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Different Magic - PIPO M8 Dual Core Tablet Hands-on Review

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First, I have to say that I am really very excited that PIPO has chosen me, along with 19 other people, to review this new tablet. I’ve become quite a fan of the device as soon as I laid my eyes on it. As I always go for uniqueness and the feel of black technology (Sorry, Apple!), the PIPO M8 gives me just everything I need!
For people who have never heard of this brand, it is a company focusing on making differentiated tablets in the Chinese markets. It is the first Chinese company to market a 7 inch tablet with 1280*800 IPS display, an 8.9 inch PLS tablet as well as this 9.4 IPS display device we are testing today. As far as I am concerned, this marketing strategy has been quite successful, as PIPO has attracted tens of thousands of fans in just a few months’ time since U1 hit the market.
Highlights
9.4” IPS Capacitive Touchscreen, 1280*800
Slim Magazine-like Design
Support WCDMA/GSM Mobile Internet (Only the 3G version)
Android 4.1 OS
RK3066 Dual Core 1.6GHZ processor, quad-core of Mali-400MP
1GB RAM, 16GB ROM
5.0 Mega-pixels AF Camera
Front facing Stereo Speakers
Bluetooth 2.1
Support OTG, HDMI
Support 2160p video playback
Specifications
Operating System: Android 4.1.1
Model: PIPO M8
Display Technology: IPS Capacitive touch screen
Screen Size: 9.4 inch
Resolution: 1280*800
CPU Manufacturer: Rockchip
CPU Model: RK3066 Dual core A9 Chipset with Mali-400MP4
CPU Speed: 1.6GHz
RAM:1GB [email protected]
Hard Drive Capacity: 16GB
PCMCIA Expansion: T-FLASH (Support 32GB MAX)
Camera: 2MP+5MP Auto Focus
HDMI: HDMI1.4
3G: Internal 3G for 3G version, external 3G for the WIFI version
Bluetooth: Yes
GPS:NO
G-Sensor:Yes
Gyroscope: Yes
Audio: Built in stereo speakers (frontal)/ Built in Microphone
Language:Multi-language support
Battery Type: Li-ion, 6500mAh
Charging Voltage: DC 9V - 2.5A
Color: Black
Item Dimensions/ W*D*H:240x 172 x 9.0mm
Net Weight: 520g
Connectors
Ports: 2 x Micro USB port (USB Host and USB data port)
1 x Micro SD card slot
1 x 2.5mm DC input (9V, 2.5A)
1 x Audio jack
1 x Mini HDMI port
Communications
Wireless Connection:WIFI 802.11 b/g/n; WIFI+3G for the 3G version
Bluetooth 2.1
Retail Package
I received a gigantic delivery package last Friday, within which there are a slim paper back box which holds the tablet and a warranty certificate, another smaller but thicker paper box which holds the fittings and the manual for this tablet. A protection cover which is more likely an optional fitting more than a bundled one.
And above are all the standard fittings for the tablet.
Design
There’s no questioning that PIPO has come up with a stand-out look for this tablet. From the second you see the M8, it’s clear that the company is making a statement about how you’ll live and work with the device. The basic shape calls to mind a folded book or magazine, which is really comfortable to look at even though it feels very different. The device sports a 9.4-inch screen and weighs in at 520g, but it feels lighter in your hands than other tablets on the market because of the way the shape allows weight to be distributed. The tablet is only 9.02mm at its thickest point, and tapers down to a narrow 4.36mm.
Whether or not you warm up to this design is probably a matter of taste, but I found myself a big fan of the magazine shape, in both two-handed and single-hand settings, as well as on a flat surface. The beveled shape makes typing slightly easier when you have the M8 on a desk.
Besides the big screen up front, the M8 features a 2.0 Mega Pixels Front-facing camera, an ambient light detection sensor which enables auto-brightness of the display, and two speaker gates. This is the first time I’ve seen any tablets putting speaker gates on the front, but this is actually a very smart move, as you could never block them again wherever you put your tablet, Both the clarity of the outer sound the stereo speakers produces and its volume is very good, better than any other Chinese branded tablets I have tested.
Most of the ports and all the hardware keys are located on the upper edge, including a menu key, an ESC key. a Micro SD card slot which supports cards up to 32GB, a Micro USB Host connector, a Micro USB data port, a Mini HDMI interface, an LED notification light and a DC charging jack. The plug PIPO includes is of the 9V-2.5A standard, which ensures great charging efficiency.
​
On the left edge lies a 3.5mm audio jack, and on the right a Power/Standby switch which is artistically designed.
On the back you will find a 5 Mega-pixels AF camera which is able to shoot fairly sharp photos, another outstanding feature for the gorgeous device. All of the ports and buttons on the device feel very reasonably placed and easy to find.
In all, the M8 is a distinct device with a lot going for it in terms of industrial design, and there is almost no misstep here that makes the device underwhelming. The skin-feel metal back cover gives the device all the feel of expensiveness it needs, even comparing to those Apple and Samsung tablets which are priced many times more.
Display
The front is occupied by a 9.4” 1280x800 pixels screen, surrounded by fairly thin bezel. The screen resolution is the main gripe to be held against the M8, in this day and age of flagship slates with 1080p displays and above. Having said that, it is a very good screen in terms of colors, contrast ratio and viewing angles. The display brightness is also really satisfactory, meaning that you would be able to use the M8 outside even on a sunny day.
Internals
Inside the M8, you will find a healthy dose of familiar Android guts. The device is powered by Rockchip RK3066 dual core A9 chipset, running at 1.6GHZ, meaning you’ll get solid performance on all almost all applications. According to previous tests with other tablets powered by this chipset, RK3066 is arguably the most powerful dual core ARM processor. The M8 has 1GB of RAM onboard and 16GB of internal storage. The device also sports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and an array of sensors (gyro, light, accelerometer, etc.).
Software
​
Most tablets these days must be judged on their software. In the case of Android Jelly Bean tablets, that’s not exactly a Herculean effort.
PIPO is no different in the sense that the company has opted for slight tweaks in the software rather than a major overhaul. The M8 utilizes largely the same build of Jelly Bean as other tablets (like the Galaxy Tab 8.9), though there are a few notable differences.
First, PIPO has designed a customized M8 homescreen which does not have a portrait mode, this can be quite annoying sometimes when you exit an portrait-default application like an E-reader or games such as Temple Run.
The widgets and icons of the regular applications have been revised to fit the custom UI. Having seen lots of stock Android UIs, I find myself quite a fan of those cute, crystal-like icons. As the M8 has no hardware controls for volume adjustment, PIPO has put the virtual volume rocker in the permanent android status bar, along with a screenshot button and the regular ECS key, Home key and Task Switcher.
PIPO has also preinstalled a few applications and games on the M8, but one of them PIPO-exclusive. You can easily find them free in any android market app.
Cameras
The rear-facing 5.0 Mega-pixels camera does a great job of capturing images — if you’re into holding a nearly 10-inch tablet up while you snap away. As I’ve said in many other tablet reviews, taking photos with the cameras on tablets are completely silly to me, even though I actually have seen quite a few Chinese and Japanese people doing that in public. I certainly won’t. On the other hand, the front-facing camera here is a step up from most other models, and I’m happy to see PIPO trying to improve the specs on what is normally an afterthought.
Just know this: even though the rear camera is probably the best I have seen on any Chinese tablet, it won’t replace a real camera or decent smartphone option — mostly due to the size of the device and awkwardness in use.
You can also capture 480P videos with the M8, though this seems even more bizarre to me than snapping photos. Quality was solid, though the device’s awkward size made it tough to get steady content.
Performance
As I have mentioned above, the RK3066 chipset, although seemingly a little outdated as a bunch of quad-corers have already hit the market, is still able to provide more than enough power to run the device smoothly over a variety of applications.
Some benchmark scores of the M8 and the comparison to other dual core devices.
In terms of General performance, the device seemed speedy running graphically intense games. And the experience of video playback is also very pleasant as the chipset can easily supports all formats of videos to at least 1080P. Thanks to the updates Google has made for Android4.1, the responsiveness and smoothness is better than ever. It doesn’t pale even compared to the Apple iOS.
Connectivity
As for connectivity, M8 has probably the best WIFI reception of all Chinese tablets I've tested, Online video streaming is possible even when you are 10 meters and some walls away from the WIFI router.
Besides, M8 also has built-in Bluetooth, which is a rare feature for Chinese slates. The WIFI version of the tablet can also get access to 3G network through connecting a 3G network card to the device through an OTG cable. And the 3G version has built-in 3G module which supports WCDMA/GSM SIM card. As I've only received a WIFI version, I cannot tell you how well the 3G module works on the M8.
Battery Life
Battery life on the M8 seemed solid to me, as the device features a 6500mAh rechargeable Li-PO battery. In my intense 720p video playback test, the M8 lasted nearly 8 hours, which is quite something considering that most Chinese tablets can hardly stand 5 hours of screen-on use. However, I did notice a more pronounced drain on the battery when the device was sleeping than my Tegra2 powered Samsung Galaxy Tab8.9 and Motorola XOOM, and I felt it fell short of competitors like the Ainol NOVO10 (8000mAh battery) and FSL Fast (8000mAh battery) in terms of overall battery longevity.
Another annoying issue is that the device does not support charging under the shutdown state, even though the charging efficiency with the 9V-2.5A plug is quite amazing (A full charge only takes as short as 3 hours).
Wrap-up
Good stuff:
Fascinating industrial design
Great looking display
Capable cameras
Excellent front facing stereo speakers
Solid battery life
Wonderful WIFI reception
Not so good stuff:
Incapability of charging under a shutdown state
Pricier than alternative options
Android slates are mostly competing on specs and price these days, rather than with design and overall experience.
The M8 goes for RMB1199 ($193) from PIPO, and, granted, this is $200 less than the market-leading iPad Mini, or the original 9.4 inch Sony Tablet S which is powered by the quad-core Tegra3 chipset. But for the same $200 price you can get the Exynos Qua-core Ramos W30, or the brand new Ployer MOMO19 with quad-core A31 and 2GB of ram.
The M8 does offer some features to differentiate itself from the competition, though, apart from the distinctive looks, like the very capable cameras and battery. Other than that, you can find plenty of decent Android tablets with this screen resolution and processing power for even less.
Overall, those who'd appreciate the more distinctive, elegant look will find the M8 right up their alley. But for those who just want a cheap Chinese tablet with a big screen and decent processing power, there might be other options.

