Realme wants to sell a whole universe of products. And why not? Among its recent flurry of launches is a small Android tablet that offers an entry level option in a space that doesn’t have that many. Last September, Realme introduced its 10.4-inch Realme Pad (₹13,999). And now we have the Pad Mini (₹10,999 and ₹14,999) as a smaller alternative.
The Realme Pad Mini’s 8.7-inch screen makes it a handy tablet to have about the house, or even travel about since it does have a 4G-cellular variant. It’s built tough and looks as if it would survive a few drops by careless kids. It’s a small tablet, but heavier than I would have expected because of a big battery. The body is in sleek-looking aluminium, which doesn’t look cheap, although it is a budget tablet.
The Pad Mini is meant for light, general usage such as some casual movie watching, browsing, reading, etc. Netflix and other services do work, contrary to some reports online. Although the folks at Realme mention online classes, it would all depend on where kids have to log in and how interactive they are expected to be, as interfaces tend to be slow and clunky. This does rule out serious gaming although lightweight games will work fine.
The Pad Mini’s screen is an LCD with a not-very-high resolution of 1340×800 WUXGA+. It’s strictly a make-do screen, though the viewing angles are not too bad.
An ‘extra’ screen
This little tab runs on a Unisoc T616 processor. It is, again, make-do, rather than high powered. It comes in two variants — 3GB (₹10,999) or 4GB (₹14,999) with 32GB or 64GB ROM. You can see straight off that these are totally entry level specs. You do have a memory card slot, which is good. It runs on Android 11 but whether it will get any upgrade is strictly unknown. Thankfully, it isn’t stuffed with spammy unwanted apps.
The tablet has an 8MP front and 5MP rear camera. It has dual speakers, a 6,400mAh battery with an 18W charger, and it can even reverse charge. The battery lasts well.
Consider the Pad Mini if you need an ‘extra’ screen around that you don’t want to be overly concerned with, safety-wise. Realme isn’t making very many accessories with this tab, but may be working with third-party sources for a case and keyboard. Any Bluetooth keyboard can, of course, be used.