Xiaomi Pad Mini unboxing and hands-on

Update: We have now also completed our Xiaomi Pad Mini battery life and charging tests.

The Xiaomi Pad Mini is the first compact tablet under Xiaomi's own brand name for some time. Despite its smaller size, the Pad Mini is a premium tablet and more than ready to duke it out with the likes of the Apple iPad mini.

Our review unit is the Grey version and comes in the 12/512 GB configuration. It ships with a USB-A to USB-C cable and a 67W charger.

You can get the Pad Mini with Xiaomi's Focus Pen and the Pad Mini Cover.

The Cover comes in a single white color. It has a 1.3mm PC shell, combined with a 0.5mm softer PU layer.

The functional Mini Cover

The integrated rubber band on the rear has a nice trick up its sleeve. It's fastened with metal rivets and can sit flush with the case or be used as a hand grip or a kickstand for the tablet in landscape mode.

Kickstand and a place to hold on to

The Focus Pen is compatible with Xiaomi's Pad 6S Pro 12.4, the Pad 7, and the Pad 7 Pro. It supports 8192 levels of pressure and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz. The pen feels big and very solid in the hand. There are three buttons on it for Spotlight search, taking screenshots, and writing.

Just snap it onto the side of the Pad Mini and you'll get a prompt to connect.

The Xiaomi Pad Mini itself is very capable as well. It has an 8.8" 1880x3008px IPS LCD with a fast 165Hz refresh rate, HDR10 and Dolby Vision support, and up to 700 nits of peak brightness. Under the hood sits a 3nm Dimensity 9400+ chipset with up to 12 GB of RAM. The SoC is centered in the tablet, which Xiaomi says is a first on a slate. The positioning helps with heat dissipation as well as making the tablet balanced in the hand.

There are two USB-C ports on the Xiaomi Pad Mini - one on the bottom in portrait orientation, and one on the bottom in landscape. They allow you to use a mouse or USB-C device, or an external monitor, while still charging. Note that the long-side port supports DisplayPort 1.4, while the short-side port supports data transmission.

Two USB-C ports

The Xiaomi Pad Mini is on sale in either 8/256GB or 12/512GB configurations and in either Purple or Gray color schemes. Singapore has it starting at SGD 799, it's AED 1,599 in the UAE, and it's 1,999 MYR in Malaysia. More countries should be joining the list over the next few weeks.