Justifies The Value? – Nepal


Realme Pad X Review

In this review, I will be taking an in-depth look at the Realme Pad X. Realme’s Pad series has been home to some really good value-for-money Android tablets. Both the first-gen Realme Pad and the Pad Mini justified their value proposition perfectly. But after a couple of budget devices, Realme has stepped up its game in the tablet arena with the new Realme Pad X.

This is the first 5G tablet from the company, as well as the first one to introduce a compatible keyboard and stylus accessory. And Realme is targeting this slate towards creatives and productivity-focused users who want a tablet that can do more than just casual web surfing and multimedia consumption.

Realme Pad X Specifications:

  • Body: 7.1mm thickness, 499 gm
  • Display: 11-inches IPS LCD panel, 450 nits brightness
  • Resolution: 2K (1200 x 2000 pixels)
  • Chipset: Snapdragon 695 5G (6nm)
  • CPU: Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6×1.7 GHz Cortex-A55)
  • GPU: Adreno 619
  • Memory: 4/6GB RAM, 64/128GB storage
  • Software & UI: Android 12 with Realme UI 3.0 on top
  • Rear Camera: 13MP f/2.2 sensor
  • Front Camera: 8MP f/2.0 sensor
  • Audio: Quad speaker setup, Dolby Atmos
  • Battery: 8340mAh with 33W charging
  • Price in Nepal: N/A (Starts at INR 19,999 in India)

Realme Pad X Review:

So to put that to test, I hurriedly shifted from my laptop to the Realme Pad X as soon as I got it. And lucky for me, since I was already used to Alldocube’s 2-in-1 Windows tablet, the smaller screen real estate here didn’t require much readjustment either. However, if you’re accustomed to a 15 or 16” machine, this isn’t a leap you would want to make.

Realme Pad X Accessories

Anyway, talking about the Realme Smart Keyboard, the first thing that hits the mind is that it’s quite expensive at Rs. 5,000. And I can’t say I found this thing to be that productive, to be honest. The keys themselves have nice travel distance and tactile feedback. And this is also a pretty nice keypad and a folio case 2-in-1, which means I can securely fold the tablet into a nice and secure clamshell whenever not in use. Battery life is also solid as it managed to last me a little over 10 days before requiring a fill-up.

And when you eventually need to charge it, the Type-C connector makes things rather simple. I would’ve liked it more if the folio case could position the tablet at more than one angle, but that’s not the biggest issue with this keyboard. What’s more pressing is that the Realme UI for Pad that’s baked into this tablet simply doesn’t give me the flexibility to make the most out of it.

Limited usage

I know that Android lags far behind the versatility of a Windows OS or even the iPadOS. But the very least Realme could do here is to add a desktop-like feature, similar to Samsung’s DeX or Xiaomi’s PC Mode. Android OS in itself can’t match or deliver an experience comparable to that of your regular desktop. I mean, even Realme is advertising it just for typing and a few multifunctional shortcut keys. That’s all!

Not to forget, there’s no built-in trackpad here either which means I have to carry a wireless mouse all the time. At this point, I could just switch back to my laptop and be done with it. Yeah, yeah, I could use the Realme Pencil stylus instead, I know, but… just look at this.

Hit-Or-Miss

For some reason, our unit of the stylus breaks down mid-stroke and everything you draw or sketch ends up with an uneven and unintended pattern of dotted lines. No matter what style of brush you’ve selected. So we also tried a third-party stylus from WiWu and guess what? That one worked perfectly fine!

Realme Pad X Display -2

To be fair, this doesn’t seem to be a widespread issue and I’ve seen only a handful of people mention it so far. But that still doesn’t mean Realme should get away with such poor quality control on such an expensive device. I’m pretty sure that you’d be shocked to find out that this thing costs a staggering Rs. 5,499! So yeah, if you reea….lly want a stylus to go with the Pad X, there are plenty of affordable options to shop from.

So to put my experience in nutshell, Realme’s accessories for the Pad X did not quite strike the mark for me. Besides their usability standpoint—or the lack thereof—and their hefty price tag which totals to more than half the price of the tablet is also pretty insane. And for that price and their practicality, I don’t think these accessories justify their worth.

But things take a different turn when you look at Realme Pad X as a standalone device. Without both the keyboard and the stylus to complement it. It still has that appeal for a slate that bridges the gap between casual work and play. So let’s look at it from that perspective, shall we?

Design

Realme Pad X Design

First off, I am quite fond of its overall heft and slim profile. It measures just 7.1mm thick and at roughly 500 grams, the tablet doesn’t feel unbearably heavy or uncomfortable to hold in hands thanks to the excellent weight distribution. But the Realme Pad X flaunts a polycarbonate build—contrary to the all-metal construction on the first-gen Realme Pad or even the cheaper Pad Mini.

So the only reason I’m guessing Realme has opted for polycarbonate material is to balance the overall weight of the device since a metal-infused build would’ve easily complicated things for an already hefty tablet.

