The realme Pad 2 is the latest tablet from the popular smartphone brand, and it aims to offer a premium experience at an affordable price.
Sporting an 11.5-inch 120Hz display, a Helio G99 processor, an 8360mAh battery, and LTE support, the realme Pad 2 has a lot of features that make it stand out in a limited tablet market. But does it deliver on its promises, and is it worth buying? Let’s find out in this review.
Design & Display
The realme Pad 2 has a sleek and minimalist design, with a flat frame and curved corners. Our review unit is the Inspiration Green variant and features a green two-tone design. It also comes in Imagination Grey for those who want a darker color.
The tablet measures 268.2×168.5×7.2 mm and weighs just 518 grams. It has a USB-C port, a microSD card slot, volume buttons, a power button, and a dual SIM tray (for one nano SIM card and one microSD card) on the sides. It also has four speakers, two on each end, that support Dolby Atmos sound.
The display is one of the main highlights of the tablet. It has an 11.5-inch IPS panel, with a resolution of 2000×1200 pixels, and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is wide and expansive, with thin bezels and a small punch-hole for the selfie camera.
The colors are vibrant, and the brightness is decent. The 120Hz refresh rate makes everything look smooth and responsive, whether it’s browsing the web, watching videos, or playing games.
The large display and Dolby Atmos quad speakers make the realme Pad 2 a great tablet for media consumption, as it can handle most video formats and streaming services without any issues. It is meant to be handled in landscape mode, as evidenced by the location of the selfie camera.
The display does not support HDR, which is a bit of a bummer, but it still delivers a good viewing experience. The quad speakers can get loud, but the sound quality is average and lacks bass.
The only downside of the display is that it might be a little too big for some people, especially if you have small hands or prefer a more compact device. Because of this, the tablet is not very comfortable to hold for long periods, and you might need a case or a stand to use it more conveniently.
Cameras
The realme Pad 2 has a single 8MP camera at the back corner and an 8MP camera at the front, located in the top center bezel. The camera app is pretty straightforward, with a photo and video mode. Under the More tab, it has three more modes, namely panoramic, time-lapse, and text scanner.
While we don’t recommend using a large tablet for taking photos, the 8MP rear camera can do so in a pinch. The photos are, as expected, not as good as a smartphone’s. It has a limited dynamic range with below-average sharpness and details, but they are serviceable.
The text scanner is pretty useful, which allows you to quickly capture documents into photos, which is very useful for a large tablet.
The front camera, on the other hand, is good enough for video calls and selfies. It’s average at best, with soft sharpness and details, but it will get the job done.
Performance
The realme Pad 2 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset. We’ve already seen what the processor can do on several phones, so we have a good idea of what it’s capable of.
On our review unit, the Helio G99 is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. There’s also a cheaper 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant.
The tablet runs on realme UI 4 for Pad, based on Android 13. The software is optimized for tablet use and has some tablet-specific features, such as a split screen, which works great with a large display. The software is clean and simple, with minimal bloatware and ads.
The tablet is a joy to use. It is fast and can run most apps without any lag or stutter. It can handle multitasking and switching between apps smoothly, thanks to the ample RAM and the 120Hz display. It also has 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card.
The realme Pad 2 is also a capable gaming device. It can run heavy games at low to medium settings. Honkai: Star Rail runs at medium settings without any major problems. Meanwhile, Mobile Legends runs well with graphics set on Ultra and frame rate on Super. However, for best results, set both on High. The tablet does get warm after prolonged gaming, but not to the point of overheating or throttling.
Here are the benchmark scores.
Battery Life
The realme Pad 2 has a large 8360mAh battery, which can easily last for two days of moderate usage. It can last for more, depending on your usage pattern and settings. The tablet has a power-saving mode as well, which can extend the battery life further by limiting some functions and features.
The tablet supports 18W fast charging, which can charge the battery from 0 to 100% in about two hours. The charging speed is not very impressive, considering the size of the battery, but it’s not too bad either.
Verdict
The realme Pad 2 is an impressive budget tablet that gets a lot of things right, including a great display, capable performance, and long battery life. It’s a good option for the price of P13,999, especially if you’re looking for a tablet for media consumption, gaming, or productivity.
It’s not perfect, though, as it has some drawbacks, such as the lack of HDR, the average sound quality, and the huge design. But overall, it’s a solid tablet that offers good value for money.
The realme Pad 2 is available in the Philippines. It comes in two colors: Inspiration Green and Imagination Grey.
realme Pad 2 specs
| Display | 11.5-inch 2K IPS display, 2000×1200, 120Hz refresh rate, 450 nits |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G99 |
| RAM/Storage | 6GB+128GB 8GB+256GB Up to 16GB dynamic RAM |
| Rear Camera | 8MP |
| Front Camera | 8MP |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Others | Side fingerprint scanner, USB-C, Dolby Atmos quad speakers |
| OS | realme UI 4 for Pad, Android 13 |
| Colors | Inspiration Green, Imagination Grey |
| Battery | 8360mAh, 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging |
