realme Pad 2: An affordable ‘entertainment-first’ tablet

Tablets offer many advantages. Apart from the obvious size advantage over your regular smartphone, these larger devices are often equipped with other features and specs that could make them a valuable addition to your daily workflow.

More affordable but still capable tablets aren’t plenty but they do exist; the recently released realme Pad 2 is such an example. The newest addition to the company’s Pad series offers a refreshing new look, a slightly bigger size, and more powerful internals.

Familiar design, fresher feel

Unlike today’s smartphones, the tablet scene is a tad less diverse when talking about design. Only a handful offer more ‘fun’ or interesting colors which is a shame because it’s something I personally look for.

But realme has always put a certain value on looks. Sometimes its designs can be a bit out there but I’ve always appreciated the company’s efforts in trying different looks for its devices. Even partnering with brands like Coca-Cola to offer limited-edition, collector-level pieces. With its tablet line, it’s no different.

Case in point is its first tablet, the realme Pad, which came out of the gate in a nice gold colorway instead of the usual matte black or blue. This year, for its follow-up, the realme Pad 2 is offered in two colors: Imagination Grey and Inspiration Green.

realme sent us the latter which is my pick between the two. I absolutely love how the color is cast on this tablet; not too loud but not too subtle either.

Its overall design is quite similar to its predecessor in some ways. The realme Pad 2 retains a flat metal frame with a slightly curved back. Now an 11-inch tablet, it’s slightly heavier but still lightweight enough to bring around. Its slim frame also makes one-handed operation easier.

The back’s design is obviously based on the original realme Pad but this time, the realme Pad 2 combines two finishes: metallic and matte. About a fifth of the device, the part where the big round camera module is, offers a metal-like texture while the rest lends a shimmery, matte-like finish.

Buttons and ports are where you’d usually find them: power button on top, volume rocker on the upper right side, and a SIM card tray on the left edge. The realme Pad 2 also comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera hidden in the display’s bezels. Made with a mix of metal and plastic materials, it seems durable enough to withstand the daily grind as well.

I honestly love how this tablet looks on my person. It acts almost like an accessory giving my outfit (which is usually black, white, or black and white) a pop of color and personality. It may sound silly to some but it’s a plus when my device can match my look, too.

A visual and aural delight

I’ve been a tablet user for a while now and I’ve found a couple of advantages that’s made me love this form factor.

For one, it’s an undeniably better way to consume all kinds of content – whether watching, reading, or playing the larger display makes the whole experience more comfortable. And despite being used to a 12-inch tablet, I find the 11-inch display on the realme Pad 2 still spacious to accommodate multi-tasking and other tasks.

Let me quickly lay down the specs for this device first.

The realme Pad 2 offers an 11.5-inch 2K display (1200×2000) partnered with a 120Hz refresh rate. We do only have an IPS LCD panel here but colors are still punchy and vibrant with a good amount of contrast. Brightness is a little on the short side for me but is enough for indoor use.

realme also made sure that the Pad 2 is Widevine L1-certified which unlocks up to FHD resolution for streaming apps like Netflix. For audio, we have a set of four Dolby Atmos speakers, two on each side.

One of our favorite features of the original realme Pad was its detailed and loud speakers. This year, we may be saying the same thing. The realme Pad 2 and its quad-speaker setup are impressive. Sound is balanced and well distributed though I wouldn’t be surprised if some would find it a little thin on bass.

One quiet night in, I ended up watching Dear Evan Hansen on the realme Pad 2. Being an adaptation of a musical, the speakers were tested against a range of songs and I found little to complain about. Vocals can get tinny during loud ensemble numbers but the overall experience was still pleasing.

At max volume, however, sound distortion is more prominent but shouldn’t be a problem for most. I would suggest going about 4 or 5 clicks down for a more balanced sound.

