The Xiaomi Pad 7 pushes the boundaries of what to expect from a mid-range tablet. It competes with the base iPad in pricing, goes head-to-head with the iPad Air in terms of capabilities, and even offers a feature found only on the iPad Pro. Add to this its polished accessories, the Xiaomi Pad 7 is here to set new benchmarks.
Over two weeks of using the tablet, I relied on it for media consumption, quick Lightroom edits, and completing pending drafts on Google Docs. This is the most complete tablet experience you can get on a slate under INR 40,000 (with the keyboard accessory).
Xiaomi Pad 7 As A Multimedia Device
The new Xiaomi tablet is sleeker and feels sturdier than the previous-gen Xiaomi Pad 6. It features an all-glass and aluminum build with a cleaner rear panel that houses a 13MP camera, the Xiaomi logo with pogo pins located below it for attaching the keyboard accessory.
While it has a single rear camera, the module design is borrowed directly from the Xiaomi 14, giving the impression of a premium triple-camera setup. While three rear cameras aren’t necessary on a tablet and it can look misleading at first glance, I like the aesthetic.
On the front, the Xiaomi Pad 7 features an 11.2-inch LCD screen with a 3.2K resolution (3200×2136) at 345 pixels per inch. It supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision for compatible content and offers up to 800 nits of brightness, so you wont have trouble using it outdoors.
The screen is sharper than its predecessor, and everything looks better in terms of colors and clarity as compared to the iPad. It has a 3:2 aspect ratio, which might not be ideal for Netflix but works well for productivity and gaming.
I didn’t notice significant banding while watching movies on Netflix or Prime Video, even though it’s an LCD panel. While not OLED quality, this is among the best LCDs you can find on a device. It’s complemented by a quad-speaker setup that gets plenty loud for an immersive movie-watching experience.
The Xiaomi Pad 7 also comes in a nano-texture display variant, priced at INR 31,999 ($370). This feature, typically found on devices costing over INR 1,00,000 ($1,100)—like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the new M4 iPad Pro. It reduces reflections and improves content visibility in bright environments.
I’ve only seen the nano-texture variant in-person but didn’t get to test it for this review, so I can’t comment on its long-term performance. However, it’s a quality-of-life feature I’d love on every screen I own.
Under the hood, the Xiaomi Pad 7 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 SoC, offering both efficiency and power. I tested it with games and Lightroom, and both ran smoothly under sustained workloads.
For photo editing, I recommend going for the 256GB variant (priced at INR 30,999 with 12GB RAM) for its faster UFS 4.0 storage, which ensures quicker handling of high-resolution photos compared to the 128GB model (UFS 3.1 with 8GB RAM at INR 27,999). Both varaints support the P3 color gamut, so the on-screen editing experience is identical, but UFS 4.0 offers added convenience.
You can also purchase the new INR 5,999 ($69) Focus Pen for more precise editing. While not as frictionless as the Apple Pencil, it features additional buttons for using the stylus as a pointer during presentations or triggering Mi Canvas for writing and sketching.
The Xiaomi Pad 7 packs an 8,850mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging, capable of reaching 100% in 80 minutes.The tablet lasts for hours. If you are doing a movie marathon, you can expect to watch three movies back to back easily.
Xiaomi Pad 7 as a 2-in-1 Work Device
No tablet, no matter how expensive, can fully replace a laptop. I’ve moved past trying to use tablets as laptop substitutes. However, they can be used as secondary devices for on-the-go productivity, and the Xiaomi Pad 7 is an example of how the right software features and accessories can transform it in to a very good 2-in-1 form factor.
Xiaomi Pad 7’s new Focus Keyboard is inspired by the Apple Magic Keyboard in functionality but not price. The company has finally added a trackpad to its keyboard accessory, which makes the work experience better.
The Focus Keyboard is comfortable to type on but adds noticeable heft. Weighing approximately 590 grams, when combined with the 500-gram tablet, the total weight reaches 1.1kg, which is relatively heavy for its size. The keyboard case tilts between 0 to 124 degrees, but I wish it tilted further.
If you want to use the Xiaomi Pad 7 with the keyboard case, you need place it on a hard flat surface. The device topples when placed on a soft surface like bed, pillow or sofa.
If you have it placed on a flat surface and you’re ready to work, you’re in for a delightful experience. The keyboard features backlit keys for good low-light typing experience. I enjoyed using it, thanks to its comfortable key travel and gesture-supported trackpad. You also get shortcuts for HyperOS 2 but it’s a slight learning curve to get used to them.
Xiaomi has introduced a new Workstation mode in Hyper OS 2, which keeps multiple tabs open on the screen like a laptop would.. For split-screen usage, the regular HyperOS experience remains better. Workstation mode makes sure apps don’t close when switching, making it great for juggling tasks.
However, it could benefit from a better taskbar—one that’d show recent apps. Currently, you only see the default tab, a menu icon to open more apps, and a home button.
If you touch, hold and swipe the window to the side, it minimizes to an icon and sits there unless triggered again. But if you push one app 50% outside of the screen with the help of a trackpad, the three-dot menu goes with it and you’re now left with half app window with no way to use it.
The multitasking works great but it doesn’t utilize the whole screen. Resizing windows leaves wide borders, unlike the full-screen split view. Workstation mode’s screen resizing experience needs to be improved if Xiaomi wants more people to use it as a 2-in-1 device.
That being said, the Focus Keyboard offers excellent value at INR 8,999.
If you own a flagship Xiaomi phone, you can sync it with the Xiaomi Pad 7. It will allow you to access your phone on the tablet. For instance, you can get take calls, connect to the phone’s hotspot with one click, use phone’s apps on your tablet and more. I didn’t have a Xiaomi 14 Ultra at hand to test this feature but it is claimed to offer a more seamless experience than before.
The 8MP front camera, positioned in landscape orientation, is ideal for video calls. While its quality isn’t extraordinary, it’s sufficient for work meetings.
Xiaomi Pad 7 Review: Verdict
The Xiaomi Pad 7 is the company’s best value-for-money device in recent memory. While I previously wrote something similar for the Xiaomi Outdoor Speaker, the Xiaomi Pad 7 raises the bar. It’s hands down a better tablet than the similarly priced iPad.
Around the INR 30,000 mark, the Xiaomi Pad 7 is the best tablet you can buy right now. It offers a bright, vivid display paired with good audio, a smooth user interface, great performance, and efficient battery life. It’s hard to fault at this price.
Xiaomi has also kept the Focus Pen and Focus Keyboard accessories within an accessible price range, making the entire ecosystem even more appealing.
Pros:
- Sharp and bright display
- Great performance
- Premium tablet experience
- Finally, a keyboard with trackpad
- Excellent value for money
Cons:
- Workstation mode is a work in progress
- Focus Keyboard is hefty
