What's New with Pipo for Summer 2014?

[rrileypm]

In the last week or so, we've seen some last firmware updates for Pipo's RK3188 tablets...and we are seeing what's next in Pipo's lineup from our vendors.

Pipo is branching off into two different directions with their new offerings with both the RK3288 processor and the Mediatek 6592 and 8382 processors. I'm looking forward to further development of the Pipo products. I've been playing around with the MTK ROM's and I'm itching to get started on an RK3288 ROM as soon as I can get my hands on firmware.

Here is a batch of devices I'm looking at for this summer's RileyROM's:

P1 - 9.7" with RK3288

Geekbuying Link

P8 - 7.9" with RK3288

Geekbuying Link

T9 - 8.9" with MTK6592 Octa Core

Geekbuying Link

U7 - 7.9" with MTK8382 Quad Core

Geekbuying Link

One thing that's missing is a 10.1" model with the new processors. Considering the M9 Pro has been such a successful seller...I wonder if they've forgotten their most popular size.

All of these new tablets have merit. My friend Eric at Geekbuying.com told me they have very good performance. I'm leaning toward the P1 and T9...simply because my last several tablets have been of the iPad Mini form factor, and I would like something bigger this time.

Has anyone else been looking at these new tablets? Have you considered an order? Which devices are you leaning towards?

We will have to see whether Pipo has improved upon their already good quality. I have a hunch that I will be sticking with the Pipo brand as my main focus, as I've done this past year.

[giouncino]

Pipo P1 3G is the most interesting one for me. 9.7" retina display is the best choice for internet surfing and reading...
P1 will be my m6pro killer!

[[email protected]]

US Reseller

iProTablet -- is one of the first USA resellers for both Pipo and Ramos and will have stock of the Pipo P1 the second week of June plus have 2-day shipping

[Axios]

Ahem....

Actually.... frankly speaking, after the (lack of) support experienced about the M8HD, I frankly doubt I will buy again a product from PIPO....

If it wasn't for RRileypm I would still use a half-messed-up JB rom, much less reactive and far more battery consuming than the KK one.

But, even Riley's work and expertise has a limit and, as we have seen, given the kernel used is quite old, some improvements cannot be done (deep sleep, charging "issue" e some other minor, but important, things)... I am obviously speaking about the M8HD.

So... I am really not convinced about Pipo's overall quality, since the end-user satisfaction is not only based on hardware potential, but also software optimization and (at least a little bit) continued technical support and/or updates for a reasonable time after the original purchase... or not?

[hairydog]

Pipo P1 3G is the most interesting one for me. 9.7" retina display is the best choice for internet surfing and reading...
P1 will be my m6pro killer!

I would prefer an 11" rather than 9.7" to replace the 10.1" There is not a lot of competition at the 10"+ size till you pay a lot more money.

[giouncino]

I would prefer an 11" rather than 9.7" to replace the 10.1" There is not a lot of competition at the 10"+ size till you pay a lot more money.

this is due to the fact that for most of the people 11" is too big to be "portable", and in my opinion 9.7" is the best trade off between large screen and portability...

[jaydude]

Ahem....

Actually.... frankly speaking, after the (lack of) support experienced about the M8HD, I frankly doubt I will buy again a product from PIPO....

If it wasn't for RRileypm I would still use a half-messed-up JB rom, much less reactive and far more battery consuming than the KK one.

But, even Riley's work and expertise has a limit and, as we have seen, given the kernel used is quite old, some improvements cannot be done (deep sleep, charging "issue" e some other minor, but important, things)... I am obviously speaking about the M8HD.

So... I am really not convinced about Pipo's overall quality, since the end-user satisfaction is not only based on hardware potential, but also software optimization and (at least a little bit) continued technical support and/or updates for a reasonable time after the original purchase... or not?

My thoughts exactly and I have the same tablet. Nothing from PiPo ever again.

[rrileypm]

While I really like the case of the M8HD...the same as the M8 Pro, I've heard of some really strange hardware problems with it. It was plagued with screen flickering issues throughout all of the firmware updates.

For me, though....the M8 Pro, M7 Pro, M6 Pro and U8 have been solid performers. And while I don't own an M9 Pro....I'm convinced I also stands in the same category.

There have been individual exceptions of lemons due to quality control slips.

I would hope that they have learned a few things this time around.

I currently have a punch list of fixes they need to make before they stop supporting 3188 firmware altogether.

