The Xiaomi Pad 6 is not a big upgrade over the previous model. But it's just as affordable despite the improvements. While its sharp bright display and quad speakers are great for entertainment, this tablet is no slouch when it comes to productivity — if you get the accessories and become familiar with MIUI Pad 14's tablet features.

The Xiaomi Pad 6 has a similar 11-inch display to the previous model, but with minor upgrades to the resolution and refresh rate. You can manually toggle between 60Hz, 90Hz, and 144Hz. However, I recommend leaving it at the Default setting, which automatically switches the refresh rate, and has a wider range of options (including 30Hz, 60Hz, and 120Hz). Xiaomi says Dolby Vision is supported, but Netflix only offered HDR10. The quad speakers also support Dolby Atmos, and they sound pretty good, too. Like the previous version, there's no headphone jack. The all-aluminium chassis feels solid, and is also a tad lighter now at 490g. But the matte finish will pick up fingerprints and other smudges. Note that there isn't any fingerprint reader, and its non-infrared camera facial recognition feature is less secure. Overall, the Xiaomi Pad 6 feels like a premium tablet.

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For those who are less familiar with Android tablets, Xiaomi helpfully has a “Features for tablets” section near the top of the Settings menu. You'll learn how to enable split screen mode for compatible apps using a three-finger gesture, how to open an app in a floating window, among other features. I would say these tablet-specific features are mostly comparable to the ones you'd find on a Samsung slate. But there's no desktop mode equivalent to Samsung's DeX. The front facing camera is located on the tablet's longer edge, and works best when the device is in landscape orientation. It's decent for video calls with 1080p 30fps video. Performance is snappy, thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chip and ample 8GB RAM. The tablet gets slightly warm in benchmarks, but it's generally cool for web browsing and video playback.

Unlike its predecessor, all the accessories for the Xiaomi Pad 6 are available in Singapore. There's a S$49 cover (free with the 8GB+256GB variant), a S$129 keyboard cover, and a S$99 smart pen. The latter attaches magnetically to the top edge of the tablet to charge, and has two shortcut keys (one triggers Xiaomi's Notes app and the other will take a screenshot). It's not quite as capable as Samsung's S Pen in terms of features, but the Xiaomi Smart Pen has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity with replaceable pen tips. The keyboard doesn't have a touchpad, and lacks a backlight. But it does prop up the Xiaomi Pad 6, and it's usable enough despite the small keys.

The Xiaomi Pad 6 lasted 7 hours in a video playback test at maximum screen brightness. That's decent, but not as good as the 10 hours clocked by its predecessor. You do get faster wired charging (33W versus 22.5W) with the newer version. At S$459, it's S$10 more than last year's model, but the hardware upgrades justify the slight hike. And it still offers better value than similarly-priced tablets from other brands. It's easier now to buy the accessories from the official Xiaomi Singapore store. Doing so greatly enhances the productivity aspect, and differentiates the Xiaomi Pad 6 from other media consumption tablets. Get it now from Lazada (official store), Shopee, and Amazon SG.

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Note: Review unit provided by Xiaomi.