Redmi Pad SE Review: All work and no play makes this a great tab!

In 2023, Xiaomi surprised us all with the Redmi Pad, which delivered a metal design and great performance at a starting price of just Rs 12,999. Almost a year later, the brand is trying to repeat the same with the very similarly named tablet, the Redmi Pad SE. There is a lot that seems familiar here, but is it enough for the SE avatar of the Redmi Pad to repeat the success of the OG one?

Redmi Pad SE looks and design: Familiar, pleasantly (and surprisingly) premium looks

The Redmi Pad SE follows the design footprints of the Redmi Pad, which is a good thing. We got the same surprisingly premium vibes off it as we did from the OG Redmi Pad – the unibody aluminum metal build, the flat front, back, and sides, and an incredibly slim 7.36 mm form factor. The Redmi Pad SE does not look like a budget tablet from any angle at all – even the bezels around the 11-inch display are relatively slim by tablet standards.

At 478 grams, the Redmi Pad SE is slightly heavier than the Redmi Pad, which weighed 445 grams, but it has to be remembered that it comes with a taller and wider display, too. It is still compact enough to easily slip into a backpack and light enough to be used one-handed. There is no fingerprint scanner on it (there seldom is at this price point). Still, you can activate face unlock on it if you wish, using the selfie camera that is placed in the middle of the right bezel around the display, making it easier to use in landscape mode. We got the tablet’s Graphite Grey version (Mint Green and a very striking Lavender Purple), and it cut a very smart figure.

Redmi Pad SE specs: Bigger display, more RAM…and a different chip

The Redmi Pad SE ticks most spec boxes very emphatically. It comes with an 11-inch display with FHD+ (1900 x 1200px) resolution, which is just a bit less than that of the Redmi Pad, which had a 2000 x 1200px resolution but on a smaller 10.61-inch display. The display has a refresh rate of 90 Hz and a brightness of 400 nits, which is par for the course at this price.

The choice of processor is interesting, with Xiaomi opting for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor, a chip that is known for its superb battery management but not considered quite on the same level as the MediaTek Helio G99 seen on the Redmi Pad and the OnePlus Pad Go in terms of gaming performance. The Redmi Pad SE takes a big step ahead of the Redmi Pad when it comes to RAM and storage, though, keeping storage fixed at 128 GB with RAM variants of 4 GB, 6 GB, and 8 GB, as compared to the 3 GB/ 64 GB, 4 GB / 128 GB and 6 GB/128 GB. The storage is expandable to 1TB using a memory card.

Photography is handled by an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera (down from 8 megapixels on the Redmi Pad) that, as we pointed out earlier, is located on the right horizontal side of the pad and seems to be designed to be used with the tablet in landscape mode. The Redmi Pad SE also comes with quad speakers with support for Dolby Atmos, and in a very pleasant surprise, it also comes with a 3.5 mm audio jack. This is a feature that the Redmi Pad and OnePlus Pad Go lack and many tablets are ditching it.

The tablet runs on an 8000 mAh battery, although it comes only with a 10W charger (more on which later). You also get Bluetooth, GPS, and Wi-Fi connectivity. A big letdown is the fact that the tablet comes with Android 13, topped by Xiaomi’s MIUI 14 out of the box – we were expecting Android 14 with HyperOS.

Redmi Pad SE performance: A multi-tasking warrior with a gaming Achilles Heel

If you are looking for a tablet mainly for content consumption – viewing videos and series, reading books, browsing the Web and social media, etc. – the Redmi Pad SE is perhaps the best tablet you can get at its price. The display is great for viewing content and delivers good colors and contrasts, although the auto brightness function is a little erratic, with the tablet taking a bit of time to get brighter when taken into the sunlight. The quad speakers are the star performers in the multimedia department, delivering very good audio quality at decent volumes, making the viewing experience very immersive. Audio over the 3.5 mm audio jack is even better!

