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I've been wanting to get my feet wet in android tablet land for quite some time. I would like the following features:
pdf/ebook reading with bookmarking / highlighting / notes
GPS (I already have a bluetooth gps module if that helps) for dash-mounted in-car navigation
bluetooth keyboard support (official or unofficial i really don't care but it's got to be there).
fast web surfing / display effects
the ability to run honeycomb (even if it's unsupported)
preferably some kind of decent camera on for skype / snapshots though i suppose i could do without it...
I have not yet fully decided on a 7" or 10" tablet but I would find some additional convenience with the smaller of the 2 as I plan to do some reading on this. also, as I will be doing lots of reading, I need a display resolution of at least 1024x600 and aprox. equivalent dpi or better for 10" tablet.
I've looked at the nook color and it seems like a really nice tablet but it seems kind of sluggish for the really high price of $250... if i could find one of these in the $150-200 range I could probably be convinced to go with one of these.
I've also looked at the viewsonic G tablet and was impressed with the underlying tegra2 hardware but very disappointed with the display viewing angle, and to a slightly lesser extent display resolution. I think it's going price of ~250 would be warranted if the display were actually good (high resolution and good viewing angle).
Does anybody have any other ideas for very inexpensive, high resolution, fast tablets that I should be looking at, or perhaps some kind of epic deals? (i'm ok with used if i could find something i'm happy with even).
Thanks,
Cpgeek
After reading all the reviews on how the a700 is sluggish on ICS, Ive stayed away. However there are some really good deals on it right now, and I saw that it had the JB update. Does that resolve the sluggishness issues? Is it worth buying now? I'd love the extra resolution for PDFs etc, but don't want to deal with something that feels slow all the time.
Actually, the device is not as smooth as a galaxy s2 with jelly bean and aswell it's not as smooth as a galaxy tab 2 10.1, it still lags a bit, but it doesn't really disturb.
Edit: Actually speaking for the last official Acer Jellybean.
However, speaking of the better resolution, the display is not worth the buy, I have seen better displays with 1280x800 pixels, for example the Sony Xperia Tablet S display. The A700 Display is not very bright, also the light sensor is bugged and you basically allways use the lowest brightness settings and the display does not have a good contrast aswell, the resolution is fine, but I enjoy to work with other tablet displays a lot more.
what do you expect? it is a FullHD tablet, so you can expect slowdowns due to the high resolution.
If you don't like it, get a Nexus 10. apparently it is very smooth.
I can say that the A700 runs now more smoothly with custom roms (Coolrom 700 or IconiaN 2.2 with a custom Kernel).
So for the price it IS worth buying.
I bought the Asus Infinity after I got tired of the ICS sluggishness on the a700.
After the JB update came for the a700, I went back and forth between the Acer and the Asus.
This this week, I decided to sell the Infinity and keep the Acer a700..better sound, more responsive (the IO issue on the Infinity was killing me), and I found better battery life.
If I were you, I'd wait for the next batch of tablets powered by Tegra 4. 2560x1600
himmatsj said:
If I were you, I'd wait for the next batch of tablets powered by Tegra 4. 2560x1600
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More resolution more problems to handle good performance i think.
i don´t know what you expect to get for around 370€. Keep in mind the price and what it has on the good side. When you want to have the best, you need to pay for the best. But everything has an other side.
I wanted a tablett,which is fast enough and has the ability for getting a stock 4.2 and a good picture (sound) for watching videos, photos and tv. First i started with a 220€ lcpower sinai-1 tablett. compared to what i got for 150€ more, the acer makes me in every point happy:
- a much better case,
- a lightnings better Panel and Display glass (i mean gorilla) - try to cleaned the other one, it was not possible without cleaner, bad contrast? Not really. My photos looks brilliant, its brighter than all my laptops. together with ips angle stability it´s a great pleasure against photos frames i know.
- long lasting battery life
- everybody is writing on lags. I didn´t reallized them. But i don´t want to play with it. Maybe there are some games which are currently to much for this resolution. Its the same like on laptops, gaming is premium class LOL
- i get covers for it.
I noticed, that eather the alternative tabletts are not on stock, or are much expensiver or are much cheaper. Around 250-350 € are no tabletts. And i wanted to have warrenty, so a china import was not a choice, from the quality not speaking.
