The budget tablet market in India has seen a resurgence during the pandemic. This has led to a number of tablet options popping up, but the Realme Pad Mini aims to be something different. At Rs 10,999, the tablet is a smaller, more affordable version of the Realme Pad. But does it offer a satisfying experience? Find out in our full review below.
Realme Pad Mini specifications: 8.7-inch LCD display | Unisoc T616 chip | 8MP rear + 5MP front camera | 6,400mAh battery + 18W charging | Up to 4GB RAM and 64GB storage | Optional 4G LTE variant |
Realme Pad Mini: What’s good?
Design
One of the best aspects of this budget tablet is its design, which makes it look like a premium product. Unlike some loud and ridiculous Realme designs we have seen in the past, the Realme Pad Mini features a sleek, minimal look. This one has an aluminium body that’s not very thick with a clean back panel, rectangular edges and a neat-looking camera module.
The power button and volume rocker keys go on the right. They’re placed well when using the tablet in Portrait mode, but not so much for landscape use, where you may need a while to get used to the placement of the buttons. If you get an LTE variant, you also get a SIM slot on the left edge, which is otherwise left clean.
The Realme Pad Mini is easy to hold in one hand, but you will need the other to use it. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak)
On the front, you have prominent bezels all-round, which is not a problem at this price. Moreover, using large bezels after a long time, I also saw next-to-no accidental presses, which was nice. There is a headphone port up top, which I would have liked more if it was towards the bottom. But in 2022, I am just glad it’s there for those who want to use the tablet with wired headphones. The port was also handy while using the tablet with a soundbar via an aux cable to make some beats with the GroovePad app.
Performance
The Realme Pad Mini offers satisfactory performance considering the price. This isn’t an impressive chipset like you’d find on some higher-end tablets by Samsung or Xiaomi, but you can still do day-to-day tasks including reading, basic schoolwork, casual games, and more with ease.
However, with more resource-intensive games, the tablet started dropping frames and didn’t really offer very high graphical and frame-rate settings. But this is expected. This is not a device for performance seekers looking to get work done on the tablet, but for basic tasks that are perhaps better on a large screen, like editing images or consuming content.
The Realme Pad Mini is perfect for light use, eBooks, videos and casual games. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak)
Cameras
The Realme Pad Mini’s front and back cameras are pretty basic. The 8MP and 5MP sensors used here would be underwhelming any other day, but they do fine for an affordable tablet like this. What’s good is you still do get some extras like a dedicated burst mode, time-lapse mode, slow-motion video recording, etc. Although you won’t be taking a lot of pictures from the rear camera, it is good enough for the occasional funny dog photo or scanning a document. Similarly, the front camera fares well in a video call, provided you have sufficient lighting.
Battery life
The 6,400mAh battery on the Realme Pad Mini will keep your tablet running for a whole day, even with moderate usage. With light use, you may be able to stretch the device for two days. While the low-resolution screen likely helps with this, it is nice to see that despite a big screen, the tablet is a whole-day device.
Realme Pad Mini: What’s not good?
The Realme Pad Mini, in all honesty, doesn’t get much wrong for its asking price. But there are a few areas where the experience could have perhaps been a little better, considering these aspects affect the user experience significantly.
Display
The Realme Pad Mini gets a 8.7-inch LCD display that is big, but offers a low 1340 x 800 resolution that translates to a not-so-crisp viewing and reading experience. The screen also is only adequately bright for indoor use, and you do struggle to see the content when it’s sunny outside. Thankfully, viewing angles are passable.
Software
With tablets getting larger screens, you expect more software-specific changes to the UI (user interface) that let you make the most of the on-screen real estate. Unfortunately, you see no such implementations here – no splitting screens, no dragging mini windows and no notification panel that appears on the left/right edge based on where you pull it down from.
The tablet features a phone-like version of RealmeUI, with no extra software perks for the big screen. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak)
Essentially, what you get on the tablet is a large-screen version of the typical Android 11-based RealmeUI, along with some extra Google apps thrown in.
Slow charging
While the Realme Pad Mini is a budget device, the 18W charging can be a pain, especially if charging during the day given it will need to remain plugged in for a couple of hours. This will not be a problem if you charge the tablet overnight everyday. The silver lining is you get a USB-C port, so no extra cables are needed.
Verdict: Is the Realme Pad Mini for you?
The Realme Pad Mini is an affordable tablet and if you’re looking for a secondary device for the kids in the house or even something to read eBooks on, this tablet may be an ideal choice. However, for more performance-oriented, power users or gamers, this is not the right pick.
Check out our full review of the Realme Pad Mini below. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak) 
The Realme Pad Mini is easy to hold in one hand, but you will need the other to use it. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak)
The Realme Pad Mini is perfect for light use, eBooks, videos and casual games. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak)
The tablet features a phone-like version of RealmeUI, with no extra software perks for the big screen. (Express Photo/ Chetan Nayak)
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