A few months after launching in China, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro is expanding to more markets around the world. It is one of the thinnest LCD tablets from Xiaomi as it is 0.4mm thinner than the Pad 7 Pro. The new slate is only 5.8 mm thick and weighs 485 grams (15 grams less than the previous model).
You might not think it matters, but these improvements add up over time – the Pad 7 Pro was 0.3mm thinner than the Pad 6 Pro and now this model sheds an additional 0.4mm. It almost matters since pills to pass To be used with any type of case.
Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro has a thickness of 5.8 mm and weighs 485 grams
Our test unit came with the new Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro Focus Keyboard (which is also compatible with the vanilla Pad 8). What sets it apart from regular keyboard cases is the floating hinge design – this makes it very easy to adjust the angle of the tablet, so the experience is closer to using a laptop.
PC-level productivity is a major focus for this tablet. It also comes with an improved split-screen mode that offers 5:5 vertical split and 9:1 horizontal split options. Additionally, Workstation Mode (Xiaomi’s desktop mode) now lets you add more apps to the dock at the bottom of the screen for easy access.
Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro and Focus Keyboard
The web browser supports tabs, right-click functionality, and mouse hover previews. You can use a stylus (more on this in a bit), but these features are best used with a mouse. And while carrying a Bluetooth mouse will definitely come in handy, the Focus keyboard has a touchpad.
The touchpad is another thing that differentiates it from the regular Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro keyboard. We have one of those too – it offers a similar typing experience, but since the keyboard is supported by a kickstand, it’s harder to get the right angle.
Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro and regular keyboard case
We also have the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro cover, which uses an origami-style kickstand to hold the tablet in portrait or landscape orientation.
Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro and its origami-style case
To conclude the accessories section, we should also mention the new Xiaomi Focus Pen Pro. The company went for a button-free design, but still managed to squeeze in some controls — literally, you can squeeze the stylus to access additional functions. In the main UI, this brings up a “Shortcut Ring” with 1-6 shortcuts. In apps, it can bring up relevant settings and controls.
New Focus Pen Pro for Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro
Well, we explained why the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro is thinner than its predecessor and why it matters. The good thing is there’s no downside – the new model has a 9,200mAh battery, which is 350mAh more than before. It still supports 67W fast charging (whether you get a charger in the box varies by region) and can now also do 22.5W reverse charging.
Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro has a massive 9,200mAh battery with 67W fast charging
This tablet has an 11.2″ LCD – it’s a 3:2 panel with a 3,200 x 2,136px resolution (345ppi). It supports Dolby Vision and Adaptive HDR, with a brightness that can go up to 800 nits. The display has a 144Hz refresh rate.
The Pad 8 Pro is equipped with an 11.2” 3:2 144Hz LCD
These are largely the same specifications as before. Also like before, there are four Dolby Atmos-equipped speakers on board. Hi-Res and Hi-Res Wireless audio are also supported if you want to use headphones.
The tablet has four speakers with Dolby Atmos
The only thing that has changed from the previous model is the performance – the Pad 8 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Although no longer the latest chip, it easily beats the Pad 7 Pro’s Snapdragon 8S Gen 3. Xiaomi says the CPU is 81% faster (as measured by Geekbench), the GPU is twice as fast (+103% at 1440p on Aztec Ruins Vulcan) and the overall AnTuTu score is 68% higher.
The tablet can be configured with 8 or 12GB of RAM and 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage. Note that the 8GB RAM option is LPDDR5X, while going for 12GB gets you the faster LPDDR5T RAM. The situation is similar with storage: the base 128GB version uses UFS 3.1, while the 256GB and 512GB tablets feature faster UFS 4.1 chips.
The Pro slate has a fingerprint reader on the side – it serves to unlock the tablet, of course, but you can also configure it to unlock your phone, if multitasking on a single device isn’t enough.
We should also mention that the tablet has a 50MP camera on the rear and a 32MP front-facing camera with an ultra-wide lens (19mm). This will be useful for video calls.
Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro: 50MP camera on the back • Fingerprint reader on the side
That’s all about our first encounter with the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro. Xiaomi has a lot more to show at MWC, including the global Xiaomi 17 and 17 Ultra, as well as new wearables, and we’ll have comprehensive coverage on all of these.