Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro is the closest you can get to an iPad Pro on Android

Xiaomi’s strategy when it comes to phones, tablets, and accompanying accessories, appears to be pretty simple: Make it as Apple-like as possible, while still using the best that the Android ecosystem has to offer.

The company’s new Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro, launched during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is no different. It’s a powerful, 11.2-inch tablet with slim black bezels, a metallic unibody frame, and a set of accessories that can turn it into a compact, portable computer, including a pen and two different keyboards.

Inside, you’ll find a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, a 9,200mAh battery, 8/12GB of RAM, 128/256/512GB of storage, and quad speakers with Hi-Res audio and Dolby Atmos support. The 50-megapixel main camera on the back coupled with a 32-megapixel selfie camera sounds like overkill for a tablet, but then again, why not?

All tablets look similar. But having spent some time with the device I can tell you that the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro really wears its influence on the sleeve. Its dimensions are nearly identical to the 11-inch iPad Pro, down to the thinness and weight (Xiaomi: 5.75mm and 485 grams, iPad Pro: 5.3mm and 444 grams), and Xiaomi’s Magic Keyboard Pro Focus is a dead ringer for Apple’s Magic Keyboard (XIaomi also offers a more portable version called the Xiaomi Magic Keyboard Pro). Heck, even the Xiaomi Focus Pen Pro looks pretty much exactly like Apple Pencil.

There’s an optional pen, and another, lighter keyboard on offer as well.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The good news is that Xiaomi’s tablet and accessories all quality-made, so if you don’t mind the similarities with Apple, you don’t have to worry about them not being good. In other words: It’s not just a cheap knock-off.

In fact, Xiaomi’s tablet beats its competitors in several regards. Both of its cameras are pretty amazing for a tablet. It has fast 67W charging. The 3.2K display is as crisp as they come. Battery seems to lasts forever if you’re browsing or reading, or even using it as a secondary display (yes, you can do that even if you have a Mac). Sure, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro not an absolute powerhouse like the iPad Pro, as it has a smartphone chip, but I think the vast majority of users don’t need their tablet to be more powerful. For what it’s worth, I’ve found Xiaomi’s Pad 8 Pro to be very snappy in common everyday tasks.

Xiaomi’s HyperOS software could use some work, though. It, too, is extraordinarily similar to Apple’s iPadOS, down to the icon design. But sometimes you can tell it’s an adaptation of a smartphone OS. For example, I was frustratingly enable to set up even the simplest of widgets the way I wanted them on the screen, as the widgets take up tons of empty space for no good reason. AI is baked in, of course, in the form of Google Gemini; you can invoke the assistant with a long press of the power button.

You can get the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro in Blue, Gray, and (pictured) Pine Green.
Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Depending on which keyboard you choose, you’ll either get a slightly bulkier tablet that feels more like a tiny laptop, or a truly portable tablet that also happens to have a decent keyboard. I’d probably opt for the bulkier Magic Keyboard Pro Focus, simply because it has a touchpad.

Despite the fancy keyboards, this thing is not a great replacement for a laptop, but neither is the iPad. Instead, the Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro is a pro-looking Android tablet that will excel at things tablets are for: Browsing, reading, gaming, and some light work.