And we can root it!
If you don´t want the high resolution, you can choose maybe the a510. It depends on your preferences.
Got an Acer A701 last august, with ICS on, paid the equivalent of 550€ back then. I installed an unofficial JB 4.1.1 ROM back in november, it improved a lot, heating problems have almost totally gone away, system is more responsive, beside the JB improvements and tweaks. In general, tablet's quality is good. I have a protective case but no screen protector, the screen looks like new after six months anyway. I'd love it to be a bit thinner, but nevertheless. I'm very satisfied with my purchase.
The stock launcher seems to attribute to the slow response. I have been using Nova Launcher with JB and the response is night and day. It is almost as fast as my Galaxy S3.
Rooting instructions:
Type into google:
HTML:
site:pipo.cn upgrading procedure
Design and feel:
The tablet feels great, its one of the lightest tablets out on the market, only being beaten by the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, the build quality is great despite the weight, it feels solid, doesn’t bend under tension and is in my opinion one of the best Chinese tablets build quality wise.
One negative note is that the speakers are on the back and sometimes you can accidently put your hands over them, or have them facing down on a table and therefore sound isn’t as loud, but once the speakers aren’t covered they are one of the best quality speakers on the market.
In my opinion I don’t really like the design on the back, though my PiPo M9 will be in a fulltime case when it arrives. Its just a personal opinion as I’m not a fan of the Toshiba like backing.
Gaming:
Gaming is great overall, I tested apps such as Citadel, Real Racing 3, Bejeweled, Temple run 2 etc. I didn’t notice any lag in the actual gameplay while playing, but I did notice some lag which wasn’t noticeable to the normal person on the cut scenes of Real Racing 3, which only lasted about half a second, and were fixed once I rooted the device and overclocked it a bit.
Web browsing / PDF browsing:
Web browsing is pretty fast and snappy, but most of it is dependent on your internet speeds. Websites such as cnn.com loaded fine, zooming in and out there was no lag, watching online videos no lag, but some poorly coded websites like perthnow.com struggled, but this would have been the same on every single tablet.
PDF browsing is also lag free apart from zooming in really far, where it takes a second to focus the text so it looks crisp. This wouldn’t be an issue on a high resolution screen like the Nexus 10 or iPad 4, but for the price is pretty good. I’m not sure why you would be zooming in that much in real life though.
Battery life:
Generally the battery has been one of the impressive sides of this tablet. With wifi off, it loses about 1% every 8 hours on standby, with wireless on while in standby it loses about 5-10% every 8 hours. My first day with the tablet doing benchmarks and other stuff, after about 4-6 hours it was only down to about 45% which is pretty impressive. There was no issue with drainage etc. but bare in mind I’m on the newer March 19 firmware.
Android Experience:
Its snappy, works great. I used the Nova Launcher on mine as I was sick of clicking the top right corner to get to the list of apps. Most apps work great, I rooted the device so I could download mobile apps, as there still isn’t much tablet made apps or websites in general.
Price:
$250 for a quad core, 2GB ram, semi high resolution screen? This tablet is defiantly a good buy, and beats most tablets out there on the market. It will shine past high resolution tablets such as the Onda V972 which lags in HD mode and its only real competition is past the $300 mark.
Overall:
8/10 – A great buy for the price. A 10.1 inch quad core 2Gb tablet, what more could you ask for? Though 1 wish is that I hope 4.2 Android comes out with the new tablet features. Camera shouldn’t be an issue as most phone camera beat the tablets out there anyways.
It’s a great buy for almost everyone, but I wouldn’t recommend buying it for a geek or a tech savvy person as they will quickly pick up the small amounts of lag which might happen, which isn’t just isolated to this device.
Good points:
Minimalistic design
Great speakers
Android 4.1.1 Jellybean
Fast and responsive
Bad points:
Poor camera quality
Speakers on the back
If you're interested in where I bought my tablet from its from spemall
If you have any questions, or tests you would like me to do, please don't hesitate to ask and when I have time I will do those tests.
Hi. What speed do you overclock it to and what app do you use to overclock it? Are you using the stock firmware, only rooted?
I've seen some video showing it lagging in Real Racing 3, worse than the Onda V972 which has a larger resolution albeit with more powerful GPU. You said you do not experience any lag in gameplay?