Apart from watching, I’ve found the realme Pad 2 is the perfect little size for reading. Going through PDFs for work was a breeze and I could even annotate and edit comfortably along the way. I’ve also been using it to reread a couple of comics and graphic novels like Scott Pilgrim (the new animated series premieres November 17 on Netflix, by the way).

Rounding out the whole content consumption experience is a large 8630 mAh battery which is more than enough for a few hours of binge-watching. For daily use, the realme Pad 2 was able to last more than two days until it needed to charge.

Topping up is a speedy too having support for 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging.  We were able to fully recharge the device in about an hour and a half.

With all that we’ve said, declaring that the realme Pad 2 is an ‘entertainment-first’ tablet wasn’t hard to do. With the first iteration having quality speakers as its best feature, the realme Pad 2 follows in its footsteps by offering not just really good quality audio but also a pristine picture to match it.

All while keeping that price tag ever so friendly.

The in-between device for productivity

While my constant is still my desktop for major workloads, I find having a tablet to do more menial things like checking emails, updating our socials, and writing articles is very convenient, too.

Equipped with a MediaTek Helio G99 processor and running on 8GB of RAM, you’ve got a good amount of power with this tablet. It isn’t the most capable or most recent chip around but has proven to be the pick for more affordable tablets.

With this configuration, you’re set up to do the dailies with ease. In my time with it, I was able to do all I just mentioned plus some light photo editing on Snapseed, quick video edits on CapCut, and even layouts in Canva. I know these are tasks that are doable on a smartphone but the ease of a big screen and more navigation room makes these tasks much easier and thus faster to accomplish.

The realme Pad 2 also offers virtual RAM expansion for when loads get heavy but I’ve found the improvement to be subtle, often unnoticeable. It also comes with a SIM card slot and support for LTE so you can stay connected even without Wi-Fi around.

 

A productive day means you’re able to knock off things on your to-do list efficiently. With realme Android 13 skin, you’ll be able to enjoy multi-tasking features that are unique to the tablet form factor. The Pad 2 is powerful enough to accommodate split screens, floating windows, dual windows, and multiple tabs but it does start to lag when there’s too much going on in the background.

Whether at home or not, it was also to take video calls. The front-facing camera is enough for the most part unless you’re a stickler for image quality. This may be a personal opinion, but I believe expectations shouldn’t be high when it comes to camera quality on tablets because even more expensive ones barely match today’s smartphone cameras.

Now what could make the Pad 2 much better for productivity, in my opinion, are accessories. Most tablets these days are partnered with a keyboard, pen, or even just a simple case or folio but it seems realme is sticking to the basics. Of course, these can be remedied by third-party products but it would’ve been nice to have a bundle with accessories of some sort.

Now while I don’t know many who game on a tablet, I’m aware that there are a few who do. But after what we’ve just talked about, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the gaming powers of the realme Pad 2 aren’t that extensive.

Simpler games like Pokemon Go are no big deal but expect to run on the lowest settings for more demanding games like Honkai Star Rail. I was able to play Star Rail rather smoothly as long as I kept graphics on low and closed all other power or resource-hungry apps.

Final thoughts

More often than not, tablets are propositioned as productivity partners but, again, the realme Pad 2 is showing itself as a better pick for entertainment. It’s equipped with the essentials for a cozy night of binge-watching including a high-resolution display, a quality set of quad speakers, and long battery life.

It’s great for multi-tasking and productivity too but to get the best performance, you will have to keep your background apps to a minimum and may have to forgo more resource-heavy tasks. But all in all and considering its asking price, it’s a solid day-to-day tablet.

The realme Pad 2 is now available in the Philippines and priced at PhP 13,999 and PhP 17,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and 8GB+256GB variant respectively.

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Xiaomi 12 Lite review: The stylish 108-megapixel shooter

08/18/2022

The Xiaomi 12 Lite has finally made it to the local market! Xiaomi’s latest offering comes in as cute as a button and offers upgraded cameras and better charging. Not only that, it looks very different from the other Xiaomi 12 series phones which may be the reason you’d pick it over the rest.

