There’s no shortage of contenders if you want a good Android tablet, but most products tend to be quite large. Redmagic’s Astra was the outlier, with the tablet touting a 9.06-inch OLED panel that made it a fabulous device. If anything, I’ve been on the lookout for a small Android tablet; we just moved to a new house, and I wanted to set up a smart home dashboard in my living room.
As much as I enjoy using the iPad mini, I wanted an Android tablet to run Home Assistant, and coincidentally, Xiaomi debuted the Pad Mini at just the right time. The tablet was unveiled alongside the 15T and 15T Pro, and I’ve been using it for the better part of two weeks now. Coming in at $429, the Pad Mini undercuts the iPad Mini, but that isn’t anything new — Xiaomi has been doing this for over a decade now. The tablet is limited to select Southeast Asian countries, but it should make its way to other regions over the coming months.
Like the Xiaomi Pad 7 and Pad 7 Pro, the Pad Mini has a metallic chassis with a minimalist design, and the smaller size makes it easier to use anywhere. Build quality is good, and while the grey variant I’m using doesn’t stand out visually, I’m glad Xiaomi didn’t go overboard with the design.
The Pad Mini has flat sides, but there are subtle bevels that make it easy to hold and use, and at 326g, it is light enough that there aren’t any problems in this area. It is heavier than the iPad mini, but you’re also getting a bigger panel. The bezels are chunkier than most phones, but they’re uniform.
Talking about the panel, the 8.8-inch IPS LCD goes up to 165Hz, and that feels like overkill. What’s great is that the interface is fluid, and I didn’t see any slowdowns whatsoever in the two weeks I used the Pad Mini. The 3K resolution of 3008 x 1880 is plenty adequate, and the tablet is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400+ platform — the same as the Xiaomi 15T Pro. Clearly, there’s no shortage of power, and the few games I played on the Pad Mini ran without any issues.
I’m using the 12GB/512GB variant of the Pad Mini, but it is also available in an 8GB/256GB configuration. It’s good to see Xiaomi using UFS 4.1 storage modules on the tablet, and it gets a sizeable 7,500mAh battery that comfortably delivers over 10 hours of screen time without any problems.
The 8.8-inch panel has vibrant colors and is calibrated well, and as is the case with most Xiaomi products, you get a good amount of customizability. What I like the most is that Xiaomi’s reading mode is intact, allowing you to turn the screen monochrome; this gives the Pad Mini a distinct advantage over the iPad mini when reading ebooks on the device.
Another differentiator is the side-mounted USB-C port. The Pad Mini has the usual USB-C connector at the bottom, but you get a secondary port on the left side, and this makes it doubly convenient to charge the tablet when you’re using it. Xiaomi also bundles a 67W charger in the box — unlike the 15T Pro.
It’s delightful to use the Pad Mini; the small tablet is easy to hold one-handed, and the panel has good color vibrancy and excellent brightness. It’s just as good to stream HDR content as it is to browse, and the stereo sound makes a difference while watching videos.
Xiaomi has two accessories designed to be used with the Pad Mini; the Xiaomi Focus Pen is identical to what you get with the Pad 7 and 7 Pro, and it is a decent stylus that lets you jot notes and doodle. It had buttons that allow you to easily annotate or start taking notes in Mi Canvas.
It’s all thanks to the Xiaomi Pad Mini Cover that I’m able to use the Pad Mini as my smart home controller. The case has a band at the back with integrated rivets, and it lets you hold the tablet a little better. But where it excels is as a kickstand; allowing you to put the Pad Mini on a desk or table and use it.
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The cover makes a huge difference when it comes to the usability of the tablet, and it is the sole reason I’m using the Pad Mini instead of the Redmagic Astra as my smart home controller. Elsewhere, the software is identical to what you get on Xiaomi’s phones, and just like the 15T and 15T Pro, you miss out on Android 16 — it’s still running Android 15.
While that is annoying, it’s clear that Xiaomi has no intentions to roll out the latest software on its devices. That said, the UI itself is fluid, and for what I need to do on a tablet, the Pad Mini has all the features I need.
If you like the look of the iPad mini but want Android instead, the Pad Mini is the answer. Xiaomi’s latest tablet nails the hardware, and the small tablet is a delight to use. The affordability combined with decent accessories gives it an edge over other Android tablets in this category, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
