Tablets are currently experiencing its latest wave thanks to the post-pandemic world. With hybrid work and school setups becoming the norm, having a tablet helps with various tasks. Since 2021, realme offered tablets that cater to Filipinos in different sizes and at different price points. The realme Pad brought the essentials people look for in a tablet, including a big display, a speedy operation, and quad speakers. This year, realme has a tablet with a bigger display, a faster processor, and quad speakers. Is it a compelling tablet to buy? Find out in my realme Pad 2 review.
Disclaimer: realme Philippines sent this realme Pad 2 review unit in Inspiration Green with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. It arrived on October 19, 2023, and I’ve been using it for about a month.
Design
The realme Pad 2 rocks a Glowing Splice Design that I have mixed feelings for. On one hand, this tablet has a matte back that helps prevent those pesky fingerprints from showing up. However, it tends to be more slippery. I can’t confidently hold the tablet with one hand. This is ultimately something I can get used to because of how thin it is. I do like this Inspiration Green color since it pops when looking at the back.
One thing I appreciate is how thin it is at 7.2 mm. Even if it doesn’t mean much beyond making it easier to hold, I like how portable it is. This is great for those who do long binge-watching sessions. It has LTE support thanks to the SIM card slot, but I also found a microSD card slot on the same tray! I didn’t expect that at all since we’re seeing less use of microSD cards overall. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack present in this tablet.
One last thing I wanna bring up is the lack of first-party accessories for this tablet. While it’s nice that third-party ones are readily available online, I find the lack of a realme pen and a realme keyboard for the Pad 2 weird. The green case I got looks nice though.
Overall, the design and build of the realme Pad 2 are really good. Its Glowing Splice Design brought a more premium feel while still being thin and light enough that you can bring it wherever you go.
Display
One thing I LOVE about the realme Pad 2 is its 11.5-inch 2K display. It may just have an LCD, but all the other creature comforts are here. That includes a nice 2000 x 1200 resolution display with support for 1 billion colors and a 120Hz refresh rate. All of that contributes to a more immersive viewing experience. The only downside is its 450 nits of peak brightness and it only works in Sunlight mode. (It activates when you’re under bright sunlight.) While the brightness is enough when you’re indoors, it suffers the moment you go out. I even think it’s barely usable and I would just use my phone that has a significantly brighter display.
Despite that, the display alone made me use the realme Pad 2 more for when I’m just chilling at home. That big screen combined with its thin and light body makes the tablet a compelling entertainment device for me.
Cameras
Reviewer’s Note: Unlike in my phone reviews, I won’t put a big focus on cameras when it comes to tablets. While cameras do still matter here, they do in different ways like video call quality and being able to scan documents. This realme Pad 2 review is the first one that will get this review style.
The cameras on the realme Pad 2 serve their purpose. It has a 5MP front camera and an 8MP rear camera. While I don’t mind having a better rear camera, it would have been nice for the front camera to be 8MP as well. For the most part, I’m okay with the quality it provides. I did take some shots for the sake of this review, but not as much as when I do phone reviews.
Click on photos for full-resolution versions!
I also got to try the Text Scanner mode on the realme Pad 2. It works well but requires some adjustment before scanning the photo or document. I don’t expect much use of the rear camera beyond video calls and taking photos of documents though.
Performance & Speakers
The realme Pad 2 uses a MediaTek Helio G99 processor complemented with 6 or 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. (We got the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant.) Coming from the Helio G80 of the first realme Pad, I think the G99 is a much-needed improvement. Normally I would scoff at a phone at the Pad 2’s price point that doesn’t have 5G support. This isn’t a big deal for me with a tablet, though it would be nice to see a 5G version in succeeding versions.
I did get some AnTuTu benchmark results and these were in line with my expectations when it comes to the realme Pad 2’s performance on paper. How is it in the real world?
Well, I’m happy to report that the realme Pad 2 is a delight to use. It feels snappy most of the time and you can run all the usual apps with ease. While playing games on it is a treat, I tend to have a hard time when you’re just using touch controls. This would be a great device for playing games as long as you have a controller.
One of my favorite features of the realme Pad 2 is its Quad Speakers with Dolby Atmos support! This tablet has become my dedicated video-watching device when I just want to relax. Since I’m the kind of person that’s only productive on a laptop, having a tablet with a nice screen and good speakers like these really helps me immerse in the content I’m watching. This is definitely a plus for me.
Software
While I had my reservations, realme UI 4.0 for Pad carries over the speedy nature that I grew to love over the years in realme’s phones. There are also Multi-Screen Collaboration features you can get when paired with a compatible realme phone. (I unfortunately did not have one at the time of review.) It’s nice to see extra functionality on the realme Pad 2 since some people would like to have more than just a giant screen for watching videos and playing games.
Battery Experience
The realme Pad 2 rocks a bigger 8360 mAh battery than its predecessor. Its bigger screen is the reason why the tablet was able to fit said battery. Another improvement over its predecessor is its 33W SUPERVOOC fast charging. I was able to do a full charge of this tablet in around 1.5 to 2 hours which is not bad for a big battery.
What really surprised me was the battery life of the realme Pad 2. I kept most of the settings intact, including the use of Auto Select with the refresh rate. The Helio G99 isn’t exactly the most power-efficient chip out there, so it’s impressive that we got nearly 22 hours of battery in the PCMark Work 3.0 battery life test. I can attest to this in the real world since I barely charged the tablet during a month of use.
Should You Buy the realme Pad 2?
At P13,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and P17,999 for the 8GB+256GB variant, the realme Pad 2 brings many upgrades over its predecessor. Its larger display with a 120Hz refresh rate and its quad speakers bring a more immersive experience for content consumption. The MediaTek Helio G99 processor combined with realme UI 4.0 for Pad brings a smoother user experience and speedy operation for most tasks. Its biggest strength is its battery life thanks to its big battery coupled with software optimizations.
Each of those features may seem like a standard feature by itself, but realme clearly made the realme Pad 2 more than the sum of its parts. It truly is designed to inspire.
Pros
- Bigger screen while keeping the same 2000 x 1200 resolution and adding 120Hz refresh rate support
- Its Glowing Splice Design can turn heads
- microSD card support is great for storing more files
- LTE support helps its on-the-go use case
- A good 8MP front camera for video calls
- The MediaTek Helio G99 brings on the performance for most tasks
- Good software optimizations thanks to realme UI 4.0 for Pad
- Multi-Screen Collaboration features are welcome
- Exceptional battery life and fast enough charging
Cons
- 450 nits of peak brightness in Sunlight mode feels lacking
- The lack of first-party accessories makes it less flexible; needs to get them from third-party vendors
- Its 5MP rear camera is just fine for scanning documents. That’s it.
- Android tablet apps are a question mark to me
- A limited number of realme phones can support the Multi-Screen Collaboration features
The realme Pad 2 is available in two colors: Inspiration Green and Imagination Grey. It retails for P13,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and P17,999 for the 8GB+256GB variant. You can get one offline in realme Concept Stores and authorized retailers nationwide. It is also available online via e-commerce platforms Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.
