Hyderabad: The consumer technology space has found a renewed interest in the tablet market. Manufacturers have been pushing Android tablets equipped with flagship-level chipsets. However, most of that power stays unutilised as the software experience hinders users from using these devices to their maximum potential. Xiaomi is trying to solve this problem, at least in the gaming space.
The Chinese electronics company has introduced the WinPlay engine, a system-level feature that integrates cross-platform compatibility between Hyper OS and Windows gaming. In simple terms, it will let users play PC games on an Android tablet.
The feature has been specifically designed for the Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro 12.4. Zhang Guoquan, Director of Xiaomi Mobile System Software Department, explains that the WinPlay engine creates a virtual environment on the tablet that supports PC games while offering high performance and stability. Users can access games from platforms like Steam or download them directly to enjoy the gaming experience on the tablet, Guoquan adds.
The WinPlay engine claims to support a variety of gaming peripherals, including a mouse, keyboard, and console controller. Xbox controllers also support Haptics with the tablet. Meanwhile, the machine also supports multiplayer gaming with up to four people.
Optimising Windows games on Android does not come without compromises. However, Xiaomi claims that its internal tests reveal only 2.9 per cent of GPU performance loss through WinPlay. "Taking Tomb Raider 9 as an example, it runs at an average of 45 frames, and the power consumption of the whole machine is only 8.3W, which is comparable to running native games on a tablet," Guoquan says.
To handle essential APIs, image rendering, and command execution, Xiaomi has implemented a tri-layer virtualisation system, achieving a seamless user experience with minimal resource usage, the executive adds. The intelligent resource allocation system claims to optimise gaming performance by minimising system resource load for seamless gameplay from loading to rendering.
Notably, WinPlay currently only supports Windows games on Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro and does not support standard Windows applications. The company plans to refine the feature based on user feedback and has not announced a timeline for the release of a stable version. The beta program for Pad 6S Pro 12.4 users, running on Hyper OS 2 Beta, is currently open for those who want to try the new feature ahead of the stable release.