thanks for your report.
questions:
how fast is the gpu clock for the mali mp400mp4 in the m8, ist the clock at 533 mhz???

Thanks for your question, the GPU is clocked at 399MHZ, powerful enough to run all Android games smoothly.
Sent from my XT910 using xda premium

against cube u30gt how does it compete?
thanks

Okay, ive got one for over a week now, the M* 3G (built in), and I must say......it rocks! Can work for about 6 Hrs without recharging, Wifi is perfect, design is a beauty,Im living in the Netherlands and today I tried (without any hopes of working) my built in 3G sim...guess what, no problem, worked right away. Graphic Speed is more than sufficient. The screenres. is perfect, tried to stream from my QNAP 469 (Twonky & Serviio) and the QNAP apps, worked like charm ( besides the mkv of 20+ gb.....but that's normal). When you buy this Tablet, beware of the fact that the OTG cable can be defect (as was mine...) when i tried to hook up a keyboard which i ordered in a sleeve, after replacing it it worked fine (also mouse and HDD). Sufficient power out for the HDD. Conclusion for me (mind...non-gamer, mediafreak yess) for about $185 ex. shipping: A WINNER!

For me, m8 is the better choice, u30gt is much porkier. And I prefer the design of m8.
Sent from my XT910 using xda premium

the 3G version, $185? r u serious? It's priced at RMB1,399 here in China, which is above $200....
Sent from my XT910 using xda premium

You should mention in the negatives that you can't update the android OS by OTA you have to do a whole procedure to do a system update via your pc (so if you have a linux based pc you are pretty much sc....d). In my case I have an Andersson ADT 2.6 which is a rebranded Pipo M8
Sent from my ADT 2.6 using Tapatalk 4

M8 replacement
For those who love their M8 Pro, like I do ...and would like a viable replacement someday, look to the M8HD.
It is the same case with a 10.1" brighter screen installed; thinner screen surrounds; bigger battery.
Pretty sure the M8 Pro is being/has been discontinued. I hated that they might give up the M8 size and style.
Not so, thankfully!
Could be one day we will see a RK3288 in the M8 case. Now that would be nice! ?:good:
Edit on 6/28/15
Amazing that I can still edit this post after so long. My M8 Pro finally died a quiet death. I was going to give it to a family member now that I have my Cube T9; decided to update the RileyRom, and bricked the tablet. Dead android on back; frozen on screen with a triangle above him marking his demise.
Boo hoo! There was a lot about the M8 Pro I really liked!
?

The battery is not even close to what the review is referring. Its last for 2 hours only in daily use and it was something like that from the begging. I have the tablet for 1 and a half year and after 6 months it started to hang, freez, you hard reset it and does not come on easily. As a conclusion DO NOT BUY IT!!! NEVER NEVER!!!