If you have the time, maybe post some benchmark score of Antutu and 3DMark
spectra9 said:
Hi. What speed do you overclock it to and what app do you use to overclock it? Are you using the stock firmware, only rooted?
I've seen some video showing it lagging in Real Racing 3, worse than the Onda V972 which has a larger resolution albeit with more powerful GPU. You said you do not experience any lag in gameplay?
If you have the time, maybe post some benchmark score of Antutu and 3DMark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have it on 1.6ghz using rom toolbox or something. I'm using the 19th of March firmware.
I noticed lag on the cut scenes of Real Racing 3 which wasn't an issue when I changed the CPU to performance instead of on demand. But the actual driving gameplay is no lag, but sometimes the cutscenes have lag... but thats mainly because real racing 3 is badly coded.
thlmobile said:
A little expensive, I in this site bicgate.com buy a quad-core tablet, spent only $ 120, up to now have not any problems,I am very satisfied.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strong advertising your website blatantly.
Jerry158 said:
I actually have it on 1.6ghz using rom toolbox or something. I'm using the 19th of March firmware.
I noticed lag on the cut scenes of Real Racing 3 which wasn't an issue when I changed the CPU to performance instead of on demand. But the actual driving gameplay is no lag, but sometimes the cutscenes have lag... but thats mainly because real racing 3 is badly coded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. So changing the governor to performance is enough to make it run smoother. Have you tried actually overclocking it just for kicks? . IIRC, the RK3188 is initially rated at 1.8 GHz
I'm very interested in buying this tablet, but rather concerned about the initial performance review. I realize RR3 is not a good benchmark, but seeing some tablets using the Exynos 4412, which use the same Mali GPU with lower clock can run RR3 better makes me a bit worried. Hopefully it'll get better as the firmware matures.
Anyway, just saw that JB 4.2 update is in the works at http://blog.geekbuying.com/, interesting
spectra9 said:
Thanks for the info. So changing the governor to performance is enough to make it run smoother. Have you tried actually overclocking it just for kicks? . IIRC, the RK3188 is initially rated at 1.8 GHz
I'm very interested in buying this tablet, but rather concerned about the initial performance review. I realize RR3 is not a good benchmark, but seeing some tablets using the Exynos 4412, which use the same Mali GPU with lower clock can run RR3 better makes me a bit worried. Hopefully it'll get better as the firmware matures.
Anyway, just saw that JB 4.2 update is in the works at
Great news about 4.2! Yeh, RR3 is poorly optimized and coded for MOST devices... the Exynos 4412 is a popular Samsung CPU used in its tablets which is why RR3 runs better on that... because its optmized for it... (the amount of Samsung users who would be mad - haha). So yeh, its not because its a bad CPU, its bad relative to the popular ones which most games are optimized for.
Waiting for a custom kernel to come out before overclocking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jerry158 said:
Great news about 4.2! Yeh, RR3 is poorly optimized and coded for MOST devices... the Exynos 4412 is a popular Samsung CPU used in its tablets which is why RR3 runs better on that... because its optmized for it... (the amount of Samsung users who would be mad - haha). So yeh, its not because its a bad CPU, its bad relative to the popular ones which most games are optimized for.
Waiting for a custom kernel to come out before overclocking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's strange to me is, the RK3188 beats the Exynos hands down in both CPU and GPU department. I'm no expert on this but, just by comparing raw power, the RK3188 should beat the exynos in every apps. I think Samsung just got a much more mature and solid firmware at this point
I'm waiting for a group buy to end to acquire one of these tablets.
I have a question regarding the screen performance while in the street with day light. How does it behave?
Is it like most smartphones that when we step outside we can see a thing?
I have seen many reviews but non speaks about this...
Djuganight said:
I'm waiting for a group buy to end to acquire one of these tablets.
I have a question regarding the screen performance while in the street with day light. How does it behave?
Is it like most smartphones that when we step outside we can see a thing?
I have seen many reviews but non speaks about this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its pretty standard with mobiles... on brightest setting, in direct sunlight, like every other device you won't be able to see much.
With Samsung's and HTC's mobiles this doesn't happen...
I'm a bit disappointed with these Android compilation they install in Pipo M9.
It’s missing a ton of features that are native of Android ICS and JB.
For example:
1. Shortcut widgets from pull down menu should work to turn on/off the respective features.
Instead when clicked they take us to settings.
