What matters

A portable screen for computer software and a tablet-led desk setup solve different problems. Both devices provide a large portable display and tablet apps, but connecting a cable does not make their roles interchangeable. Decide first whether the work must stay on your computer or whether the tablet's apps can complete it.

Key differences

  • Xiaomi Pad 9 Pro Max receives a compatible computer or other host's video signal through DP input. The host still runs the work. On Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, DeX Extended Mode instead extends the tablet's app workspace to an external monitor. That is tablet-workspace output, not a matching DP input for a computer.
  • Xiaomi's reported DP input ceiling is up to the advertised 3.4K and 120Hz, requiring a compatible DP-output host and a full-function USB-C cable. Its 144Hz panel refresh is a different specification, not proof that it accepts a 144Hz input. Treat the input figures as reported limits, not a result measured across every host.
  • The Xiaomi ordinary-screen edition has a 13.3-inch display; the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra has a 14.6-inch AMOLED display with refresh up to 120Hz. A larger diagonal does not establish greater work efficiency, and neither screen size nor panel refresh demonstrates equivalent external-video input support.
  • The Xiaomi ordinary-screen edition went on sale in China on September 7, 2026. The highest paired configuration covered here is 16GB RAM with 512GB storage. The soft-light 1TB model is a different edition and is excluded: do not transfer its pixel-resolution specifications or test results to the ordinary-screen model, or assume every memory and storage combination is offered.

Who it is for

  • Consider Xiaomi as a companion display when your required software must keep running on a compatible computer. Try that exact host and cable before buying, and make sure the tablet can sit where you need it. Receiving the computer's picture does not turn its desktop software into a tablet app.
  • Consider the Galaxy when its tablet apps can do the job and you want to spread that work across the tablet and an external monitor. Test the actual apps and connection you plan to use. DeX is not a guarantee that desktop-only software can be replaced.
  • Keep an adequate existing screen or tablet when neither arrangement improves a task you actually do. Neither is a general performance or value winner, and neither setup guarantees a desktop-software replacement.

Watch-outs

  • Video arriving at the Xiaomi screen does not establish that touch controls will travel back to every host. Universal touch return, input latency and a complete host-driver compatibility matrix are unverified. Check your operating system, host video output and cable rather than relying on the USB-C connector's shape.
  • Price the usable setup, not just the tablet. Xiaomi companion-display use needs a compatible host, cable and workable physical arrangement. The Galaxy includes an S Pen, while the Book Cover Keyboard Slim is optional; add a keyboard, external monitor and connection items only as required. No comparable current US total is established, and no verified US offering or price is available here for the China Xiaomi edition. A currency conversion would not create one.
  • No verified exact-device or chip benchmark results support a performance ranking here, and there is no matched panel test. Keep the ordinary-screen edition, its paired configuration and the reported input limits separate from claims about other models.