POCO Pad 5G review: a capable mid-range tablet

POCO has forged a unique identity as a brand, popular for its powerful yet budget-friendly devices. The brand has now made its first foray into the tablet market with the launch of the POCO Pad 5G, a new mid-range tablet that is also 5G capable. The tablet has all the hallmarks of a POCO device; it features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

The tablet offers a large 12.1-inch display that refreshes at 120Hz and comes with Dolby Vision support. It also shares many of its specifications with the Redmi Pad Pro 5G (review), which launched recently. I’ve had my hands on the tablet for some time now, and I’ll walk you through how the device fares in the real world.

Design & display

The POCO Pad 5G comes in a dual-tone design, with a metal rear panel and a polycarbonate back towards the cameras, which covers roughly a fifth of the back panel. The polycarbonate band encompasses the 5G bands, as metal can interfere with the connectivity. The panel houses two large circular camera rings with gold accents, which adds a unique touch to an otherwise simple design. The back has a matte finish, though it does accumulate smudges, which can be avoided if you use the case. The device is sleek at 7.52mm thickness and weighs about 571g, which makes it easy to carry around. The weight, however, might strain your arms if you hold the tab for long periods while lying down.

You also get a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is getting increasingly rare, along with a Type-C charging port and two speakers on the right edge when the device is held horizontally. The volume button is towards the top of the left edge, with the other two speakers and volume rockers on top when placed horizontally. There’s no side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which did peeve me a bit since it would make unlocking the device far easier and more secure compared to face unlock.

For visuals, the tablet features a 12.1-inch IPS display with 2.5K (2,560 x 1,600p) resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 600 nits. The display panel has a high 1500:1 contrast ratio, 12-bit colour depth, and comes with Dolby Vision support. The display offers an exceptional multimedia experience, elevated with the inclusion of a quad stereo speaker setup, which gets quite loud.

The viewing angles are pretty good, and the colours look great. The display is akin to a smaller laptop screen and has a wider screen compared to other tablets thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio. There’s no HDR10 certification, but Netflix does support Dolby Vision streaming, so there’s that. The primary use case for most tablets is multimedia consumption, and the POCO Pad 5G nails down this aspect. Naturally, the panel does not measure up to OLED screens, but the visuals are top-notch for the price segment. 

Performance & software

The POCO Pad 5G offers solid hardware for its price. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset powers the device, with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. Plus, if you need more space, you can expand it up to 1.5TB with a microSD card. The tablet handles everyday tasks with ease, so you won’t notice any lags while browsing, scrolling through social media, or streaming your favourite shows.

You can have up to four apps open at the same time — two in split-screen and two as floating windows. For those who need a device for productivity, the POCO Pad 5G does a good job, though it’s not as powerful as a laptop. It’s great for tasks like taking notes, writing blogs, and casual gaming, but don’t expect it to handle heavy-duty work.

The tablet’s chipset is capable enough to offer a good gaming experience for casual users but gamers might find the power lacking. I played a few games on the device like COD: Mobile on High + Max graphical settings and had a comfortable gameplay session with average 53FPS. BGMI is a little heavier, but it runs at an average of 53FPS as well on HDR + Extreme graphics preset. Casual games are a breeze to play and quite fun on top of that due to the extra large screen.

The POCO Pad 5G comes with Android 14-based HyperOS out of the box and promises two years of major Android upgrades and three years of security patches. The software is smooth and offers a tonne of customisation options. It also comes with interconnectivity options, but it’s limited to Xiaomi devices only. The tablet also has dedicated accessory options like a Bluetooth keyboard and a stylus, though I didn’t get to try them for this review. 

Cameras

Budget and mid-range tablets usually don’t prioritise cameras, and the POCO Pad 5G is no different. It comes with an 8MP rear camera with a flash and an 8MP front camera for video calls and selfies. The rear camera is surprisingly capable, capturing decent daylight shots with good dynamic range and colour reproduction. The images are a bit soft, and the details aren’t that great, but overall, the cameras do a satisfactory job. The selfie camera also produces soft images with limited detail, serving more for functionality than making a strong impression.

POCO Pad camera-1

POCO Pad camera-3

POCO Pad camera-2

5G connectivity

The POCO Pad 5G stands out as one of the few mid-range tablets that supports 5G. It comes with one dedicated SIM slot and a hybrid slot, which you can use for extra storage with a microSD card. Thanks to its 5G capability, the tablet can double up as your primary device. I did take the tablet with me on an 8-hour long train journey, which I often frequent, and the 5G experience was similar to what I’m used to on my personal smartphone. I got an average download speed of 150Mbps and upload speed of 25Mbps with my Airtel SIM — pretty much what I’d expect from my smartphone. 

Making calls on the tablet is also decent; the mics do a satisfactory job of picking up your voice, and the speakers are loud enough to be audible even in noisy surroundings. The addition of 5G makes this tablet much more versatile, giving it an edge over competitors. There’s only a few options available in the market which offer 5G support at this price point, which include the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ and the Lenovo Tab M10. Although these tablets do not pack as much power as the POCO Pad 5G. 

Battery & charging

The POCO Pad 5G comes with a massive 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. The battery life on this device is easily one of its best features. I easily got around 11-12 hours of video playback time on the tablet and roughly 7 hours of gaming time, which are decent numbers for a display this size. The 33W fast charger that comes with it takes around 1 hour and 20 minutes (81 minutes to be exact) to fully charge the tablet from 20 percent battery. For such a large battery, the charging time is impressively quick.

Verdict

The POCO Pad 5G is available in two storage options: 8GB+128GB for Rs 22,999 and 8GB+256GB for Rs 24,999. For the price, it’s a great tablet that offers an excellent multimedia experience and dependable everyday performance. It handles most modern 3D games with ease and works well as a workstation for basic tasks. The 5G connectivity is a standout feature, making it versatile enough to be your primary device. Plus, the battery life is impressive — casual users can easily get two days of use out of it. The keyboard and stylus should make the tablet suitable for work and productivity tasks too, but as of now, there are no details on pricing and availability of these accessories. 

In terms of competition, the recently launched Lenovo Tab Plus (review) offers a better multimedia experience, mainly due to its superior audio system, but it’s not as versatile as the POCO Pad 5G. The Xiaomi Pad 6 (review), which starts at Rs 24,999, offers better performance but has a smaller display, shorter battery life, and lacks 5G support. If you’re in the market for a capable mid-range Android tablet, the POCO Pad 5G is definitely worth considering.

Editor’s Rating: 8 / 10

Pros:

• Vibrant 120Hz display
• Great Audio output
• Good performance 
• Excellent battery life

Cons:

• No fingerprint sensor