2. We should also be able to select, add or remove which widgets to show in that “pull down” menu.
We don't have this option
3. No Auto rotation on home screens with native launcher.
With 3rd party launcher this is possible....
4. Using the native launcher, not possible do we add/remove home screens?
Actually the native launcher does not allow a single customization!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. Native camera app is extremely poor and almost don't have any options.
Also, no option to choose where to save the photos and videos, such as on External SD Card.
6. No battery percentage icon as alternative as we have natively in ICS and JB roms.
7. On look screen the slide to unlock feature only allow the option to unlock.
In ICS and JB this "circle" has more options and in some cases we can also customize it. Here is just to unlock.
8. Honestly I just can't understand the system folder hierarchy nor the files and their settings, therefore I tried to do some changes and just don't know what to do. I do some MOD and DEV with Huawei and Samsung but this **** I never see!!
And so on and so on and so on....
Overall I'm extremely happy with the tablet but completely disappointed with this ****y and completely Android firmware they have INVENTED to install in this tablet.
This screems for real Dev works
Good for the girls
thlmobile said:
There have been reports PiPo M9 launch the white version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you send a picture?
Augustine02 said:
Can you send a picture?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just found it here
I've had this tablet for a good 3+ months now and so far no issues. I have rooted the phone following the process the OP mentioned above (Pipo instructions on how to upgrade firmware) and used this firmware (JB 4.2.2) ---> M9 software_english version_20130529（no need key); it's actually the third link posted.
I also have Nova Launcher and I will have to say the price I paid for it is very much well worth it. It's actually bang for the buck one of the best out there. It's one of the few Chinese tablets with (as of now) with bluetooth and a pseudo GPS (E-Compass). The OTG function also gives it 3G capability among other things.
:good:
---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 PM ----------
Here's the instructions on how to upgrade the firmware straight from the Pipo Website:
Upgrading Procedure
I personally used moborobo to download and install all the drivers you need in order to root it properly, then I followed the instructions given above.
looks good but for a 10" would like a higher resolution screen, although that brings other issues like higher power consumption for the screen, and requiring a faster GPU which again uses more power.
Berties123 said:
looks good but for a 10" would like a higher resolution screen, although that brings other issues like higher power consumption for the screen, and requiring a faster GPU which again uses more power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use my Pipo M9 a lot for reading e-books and watching videos and it's actually very good. I was on the fence for the same reasons you bring up; but seriously for the size, the resolution is good enough. Technically a 10" screen with a 720p resolution is good enough since I also game and I know that a 1080p screen on a 24" is good enough as well. I also know that anything higher than 24"; 1200p and 1440p are the best options, but that's another topic all together.
Of course, this is just my opinion and everyone will have their preference.
DOVahFeyN said:
I've had this tablet for a good 3+ months now and so far no issues. I have rooted the phone following the process the OP mentioned above (Pipo instructions on how to upgrade firmware) and used this firmware (JB 4.2.2) ---> M9 software_english version_20130529（no need key); it's actually the third link posted.
I also have Nova Launcher and I will have to say the price I paid for it is very much well worth it. It's actually bang for the buck one of the best out there. It's one of the few Chinese tablets with (as of now) with bluetooth and a pseudo GPS (E-Compass). The OTG function also gives it 3G capability among other things.
:good:
---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 PM ----------
Here's the instructions on how to upgrade the firmware straight from the Pipo Website:
Upgrading Procedure
I personally used moborobo to download and install all the drivers you need in order to root it properly, then I followed the instructions given above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the e-compass that pipo so much talk about it?
Because gps= zero
I've a 3g Pipo M9 ,32gig and would love to know how to root it.
Sent from my N9500 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------
Jerry158 said:
I actually have it on 1.6ghz using rom toolbox or something. I'm using the 19th of March firmware.
I noticed lag on the cut scenes of Real Racing 3 which wasn't an issue when I changed the CPU to performance instead of on demand. But the actual driving gameplay is no lag, but sometimes the cutscenes have lag... but thats mainly because real racing 3 is badly coded.
Strong advertising your website blatantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't get a 2gig ram 32 gig rom tab with 3g sum card slot on your crappy site. BTW your add should be removed and a 2 week bar for your freaking abuse of the site
Sent from my N9500 using xda app-developers app
howard bamber said:
I've a 3g Pipo M9 ,32gig and would love to know how to root it.