Cube Talk 8 and U27GT Review

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There is no shortage of 8-inch tablets available today. From budget to high-end, from Android to Windows, you won’t have trouble finding something. Eying for the market craze over 8-inchers, Cube recently released not one, but two new 8-inch Android tablets: The Cube Talk 8 (U27GT-3G) and the U27GT. As the name would suggest, the two have similar design and specs.
Main specs
•Android 4.4.2
•8-inch 1280*800 IPS screen
•MediaTek MT8382 Quad Core 1.3GHz (Talk 8) / MediaTek MT8127 Quad Core 1.3GHZ (U27GT)
•1GB RAM + 8GB ROM
•Cameras: 0.3MP & 5.0MP (Talk 8) / 0.3MP & 2MP (U27GT)
•3G / Phone (Talk 8)
•OTG support
•Micro SD card support
•Bluetooth
•HDMI (U27GT)
•GPS function / FM Radio (Talk 8)
Design and Build​
Both the Cube Talk 8 and the U27GT lack the understated class of the latest Galaxy Tab S and the sheer premium feel of the iPad Mini, with details such as a glossy white plastic back panel and rim feeling dated and unappealing.
As ever with Cube's designs, though, the Talk 8 and U27GT somehow feel sturdy and well-built despite their cheap and ugly appearances. You can imagine them surviving a fair few drops with scarcely a scratch to show for it - though I didn't put this to the test.
These two 8-inch tablets are clearly intended to be held and used in portrait mode first and foremost. The orientation of the Cube branding and the boot screen animation tell you as much, as does the way the tablet sits comfortably in a single handed grip when aligned this way.
Keeping with Google's reference Nexus designs, the Cube Talk 8 and U27GT don’t have any physical controls in the front, which means you will need to use the virtual controls in the status bar for “Home”, “Back” and “Menu”. And the only way you can wake the display is by pressing the power button on the top edge.
You will find a VGA front-facing camera on the upper bezel of both tablets, but the Talk 8’s front panel also hosts an earpiece, a proximity sensor as well as a light sensor along with the camera.
All the hardware controls and connectors are hosted on the top edge of both tablets, including a 3.5mm audio jack, a Micro USB data/charging port, a volume rocker and the aforementioned power/standby key. The U27GT has a Mini HDMI port, which allows you to connect the tablet to a bigger screen. The Talk 8, unfortunately, doesn’t have HDMI on board.
Both tablets weigh 360 grams, which is significantly heavier than the more premium Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 (298g), and could be a challenge to one-handed grip for a long period of time.
Display and Sound
The 1280*800 display of these two 8-inch slates may seem underwhelming compared to the Full-HD or Quad-HD displays we’ve seen on the flagship tablets of similar size. But viewing angles, color saturation and contrast ratios are all excellent thanks to the IPS technology.
Sound quality on the Cube Talk 8 and U27GT is fine through a decent set of headphones. The speakers are pretty loud, but the lack of clarity and stereo effect is still very much present.
User Interface and Apps
If you know anything about Cube, you know that when it comes to software on their tablets, there isn’t a lot of proprietary software along with the stock Android interface. A set of Google applications and the Cube application store are the only preinstalled apps on both the Talk 8 and U27GT.
Performance
Both tablets use MediaTek solutions, the Cube Talk 8 runs on a MediaTek MT8382 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz, while the U27GT runs on a more powerful MT8127 quad-core chipset, also clocked at 1.3GHZ. The main difference between the two is GPU. The Talk 8 features Mali-400MP2, which is a little bit underwhelming compared to the Mali-450MP4 in the U27GT. Both tablets are equipped with 1GB of RAM to help with multi-tasking.
For everyday tasks, the specs are suitable for both tablets. Flicking through homescreens is smooth, web browsing is quick and applications launch with little issue. Only when the CPUs are pushed to their limits should you begin to see signs of a struggle.
Running the gaming benchmarks, the Talk 8 scores a 2351 in the Ice Storm Extreme test putting it behind the U27GT (2362). In the Ice Storm test it scores a 3121 placing it around the performance of the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0.
The Talk 8 musters up a 17,242 score in the AnTuTu benchmark, very much the same as the score notched by the U27GT (17,368).
The Geekbench 3.0 benchmark, meanwhile, gives the Talk 8 a score of 1176 and the U27GT a score of 1,090, both are pretty respectable.
Other Benchmark results and comparisons
Benchmark score is one thing of course and running “Asphalt 7” there’s little signs of lag on both the U27GT and Talk 8.
The Talk 8 does struggle a little bit to run “Need for Speed 17”, but the U27GT doesn’t have the same problem.
Connectivity​
Both the Talk 8 and the U27GT have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. The Talk 8 tablet is promoted more as a complete device, which has both phone and tablet qualities. Thankfully, the voice-calling feature on the Talk 8 lives up to the expectation. The call quality was good and the tablet was able to latch on to cellular networks even in weak signal areas which came in handy at times. Besides, the Talk 8 also has some other useful features such as GPS and FM Radio, making it more of a phone than a tablet. Both models come in 8GB, with a Micro SD card slot available to expand the storage.
Cameras
I am not a massive fan of the idea of taking pictures with a tablet, to put it mildly, but if a manufacturer is going to include a camera it had better be decent. While the U27GT doesn’t have a decent rear-facing camera, the Talk 8 does.
What we're talking about here is a 5MP camera with no flash assistance. Like the rest of the Talk 8's specs it feels somewhat lacking from the get go, but the auto-focus system proves to be surprisingly accurate. The colors of the shots are obviously not as vivid as those come from a compact camera or high-end smartphone, but it is sharp enough for Facebook posts.
As for the U27GT, it is totally a different case. Photos taken in broad daylight can be pretty noisy, and part of the image can feel a little bit twisted.
The VGA front-facing camera on both the Talk 8 and U27GT is no match for the 2MP auto-focus camera found on the Cube Talk 9X, but they will get the job done being used for video-chatting, just remember to do it in sufficient ambient light.

Battery Life​
Both tablets pack a 4,500mAh Li-Po battery, which is pretty respectable for their size. Along with the power-efficient MediaTek Solutions, it really gives them a solid battery performance. In my video playback test, the Talk 8 loops a 720P video for 8 hours, 41 minutes until it automatically shut down due to battery drain, and the U27GT had a similar test result (8 hours, 13 minutes). Although still nowhere near the performances of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 (11 hours, 32 minutes) and the iPad Mini 2 (11 hours, 49 minutes), they both better most of the direct competitions such as the PIPO U8T (7 hours, 25 minutes) and PIPO T6 (6 hours, 19 minutes).
Both tablets can take you comfortably through 8 hours of mixed real-life use. After some benchmark tests and online video playback for 3 and a half hours on the U27GT, I was pleased to find that I was still left with 57% of battery.
Both of them are pretty fast chargers, too. An hour of charging added 31 per cent (from 5% to 36%) on the Talk 8, which is as good as I’ve seen in any Chinese tablet. If you do find yourself briefly short on power, it won’t take long to add enough to keep you going for a few hours or more.
Verdict​
The Talk 8’s retail price in China is RMB599 (USD99), and the U27GT at an even lower at RMB499 (USD85), pretty appealing to people with a tighter budget. The phone call functions and 3G access the Talk 8 has on board could be useful and decisive for some, but the significantly stronger graphic performance of the U27GT may also woo quite a number of potential buyers. With competitions such as the Chuwei VX8 and Colorfly G808 3G piled up, it remains a mystery whether they would live up to Cube’s expectations.
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Sent from my LG-F240L using XDA Free mobile app

Root
Info about rooting U27GT-3G :
Download "Root Genius" (http://www.shuame.com/en/root/)
On your tablet under Developer options enable "USB debugging" and disable "Verify apps over USB"
Connect the phone with your pc and in the pop up on the tablet enable "Always allow from this computer" and click ok.
No unplug the tablet, open "Root Genius" and follow the steps.
(the phone will restart many times and about 75% it will fail to root your device)
Re run the Root Genius a second time and it will root your device successful.
"Root Genius" installs by default "Kinguser".
To replace "Kinguser" with "SuperSU", download "SuperSU" and "Root Uninstaller", reboot phone.
Update "SuperSU"'s binary, and open "Root Uninstaller" (you will see SuperSU already try to block Kinguser, deny root permissions to Kinguser, accept on Root Uninstaler), and uninstall "Kinguser".
Reboot, ready.

Recovery?
Where to find custom recovery for this tablet please?
Thank you!

Isn't the Cube Talk 8 is the U27GT? I think they are the same model.

Helen Li said:
Isn't the Cube Talk 8 is the U27GT? I think they are the same model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's the same: Cube Talk 8 U27gt-3g
Sent from my HUAWEI G750-U10 using XDA Free mobile app

CWM Recovery for Talk 8h U27GT-3GHY
bm-zbemil said:
Where to find custom recovery for this tablet please?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find out "How to Install CWM Recovery" here. If you need help, contact me in PM.
Works perfect.
Have a nice day. :good:

mast3rf0x said:
You can find out "How to Install CWM Recovery" here. If you need help, contact me in PM.
Works perfect.
Have a nice day. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much my dear friend!
Sent from my HUAWEI G610-U00 using XDA Free mobile app

bm-zbemil said:
Thank you very much my dear friend!
Sent from my HUAWEI G610-U00 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you.
If you are interested I've added a new guide on "How to Root" this device.
"How to root Cube Talk 8H U27GT-3GHY"
Have a nice day!

Hi,
Unfortunately I bricked my U27GT. The normal wifi only edition. Can you sned me the stock rom of yours? I couldn't find it anywhere. I tried to flash another rom to it (the rom of the U27GT-S), but it didn't works, the flash process didn't start.
Thank you in advance!

