Poco has announced a pair of new tablets, and they look very familiar indeed.
Alongside the Poco F8 Ultra and Poco F8 Pro smartphones, Xiaomi subsidiary Poco has also announced the Poco Pad X1 and Poco Pad M1 tablets.
Scanning down the spec list, and indeed looking at images for the Poco Pad X1, we’re hit be a strong case of deja vu. It’s essentially the same tablet as the Xiaomi Pad 7, which we reviewed earlier in the year.
Poco Pad X1
From a certain perspective, that’s good news. We really liked the Xiaomi Pad 7, doling out a 4.5-star review and calling it “The best value tablet you can buy”.
But do we really need the same tablet launched twice with negligible differences? Especially now that the Xiaomi Pad 7 is being discounted at the usual third-party retailers.
Poco
Whatever the case, let’s spell out those familiar specs for you, in case you missed our Xiaomi Pad 7 review. It’s led by a solid mid-range Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 processor, and fronted by an 11.2-inch LCD with a super-sharp 3.2K resolution and un unusually fluid 144Hz resolution.
You also get a decent-sized 8850mAh battery, 45W charging support, and quad speakers with Dolby Atmos. Xiaomi’s HyperOS provides an iOS-like UI, and there are optional keyboard cover and stylus accessories to add to the package should you wish to.
Poco Pad M1
That’s not all for new tablet announcements. The Poco Pad M1 offers a larger, though less high-end tablet, though it’s no less of a retread.
While we didn’t review the Redmi Pad 2 Pro, it’s quite evidently the same tablet as the ‘new’ Poco Pad M1, but with Xiaomi’s other budget-oriented branding attached.
Poco
You’re getting a 12.1-inch LCD 2.5K display with a 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 power, and a huge 12,000mAh battery with 33W wired charging.
A global launch without Western Europe
Given that the X1 and M1 are almost identical to tablets that are already available, it should probably come as no surprise that Western Europe has been left out of launch plans.
A Poco spokesperson confirmed to Tech Advisor that “the two pads won’t be launched in [the] UK”.
We’d usually be disappointed by news like this, but the deals on the Xiaomi Pad 7 and Redmi Pad 2 mean it makes little sense.
You can currently get the Pad 7 for just £229 at Amazon – that’s a 38% discount, and the lowest it’s ever been.
Meanwhile, the Redmi Pad 2 Pro is down from £199 to £169, or you can get double the storage to 256GB and get a bigger £100 discount – that version is now just £199.
See more great deals like this in our comprehensive Black Friday coverage.
The Pad X1 and M1 launched alongside the Poco F8 Ultra and F8 Pro, which you definitely can buy in the UK.
Author: Jon Mundy, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jon is a freelance journalist who got his start covering mobile games at the dawn of the App Store. He has since covered everything from smart home tech and laptops to food and culture, but always seems to return to his fascination with smartphones.