The new Redmi Pad 2 Pro comes at an interesting time when the Android tablet space has been doing okay for a bit. The shortage of memory is also playing a big role in the smartphone and tablet industry. Priced at Rs 24,999 for the WiFi-only base model and Rs 27,999 for the WiFi + 5G base model, the Pad 2 Pro comes out as a well-rounded tablet for your multimedia and Web browsing needs:
Clad in a metal unibody in either Graphite Grey or Quick Silver colour options, the tablet feels pretty decent in the hand without too many smudges and fingerprints getting all over the back, though it can be a different picture at the front. The power/lock key is on one corner next to the volume buttons—the buttons are tactile with sufficient pressure required to be pressed for no accidental presses. Weighing around 610 grams and measuring 7.5mm in thickness, it isn’t very lightweight, but it’s still decent considering the tablet’s 12.09-inch (16:10 aspect ratio) and that 12,000mAh battery unit.
The back has a pattern on about 1/4th of the total surface that also houses that protruding camera setup—the patterned back looks nice and more like what we are used to seeing on a smartphone.
The 12.09-inch (2560x1600) LCD display supporting up to 120Hz refresh rates is sufficiently bright and can handle high-resolution videos and images pretty well. The display can often make or break a tablet, and the Redmi Pad 2 Pro, for its price tag, comes out performing well on the front. It has good viewing angles and doesn’t suffer from bleeding light or such issues that sometimes tablets show while cutting corners, though it's a bit reflective.
The rear sports an 8MP (f/2.0) camera that is decent enough for odd photo-taking, but it still looks a bit ridiculous taking a photo using a big tablet if you have another camera at your side. It can do an okay job for taking shots outdoors or at decently lit scenes, and document scanning, while the front-facing 8MP (f/2.28) camera is good enough for video calls and occasional selfies.
Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chipset (up to 2.7 GHz octa-core processor and Adreno 810 GPU) along with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and either 128GB or 256GB UFS2.2 internal storage that you can expand to as high as 2TB via a microSD card.
It’s running on Android 15-based HyperOS 2.0 with the November security patch in place. The device is snappy and generally responsive when navigating between streaming apps, social media scrolling and viewing images on it. You can see some stuttering in animations every now and then, but it’s not too frequent and doesn’t show up when watching videos up to 4k resolution in apps like YouTube (no HDR in the app, though).
For gaming, it isn’t exactly ideal, as expected, but you can play something like Genshin Impact at medium settings relatively okay. What I didn’t really like was getting ads blasted when opening apps like Xiaomi’s File Manager, or getting Indus Appstore notifications despite not opting for the app store during the setup—all this just doesn’t bode well for the user experience.
Xiaomi promises 5 Android upgrades and 7 years of security updates. What I do like is how well split screen works for multiple apps and how you can adjust app window size as per your requirements.
The 12,000mAh battery lasted about 16-17 hours of usage, mainly watching videos, scrolling through webpages, and an odd call over Zoom. You can charge it using the bundled 33-watt fast charger in nearly 3 hours, which isn’t super fast, but that’s kind of expected, too. I didn’t see the tablet showing any heating issues throughout my usage. You can get the keyboard (Rs 3,999) that's the same as the first gen, as well as the smart pen (Rs 3,999), which works together over Bluetooth. The tablet’s quad speakers with Dolby Atmos support are loud and clear, provided you don’t switch to 300 per cent extra loudness—more than good enough for movies and gaming playback indoors. If you opt for the 5G model, you can make and receive regular calls or over apps like WhatsApp while on the move.
All in all, the Redmi Pad 2 Pro 5G is a good option for watching TV shows, movies, odd gaming on the go without having to worry about the battery life regularly. Software experience alongside is decent, but not the best, though it doesn’t necessarily get in the way of binge-watching your favourite series.