Anybody knows if it is possible to use a Micro SDHC ?

Yes. I use a 32GB sandisk extreme card.

What micro sdhc speed is recomended?

I'm using 45mb/sec class 10 type

oh. i get crazy. I have the U27GT-3GHY Cube Talk 8H and I have only 1 GB userdata (apps). I tried to change EBR1+2 manually, with EBR-tweaker and I tried EBR from here New Primary Partitions for Mtk 6577/ 6582/ 6589 /6592 /8382. But each time I changed the userdata partition the storage was damaged after the 2. reboot.
Does anybody have a solution ? If not, the tab with 1GB apps-space is only good enough to surf around.

pogodancer said:
oh. i get crazy. I have the U27GT-3GHY Cube Talk 8H and I have only 1 GB userdata (apps). I tried to change EBR1+2 manually, with EBR-tweaker and I tried EBR from here New Primary Partitions for Mtk 6577/ 6582/ 6589 /6592 /8382. But each time I changed the userdata partition the storage was damaged after the 2. reboot.
Does anybody have a solution ? If not, the tab with 1GB apps-space is only good enough to surf around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There should be other roms which allow more app storage.

@ jupiter2012
I did not found other roms for the U27GT-3GHY. Do you have a link for me ?

pogodancer said:
oh. i get crazy. I have the U27GT-3GHY Cube Talk 8H and I have only 1 GB userdata (apps). I tried to change EBR1+2 manually, with EBR-tweaker and I tried EBR from here New Primary Partitions for Mtk 6577/ 6582/ 6589 /6592 /8382. But each time I changed the userdata partition the storage was damaged after the 2. reboot.
Does anybody have a solution ? If not, the tab with 1GB apps-space is only good enough to surf around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a patch-file in pda4.ru to change internal data to 4GB and usb to 1GB and other goodies besides. Time to brush up your Russian
http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=581685
I have actually account there so I can grab the files but 1st I'd need to get them working myself.

Not too much luck with all that so far. They indeed do have file which is meant to resize userdata to 4GB but it does not work in the SP flash tool, in fact after trying that you have to open the tablet and remove battery to un-brick it..
After trying various things I realized there are two Wi-fi versions. U27GT which most people seem to have and U27GTS which I and a few others have. Apparently recovery etc is NOT interchangeable between the two.
Also mast3rf0x manual CWM update does not work since U27GTS has UBIFS filesystem that's not supported by MTK droid tool.

It also seems that 99% of information out there requires using MTK droid tools so you're SOL if it won't work for you.

Cube Talk 8X OCTA hands-on review – Another cost-efficient 3G tablet

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Cube loves to make tablets with phone functions, and pumps them out in sizes and price points to suit almost anyone.
The all new mid-size model, the Talk 8X OCTA, sports a power-efficient octa-core processor paired with an 8-inch display and a moderate $84 suggested retail price. How does it stack up against similarly-sized rivals? We will take a look.
Before we begin, a note: Cube, unfortunately, has a habit of re-using the names of its tablets, just as a lot of China-based manufacturers do these days. That makes it easy for customers to accidentally buy an older model while thinking they’re getting a good deal on the latest and greatest. The Cube Talk 8X OCTA we’re discussing today is an upgraded version of the Talk 8, and its model name is U27GT C8, rather than U27GT-3G, which is the model name of the older Talk 8. Before you make a purchase, please make sure to check that that’s the one you’re getting.
Cube Talk 8X main specs:
OS: Android 4.4.4
Display: 8-inch IPS, 5-point multi-touch, P+G
Screen Resolution: 1280 x 800 (16:10)
CPU: MediaTek MT8392 Octa-core CPU
CPU Frequency: 1.66 GHz
GPU: ARM Mali-450MP4
RAM / Storage: 1GB / 8GB
Functions: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, Phone, GPS, A-GPS, OTG, Miracast, FM Radio
GSM: band2, band3, band5, band8
WCDMA: band1, band5
WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
Camera: 2MP back camera, VGA front camera
Battery: 4,900mAh
Ports: SIM Card Slot, Micro SD Card Slot, Micro USB Port, 3.5mm Headphone Jack
Size: 213.3*128.8*9.2mm
Design and build
If you've used either the Talk 7X or the older Talk 8, the basic layouts of the Talk 8X should be very recognizable. And that's mostly a good thing. With rounded edges and a plastic rear, the slate is pretty easy to hold.
You'll find a Micro USB port and a headphone jack on the top, a Micro SD card slot on and a Micro SIM card slot on the back towards the top side. Cube has changed the positions of the hardware controls, the power/standby key and the volume rocker, which used to be put on the right side, are now hosted on the top edge. I personally hate this new arrangement, as it becomes more difficult for our fingers to reach those buttons while we’re using the slate in portrait mode.
There's little on the front bezel besides the VGA front-facing camera, as well as an earpiece. On the back, you'll spot a 2MP rear camera above, and a speaker below (portrait mode).
The slate measures 9.2mm thick, and is obviously much porkier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, which measures 7.2mm in terms of body depth. Fortunately, although the Talk 8X OCTA has a bigger bezel, it still keeps the overall footprint smaller than the Tab Pro 8.4, thanks to the relatively smaller screen size.
For me, Cube is simply recycling its hardware when it comes to Talk 8X OCTA’s design. There’s nothing we haven’t seen before besides the new button layout, and the Talk 8X is a cheap tablet which also looks cheap.
Display and sound
The Talk 8X OCTA sports an 8-inch IPS LCD panel at the resolution of 1280*800px. The display isn’t particularly sharp or crisp, but it is reasonably attractive for the price you're paying. It delivers rich colors that aren't overdone, and you only really lose brightness when you look at them from sharp angles.
The brightness of the display is also quite good, as it is easily visible outdoors, as long as you don’t face the display to direct mid-day sunlight.
It isn’t as vivid, clear, bright or glare-proof as the Super PLS panel used on the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, but it is a pretty decent offering for an entry-level tablet which costs less than $100.
Cube’s tablets are known for the great built-in AAC speakers, unfortunately, the Talk 8X OCTA is an exception. The rear-facing speaker on the 8X OCTA is pretty bad, even the speaker of the $50 Cube U25GT produces louder, fuller output.
I was eager to plug in my Monster headphone whenever the Talk 8X OCTA’s built-in speaker made a sound. With the external audio system connected, the 8X OCTA’s audio performance is pretty acceptable, pretty much in the same class of the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, although not as great as my Hi-Fi enabled LG G2 smartphone.
Software
If you've ever used a Cube tablet or read our review of the Cube tablets, you'll know what to expect software-wise. The Talk 8X is running the stock Android interface -- it's simple, smooth and responsive.
There isn't an avalanche of preloaded software, either. You will have a whole set of Google apps, and some of the applications every Chinese needs to use, fortunately, you can easily uninstall those Chinese apps without the need to root your device beforehand.
Another thing worth a note is that the Talk 8X OCTA, like the more premium T7 and T9, supports OTA firmware upgrade.
Performance
Don't expect to see a performance which will beat high-end offerings such as the T7 and Nexus 9. But it's not shocking that they can outpace Cube' own Talk 8, a one-year-old device using an even older processor. It also fares well against the Google Nexus 7, and even the premium Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 – which is labored by its own 2560*1600 number of pixels.
The numbers translate well to the real world. The MediaTek chip doesn't break a sweat while navigating through the interface, and it's equally adept at both web browsing and video playback.
The Mali T450MP4 GPU is a capable if unimpressive chip for gaming. Crazy Cars ran at a very playable frame rate, but never came anywhere near the 60fps smoothness I look for and have only seen rarely in tablets. Other less demanding games like Riptide and Zombie Wood, however, look beautiful thanks to the screen's large color palette.
Connectivity
The Talk 8X OCTA belongs to Cube’s most popular Talk series, which means it is another tablet with full phone functionalities. Cellular network support, SMS, voice call functions, Bluetooth and GPS are all onboard to make the slate a capable substitute if your smartphone runs out of juice.
Things are working as designed here. The tablet can establish a pretty stable cellular connection for phone calls and short messages. Unlike the T7, the Talk 8X OCTA only supports GSM/WCDMA networks, so you will have to find out what kind of mobile service you have subscribed before you make a purchase. Bluetooth and GPS work well, too.
The 8GB built-in storage is clearly too small for the majority of users, luckily a Micro SD card slot which supports cards up to 32GB is on board. If that’s still not enough, the tablet also supports USB on the go.
Battery Life
You’ll find a 4,900mAh embedded Lithium-Ion battery inside the Cube Talk 8X OCTA, which is more capacity than the battery inside of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4. According to Cube, this battery will provide more than 21 hours’ music play time, or over 5 hours’ video play time.
In an attempt to quantitatively measure the 8X OCTA's battery life in a controlled benchmark environment, we ran the AnTuTu Battery Test which is available from the Google Play Store. For this test, we set the slate's display to 100% brightness, which is still plenty bright and easy on the eyes. The Talk 8X OCTA scored 5013, which is average among Android devices.
And in our standard cngadget video looping battery test, the 8X OCTA’s 6 hours and 23 minutes test result also ranks in the middle of the mid-sized tablets.
During our real-world testing, the Talk 8X OCTA had no problem making it through a few days while checking emails, surfing the web, taking pictures, leaving the screen on for 30+ minutes while the tablet sits idle, and playing a few games. We would expect an average user should have no problem making it through an entire day with moderate use as well. Of course, battery life will vary depending on how the tablet is used.
Cameras
I would have been pleased if Cube had just skipped the rear camera instead of giving us what they did. The 2MP camera on the back of the Talk 8X OCTA is a fixed focus lens on a tiny sensor that can't seem to take a good picture under any circumstances. I can't scan receipts into Expensify, I can't read barcodes without multiple tries, and any pictures will turn out soft, grainy and poorly. The front facing camera is fine for a low-bandwidth hangout, but it's not the camera you'll want to use to try and catch a mate with a selfie. It's exactly what you would expect from a budget device when it comes to camera hardware.
Surprisingly, the software includes shooting modes like Panorama and HDR, but this is likely because it was easier to leave it in the stock Android camera app than to spend time and money to take it out.
If you've an emergency where you have to take a picture and all you have is the Talk 8X OCTA, it would probably be good enough for traffic court or blurry-cam paranormal shots, but don't buy the Talk 8X OCTA for its camera.
Some final thoughts
If you stumbled here from a Google search, and just want a good, cheap tablet with phone functions, the Talk 8X OCTA is probably a good buy. The screen is a little iffy for reading, the cameras are pretty poor, and the speaker is tinny and doesn't offer much in the volume department. For the most part, though, the slate works well and you'll like the price. The extremely solid way it's built — can you tell it impressed me? — is icing on the cake.
If you're an Android enthusiast with more budget, though, you have other options you should consider. The LG G Pad 8.3 or the Cube T7, for a bit more money you'll get a much better screen and a more future-proof set of internals.
Should you consider all things and still go with the Talk 8X OCTA, you'll have a solid, but middle-of-the-road device that's a perfect coffee-table tablet for a quick peek at the Internet while watching a movie, or for watching the movie itself.

