I think there is no technical reason for this. Xiaomi probably just wants you to spend more money on the 4GB RAM version. After all, I have YouTube Premium and when I browse in Chrome, the picture-in-picture feature works fine. So it should run well when both are displayed the same size right next to each other. The main camera has a resolution of 8 MP and also supports video recording at up to 1080p with 30 FPS. Like the selfie camera, it shines with a good video quality under good lighting conditions, which takes a big hit in low-light situations due to significant image noise. The same holds true for pictures.

These cheap full-sized tablets are very much intended to be portable media players, of course, so it’s appropriate that we bring audio into the conversation here. The Redmi Pad SE gives you a strong quad-speaker set-up that supports Dolby Atmos output, and it provides impressively loud, punchy sound for the price. Currently, Android 12 is preinstalled and the tablet supports all common Android features. Well, except for one, more on that in a moment. The faster refresh rate makes animations look smoother, and some games can take advantage of that as well. You can also select 60Hz in the settings to save some battery, or set a variable frequency. The tablet then decides how fast the screen is updated. For instance, when reading an e-book, you do not need 90 Hz. We recommend going for the larger 4/128GB memory configuration, since the price premium over the entry-level 64/3GB model is only 10 USD. The latter is just marginally cheaper and does not offer split view for simultaneously running two apps next to each other.

Android 12 and Two Updates

There is no WWAN option for the Xiaomi tablet. Similarly, the Wi-Fi module is limited in its capabilities and restricted to Wi-Fi 5 support. There are limitations when using the Redmi Tab as a family tablet as well, since neither pen inputs nor multiple user accounts are supported.

The Redmi Pad runs Android 12 with Xiaomi's own MIUI user interface version 13.1. The manufacturer does not include a lot in terms of extra software. Aside from the Google applications and a small collection of Xiaomi tools, only the two third-party apps WPS Office and Netflix - both of which can be removed - come preinstalled. Thanks to DRM Widevine L1 support, the tablet can be used to stream HD-quality content. The performance is good for this price range and it’s a solid lower-mid-range gaming tablet. Overall, it is a great tablet as long as two things don’t bother you. Compared to the Oppo Pad Air, the Redmi Pad SE has the benefit of driving a lower-resolution display. Conversely, it boasts a much faster 90Hz refresh rate which, as hinted at earlier, it can’t quite make the most of. FocusFrame works similarly to Apple's Center Stage. During video calls, the selfie camera of the Redmi Tab automatically detects all current participants and keeps them in focus, even when they move. However, only a few apps are currently supported. According to Xiaomi, FocusFrame is available for Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and WhatsApp. A port for a keyboard cover is missing, because there is no such thing. And you cannot buy an active stylus either.Wild Life Extreme Unlimited | Wild Life Extreme | Wild Life Unlimited Score | Wild Life Score | 2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Unlimited | 2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Unlimited Graphics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Unlimited Physics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited Graphics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited Physics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (Vulkan) Unlimited | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (Vulkan) Unlimited Graphics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (Vulkan) Unlimited Physics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Graphics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Physics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 | 2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics | 2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics Basemark GPU 1.2: Vulkan Medium Native | 1920x1080 Vulkan Medium Offscreen | OpenGL Medium Native | 1920x1080 OpenGL Medium Offscreen 3DMark / Wild Life Extreme Unlimited We got the Mint Green colour and the top-of-the-line variant with 6GB RAM + 128GB storage. The colour offers a matte finish which means you won't have to struggle with cleaning fingerprints or smudges. Xiaomi is also offering the tablet in Graphite Grey and Moonlight Silver colour options. Xiaomi is about to ditch MIUI entirely and start afresh, so hopefully it’s got something better up its sleeve. Whether cheap devices like the Redmi Pad SE will benefit from that upgrade remains to be seen, but there is the promise of two years of OS updates, so you have to hope that it will. Battery Life

My issue with the Snapdragon 680, at least within this context, is that it struggles to do even the basics smoothly. Whether you’re waking the tablet from sleep, hopping between apps, or simply scrolling through web content, there’s a noticeable lag to everything, with frequent micro-stutters breaking the sense that you’re dealing with a reasonably classy tablet. It helps that it comes in three colours, two of which (Lavender Purple and Mint Green) are quite interesting for a cheap tablet. Typically, I was sent the Graphite Gray model, which is much more professional (read: boring) looking. So, remember this. If you need multitasking and especially the multi-window view, then you have to choose at least the version with 4GB RAM. Design & Built Quality The battery life is surprisingly long at 10 hours, so you could easily watch YouTube for a workday and still have two hours left for the end of the day. For this battery test, I always run an HD YouTube video at maximum brightness in a loop. Redmi Pad Review: Final Verdict And now we get to the big weakness of the Redmi Pad. Single apps like Chrome, YouTube, Microsoft Office and even Adobe Lightroom run pretty well. However, multitasking is a disaster. In fact, you cannot even open two apps side-by-side on the 3GB RAM version. That’s right, Xiaomi has disabled the multi-window mode on this variant.The Xiaomi Redmi Pad SE is a nicely built full-sized tablet that might have you raising your eyebrows in surprise when you see the price tag, at least if you weren’t aware of the Oppo Pad Air or the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 before it. As for that 5MP front camera, don’t expect it to be good for anything other than basic video calls. Detail is a write-off, focus is rotten, and skin tones are well wide of the mark. It also defaults to an eery beautifying effect, which will smudge those skin tones further.

While the Xiaomi Redmi Pad is a good tablet in the sub-300-USD category, the price is still slightly too high for us to recommend it unequivocally. Meanwhile, the in-house competitor Xiaomi Pad 5 comes with significantly better features, while not being substantially more expensive. Asphalt 9 is supported, and the graphics look okay, but you have to lower the settings a bit to make it run smoothly. Otherwise, stutters can be seen every now and then. That doesn’t apply to Alto Odyssey, this game runs fantastic, very smoothly and also looks great. MIUI 13 not only allows for apps to be run in fullscreen mode, but also in a windowed view that allows multiple apps to be open simultaneously. Additionally, two app windows can be automatically aligned to take up half the screen, each. Using this feature requires the 4-GB version of the tablet (or higher), however, since the 3-GB model does not support split view. All in all, it’s nothing but negative on the camera front. However, like I said at the outset, that doesn’t really matter all that much on a cheap tablet. Just do everyone a favour and use your smartphone for any snaps. SoftwareIf you are looking for a good mid-range tablet, the Xiaomi Redmi Pad may be the device for you. Starting from 240 USD, the 10.6-inch model has a lot to offer. The Xiaomi Redmi Pad has an 8-MP selfie camera on the longest edge of the tablet. It covers a 105° field of view, captures videos at up to 1080p with 30 frames per second, and comes with the FocusFrame feature, which is supposed to enhance group video calls. The front of the tablet looks even more generic, of course, with nothing but a uniform bezel running around an 11-inch display. Those bezels are relatively slim, with the Redmi Pad SE boasting an 84.4% screen-to-body ratio, which pips the Oppo by a single percentage point.