The only letdown about this design is that it has a glossy back that catches fingerprints and smudges rather easily. So I’d recommend wrapping it around a case to avoid the hassle of cleaning the back panel every now and then. Oh, and Realme has also omitted the headphone jack here, which is a bummer.

Display

Over on the display, Realme has delivered the goods with a nearly 11-inch 2K IPS screen. Although the contrast level especially takes a slight hit in comparison to OLED panels, everything from color reproduction to their vibrancy looks real good on this display.

Realme Pad X Display

And this tablet has also secured Widevine L1 certification for HD playback on your favorite OTT platforms. Plus, something that wonderfully complements your streaming experience is the Dolby Atmos tuned quad-speaker setup.

The Realme Pad X has hands-down the best-sounding speakers in the lineup. It gets fairly loud and it can maintain a nice separation between vocals and instruments to let you almost hear every nuance in the tune.

Speakers

Despite all this, I do have a couple of complaints about the display. You see, even though it’s a 2K screen, YouTube maxes out at 1080p streaming only. But since this is something Realme (or maybe YouTube) can fix with an OTA update, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

Another point of contention for me is that the Pad X settles for just a 60Hz refresh rate. As a result, cruising through this display feels comparatively slow, especially when I am crowded with phones with no less than a 120Hz refresh rate. If not 120Hz, the company could’ve at least gone with a 90Hz screen on their most powerful tablet to date.

Battery

But this low refresh rate panel does come advantageous from a battery standpoint. Realme says the tablet’s big 8340mAh battery can provide 19 hours of video streaming, and with that benchmark, I was easily expecting a two-day battery life here.

Charger

Now, my fair share of usage daily involves listening to music on Spotify, a few sessions of PUBG Mobile, scrolling through the web, and other routine activities. And with such a regimen, I was able to get about 7-7.5 hours of screen time on this thing. But you should take note that refilling the tab requires almost 3 hours!

Performance

On the performance side of things, the Realme Pad X is powered by Snapdragon 695. We’ve seen this chip in action in several mid-range phones in 2022, so we’re pretty much familiar with its performance.

To put it briefly, it’s adequate for your casual web surfing or Instagram scrolling action. But one can easily notice slight stutters—especially when navigating through the recent menu—with a couple of lightweight and heavy apps running in the background. More so, despite having 6GB RAM plus 5GB of virtual RAM, I am surprised to see it suffer from memory management issues as well.

Realme UI for Pad

If my memory serves me right, this was not the case with the first-gen Realme Pad. So this might simply be because of the new Realme UI 3.0 for Pad based on Android 12. Hopefully, Realme can do something about it with an update or two.

UI

Anyway, the new version of Realme’s custom skin addresses some of my major concerns about the previous interface. The software experience now feels a bit refined with customized icons, an app drawer, and the settings menu.

On top of that, there are a few neat software tricks here to make things easy on the go. You can now split the tablet’s bigger canvas between two apps with a simple two-finger swipe down the middle. Moreover, one of my favorite features in Realme smartphones—the sidebar—also makes its way to the new UI. It basically lets you use apps in floating windows, and the best part is that almost every app you have can make use of this feature. Great!

Camera

There’s also a cool new software feature for the selfie camera this time around. The Realme Pad X houses a 105° wide camera on the front that supports a feature called “Limelight” to keep you in the center of the frame during video calls and meetings. Simply put, this is Realme’s answer to Apple’s Center Stage found on iPads.

And I must say that it works quite well, and it can also keep track of more than one person in the frame. Sadly, for now, it’s only compatible with Google Duo, Google Meet, and Zoom. And not other video conferencing tools like Microsoft Teams and Messenger, unfortunately. On the other hand, the actual quality of this camera is rather average. The 13MP camera on the back can also deliver some use-able shots when taking notes and such but nothing more.

Realme Pad X Review: Conclusion

We’re now at the end of this review and I think I have shared all my experience with the Realme Pad X by now. Like I said earlier, it doesn’t really make sense as a value-for-money device when coupled with the official accessories.

And if you do decide to get it, I would only recommend the base Wi-Fi-only variant. Because as you go higher up the ladder for the 5G variant, its value proposition begins to go down. For a similar price, you can get the Xiaomi Pad 5 instead which offers a nicer display and far superior performance thanks to the flagship-grade Snapdragon 860 chipset. Likewise, the 9th Gen iPad, which is currently available in India for around Rs. 28,000 and will offer you a far superior experience in every way.

Realme Pad X Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Evenly distributed weight
  • Vibrant IPS display
  • Improved software experience
  • Impressive battery life
  • Amazingly good speakers

Cons:

  • Standard refresh rate screen
  • Memory management issue
  • Limelight feature is limited to certain apps
  • Accessories do not provide good value for money

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Rabins Sharma Lamichhane

Rabins Sharma Lamichhane is senior ICT professional who talks about #it, #cloud, #servers, #software, and #innovation. Rabins is also the first initiator of Digital Nepal. Facebook: rabinsxp Instagram: rabinsxp

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