But can it offer more than just being a stylish and eye-catching device? Let’s find out.

Design

When you attach ‘Lite’ to a phone, you may think of trimmed-down features. And while that is true (as you’ll discover later on in this review), the ‘Lite’ label on this phone can also be taken quite literally.

Like its predecessor, we have a phone that’s lightweight and easily pocketable. At 173g, it comes lighter than a lot of its mid-range competitors while also housing a pretty large display.

Interestingly, the Xiaomi 12 Lite offers a different set of colorways as compared to its other siblings. Our unit comes in the Lite Pink which is just absolutely adorable.

Considering Xiaomi positions this as a ‘fashion’ phone, it makes sense that its color offerings are a little bit more, well, extra.

The iridescent back is subtle and airy with different hues of pink, yellow, and light lavender dancing around under different instances of light. The light pink color extends to the phone’s body as well which is a nice touch to fully round out the design.

The Lite Green takes the same treatment as this Pink variant but you’re not lost if you want this phone in a plain color as there is a Black option as well.

For its build, the Xiaomi 12 Lite also shies away from the rest of the 12 series’ design and opts, instead, for a flat panel and sides. There is a slight chamfer to the edges so it’s not totally flat. It’s comfortable to grip and doesn’t dig into my palm despite the harder, less rounded edges.

You’ll find all the buttons on the right side of the device and within reach of my relatively average-sized hands.

We also have an IR blaster on here which isn’t a common feature among other devices but something I still appreciate until now since we still have a couple of appliances and gadgets around the house that could benefit from it.

 

On the bottom, we have the USB Type-C port for charging. Pop open the card tray on the side and you’ll find two SIM card slots. The Xiaomi 12 Lite doesn’t offer microSD card expansion, unfortunately, but the device is offered in either 128GB or 256GB which should be enough for most people.

Display

At 6.55 inches, the Xiaomi 12 Lite’s Full HD+ AMOLED display comes in slightly bigger than the Xiaomi 12. It adopts similar features, as well, including an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

I’m happy to see that the bezels on the Xiaomi 12 Lite still remain thin all around as opposed to the usual thick forehead or chin found on a number of mid-range phones. It’s something you’d find on flagship phones so I appreciate this small attention to detail that helps in making the screen experience feel a little more premium.

With 100% DCI-P3 color, you’re also getting true-to-life reproduction which makes it a great display for browsing photos on Instagram or streaming on Netflix. For me, having a color-accurate display was also really useful for editing photos.

The punch hole notch is in the center, however, which isn’t my personal preference but it isn’t too unsightly or distracting.

The entertainment does get limited to the average-sounding dual speakers. At its loudest, music can sound tinny. We don’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack here so if you want better audio, you’ll have to opt for wireless.

Like the rest of the devices in the series, there’s an in-display fingerprint sensor that works rather well. Even if I hadn’t taken out the screen protector the phone came with, I was able to get pretty speedy unlocks.

Finally, protection comes in the form of Gorilla Glass 5 which should do well to keep your screen free from scratches and nicks.

Performance

The Xiaomi 12 Lite has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G procesor at its heart which is a common chipset for mid-range smartphones. You’ll also find them on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy A-series, OPPO Reno series, Motorola Edge, among others.

Its internals are actually identical to last year’s Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE, from its processor down to its graphics and even its RAM and internal storage options.

But the popularity of this chipset is warranted as it is able to provide balanced performance for light to medium-heavy tasks which may include the likes of browsing, banking, and everyday duties like that.

With editing tasks, you’re getting a pretty smooth experience as well. Grading photos in Lightroom didn’t show any issues though if you are trying to edit 4K footage with the phone’s native editor, you may encounter slow processing at the start.

Casual gamers may also find the lite version just enough for their needs. I was able to play Pokemon Unite for a few hours on Performance mode and didn’t notice any strain on the phone.

