 4X getting the new white and grey border designed charger.
The 3.5mm audio jack is on the top of the tablet.
The three capacitive buttons are still available on the Mi Pad 3.
As for the dimensions, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 comes at 6.95mm thickness, it’s a bit thicker than the iPad Mini 4 that comes at 6.1mm. The Mi Pad 3 also is a bit heavier at 328 grams, while its iPad Mini 4 counterpart weighs only 300 grams.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 Specs: Going Back to Mainstream
From generation to generation, hardware changes was drastic, but the design remains. If you are pretty disappointed with the stagnant design, let the hardware blow you away instead.
Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 Stat Sheet
Screen: 7.9-inch LCD, resolution 2048 x 1536, ppi 326, black and white display mode support
SoC: MediaTek MT8176 (2 x A72 + 4 x A53, 28nm HPM process)
GPU: PowerVR GX6250
RAM: dual-channel 4GB LPDDR3
Storage: 64GB eMMC5.0
Rear camera: 13MP, f / 2.2 aperture, supports 1080p video recording
Front camera: 5MP, f / 2.0 aperture
Battery: 6600mAh
Dimensions: 200.4 x 132.6 x 6.95mm
Weight: 328g
Operating system: MIUI 8.2, based on Android 7.0 Nougat
Connectivity: USB-C, Bluetooth 4.1, WiFi 802.11 ac
Color: Champagne Gold
Mediatek MT8176: More Than You Can Ask For
The MT8176 was launched in October 2016. It’s has been primarily designed for Android-powered tablets. This SoC has two Cortex A72 cores clocked up to 2.1 GHz and four Cortex A53 cores. The GPU carries a model name of Imagination Technologies PowerVR GX6250 and it’s clocked at 600 MHz. With these specs inside the tablet, the Mi Pad 3 can support 4K H.265 video decoding. We did run a lot of simulations on this unit, multitasking and other task, it did finished the job without a hitch.
The AnTuTu score shows almost the same result that we have gathered from the Mi Pad 2, sub 79k points.
The Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 comes with MIUI8.2 based on Android 7.0 pre-installed. This means anything in it is deeply customizable.
Battery Performance:
Based on our testing with the PC Mark Battery Test, the Mi Pad 3 nailed a SOT of 8 hours and 30 minutes. While its Intel powered sibling nailed 8 hours and 10 minutes, not much of a difference for an additional 410mAh of battery capacity. But for some of us 20 minutes goes a long way already, overall we are pretty satisfied with the battery life. It did last us a day on normal usage without charging.
Gaming:
While most of us are trying to get a piece of the gaming experience from the Mi Pad 3, let me share my experience with this unit. I did try to install NBA2k17, Im not sure why it keep failing after installing, maybe the resources is not enough or some sort. So I did installed Power Rangers and was able to play 1 hour without lag and the gameplay was fun, takes me back to my childhood days. Go Go Power Rangers! After that I also di try Super Mario Run, it was a fun game, it is something similar to temple run. Only its a 2D game.
Google Play Installation:
I know you are gonna ask me this, so I came prepared and launched this tutorial here: Google Play Installation for Mi Pad 3 MIUI 8 Nougat
Camera:
The camera is sub par, maybe because I love photography, but for some others this is already acceptable since camera is not really very important in a tablet.
Front camera
More Benchmarks:
Verdict:
The Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 is similar to its sibling in terms of appearance. But the manufacturer has made a few changes in hardware to boost performance. Now if you are coming from Mi Pad 2, is this worth the upgrade? I will tell you its really worth the upgade for the specs mentioned. The things lackin in this unit will still be the SD card storage and the mobile data sim support. Otherwise it will be already a perfect tablet. One thing I will miss is the capability to run Windows 10 in this tablet, having it dual boot is one of the best options you can have for the Mi Pad 2, which will surely be missed.
You are grab this unit from Xiaomi webstore in China for 1499 RMB.
Mi Pad 3