Sent from my N9500 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------
They way I did it was by flashing a pre-rooted rom (riley rom 1.7 with sdk 2.0). In the meantime, I had to ditch riley rom 1.7 and flashed riley rom 1.6 cause I had an annoying flickering display issue. With this rom, the issue is still there, but only occurs if I set brightness lower than 20 or 25%.
I honestly didn't keep the tablet with stock rom long enough to see if the flickering was already there... anyone else having flickering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
santini069 said:
howard bamber said:
I've a 3g Pipo M9 ,32gig and would love to know how to root it.
Sent from my N9500 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------
They way I did it was by flashing a pre-rooted rom (riley rom 1.7 with sdk 2.0). In the meantime, I had to ditch riley rom 1.7 and flashed riley rom 1.6 cause I had an annoying flickering display issue. With this rom, the issue is still there, but only occurs if I set brightness lower than 20 or 25%.
I honestly didn't keep the tablet with stock rom long enough to see if the flickering was already there... anyone else having flickering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Sumvision Cyclone Voyager 2 4.2 v1 (GB, Incl. Root) by Hejira , and the flickering issue is in alot of roms to be honest, at moment anything lower than 50% causes the flickering for me, but that aside , this is a fantastic tablet.
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Click to collapse
hello
I'm trying to decide which large screened phone to purchase
Huawei P8 max
Letv le max x900
the p8 max has a bigger screen but I am not sure if the letv has a better screen?
also I am not concerned about the size or the 4g connectivity, I wish to know which phone is better with regard to snappiness launching apps and 'multitasking'
which phone has a better sense of 'future proofing' as much as one could say future proofing...
and which phone is just better phone in other aspects?
I would like to hear your opinions please
oh forgot to mention does anyone know which one has a better loudspeaker, I like to listen to music with the loudspeaker (the one at the bottom)
thank you very much!
- Emmanuel
emmanuelw said:
hello
I'm trying to decide which large screened phone to purchase
Huawei P8 max
Letv le max x900
the p8 max has a bigger screen but I am not sure if the letv has a better screen?
also I am not concerned about the size or the 4g connectivity, I wish to know which phone is better with regard to snappiness launching apps and 'multitasking'
which phone has a better sense of 'future proofing' as much as one could say future proofing...
and which phone is just better phone in other aspects?
I would like to hear your opinions please
oh forgot to mention does anyone know which one has a better loudspeaker, I like to listen to music with the loudspeaker (the one at the bottom)
thank you very much!
- Emmanuel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be patient & buy the LeMax Pro; build-wise it's quite similar to the x900, but it's using the SD820 cpu which is an entirely different class compared to the overheating SD810.
Listen to adwinp!
Wait for the Le Max Pro, before deciding.
I have the Le Max and P8Max and Mate 8 (Mate 8 is NOT worth the upgrade (IMHO) from the 7/S or P8Max and mine will be sold in the next couple days)
If specs are what you're looking for Le Max wins on paper, if you can't wait for the Le Max Pro.
If camera is the selling point, P8max has a brilliant camera (IMHO better than the mate 8 in low light and auto focus mode is faster) and its better (IMHO) than the Le Max which has a decent camera, which struggles with auto focus, and low light. Don't be fooled by 21MP vs 13MP...or ultra pixel...It sounds good but its not.
If connectivity is your thing...the LeMax will connect to 5g Wifi, the P8Max struggles and 9/10 times won't.
Speakers, P8Max, cleaner sound at high volumes.
Overall speed, about the same really. Where the P8Max can freeze during gaming its few and far between and depends on the gaming...
If custom ROMs are your thing, Le Max has the better support community and it seems to be growing.
If screen size is your thing, its tough to say. Tied. While the 2k screen is nice on the Le Max, the p8max has a brilliant 6.8" screen
If storage is your thing, P8Max Simple. While 128GB is nice on the Le Max. That's it that's all. But even better than that is the 64GB and the ability to add a 200GB sd card. I have a 200GB card in my 703L and their are no issues.
If security is your thing, They are both Chinese phones so while the Le Max and Le Max pro have fingerprint
If build quality is your thing, both quality builds, but the edge goes to the P8Max, its cleaner and well built.
