Have you been looking for a decent tablet on a budget? Perhaps your budget is $350, but you don’t want an iPad. Welcome to the strange world of Android tablets, which is littered with disappointing budget (<$200) devices like Amazon’s Fire tablets at one end, and fancy high-end (>$500) products like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S series on the other. Sadly, there isn’t much available in the middle – something like Apple’s standard iPad – but running Android.
Or so I thought. Back in late May, Xiaomi flew me to Dubai for the launch of the Poco Pad – a $329 mid-range Android tablet – alongside its F6 and F6 Pro smartphones. I’ve been using the Poco Pad (paired with its keyboard case and pen) on and off ever since, and quite frankly, it’s surprised me. In fact, it’s vastly superior to those budget tablets, and delivers a lot of that high-end experience without breaking the bank.
Hardware, design, and specs
The Poco Pad packs a 12.1-inch display covered in Gorilla Glass 3, and is housed in an aluminum unibody shell that’s 7.5mm thin and weighs a manageable 571g (1.26 lbs). It’s available in two colors: Dark Gray (our review unit) and Blue. Looking around the edges, you’ll find four speakers with Dolby Atmos, a pair of microphones, a headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, a microSD tray, a volume rocker, and a power/lock key.
Unlike the iPad, which embeds a fingerprint sensor in the power/lock key, the Poco Pad makes due with basic face unlock via a 8MP selfie camera center-mounted above the screen. Around the back, in the top right corner, you’ll find a pair of black, 1-inch diameter glass lenses protecting the 8MP main shooter and LED flash. This, along with the Poco wordmark, are the only two unique design features.
Small but noteworthy detail: the Blue model stands out a little more thanks to gold rings around the glass lenses in the back, so choose your color wisely. The 12.1-inch IPS display (2560 x 1600 pixels, 16:10 aspect ratio) boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, 500 nits of brightness, and supports Dolby Vision. It’s definitely the star of the show, and sets this tablet apart from the competition, including the iPad.
The Poco Pad is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 mid-range chip paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage – plus microSD support for additional storage. Under the hood, you’ll also find a 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast wired charging. What’s missing? NFC and water resistance (both rare on tablets) and GPS/cellular connectivity, which is available on the Poco Pad’s twin, the Redmi Pad Pro 5G.
Keyboard cover and pen
Before I share my experience using the Poco Pad, let’s dive into the accessories – the Poco Keyboard ($99) and Poco Smart Pen ($79). Instead of using magnets, the Poco Pad snaps into the Poco Keyboard with plastic tabs in the top corners and a larger tab along the bottom edge. This keyboard cover doubles as a folding stand, and is covered in a gray, vinyl-like material. It doesn’t include a trackpad, and feels kind of cheap.
The 64-key 5-row keyboard lacks a function row (and backlight) but uses standard scissor keys. It connects via Bluetooth and includes a USB Type-C charging port, on/off switch, and charging LED. It lasts up to 760 hours on a charge. The pen is made of white plastic, and features two buttons and 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. It connects over Bluetooth, and charges via USB Type-C for up to 12 hours of continuous use.
Performance and battery life
I primarily used the Poco Pad with its keyboard cover to watch videos (Netflix and YouTube, mostly), check social media, answer emails, browse the web, and write articles (in Google Docs) – including parts of this review. And overall, performance is strong. The Poco Pad handled everything I threw at it like a champ – apps ran smoothly and without hiccups. Even games like Genshin Impact run just fine on this tablet.
The display is excellent, the keyboard is comfortable, the pen works well, the speakers sound loud and clear, and battery life is solid. You even get a headphone jack and microSD support – a rarity on most tablets these days. So what’s missing then? A fingerprint scanner in the power/lock key would be nice, because face unlock is less secure and less reliable – especially in low light – and entering a pin is a hassle.
Better cameras would also be welcome. The Poco Pad comes with an 8MP f/2.0 1.12-micron main shooter with AF and night mode, and an 8MP f/2.3 1.12-micron fixed-focus selfie camera. Both shooters support 1080p 30fps video recording, but lack basic features like portrait mode. In other words, these cameras are good enough to use in a pinch – to scan documents, or make video calls – but don’t hold a candle to the iPad’s.
The Poco Keyboard could benefit from function keys and a trackpad. Not having a trackpad makes the keyboard cover more compact and easier to fit on a cramped airplane tray table, but it also hinders using the Poco Pad for more productive tasks. Unlike the keyboard cover, which lasts weeks on a charge, the Poco Smart Pen only lasts days on charge – even when stored in the Poco Keyboard’s pen holder, doing nothing.
Battery life is competitive. The Poco Pad easily delivers 8-10 hours of continuous use when surfing the web or watching videos. But, even with 33W fast wired charging, that large 10,000mAh battery still takes about two hours to fully charge. On the plus side, the Poco Pad comes with a 33W fast charger in the box, and I was able to charge it at full speed with my usual assortment of standard USB PD chargers.
Software and user experience
When it comes to software, the Poco Pad runs HyperOS 1.0.5 on top of Android 14. I don’t have any major issues with Xiaomi’s skin except for the parts of the UI that mimic Apple’s iOS. For example, you have to swipe down on the left side for notifications, and on the right for quick settings, which goes against the Android norm. Otherwise, HyperOS provides rich multi-window functionality, which is helpful on a tablet.
The only thing holding back the Poco Pad’s otherwise great user experience is that Android apps suck on tablets. Many Android apps simply aren’t optimized for large screens and/or randomly insist on running in portrait mode – yes Meta, we’re looking at you. HyperOS does a great job at forcing apps to run in landscape orientation, but it’s not ideal. Android simply doesn’t have the kind of developer community iPad OS does.
Poco Pad: Final thoughts
While the cameras and keyboard cover on the Poco Pad could use some improvements, its display quality and performance are where this Android tablet really shines and that’s what matters to most tablet users. So, as long as you can live with Android apps being hit-and-miss on tablets, I highly recommend the Poco Pad. Ultimately, the Poco Pad delivers well-rounded specs and a pleasant user experience for a very reasonable price.
The Poco Pad is currently available on Amazon for just $300.