[elmachinegun]

Here is a batch of devices I'm looking at for this summer's RileyROM's:

P1 - 9.7" with RK3288

Geekbuying Link

P8 - 7.9" with RK3288

Geekbuying Link

T9 - 8.9" with MTK6592 Octa Core

Geekbuying Link

U7 - 7.9" with MTK8382 Quad Core

Geekbuying Link


All of these new tablets have merit. My friend Eric at Geekbuying.com told me they have very good performance. I'm leaning toward the P1 and T9...simply because my last several tablets have been of the iPad Mini form factor, and I would like something bigger this time.

Has anyone else been looking at these new tablets? Have you considered an order? Which devices are you leaning towards?

We will have to see whether Pipo has improved upon their already good quality. I have a hunch that I will be sticking with the Pipo brand as my main focus, as I've done this past year.

I see that the T9 has a USB and DC dual charging port. I think this is a good step towards the right direction from Pipo.

But I agree with GIO. I like the 9.7" format better. And would like to know if the P1 has this interesting feature. The official specs does not mention nothing about it.

Riley, could you ask your friend Eric if he knows something about it? Definitely I could order one of those to replace my "old" M9Pro.

Geekbuying has some interesting prices and the possibility to pay thru Paypal makes it even more appealing.

Maybe I was lucky, but I bought 3 Pipo tablets. One M9Pro for me, One M8Pro for my wife and a M7Pro for my kid. All of them worked fine from day one and still do. Thanks to Freaktab and all the people who share knowledge and efforts to make our devices perform better.

[giouncino]

I see that the T9 has a USB and DC dual charging port. I think this is a good step towards the right direction from Pipo.

But I agree with GIO. I like the 9.7" format better. And would like to know if the P1 has this interesting feature. The official specs does not mention nothing about it.

Riley, could you ask your friend Eric if he knows something about it? Definitely I could order one of those to replace my "old" M9Pro.

Geekbuying has some interesting prices and the possibility to pay thru Paypal makes it even more appealing.

Maybe I was lucky, but I bought 3 Pipo tablets. One M9Pro for me, One M8Pro for my wife and a M7Pro for my kid. All of them worked fine from day one and still do. Thanks to Freaktab and all the people who share knowledge and efforts to make our devices perform better.

I'm almost sure that P1 will share the same 7.4Volts battery. For this voltage is impossible to charge from USB 5V

[elmachinegun]

I'm almost sure that P1 will share the same 7.4Volts battery. For this voltage is impossible to charge from USB 5V

This are the specs for the P1 (according to Geekbuying web page):

Operating System:	Android 4.4
Model:	PiPO P1
Announced:	201405
Product Type:	Tablet PC
Keyboard:	Touch Screen
Display Technology:	Retina IPS capacitive touch screen
Screen Size:	9.7 inch
Max Resolution:	2048*1536
CPU Manufacturer:	Rockchip
CPU Model:	RK3288 Quad Core
CPU Speed:	1.8GHz
RAM / Technology:	DDR3
RAM Installed Size:	2GB
Hard Drive Type:	NAND FAST FLASH
Hard Drive Capacity:	32GB
PCMCIA Expansion:	T-FLASH(Support 32GB MAX)
Camera:	2.0MP+8.0MP
HDMI:	Yes
3G:	NO
Bluetooth:	Yes
GPS:	Yes
G-Sensor:	Yes
Audio:	Built in stereo speakers/Built in Microphone
Software:	Youtube/Facebook/Twitter/MSN/Android market/Skype/Calculator/Google Mail/Google maps/iReader/Quick Office
Language:	Multi-language
Battery Type:	Li-ion 10000mAh
Battery / Run Time(up to):	about 3-7 hours
Power Device Type:	AC Adapter, 100-240V
Charging Voltage:	DC 5V 2A
Color:	Silver
Item Dimensions/ W*D*H:	243*190*10mm
Net Weight:	645g

If the T9 can have dual charging port I guess P1 should do to!

[rrileypm]

They started doing that with the U8. It's pretty nice to not have to lug around a charger...especially that big M6 Pro charger.

