Xiaomi XIAOMI Poco Pad M1 Only WiFi (No Calls or Text) Review

The Poco Pad M1 is a budget giant with a fantastic 12.1-inch 120Hz screen for the price, but major compromises elsewhere. Its Snapdragon CPU is snappy for daily tasks, but graphics performance is bottom-of-the-barrel, killing gaming. At $340, it's a great pick as a dedicated media consumption tablet, but a poor choice for anything requiring power or polish. Consider it only if a big, smooth display is your absolute top priority.

The Poco Pad M1 is a bit of a puzzle. It's a big, beautiful 12.1-inch tablet with a sharp 120Hz screen, a massive battery, and a price tag that makes you do a double-take. At around $340, it's pitching itself as a budget entertainment powerhouse, and on paper, it looks like it could pull it off. But our data shows it's a specialist, not an all-rounder.

This tablet is for the person who wants a giant screen for watching movies, reading comics, or browsing the web from the couch, and doesn't want to spend iPad money. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor and that high-refresh-rate display are the main attractions here. It's not trying to be a laptop replacement or a serious gaming device. It's trying to be your go-to media consumption slab.

The interesting part is where it lands in our rankings. Its CPU and screen score in the 78th and 76th percentiles, which is genuinely good for the price. But then you see the GPU is in the 2nd percentile, and productivity scores are rock bottom. That tells you everything: this is a device built for one job, and it's betting you'll forgive its shortcomings for that giant, smooth screen.

Let's talk about what those numbers mean. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 is a solid mid-range chip. In our benchmarks, its CPU performance lands in the 78th percentile, which means it's faster than most tablets in its class for everyday tasks. Apps open quickly, scrolling is fluid thanks to the 120Hz panel, and you can have a dozen browser tabs open without a hiccup. For streaming, reading, and light social media, it feels snappy and responsive.

But the GPU score tells the other side of the story. Sitting in the 2nd percentile means it's near the bottom of the pack for graphics. Don't expect to play Genshin Impact at high settings, or do any serious video editing. This is why its entertainment score (33/100) is decent but not stellar—it's great for watching content, but stumbles when you ask it to create or play demanding games. The 120Hz screen is smooth, but the silicon behind it can't always keep up with intense graphical loads.

At $340, the Poco Pad M1 is playing in a weird space. It's significantly cheaper than an iPad Air or Galaxy Tab S9, but it's also offering a much larger screen than most budget tablets. You're paying for that big, smooth display above all else. The price-to-performance ratio is excellent if your performance metric is 'screen size and smoothness for media.'

Where it gets tricky is that you can find older generation iPads or Samsung tablets around this price during sales, and they often come with a stronger overall ecosystem, better software support, and more proven performance. The Poco Pad is betting you'll value the raw screen specs over that brand trust.

The obvious competitor is the base model iPad (10th gen). For a similar price, you get Apple's stellar software support, a better app ecosystem, and performance that's more balanced across CPU and GPU. But you're also stuck with a smaller 10.9-inch screen and a 60Hz refresh rate. If a big, smooth screen is your top priority, the Poco Pad wins. If you care about overall polish, app quality, and longevity, the iPad is the safer bet.

Then there's the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE. It's more expensive, but it offers an S-Pen, a more refined software experience, and DeX mode for productivity. Its performance is more well-rounded. The Poco Pad undercuts it on price and screen refresh rate, but the Galaxy Tab is a much more capable all-purpose device. For a pure media consumption tablet on a tight budget, the Poco Pad has an argument. For anyone who might also want to take notes or do light work, the Samsung is worth the extra money.

Students or professionals looking for a tablet to take notes, write papers, or do light creative work should look elsewhere. The Poco Pad M1's productivity score of 23.4/100 is a major red flag. HyperOS isn't optimized for work like iPadOS or Samsung DeX, and the accessory ecosystem (like good keyboard cases) is virtually non-existent. You'd be much better served by an older iPad with a keyboard folio or a Galaxy Tab S FE model.

Mobile gamers should also steer clear. That 2nd percentile GPU score isn't a typo; it means this is one of the slowest tablets we've seen for graphics. If gaming is even a secondary use case, this tablet will disappoint. Instead, consider a device with a stronger GPU, even if it means a slightly smaller screen or a higher price.

Buy the Poco Pad M1 if you want a giant, smooth-screened Netflix machine and you're on a strict budget. It's for the person who watches movies in bed, reads digital magazines, and browses the web, and who values screen real estate over everything else. For that specific use case, it delivers impressive value.

Skip it if you have any aspirations of using this for work, serious gaming, or as a primary device. Its weak GPU, mediocre productivity scores, and unproven software support make it a poor choice for those roles. Also, if you're wary of buying a device with almost no review history, look at more established options. This is a niche pick for a very specific type of user.