Xiaomi Shows Improvement On New Mi Pad 3, Close To Older Mi Pad 2 But Adds More Power

After almost two years of silence, Xiaomi has finally unveiled a successor to its second-generation Mi Pad. Called the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3, the Chinese tech company has kept the changes mostly under the hood.

As seen during its official presentation, the new Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 features the very same exterior as its predecessor, which is an unassuming slab of metal that could easily be a legit substitute for an iPad Mini. The same title goes for the Mi Pad 3's 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 display, which is also identical to the iPad Mini 4.

Despite the similarities, the two still has some differences in terms of internal features. According to Digital Trends, the older Mi Pad 2 featured Intel's Atom X5-Z8500 processor, which enabled the tablet to run Windows 10 and was a useful and important distinction that separated the Mi Pad 2 from other iPad clones.

The Xiaomi Mi Pad 3, on the other hand, doubles in RAM at 4GB, as well as featuring the MediaTek hexacore MT8176 processor, which lacks the x86 compatibility of Intel's silicon. This means that it runs only on Android exclusively.

Camera-wise, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 now features a much improves 12 (front) and 5 (back) megapixels, compared to the 8 and 4-megapixel cameras that flanked the front and rear of the Mi Pad 2. It is quite unusual for Xiaomi to consider upgrading the cameras on a tablet, especially considering that a lot of the rest of the device has remained unchanged.

Users will also love the new battery of the Xiaomi Mi Pad 3, which has also been upgraded and is surprisingly larger than the outgoing model, despite it being contained in the same-sized chassis. According to Mobilini, the Mi Pad 3's more than decent 6,600mAh battery is good for about 870 hours in standby mode, and 12 hours of media use.

Storage-wise, Xiaomi has appeared to have retired the 16GB option that it once offered with the Mi Pad 2, which means there is now only a 64GB configuration and. The Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 will officially go on sale in China this Thursday and will retail for the equivalent of $220.