Genshin Impact showed lag, as expected, but lowering the settings, frame rates, and getting rid of some environmental effects helped in stabilizing gameplay. With longer hours on Genshin, you will feel the heat on the back and I had one instance where I got a high-temperature warning.

But I honestly wasn’t surprised as this isn’t really a phone built to game intensively and Genshin Impact is pretty resource heavy.

But overall, I wouldn’t see the casual or semi-intensive user (like myself) being disappointed with how this phone performs. There are many flourishes like its 120Hz refresh rate that add a premium feel when using this phone, too.

Camera

One of the major differences you’ll find on the Xiaomi 12 Lite is its upgraded 108-megapixel main camera which you won’t find on the other variants available locally.

Alongside it is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide, and 2-megapixel macro.

With this setup, the 108-megapixel camera is really the star. The main shooter provides excellent sharpness, detail, and colors albeit a little too saturated for my taste. I did love the natural bokeh it was able to produce, however, even outside of its portrait mode.

In low-light, shots are decent with visible details but the software does have a tendency to over-brighten shots. I found you can get better results from the main camera when you nudge the exposure down just a bit so it doesn’t over-expose the photo.

The 8-megapixel ultra-wide performs as I expected – better in bright light and not so much otherwise. With enough light, you’re going to get good detail, color, and contrast as well but quality does quickly degrade when shooting in darker scenarios.

I found myself opting to stick to the main camera during my time with this device as the quality really is much better.

The 2-megapixel macro is there but as you may expect, shots come out pretty average. Nothing to write home about, really.

Around the front, we have the same 32-megapixel shooter found on the other members of the series. I personally enjoyed the selfie camera as it produced bright and clean photos in almost any situation.

Like most mobile cameras, low light can be a problem but you can turn on the two LED lights up top to provided gentle illumination. This works really great in making selfies look a lot better when it’s dark as it is able to bring out details of faces.

But I wouldn’t suggest taking long videos with the lights on. I tried recording and was greeted with a high-temperature warning about 3 minutes in. And this was shooting at night when the weather was pretty cool.

Just one more thing that takes away from the overall experience, at least for me, is that the shutter is just a tad bit slow. This made taking quick snaps pretty hard since it would often come out blurred. You or your subject will have to stand still for a beat to really get the sharpest photo possible.

But nit-picking aside, any casual user will be happy with the overall camera setup of the Xiaomi 12 Lite. You’ve got a really good main shooter with the 108-megapixel camera and you’re supplied with enough tools as well to make capturing photos or videos much easier.

Apart from the main photo mode, you have Pro mode with RAW capabilities, a dedicated 108-megapixel shooting mode, dual video shooting, and a fun vlog mode that comes with 19 easily usable templates.

Battery

The Xiaomi 12 Lite comes with a 4300mAh battery. The smaller battery helped in keeping the device lighter but it can come up short when you’re a heavy user. I was able to squeeze out about 5 hours on it, heavily using the camera and running on data alone.

On an average working day, though, I can get it to last up to 7 hours, only needing to top up before the day ends.

Speaking of topping up, the Xiaomi 12 Lite comes with a 67W turbo charger which I absolutely enjoy. It was able to fill up the phone from zero in just 35 minutes – great for anyone always in a hurry or for lazy people like me.

Creature Feature

In our reviews, The Modern Creatures aims to find special features in devices that make them worth having. And for the Xiaomi 12 Lite, it would be two things — its 108-megapixel camera and its adorable design.

Having a great main camera and cute color options make the Xiaomi 12 Lite a phone that’s both Instagram-ready and can take Instagram-ready photos. Cute and capable? That’s the Xiaomi 12 Lite.

Final Thoughts

On paper, it may not seem enough to upgrade from the 11 series but the cameras are really better this time around, and faster charging really adds convenience to a busy person’s lifestyle. Locally the Xiaomi 12 Lite will be available in two variants. It starts at PhP 20,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and the higher 8GB+128GB variant clocks in a PhP 21, 999. At launch, Xiaomi is also offering freebies which you can check out here.

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