Hi, i just want to know whether the Cube Talk 8X 3G phablet support dual SIM card dual standby or single sim single standby, pls.

Cube Talk 8X support 3G Phone call?

Hi,
Just got my Cube Talk 8x (octa core).
Can you please tell me if there is CWM Recovery for this device?
Regards,
Benobis

Hi,
You can make it in 5 minutes
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2379412
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was succesfull

tonyp1 said:
Hi,
You can make it in 5 minutes
I was succesfull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for reply, but i need stock ROM to do that.
Do not have it. Where to find latest STOCK ROM? (not avaible on cube site).

Stock ROM:
http://www.needrom.com/download/cube-talk8x-u27gt-c8/
There will be next stock/custom ROM in the future

Zunera M said:
Hi, i just want to know whether the Cube Talk 8X 3G phablet support dual SIM card dual standby or single sim single standby, pls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesn't, it only has one SIM card slot

Krystyna said:
Cube Talk 8X support 3G Phone call?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes,it does

tonyp1 said:
Hi,
You can make it in 5 minutes
I was succesfull
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Can you please tell me which version of CWM you have installed on Cube Talk 8x?
Regards,
Benobis

Benobis said:
Hi,
Can you please tell me which version of CWM you have installed on Cube Talk 8x?
Regards,
Benobis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
version is 5.5.0.4

tonyp1 said:
Hi,
version is 5.5.0.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for info.
Must do that too.

tonyp1 said:
Hi,
version is 5.5.0.4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tony, boot.img from stock rom is smaller (2x) then boot.img downloaded via BACKUP option from MTKdroidTools (your phone's boot.img).
And all is ok?

Benobis said:
Tony, boot.img from stock rom is smaller (2x) then boot.img downloaded via BACKUP option from MTKdroidTools (your phone's boot.img).
And all is ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I didn't check size of boot.img. But everything work without problem.
I think, that in new version of MTKdroidTools is option for direct upload modified recovery. It was very easy and quickly

tonyp1 said:
Hmm, I didn't check size of boot.img. But everything work without problem.
I think, that in new version of MTKdroidTools is option for direct upload modified recovery. It was very easy and quickly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Done.
I used boot.img from the phone storage.
All is fine, CWM installed (version v.5.5.0.4).
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Benobis

Do you recommend installation of 'pure performance x' ?
After installation of cwm recovery of course.
Anyway, tablet is very smooth with it's stock rom.

I have another problem.
Put 8gb micro SD card. Card is visible, but i cant install anything on the card. On the STORAGE option i choosed default write disk as "SD card".
I see on the bottom the right capacity of SD card 8gb. Card is fine.
The only place i can install apps is internal storage or USB disk (internal SD card).
Cant even move apps to external sd card i put in.
Dont know why. Do you have the same issue? Maybe you know how to fix it?
I want all applications to be installed on external micro SD card.
HELP PLEASE

Hi,
I have same problem with installing to the SD card.
1. Changing in menu - storage: don't work
2. I found file vold.fstab with definition of storage places in root directory not as usual in system\etc. Problem is, that structure of vold.fstab is different. I didn't try change it.
3. Maybe Link2SD could help, but there is necessary to have ext3 partition on SD card. I didn't try it.
Right now I have enought place in internal storage.

First post, I am a novice although I have used Odin to root and installed OMNI lolliopop 5.1 to an i9000 recently.
I would like to install CWM on a Talk8x I just bought. I next instructions on how to do this.
I am going to install Helium and make a back up to my PC first. I need to find out how to root the Talk8x first I believe before CWM can be installed.
Can someone advise the step please?

Hi,
I rooted my Cube Talk 8x by KingoApp.
After that i installed CWM using MTKDroidTools.

