(Review) Mipad

[Sakat]

Hey everyone,

I'm not really sure where I should post as there is no Xiaomi Mipad section at the moment. I wrote a quick review with some pictures/videos sample, so it thought some of you could be interested!

Most of you probably know that there are a lot of fake Xiaomi products being sold everywhere. I personally had a bad experience but finally got my money back. Since then I'm exclusively buying from the official shop as I live in China. It's quite hard to get something there because everything is sold-out in a few secondes and the server has to handle so many connexions. But I was fast and lucky enough to get my Mipad at the first attempt!

("3 minutes and 20 secondes before the selling start")

I just got it today so I only used it for a couple of hours (the time to configurate everything and then my wife stole it...) but here are my first impressions:

No surprise for the box, it's the same simple carton box that protect well every Xiaomi products:



Easy to hold; well like any normal tablet.. The initialisation is fast and simple.



It comes by default with less applications than the smartphones. Google Play is not installed by default so need to install the app to download them. No surprise in the interface which is very similar to Xiaomi 2 and 3:



There are a few differences in the top menu and the settings but everything is easy to find:





The quality of the 8 megapixels (3264x2448) is fine and actually quite close to the one of my Xiaomi 2. Here are some pictures I took with it. I didn't edit anything. As the original camera application is very basic, I used also Camera360 and CameraFV-5. You can compair the pictures taken with them:

1) Original application
2) Camera360
3) CameraFV-5

I then only used CameraFV-5 for the following pictures. You can click on the links to open the original file:


Original file


Original file



Original file


Original file


Original file

I also recorded some video and quickly edited them together in a 1080p file. You can download it here:
Mipad - Sample video 1080p

I can't complain for the performance with that hardware:
- Dimension: 135.4 x 202.1 mm
- Screen: 7.9" (2048x1536, 326 PPI)
- CPU: NVIDIA Tegra K1, quad-core, 2.2 GHZ (ARM Cortex A15)
- GPU: NVIDIA Kepler (192 core CUDA)
- RAM: 2GB (LPDDR3)
- Memory: 16 GB (soon there will be a 64 GB version) with the possibility to add a Micro SD card up (up to 128 GB)
- Wifi: 802.11/b/g/n/ac (Bluetooth 4.0)
- Battery: 6700 mAh

Screenshots in CPUZ:





And if you still are suspicious it got a score of 36'870 in Antutu!





Like the Xiaomi smartphones it's still possible to save some battery with a economy mode.


In conclusion I think that for that price of 1499 RMB, Xiaomi really managed to make another amazing product. I haven't found any particular issue with it as far except that the application to take picture is way to basic. But that can be solved by installing a more advanced one. Otherwise I would say that with a sim-card slot it would have been a blast but I suppose this will come in the next version!


Original article on my blog (in French): Sakatland

Digitally yours,


Sakat

 

[Sakat]

I finally was able to upload the video on Youtube:

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[jailhouselounge]

great review! Do you think the current price will go down eventually? They currently go for about 300-400$ on Chinese websites... I could get an ipad with that price tag. If so, by how much do you think? 260-280$? Would love to have this here in the US. Thanks!

 

[Sakat]

Well the cheapest price here is on the official website: 1499 RMB. If you can get a cheaper price from somewhere else then it's a fake. I don't think that price will change for a while. Maybe when they will be ready to lauch the Mipad 2 they will lower the price to get ride of their stock like they are doing with the Xiaomi 3 at the moment.

As I'm only using the official website, I don't really know these Chinese websites selling abroad. But it seems to me they make a nice benefit... Probably prices on that market will go down as it will be more and more easy to get some Mipad through the official Tuesday sellings.

 

[Xyde]

Hello, I saw some reviews from Baidu up there and they appear to be quite negative about the MiPad's gaming capacities.

Some of them had crashes and blurry pixels and I wonder if it's a problem with the software or the hardware? (a certain airplane game they played crashed and left the MiPad to die...)

I game a lot and it would be helpful if you could provide some insights on this... I initially am hyped for this tab but I'm now unsure...

 

[Sakat]

Most of the game that are available on the Mi Market at the moment are optimized for smartphones and not the tablet, maybe that's why. I tried a few games without anything particular. Just installed FIFA 14, which is, that's true, not as smooth as expected but still playable.

I'll try with other games and let you know!

 

[Xyde]

Ok, and how does Google Play Service works? And the Play Store? No crash or whatsover? I also heard that some people got screens with yellow tint so how's that working out for you?

Many of the apps I need are from the Play Store, I don't think they have a Xiaomi Store alternative as they are paid apps.

I want to buy this tablet but it seems to be in limited availability for the moment, I live in Canada right now and it doesn't seem very easy to get hold of. Is the 64GB actually available? Returning a defect product seems like a hassle especially if you live out of the country.

And my bad, didn't realize that you're French! Skimmed the article way too quickly...

J'avais essayé de créer un compte sur le site officiel mais sans succès. Apparemment, il est obligatoire de fournir un numéro chinois, non? Comment l'avez-vous acheté?

 

[Sakat]

Google play works without any problem. The only thing is that all Google services are blocked in china since june so need to do it through vpn. I downloaded the Google installing pack by Eric Xiang (on the mimarket), restarted the phone and logged in. Working without any problem!

Actually most of the main pay apps are for free on the mimarket. But if its not the case then you can just get them on playstore.

The 64gb isnt out yet. It's already pretty hard to get one here so I can imagine abroad. Be very careful about fakes!


(je répond en anglais comme ça ça peut être utile pour qqun d'autre)

You can create an account on the official website without a number but then you need to give a number to place an order. And they only deliver in China.. I got mine on the official shop because its the only place you are sure not to get a fake one.

 

[Xyde]

Ok thanks buddy, just one last question (maybe)!

Without any prior experience in buying any Xiaomi products, I need to know how long will it take to purchase the MiPad without the need to partake in the grabbing contest(won't probably go through a reseller since it's too expensive)... Right now they have this "limited stock" event going on, so how long does that usually last until the product in question will be available for the general public (like example of past cases with their phones)? 1 month, 3 months? An approximation will suffice.

...Because I really hope that the 64GB version will be available by then :<.

 

[Sakat]

I guess it will take longer than phones as that's the first and only products. Maybe in 3-4 months itll be more easy. And in 6 months it might even be possible to directly buying it.

 

[Xyde]

I guess it will take longer than phones as that's the first and only products. Maybe in 3-4 months itll be more easy. And in 6 months it might even be possible to directly buying it.

They just announced it today that it'll be released on the 22th of July:

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3166319639

There's no "snatching" going on but shipping takes 3-4 weeks after payment?!
I wonder if users outside the border can order it directly from the site instead of using resellers though... The title said that it's "released internationally after all"

 

[MikelFuchs]

Nice review!!!

On the screenshots I saw that you have WhatsApp installed; may I know how you got it working on the MiPad?

 

[Sakat]

Just installed, entered my phone number, waited 5 minutes to be able to enter the code by myself and that's it. But if the number used to activate is the same as the one used normally on the phone there will be conflict. If you have two numbers no problem!

 

[djbosanac]

Is it worh to buy? Because pipo haves a great tablet to

 

[Sakat]

Dont regret to have bought it personally.