The iPad mini has more competition than ever and this tablet proves it — just with one almighty, unavoidable catch

Xiaomi is a company you probably don't come across that often, which is fair. It's got almost no market penetration in the U.S., and while adoption is higher in my native U.K., it's certainly not a household name.

However, the most recent stats suggest it has 10% of the worldwide smartphone market — because in China, the company is massive. Domestically, around 97 million people carry a Xiaomi phone. That's not far off the 130 million people in the U.S. reportedly using an iPhone. And it doesn't just make smartphones — Xiaomi makes tablets, smart home tech and even electric cars.

So, when I heard the company was releasing compact tablet to rival the iPad mini 7 — complete with a performant chipset, 165Hz adaptive screen and accessories like a stylus — I was interested to see the result. For background, I love the iPad mini and I recently finished reviewing the RedMagic Astra, which — spoiler alert — I love even more.

Small tablets are brilliant. They take up less space than bigger devices and they're way cheaper than the best foldable phones. For someone like me who loves nothing more than battered paperbacks and Moleskine notebooks, they're the perfect form factor. So the prospect of trying the Xiaomi Pad Mini for myself had me pretty excited.

But before we go any further, let me deliver the bad news first: Xiaomi isn't selling the Pad Mini in the United States, the United Kingdom or Europe. According to the company's representatives, it'll only be available in China, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. And that sucks, because it's a solid mini tablet.

(Why the company sent me one to test out, knowing I won't be able to buy it, is a mystery to me as much as it is to you. Kinda rubs salt in the wound, doesn't it?)

$429 for a tablet you can't buy

Xiaomi is selling the Pad Mini in those above regions for a starting price of $429 in U.S. dollars. Which is a good deal when you start listing the device's specs: 8.8-inch LCD (3,008 x 1,880) display with up to 165Hz refresh rate, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage and a MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ processor.

A look around at the competition shows this price isn't too bad, especially given the impact of global tariffs on consumer technology right now. The iPad mini 7 starts at $499/ £499 but that's only for 128GB of storage. Apple's pricing increases to $799 if you want 512GB of storage on the iPad mini 7

On the Android side, the RedMagic Astra has a higher starting price of $699/ £499 for 256GB of storage that gets even higher ($799 / £699) if you push it up to 16GB/512GB.

But my dreams aren't dead

Okay, so the Xiaomi Pad Mini won't be available at Best Buy or Currys anytime soon, but never say never. It could still see a global release and at the very least, the fact it exists in some form is a reason for folks like me to celebrate.

See, I grew up in the time when small gadgets were cool. I'll never choose an iPhone 17 Pro Max over the regular iPhone 17 Pro because I don't want to walk around with a phone the size of a dinner plate. Yes, the iPhone Fold is on the horizon and that's very exciting — but unless I get a hefty raise between now and next September, it's not on my shopping list.

But smaller tech that doesn't skimp on power has always faced battery issues. That's being dealt with in two ways: firstly, the likes of TSMC’s 3nm process means we get smaller chips that are more densely packed together and therefore offer better performance without using as much power. The MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ (along with its rival, the Snapdragon 8 Elite) is an example of this.

Secondly, consumer electronics will soon start benefiting from silicon-carbon batteries where silicon anodes replace the graphite ones in lithium-ion. They're reportedly up to 10x denser than lithium ions, which means you can fit more battery capacity in the same physical space. That's great if, like the Xiaomi Pad Mini, you have a footprint of 205.13 x 132.03 x 6.46 mm to work with.

So the future is looking bright for anyone who wants smaller tech that doesn't compromise on power or longevity. Better yet, as these components become cheaper, the price we'll pay as consumers will also hopefully go down. Barring any crazy geopolitics, of course.

Bottom line

There was a time when if you wanted a small, powerful tablet, the iPad mini was your only viable option. Thanks to the efforts of Lenovo, RedMagic and, yes, Xiaomi, we now have several more options to choose from. And that makes me happy. Although, I'm still at a loss for why the company isn't choosing to sell it locally, because I'd certainly be adding it to my cart if they did.

Are you a fan of compact devices, or am I hideously out of touch? Let me know how right or wrong I am in the comments box below.

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