Cube T6 hands-on review: the cheapest 4G tablet

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The Cube T7 and T9 have enjoyed great reception from the users, and now Cube introduces a new slate from the T-series to the world – the Cube T6. Like the T7 and T9, the T6 has 4G access and phone functions. However, unlike the other two models which have some advanced features and were once marketed as flagship tablets, the T6 is really just an entry-level slate with a TN screen, some low-end internal specs as well as a RMB399 ($64) price tag.
Cube T6 Specs
OS: Android 5.1
Display: 6.98-inch TN, 5-point multi-touch
Screen Resolution: 1024 x 600
CPU: 64-bit MT8735 quad-core processor (4 cores of Cortex-A53)
CPU Frequency: 1.0GHz
GPU: Mali-720MP2
RAM / Storage: 1GB / 8GB
Function: WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, OTG, Miracast, FM Radio
WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
GSM: band2, band3, band5, band8
WCDMA: band1, band5
FDD: band1, band3, band7
Camera: 2MP back camera, VGA front camera
Battery: 2,600mAh
Extend Port: Micro SD card card slot, Micro SIM Card Slot 1, Micro SIM card slot 2, Micro USB port, 3.5mm Headphone Jack
Weight & Size: 240 g / 191*99*9.5mm
Design and build
The main design element is the size of the tablet. Although the T6 is just one of the many 7-inch tablets we have seen from Cube, it is certainly the smallest. It’s almost like holding a phone because the device is so small and slender – holding it one-handed is a breeze. The silver frame looks nice, so does the rounded curves of the cover. However, the proportions of the slate looks extremely weird and lanky, I would prefer if the bezel was a little bit bigger.
The T6 has a plastic rear cover which matches that of the Cube T7 and T9, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S. It may look better than the plain plastic back from the U25GT and Talk 7X, and provide better grip than the metal chassis, but it still feels cheap.
The T6 has the minimum number of ports and buttons. The only physical controls you’ll find are the power/lock key and the volume rocker switch on the right hand side of the slate (when held in portrait). The 3.5mm headphone jack and Micro USB port are on the top side of the tablet, while the Micro SD card slot, and the two Micro SIM card slots can only be accessed after removing the cover on the top.
The tablet weighs 240g, not much heavier than many of the large phones, long period of one-handed operation wouldn’t be much of a problem. However, at 9.5mm, it isn’t a slim tablet by today’s standards.
Decent build quality has been maintained with no signs of unwanted gaps in the casing or wobbly buttons. The lack of premium materials such as aluminum is hardly unexpected, given the $64 price tag attached to it.
Display and sound
Here comes the greatest weakness of the Cube T6: a 7-inch TN display at the resolution of 1024*600. Taking the price of this tablet into account, we wouldn’t mind a low-resolution display if they are giving us a PLS or IPS panel to look at. But a TN display is really something we cannot tolerate, especially when lower-end tablet such as the U25GT ($32) are now featuring a Samsung PLS display.
The nice thing is that the TN panel on the T6 looks better than those seen on the tablets released in 2011, as it has better color saturation, brightness and contrast.
However, when compared to better LCD panels such as MVA, PLS and IPS, which we are already accustomed to see on smartphones and tablets, the TN panel doesn’t have equally wide viewing angles.
The colors appear distorted especially when looking at the display from the left (in landscape). Generally the response time of the TN display is also not as short as that of the IPS or PLS displays, but that’s much more difficult to notice than the viewing angles.
Compared to the disappointing camera, the rear-facing speaker is one of the few areas where the T6 unexpectedly impresses. It is loud enough to hear in a quiet room, although the sound quality is not as good as that of high-end slate such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. I was okay with the sound the speaker produced while watching YouTube videos, but I was still in desperate need of connecting the T6 to my Monster Clarity HD Bluetooth sound box or plugging in one of my Astrotec headphones whenever I was listening to music.
System and apps
The Cube T6 runs the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop OS, with light customizations on top. Preinstalled applications are kept to the minimum, and you can uninstall most of them without rooting the device.
Although there remains a dearth of tablet apps for Android, especially when you compare it to the wealth of high-quality apps made for the iPad. 7-inch tablets don’t really suffer that much as almost all phone apps still work brilliantly on this smaller tablet screen.
Performance
The Cube T6 is powered by a 64-bit quad-core 1.0GHz MediaTek MT8735 processor with 1GB RAM. It is now the new basic setup for a tablet with 4G and phone functions. As the processor is quite new to us, we need some benchmarks to evaluate the T6’s real horsepower and see where it fits in the spectrum of tablet performance.
Antutu V5.0 returned a score of 18,583, putting the T6 behind most of the budget smartphones and tablets released recently, and Geekbench 3 reported scores of 477 single-core and 1,336 multi-core, which is not good, but decent. The CF-bench test resulted in a score of 17,911, and the Quadrant Advanced gave the T6 a mark of 9,248.
In the more graphic-focused 3D Mark test, the T6 was returned 3,329 in Ice Storm and 1,682 in Ice Storm Extreme, which are expected for a tablet in this price range.
In real day to day use, apps open swiftly, video playback is smooth, and Web browsing doesn't disappoint. However, running too many applications simultaneously in the background could cause significant slowdowns. Having two browser windows open, for instance, makes both load at a slower clip, while the virtual keyboard can take a moment to pop up.
I did also notice some compatibility issues of the GPU, as some of the 3D games weren’t able to run on the T6, and a few graphic-intense games such as Zombie Wood and Asphalt 7 ran at a very low frame rate. Luckily my personal favorite: Virtua Tennis, Crazy Cars and Banana Jungle were very smooth.
Connectivity
Like other tablets from Cube’s T series, the T6 has 4G access and full phone functionalities. While the higher-end T7 and T9 supports both FDD and TDD, the T6 only supports FDD-LTE, but it is not really an issue for people who don’t live in China, as TDD-LTE is currently only used by China Mobile.
Voice calls worked as fine as it was on my HTC Desire, and I could easily pair it with a Bluetooth headphone. Wi-Fi reception was also nice as I had no problem streaming online music and videos several meters and a wall away from the router.
Battery Life
The T6 houses a 2,600mAh Li-Po battery, which is less capacity than in most of today’s smartphones. With varied usage including frequent e-mails, some video, a few games and a good deal web browsing, the T6 lasts 6 hours on average, which was pretty good given the battery capacity. In our standard cngadget battery test, where we loop a 1080P video with 30% screen brightness and 50% volume, the tablet lasted 8 hours and 35 minutes, much better than other entry-level slates.
Cameras
The rear camera is simply bad and can't really do much either in photo or video mode. It is funny that Cube even gives an LED flash to this low-end tablet, instead of giving it to the more capable T7. The front webcam will do the job for online video chatting, as long as you're in good lighting; otherwise the lags quickly add up.
Photo by the rear camera
Verdict
This T6 doesn’t really impress in almost every respect. The only exceptions are the OS and 4G access, as the Android 5.1 brings a lot of new nit features to the table, and the 4G voice call and data can really be quite useful on some occasions. With that said, the TN screen is something that should not be used on a 2015 tablet. According to Cube, an enhanced version of the T6 will be released soon, and the new slate will feature a much better PLS display and possibly a larger battery.
Overall, the T6 is a reasonably priced budget product that can handle the basics, but because of the display I would still suggest that you wait for the enhanced version.
The good
Reasonable price.
Android 5.1 OS.
Decent overall performance.
Nice battery life.
The bad
Low-resolution TN display.
Poor cameras.