[giouncino]

This are the specs for the P1 (according to Geekbuying web page):

Operating System:	Android 4.4
Model:	PiPO P1
Announced:	201405
Product Type:	Tablet PC
Keyboard:	Touch Screen
Display Technology:	Retina IPS capacitive touch screen
Screen Size:	9.7 inch
Max Resolution:	2048*1536
CPU Manufacturer:	Rockchip
CPU Model:	RK3288 Quad Core
CPU Speed:	1.8GHz
RAM / Technology:	DDR3
RAM Installed Size:	2GB
Hard Drive Type:	NAND FAST FLASH
Hard Drive Capacity:	32GB
PCMCIA Expansion:	T-FLASH(Support 32GB MAX)
Camera:	2.0MP+8.0MP
HDMI:	Yes
3G:	NO
Bluetooth:	Yes
GPS:	Yes
G-Sensor:	Yes
Audio:	Built in stereo speakers/Built in Microphone
Software:	Youtube/Facebook/Twitter/MSN/Android market/Skype/Calculator/Google Mail/Google maps/iReader/Quick Office
Language:	Multi-language
Battery Type:	Li-ion 10000mAh
Battery / Run Time(up to):	about 3-7 hours
Power Device Type:	AC Adapter, 100-240V
Charging Voltage:	DC 5V 2A
Color:	Silver
Item Dimensions/ W*D*H:	243*190*10mm
Net Weight:	645g

If the T9 can have dual charging port I guess P1 should do to!

I missed that point...
It's strange that they changed the batteries too wrt m6pro

[ytheleus]

Pipo T9 my review

I have had a Pipo T9 for a couple of weeks but I haven't tested everything in great detail, too busy using it.
My (independent) thoughts below, in case they are of use.

1) Impressed with look, feel and general responsiveness, it's slimmer than I was expecting from pictures and came with a nice black stand/case. Closing the case puts the tablet to sleep.
2) Installed software is 4.2.2 with phablet style pull down menus, gapps, playstore etc, no issues except it's not rooted. The only 'Chinese' language app is QQ and there's a background 3D weather app running I'd like to get rid of. Fair selection of installed apps to start with. It was ready to go out of the box, essentially, apart from the usual personalisation and de-cluttering.
3) Even with the CPU/temp limiting option on, all the games I've tried perform flawlessly (eg Ridge Racer Slipstream), and there are no detectable hotspots on the rear even after long gaming sessions. It appears to have much power in reserve and the processor is set to max at 1.6 GHz rather than the 2.0 GHz it's supposedly capable of. GPUs are 4 x Mali 450MP, CPUs are 4 x A7. How that makes it octo core except to the marketing department I will never know.
4) Antutu is nearly 28k at 1.6 Ghz, not sure if there's any funny business going on but with an octo core it hardly seems necessary.
5) All the gadgets and gizmos appear to work, eg GPS, FM radio, BT4, compass.
6) Cameras are OK, wifi reception is good.
7) Screen brightness/contrast/view angles are good.
8) I get a day's heavy use out of each full battery charge, YMMV.

Negatives
9) The SDHC slot, SIMM slot and micro USB socket are behind a detachable cover. It's imo a very poor design decision to put the USB slot under here too. It may be a constraint of the motherboard or something, but it's not a plus and what do I do with the cover if I have to detach it for charging by USB or using MHL/HDMI? It's also possible to push a micro SDHC card right inside the case if you get the angle wrong. Don't ask how I know this. Install an SDHC card precisely in the plane of the tablet, pressed against the flat lip revealed by removing the detachable cover and it clicks in properly.
10) The stereo speakers are next to each other. If I was going to use them to watch a movie or something, I'd prefer them placed L and R in landscape orientation to provide better separation. But I never really use them, so it's not a big deal. Sound quality from case speakers is just OK.
11) The sound levels are set a little low for me, I use headphones that need a decent amount of drive. There are ways around it but..
12) Still waiting for custom ROMs, but they will no doubt come. Might wait for the official 4.4 kernel before I start messing, it's OK as it stands.
13) I suspect the metal backplate is live (or not sufficiently grounded) during charging with the supplied adapter, because it tingles my fingles when it's plugged in. It might just be a component in the charge circuit vibrating. Not dangerous, just odd, and may not be typical.

Overall for the price I think it's a massive bargain (I paid ~UK£165 delivered from HK), if this is the tab format you want and if the negatives aren't too big a turn off. They don't really affect my use of the tab, so I'm absolutely delighted. I predict popularity.

[M9ProPipo]

bigger battery

I'm almost sure that P1 will share the same 7.4Volts battery. For this voltage is impossible to charge from USB 5V

Voltage doubling circuits are possible, but I would guess not what they are doing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_doubler

Perhaps the spec'd 10000 mAh battery is 3 x 3400mAhs in parallel instead of 2 in series?