Say hello to the 8.7-inch Redmi Pad SE: (almost) the iPad mini vibe… for a fraction of the price

Now here's a tablet for those moments when we don't know what we want, but we darn sure know what we don't want!

Sometimes, we want a tablet, but we don't want it to be big, bulky, and heavy. We want a tablet that's capable, but we absolutely don't want to spend a fortune on it. We want a tablet that doubles as an e-book reader, and so on.

Enter the Redmi Pad SE 8.7, introduced by Xiaomi in two variants, with the second being 4G-capable.

These slates are designed for portable entertainment on the go, there's no question about it. Heck, the just-released Pixel 9 Pro Fold has an inner 8-inch screen.

Both the non-4G and 4G-capable Redmi Pad SE tablets feature an 8.7-inch display, just a tad more than the 8.3-inch display of the current iPad mini. However, the petite Apple slate is much more expensive at $499, while the Redmi Pad SE is launched in Europe starting at €139 (approximately $152).

The display offers 600 nits of brightness and a 1500:1 contrast ratio, which won't make it the ideal tool for watching under direct sunlight. The display has a 10-bit color depth and a 90Hz refresh rate, which is great for streaming, gaming, and other multimedia activities.

The 5:3 aspect ratio of the display hints at what it is made for – mainly web browsing and reading. It includes two reading modes, Paper and Classic, to improve comfort whether you’re in bright sunlight or a dimly lit room. Now, this is good, and I'd give it a try, as the Kindle is far from perfect: sometimes, I wish it had some regular tablet capabilities.

We're not done with the display on the Redmi Pad SE 8.7, though: it's got TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker Free certification, meaning: these tablets should be easy on the eyes.