Poco Pad 5G review: A Redmi Pad Pro in disguise, but is it a better deal?

Poco has ventured into the tablet market with the Poco Pad 5G. At first glance, it seems like a compelling option with its large 12.1-inch display, powerful Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, and 5G connectivity. However, it has a striking resemblance to the Redmi Pad Pro 5G.

Design: Premium Build, Fingerprint Magnet

The Poco Pad 5G boasts a durable all-metal unibody construction with a premium feel. The matte finish back panel, unfortunately, is a fingerprint magnet, requiring frequent cleaning. The two-tone design with circular camera modules and subtle Poco branding gives it a modern aesthetic. Despite its large size, the tablet feels relatively portable thanks to its slim profile and well-distributed weight.

The Poco Pad 5G offers a well-rounded selection of ports and buttons, including a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, a SIM card tray (supporting dual 5G SIMs or a SIM and microSD card), volume rockers, a power button, and quad stereo speakers.

Display and Sound: Ideal for Content Consumption

The 12.1-inch LCD display with a 2.5K resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate is a highlight of the Poco Pad 5G. It delivers crisp visuals, vibrant colours, and smooth scrolling. The Dolby Vision support enhances the viewing experience for compatible content. However, the display’s brightness struggles outdoors, making it less enjoyable in direct sunlight.

The quad-speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support delivers impressive audio quality with good stereo separation. While the bass could be more pronounced at higher volumes, the overall sound is excellent for watching movies and shows.

Software: Clean and Functional

The Poco Pad 5G runs on Android 14 with Poco's HyperOS skin. The software experience is clean and bloat-free, with only a few pre-installed apps, including the Mi Canvas app for sketching with the optional Poco Pen.

HyperOS offers useful features like Xiaomi HomeScreen+ for receiving smartphone notifications on the tablet, Shared Clipboard for seamless copy-pasting between devices, and cross-device Notes app sync with the Camera app. Multitasking is smooth and efficient, allowing up to two apps side-by-side and two additional floating apps.

Poco promises two years of Android OS updates and three years of security patches.

Performance: Capable but Not Exceptional

The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset delivers adequate performance for everyday tasks and casual gaming. While the UI navigation is generally smooth, occasional lag can occur during multitasking or when launching demanding apps. Synthetic benchmarks confirm that the Poco Pad 5G performs similarly to the Redmi Pad Pro 5G, which isn't surprising given their shared hardware.

5G connectivity is a significant advantage, offering fast download and upload speeds, ideal for streaming and video calls.

Cameras: Functional, Not Fantastic

The 8-megapixel front-facing camera is decent for video calls but struggles with details and low-light performance. The rear 8-megapixel camera performs adequately in daylight but suffers from noise and detail loss in low light. As with most tablets, the cameras are best suited for basic tasks rather than capturing high-quality photos or videos.

Battery Life: A Mixed Bag

The Poco Pad 5G packs a 10,000mAh battery, but its performance in our HD video loop test was surprisingly short, lasting only around 12 hours. This falls far short of the Redmi Pad Pro 5G's impressive 28-hour runtime. However, in real-world usage, the battery comfortably lasted for two days with moderate use.

The included 33W fast charger takes about two hours to fully charge the battery.

Verdict: A Good Tablet, But Not Necessarily a Better Deal

The Poco Pad 5G is a solid mid-range tablet with a large display, decent performance, and a clean software experience. Its strong points are its display, build quality, and 5G connectivity. 

While priced slightly lower than the Redmi Pad Pro 5G, the Poco Pad 5G comes down to personal preference and whether the slight price difference is worth the potential trade-offs in battery life.