Thank you very much for the great review

Krystyna said:
Thank you very much for the great review
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for reading it!

if anyone can explain root for this tablet please for friend useur stuck google services http://www.tablette-chinoise.net/forum/cube-t6-4g-t7219/page10.html

cube t6 good phablet but very low internal memory
Hi all
has anyone tryied to root or repartition the size of internal memory beacause this tablet has very small internal memory partitioned
after a few stock apps google play, gmail,gdrive cannot instasll any app
"there is not enough space to install app"
any idea what to do ?
tryed link2sd but without root cant resolve my problem
or am i alone whit this phablet?
tried kingoroot, supeonclick, kingroot, framaroot ....an a lot more
no succes
regards Steven

LoLaTiOn said:
if anyone can explain root for this tablet please for friend useur stuck google services http://www.tablette-chinoise.net/forum/cube-t6-4g-t7219/page10.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi LoL, your friend managed root yet ? Tried iroot yet?
Anyone managed root yet??

Just received an ota for the cube T6-C, dated 26.11.15,not used it for a while.
Did have the 30.06.15 before.
Wasn't able to get root , hopefully will able to with this update due to complaints about storage probs,anyone else have oneof these managed it yet ? :*(

root
Hi guys, i'm new here. I'm italian so sorry for my english.
I have got a cube t6 tablet. I can't able in noway to root it. Did someone do? I just tried all methods founded on the web but noone working. I knew that for rooting it we need a custom recovery twrp for our tablet. I think it's the only way to root but i can't compile and on web i can't find a working twrp for t6. There's someone here that can help me? If yes what device info do you need for compiling recovery? Thanks

Cube T8 Plus hands-on review: several great improvements and a minor disappointment

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Only weeks after the original Cube T8 was released, Cube, the dominant Chinese brand in making tablets with smartphone functions, introduced the enhanced version - the T8 Plus, which features a more vibrant Full HD IPS display, a more powerful octa-core processor as well as better cameras. It is made to woo buyers with a higher demand for specs and performance, buyers whom the T8 just failed to impress.
Cube T8 Plus specifications
•OS: Android 5.1
•Display: 8-inch IPS, 5-point multi-touch
•Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1200 (16:10)
•CPU: 64-bit MT8783 octa-core processor (8 cores of Cortex-A53)
•CPU Frequency: 1.3GHz
•GPU: Mali-720MP3
•RAM / Storage: 2GB / 16GB
•Function: WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, OTG, Miracast, FM Radio
•WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
•GSM: band2, band3, band5, band8
•TDS: band34, band39
•WCDMA: band1, band5
•TDD: band38, band39, band40, band41
•FDD: band1, band3, band7
•Camera: 5MP back camera, 2.4MP front camera
•Battery: 4000mAh
•Extend Port: TF Card Slot, SIM Card Slot, Micro SIM Card Slot, Micro USB Port, 3.5mm Headphone Jack
•Weight & Size: 354 g / 215*122.9*9.85mm
Design
The Cube T8 Plus looks almost identical to the original T8: a widescreen display which dominated the front panel, a relatively small bezel around the screen, rounded corners, and a metallic rear side.
There is an earpiece on the front panel, right above the screen, which means you won’t have to plug in a headphone or use the built-in speakers for phone calls. You can also find a 2.4MP front-facing camera, a light sensor, a proximity sensor on the front.
The rear side of the tablet is a combination of plastic and metal, which reminds us of the LG G Pad 8.3.
There are a 5MP main camera and an LED flash, some branding, and a single rear-facing speaker on the back.
The only physical buttons you will find are the power/standby key and the volume rocker, both hosted on the right side.
Like the original T8 and other Cube T series tablets, the T8 Plus is a very promising slate when it comes to connectivity. On the top side of the tablet you will find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Micro USB port which supports USB on the go.
Once you remove the plastic lid on the rear, you will find a Micro SD card slot which supports cards up to 128GB, a Micro SIM card slot and a full-size SIM card slot. Both SIM slots support dual 4G network (TDD and FDD). Unfortunately, we didn’t find the Micro HDMI port, which was one of the main reasons we fell in love with the original T8. The absence here feels somewhat unacceptable.
At 9.85mm, the T8 Plus is not thin by today’s tablet standards, still I would say it is an okay thickness as I didn’t really feel much more burden with the T8 Plus than with my super slim Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, although it is noticeably thicker. Also, the T8 Plus feels very solidly constructed, There is no sign of unwanted gaps in the casing or wobbly buttons.
Like the original T8, the T8 Plus comes with two color options: the white version has a white front and a silver rear, while the black version has a black front and a blue rear. The black version does have a more premium feel to it, but the white version is made for those who hate the feel of black technology.
Screen and sound
One of the major improvements from the original T8 is the screen. As the T8 Plus sports an 8-inch IPS display at Full HD resolution, with a pixel density of 280PPI, a huge leap from the 189PPI of the original T8. Although it is still not the highest, especially when compared to the crazy sharp display found on the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and Tab S 8.4, it beats the sharpness of the iPad Air series (264PPI) and the LG G Pad 8.3 (273PPI).
As you could imagine, icons and images are so crisp and lifelike that they look painted on. The Cube T8’s display even looks as sharp and clear as the screen on the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, almost impossible to tell the difference in PPI with your bare eyes.
Also, color imaging is natural and precise, it is more than vivid and vibrant for an entry-level tablet. The same goes for the contrast, which offers very pure white tones and extremely dark black. The viewing angle on the T8 Plus is also very wide, and it offers amazing brightness even suitable for outdoor usage.
As for the device's speaker, I was pleasantly surprised by how loud and rich the single rear-facing speaker sound. To my non-audiophile ears, I didn't detect much tinniness, and found it perfectly acceptable for watching YouTube videos and listening to FM radios. But if you really want to experience the soundstage and instrument separation in music, and the boomy effects of adction movies, I would recommend an external audio system such as a headphone or a set of speakers.
System and Apps
Like the original T8, the Cube T8 Plus ships with Android 5.1, which is also the latest version of Android OS. While the T8 runs stock Android skin, with almost none customizations on top, the T8 Plus has been skinned with some unique features.
You can choose to switch running applications between full screen and floating windows. You are also able to run several applications in floating windows in the foreground, and even pin apps on top by tapping the small “pin app” icon.
However, if you expect the multi-tasking feature of the T8 Plus to be as refined as the Qslide App of the LG Optimus UI or the phone mode feature on the REMIX OS, you will certainly be disappointed. All apps can be switched to floating windows on the T8 Plus, but not all of them can be usable in windows, some applications just show a small proportion of their interface, and are not really responsive to our tapping. Also, the windows are not resizable at all, making the multi-tasking a less useful feature than it could have been.
There is a small triangular icon at the bottom left of the screen, by tapping it you can bring up a small screen of applications you often use, you can even add more apps to this screen.
Other than those features, the T8 Plus still keeps the head to toe stock Android Lollipop feel which most users would prefer.
Like all Cube’s Android tablets powered by the MediaTek processor, the T8 Plus also support OTA, making firmware upgrade much easier for average users.
Performance
Another major improvement of the T8 Plus is the 64-bit MT8783 Cortex A53 octa-core processor and 2GB RAM. While the improvement in smoothness isn’t that obvious, as the T8 is already quite fast thanks to its lower resolution screen, the improvement in benchmarks is quite evident.
The T8 Plus was returned some pretty impressive benchmark scores. It notched 33,608 in Antutu Benchmark, which is on par with the score of the Snapdragon 800 powered Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4. It also got 2,525 in Geekbench3, and 24,195 in Quadrant, pretty amazing results for an entry-level tablets.
In the more graphic-focused 3D Mark Ice Storm tests, the T8 Plus handily beat the original T8, but still lags behind major Android tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 and the Google Nexus 9.
In the real world use, the T8 Plus proved itself capable of handling almost everything with ease. Image-heavy websites rendered quickly, video playback was extremely smooth.
Thanks to great compatibility of the Mali-720MP3 GPU, most graphic-intense games loaded fast and ran at acceptable frame rates. Some of my favorite 3D games such as Virtua Tennis and Zombie Woods ran at even higher frame rates on the T8 Plus than on My Snapdragon 805 powered LG G3 Cat6.
Battery Life
Even with a bright, Full HD IPS display, the T8 Plus was still able to deliver a battery performance on par with the original T8. With an average of 3 hours’ screen time, the tablet can easily last more than 2 days on a full charge.
In our standard cngadget battery test, we loop a 1080P video with 50% of screen brightness and 50% of volume from its built-in speaker, the T8 Plus lasted 7 hours and 9 minutes until auto-shutdown. It is definitely no match for the battery performance of high-end tablets such as the iPad Air 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S, but still quite decent.
Connectivity
As another tablet from Cube’s famous T series, the T8 Plus can be used as a smartphone. It supports both TDD and FDD 4G networks, and there are two SIM card slots on board to enable dual standby. Other smartphone functionalities such as voice call, SMS, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Radio are also included.
Although we would not recommend anyone to use an 8-inch tablet as their main communication device, but it is nice to know you have a backup once your smartphone runs out of juice.
Cameras
The T8 Plus has a 2.4MP front-facing camera and a 5MP main camera with auto-focus support and LED flash. Both cameras are quite basic, but they are capable finishing the tasks which they are meant for. The front-facing camera is nice enough for video-chatting via Skype and Wechat, while the rear-facing camera could snap some photos for Facebook and Instagram updates.
Photos taken with the main camera
Price and Availability
The T8 Plus has just been released, and is isn’t publicly available yet, not even in the domestic Chinese market. It is now open for pre-ordering on Ali-express.com for $136.8, but there will be an promotional event on Oct, 8th, when Cube will offer an awesome discount for the T8 Plus.
Final verdict
The Cube T8 Plus brings a lot of important improvements over the original T8. With a stunning Full HD IPS display, amazing performance, decent battery life, great build quality, full phone functionalities and a relatively low price, it is definitely one of the best entry-level Android tablets out there.

