Fast Charge: Xiaomi's iPad clone could be my perfect Android tablet

OPINION: For years the tablet marketplace has been a pretty boring place unless you're in Apple tree's walled garden.

Allow's practice a quick country of play summary. While Apple's been launching a wave of awesome new iPads, including the latest Pro and Air, which both top our all-time tablets guide, all the other big names seem to take lost interest.

Google bowed out of the market, confirming it has no plans to release an own brand Android tablet after the train wreck that was the Pixel C in 2017.

Microsoft's even so pushing Surfaces, but it'southward not really making much effort, limiting each release to moderate changes, like a CPU refresh rather than reworking the wheel or significantly improving its offering, as Apple has.

Amazon has its Burn down range, but these are cheap fodder designed for kids, which is why they constantly fail to break past iii.v/five scores when we examination them.

The merely firm to launch annihilation resembling decent has been Samsung with its Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, which was pretty much the simply Android tablet to earn a recommended badge when nosotros reviewed it concluding yr. But with a starting toll of $800/£800 this was hardly a mass market product.

This is also why whenever my family and friends ask me to recommend a tablet that isn't an iPad I struggle to give them an answer

This is why this calendar week I felt outright giddy when Xiaomi unveiled its spiffy new Mi Pad v Pro. To exist clear, I'1000 basing this opinion on the tablet's specs, I haven't reviewed it. But, on that criteria information technology looks similar the tablet I, and virtually Android fans, have been waiting for.

Permit'south beginning with the hardware. Information technology'southward an 11-inch animate being, with a games ready 120Hz refresh charge per unit, 2560×1600 resolution LCD panel. Based on my experience with the Samsung Tab S7 Plus, those specs are great, with the only pocket-sized downside being its LCD, not OLED. The latter tends to deliver deeper blacks.

Under the hood, in that location'southward a super-fast Snapdragon 870 CPU with 6GB of RAM. Not just is this gaming ready, but coupled with the tablet'due south stylus and keyboard cover the Mi Pad five Pro could likewise be a solid selection for creatives looking for mobile touch upwards station.

I've used Krita on the Tab S7 for basic inking for the last year and find the form cistron and software to exist wonderfully easy to employ, especially when you get keyboard shortcuts working.

And the cherry on top? Information technology's set to retail for a much more than wallet friendly 2,499.54 Chinese Yuan (roughly $386/£281). That's less than one-half the price of the Samsung.

Make no fault, on newspaper, this is the Android iPad clone I've been waiting for.

The downside? It's currently only set to retail in China. Hopefully a wider release will come up subsequently.

If that doesn't grind your gears I don't know what will. Hither's hoping the firm changes its mind and spots the gaping hole in the Western tablet market sooner rather than later. If non, 2021's looking fix to be a very boring twelvemonth for tablet buyers that don't want an iPad.