The Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi unveiled its new tablet at an event in Beijing, and the device is slightly thicker and heavier than Apple's iPad mini 4 but retails for a more affordable price.

The successor to its MiPad tablet, which launched in May of last year, the new MiPad 2 is has the same screen size of Apple's comparable tablet at 7.9 inches with 2048 by 1536 pixel resolution.

The tablet has a full metal body, weighing in at 322 grams and is 6.95 mm thick, compared with the 298-gram light and 6.1 mm thin iPad mini 4. However, Xiaomi's new tablet is 38 grams lighter and 18 percent slimmer than its plastic-bodied predecessor.

The MiPad 2 is powered by Intel's new 64-bit quad-core 2.25 GHz "Cherry Trail" Atom X5-Z8500 processor, with 2 GB of RAM and an Intel HD Graphics GPU.

The tablet has an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5 megapixel front-facing camera. It features a 6190 mAh battery and a new USB Type-C port for recharging.

Xiaomi's MiPad 2 runs on the company's version of Android operating system, called MIUI 7. The MiPad 2 comes with a special reading mode that reduces the amount of blue light emitted from the screen to ease the amount of strain on the user's eyes during long periods of usage. The device also has a smart button system that deactivates the keys when the user holds both sides of the tablet.

The MiPad 2 comes in two sleek colors: dark gray and champagne gold. The 16 GB version retails for $156, whereas the 64 GB option retails for $203.

Xiaomi also revealed its new Redmi Note 3 smartphone, which also features a metal body instead of plastic. The device has a 5.5-inch 1080p display and a rear fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone in just 0.3 seconds, and it is thinner and lighter despite its 4000 mAh battery.

The Redmi Note 3 runs on MIUI 7 and features 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage for $140, or 32 GB for $172.

Source: Digital Trends