The extra RAM on the tablet also makes it a very smooth multi-tasker. You can not only switch between apps but also keep 2-3 open in the form of ‘floating windows’ on the screen or simply have two open next to each other in split screen mode without any problems whatsoever – we remember the 3 GB/ 64 GB variant of the Redmi Pad struggling in this department. The cameras on the Redmi Pad SE are a little on the basic side but are good enough for those times when you need to shoot images or footage at very short notice. The sound quality was a little disappointing on the video front, but the 3.5 mm audio jack really comes to the rescue here, as things improve dramatically if you use a wired earphone with a microphone.

The one place where the Redmi Pad SE wobbles a little is in gaming. While it can handle casual gaming titles like Candy Crush Saga, the lags creep in the moment you get into heavy-duty gaming. While Asphalt and Call of Duty can be made to run on the tablet, the experience is far from acceptable. In fact, we sometimes found the tablet slowing down a little after our gaming sessions, even after something like Alto’s Odyssey, with apps taking a bit longer to load. A software update (or HyperOS, which is expected to arrive shortly) might fix matters in the future.

Redmi Pad SE battery life and charging: A battery that lasts but charges slowly

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 is known for its battery management capabilities, which is evident in the Redmi Pad SE. The tablet has perhaps the best battery performance we have seen in its segment and matches the more expensive OnePlus Pad Go by actually delivering close to 13-14 hours on a single charge. In simple terms, you can start the week with a fully charged Redmi Pad SE, and there is a fair chance that you can get through to the weekend with just a single recharge. Some might say that this is because the tablet never really gets used for extensive gaming (which is a major battery guzzler), but even then, this is quite impressive.

Less impressive is the fact that the bundled 10W charger takes about four hours to recharge the tablet from scratch. Interestingly, although Xiaomi makes no mention of it on the Redmi Pad SE’s official website, where it only states that the tablet “supports 10W charging,” the Redmi Pad SE actually supports 18W charging. We charged it using the 22.5W charger that came with the Redmi Pad (which supports 18W charging), and it charged the tablet in about three hours, hitting 18W charging speed at its highest point. We have no idea about the company’s official stand on this but we recommend investing in an 18W charger if you are going for this tablet.

Redmi Pad SE Pricing: Classic Redmi pricing

The Redmi Pad SE is available in these RAM and storage configurations at these prices:

• 4 GB/ 128 GB: Rs 12,999
• 6 GB/ 128 GB: Rs 13,999
• 8 GB/ 128 GB: Rs 14,999

At those prices, the Redmi Pad SE is very good value for money, in the best Redmi tradition. Indeed, its biggest challenger is the OG Redmi Pad, which offers a 4 GB/ 128 GB variant at exactly the same price and comes with the more powerful MediaTek Helio G99 chip and a slightly smaller (10.61 inches) but also slightly higher resolution (2000 x 1200px) display, an 8-megapixel front as well as rear camera and a 22.5W charger in the box, although it has no 8 GB RAM variant.

Those willing to put up with a (much) smaller display can also consider the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9, which comes with a MediaTek Helio G99 chip but has an 8.7 inch HD display, although it also starts at a more modest Rs 11,999. Those willing to spend a little more might get tempted by the Honor Pad X9, which comes with a sleek design, a larger 11.5-inch display with 2000 x 1200px resolution, and also has a Snapdragon 685 processor, but those specs come with a higher price tag as well: Rs 14,999!

Redmi Pad SE Review Verdict: Should you buy it?

At Rs 12,999, the Redmi Pad SE is easily the best new budget tablet out there by some distance. Bring slightly older tablets into the story, however, and the Redmi Pad SE will have to contend with its own predecessor as its main rival. As we have pointed out, the Redmi Pad is available at the same price as the Redmi Pad SE and, in some places, even at lower prices.

While the Redmi Pad SE does bring a bigger display, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and an 8 GB RAM variant, the Redmi Pad has a higher resolution display, a better front camera, a faster charger in the box, and what some might consider to be most important of all – a better processor. The bigger display, greater amount of RAM, and audio jack make the Redmi Pad SE a very good option for those looking for a tablet that is more of a workhorse than a benchmark buster. Unlike humans, all work and no play makes the Redmi Pad SE a good tab.

Buy Redmi Pad SE