What is the difference between Cube T8 Plus and Cube T8?

Krystyna said:
What is the difference between Cube T8 Plus and Cube T8?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cube T8 has Quad core, but Cube T8 plus is the upgraded version with Octa core chipset.

jupiter2012 said:
a Micro SD card slot which supports cards up to 128GB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure about this part? I'm asking because it says in the link bellow that it supports max 32GB.
Code:
cube-tablet.com/cube-t8-4g-lte-mtk8783-octa-core-2gb-16gb.html

Hi,
thanks a lot for this review.
I'm looking for a tablet for my son. This one seems to be really good but i'm hesitating with the Cube Talk 9x who seems to be good too.
My son play a lot of games and he look vidéos on youtube.
Can you tell me for you which one is the better choice?
Maybe another tablet ?

Any root for this ?

Just to understand
Sorry for the question as a newbie I am,
Is there any particular reason that the Cube T8 Plus root procedure has not been addressed in Xda-dev forum ?
Indeed I have heard that the root procedure has been probably discovered in the 4pda.ru russion forum.
Thanks for your feedback.
Please let me know if my question is in the correct Topic.

serwolv said:
Hi,
thanks a lot for this review.
I'm looking for a tablet for my son. This one seems to be really good but i'm hesitating with the Cube Talk 9x who seems to be good too.
My son play a lot of games and he look vidéos on youtube.
Can you tell me for you which one is the better choice?
Maybe another tablet ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Careful. I just got the T8 plus and the available internal storage for apps is JUST 2.9 GB. Thats very low. If you install games then you will probably run out of space with two games.

64Bit
Why do phones have 64bit processors even though they don't have more then 3gb of ram?

sonmauri said:
Careful. I just got the T8 plus and the available internal storage for apps is JUST 2.9 GB. Thats very low. If you install games then you will probably run out of space with two games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it'd be possible to re-partition the internal storage, tho, to then give more of the available 16GB to the 'system' partition as people have done on many devices with the same situations and as it's mentioned here for another device (T9) from the same manufacturer:
Code:
facebook.com/ACUBEworld/posts/601765506629241?comment_id=601938259945299&reply_comment_id=602312136574578&total_comments=2&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D

I just bought this tablet for 115$ and now I am awaiting delivery. What worries me is what I found on 4pda.ru, that occasionally happens:
(source: http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=695306&st=320#entry44378744 - you need to click 'Cпойлер (+)' to see image)

I also just bought this from Aliexpress. Hopefully there will soon be a way to fix the small internal storage and also root.

mantis454 said:
I also just bought this from Aliexpress. Hopefully there will soon be a way to fix the small internal storage and also root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root is now possible in 4pda forum (showtopic=695306) , but you have to be cautious
I did it successfully
---------- Post added at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------
The flickering issue could be linked to the one below :
I personnaly tried to update the firmware in order to figure out slownesses encountered when playing mp3 music from the sdcard port.
But it failed (soft brick) - despite the procedure was succesfully performed - with the same image flickering issue.:crying:
Hope this advise will prevent people to try the same. (Firmware version limited by IMEI starting as T8P.)
Now I am waiting for the next firmware to fix my issue.

jak78007 said:
The flickering issue could be linked to the one below :
I personnaly tried to update the firmware in order to figure out slownesses encountered when playing mp3 music from the sdcard port.
But it failed (soft brick) - despite the procedure was succesfully performed - with the same image flickering issue.:crying:
Hope this advise will prevent people to try the same. (Firmware version limited by IMEI starting as T8P.)
Now I am waiting for the next firmware to fix my issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've ran into same issue. Now we're waiting together

No multi user support
for both the T8 and the T8 Plus. Need to apply custom zip through recovery or root the phone. enabling multi user support effectively blocks updates because checksum check of build.prop will fail.
Cube allows anyone with access to the fota servers (or middleman) to install any software/malware they like. since they use the publicly available Android test keys for signing - As a toy their tablets are good enough though...

Brick solved
I had same flickering issue after flashing the official firmware downloaded from cube-tablet . com
BAD FIRMWARE - 0502L800_UE78_T8PG4W10F13TTEXMX8C(STD)_F915_IND_FULL
I downloaded another firmware, flashed it with SP Flash Tool and the Cube T8 Plus has been recovered totally to factory default.
GOOD FIRMWARE - 0502L800_UE78_T8PG4W10F13TTEXMX8C(STD)_EA04_IND_FULL
I cannot post link, but google that and you will find it easily on Mega. I found it on chinagadgetsreviews . blogspot . it (DEC 5, 2015 - DOWNLOAD LATEST ANDROID LOLLIPOP 5.1 STOCK FIRMWARE FOR CUBE T8 TABLET)
I don't know why, but some versions of Cube T8 Plus works with first (official) firmware, other versions of Cube T8 Plus (like mine) works with the second firmware.
Download archive, extract, open SP Flash Tool, go to Download tab, select the scatter file of the new downloaded firmware and select "Firmware upgrade" (not "Download") before click the download button and connect the tablet.

Hotspot
Today i ll order my cube t8 plus.. But i m not sure about wifi hotspot function! Cannot find really attendible specs! Please help! My ipad 4 is destroyed..

Alfessio11 said:
Today i ll order my cube t8 plus.. But i m not sure about wifi hotspot function! Cannot find really attendible specs! Please help! My ipad 4 is destroyed..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried the wifi hotspot and it worked as expected. No problem connecting from my Android phone or macbook air.

Hello there, does it worth 138usd? I would like to buy a tablet around the price of 150$ but I want a reliable one.

[email protected] said:
Hello there, does it worth 138usd? I would like to buy a tablet around the price of 150$ but I want a reliable one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like a good one for the price!