Initial Verdict: the budget tablet wars are heating up, thanks to the launch of the realme Pad in the Philippines. realme’s new tab is a slate aimed at budget shoppers and seemingly has the potential to disrupt the market that’s dominated by their rivals.

Pros

• Premium design
• Thin profile
• Fairly capable spec sheet

Cons

• Rear camera needs more definition/clarity
• No stylus support

realme Pad Hands-on Philippines specs

• Helio G80 gaming processor
• 3 GB/4 GB RAM
• 32 GB/64 GB storage, expandable via microSD up to 1 GB
• 10.4-inch (2000×1200) WUXGA+ Display
• 8MP ultra-wide-angle front camera
• 8MP rear camera
• LTE, 4G
• WiFi, Bluetooth
• Dolby Atmos quad speakers
• 7100mAh mega battery
• Android 11, realme UI

realme launched its first-ever tablet yesterday, in the form of the realme Pad. Despite being the first-ever tablet for the brand, the realme pad looks impressive out of the box and has the potential to be a bang-for-the-buck contender at its price point, though we’ll still have to take the tablet through its paces to see if it delivers the goods.

Unboxing and Packaging Contents

The realme pad comes in a simple white box. There is nothing fancy about the packaging although this is something expected from a budget tablet. While there’s no realme logo at the front, Dolby Atmos and High Res Audio logos are there to remind you that this tablet has exceptional sound quality.

Inside the box, you have the tablet itself, documentation, SIM ejector tool, USB-C cable, and charging brick.

Design

The realme pad is a budget tablet that looks premium in every angle. The design is a mix of plastic and metal – the majority of the back chassis is made out of metal, with a plastic cap of sorts at the end hiding all the requisite antennas for the device. 

The tablet has quad speakers which should make for better audio than other budget tablets on the market. The power button and volume rocker are positioned close to each other for easy access, and the tab uses a USB Type-C connector for data and power transfer.

Besides being aesthetically pleasing, the tablet is also very portable. It has a thickness of only 6.99mm and a weight of 440g, making it ultra-thin and lightweight. Users will appreciate its lightness as they will have no problem holding the tablet for hours, they will also appreciate its portability as they can easily slip the tablet even in small tote bags.

The tablet is available in elegant Real Gold color and in classic Real Grey color.

Display

The realme Pad uses a 10.4-inch display with a 1200 x 2000 (WXGA) resolution panel. There’s no HDR support here (we’d be surprised if that was present on a budget display) though it does have Widevine L1 certification, so you’ll be able to watch HD content on Netflix and similar streaming services without any issues. 

The display doesn’t have Corning Gorilla Glass protection – it uses Panda Glass instead. The glass protection gives the tablet some measure of protection from rough handling, though don’t expect it to be as tough as Corning’s glass protection. 

As for the actual display – it looks good. You’re not getting AMOLED levels of color saturation and quality here, but the panel is good enough for casual use. You’ll be able to watch the Squid Game in all its gory glory.

Cameras

This is one of the few weak points of the realme pad. The front and the rear camera are both 8 megapixels, the only difference is that the front camera features a 105° ultra-wide-angle lens for better video conferencing. 

For those of you who love taking photos and videos, you will have to settle with using another device. Although the camera of the realme pad is actually tolerable, it’s still far from even a mid-range phone available on the market today. Do take in mind that this is a budget tablet and that the camera shouldn’t really be a dealbreaker.

Performance and battery

Overall performance of the realme pad is more than sufficient. It has an Helio G80 processor paired with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM. MediaTek’s Helio G80 chipset is paired with a Mali-G52 GPU, which is more than enough for mid-range Android gaming. 

The problem with this tablet is the internal storage. The tablet ships with either 32GB or 64GB of storage, which is a little lacking considering the size of Android apps that populate Google Play nowadays. Sure you can stuff a microSD card in there, but that’s not really the same as getting 128GB out of the box. This tablet should have at least 128 GB of storage in our opinion. 

The tablet has a 7,100mAh battery, which realme claims to last around 12 hours of continuous playback on a single charge. While that certainly is impressive, you’ll be hitting a charging bottleneck with the realme Pad since it only ships with an 18W fast-charging plug. 

Wrap up and early verdict

There’s certainly plenty to like about the tablet. The realme Pad has a good set of features, a big screen, and good audio tech – and if the brand can keep its price low, it should sell well in the Philippines.

realme Pad Price Philippines

Speaking of price, in India, the realme Pad has a price of INR 13,999 , which is equivalent to Php 9,508 when directly converted. With this pricing, the realme pad is a strong contender in the budget tablet segment. It is ready to take on the likes of Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and Lenovo Tab P11. 

The realme pad will launch in the Philippines on October 21. You can watch the live stream event on the realme Facebook page.