If future support is your thing, Le Max. It has the community support behind it.
I'll say this. While I have been harsh on the P8Max, I would not part with this phone. The Le Max already has me wanting the Le Max pro. Huawei has the screen size right and a 2k screen with 6GB, Mali 880 MP GPU, Kirin 8+1 follow up is the hope and dream... the P8Max screen is just perfect in size. I just prefer it to all others, as I read a ton for work.
The Le Max Pro is going to be a monster of a phone. So if you can wait for that, and are leaning towards the Le Max. Wait.
At the end of it all, you cannot go wrong with what you are picking, its your call, just understand that all phones have their pros and cons. These two are no different.
Good luck.
Cheers.
Excellent pertinent comparison, @TheTruthSeeker. What do you do for a living?
@emmanuelw - I've been changing phones every ~6 months or so for the better part of my smartphone consumer years since the HTC Diamond Touch (yes I know, I'm ashamed, I was a Windows Mobile user). HTC, Sony, Huawei, ... you name it - I've owned most flagships.
Here's my experience with the device so far:
1: really good all-around build quality - metal + glass. Neither scratch easily (I do not use a phone case or screen protector).
2: huge screen - I wanted to see whether this would blur the line between a smartphone & tablet, as I've been using the latter for most of my multimedia needs (video, gaming).
The device sports one of the best screen-to-body ratios I've seen - one of the reasons I stopped liking HTCs after the original One/m7.
Anyway, watching, playing, reading feels really nice on such a huge screen & I've been reaching less & less for my tablet as it is. Doesn't seem to be too much of a battery sucker at low brightnesses but you feel the drain at higher brightness levels. I'm a 5ft9" guy & usually use the device with 2 hands; 6.8" is a bit too big - 6.2"-6.3" seems to be the sweet spot for me.
3: GPS - gets a fix fast & is usually reliable. Never really had an issue with it.
4: WIFI - as mentioned, won't connect to 5GHz, but 2.4GHz is OK, as are the speeds. No dropouts & doesn't take its toll on the battery. Range capture is OK, nothing to write home about.
5: Audio - one of the low points - if you have good earphones or headphones, the built-in DAC might make up for the crappy device audio. Speaker audio is downright horrible by today's standards.
Best I've experienced are of course HTC, & Sony.
6: Storage - I have the 64Gb + external 128Gb microsd Samsung EVO+. I am installing games with huge space requirements (Final Fantasy, emulators & their ISOs), lots of downloads, lots of audio, & not once have I been nagged for space running low. Storage speed is nothing special, definitely not Samsung-fast.
7: Bluetooth - drops out once in a while, but I rarely really use it.
8: 3G/4G - usually stays connected to 4G in urban areas, but sometime stuggles with keeping a connection where other phones still have connectivity.
9: Camera - quality is OK with decent lighting, but struggles in low light - definitely worse than the LG G4.
10: Touch responsiveness - OK, but not great.
11: Battery life - as long as you're not running on high brighness, it really does offer great battery life.
Barely comes close to 2 days of heavy usage, despite what Huawei advertised.
11: software-wise - gets some updates once every month or so, but even at the dawn of Android N, still didn't receive the Marshmallow update.
Virtually zero community support due to spotty GPL compliance related to the released open source components. Definitely no developer support like in the case of Sony. Zero responsiveness to queries by global support. Rooting & customization will be your only salvation.
Usability - the heavily skinned interface takes some getting used to it but nothing alternative apps can't remedy to. The phone itself is quite responsive, with support for most software features. Doesn't have NFC, but not an issue for me. Some built-in features are really useful, like the permission manager & background app monitor, but both are now a standard in android 6.0.
12: performance - you must keep in mind that the P8max is really a mid-ranger. You might encounter rare initial lags with demanding, big apps or games, but the regular mortal you will rarely feel it.
It all boils down to your needs - what are you looking for in a phone?
The snapdragon platform is mature - will provide excellent performance & compatibility, good battery life (especially on the 16nm FinFET process) & should have plenty of developer/community support. The Huawei Kirin platform is not there yet. I was hoping for changes due to advent of the Nexus 6P, but they used a SD810 instead of a Kirin.
Keep in mind that the Kirin935 in the P8max is an aging platform, but prices should drop in accordance.
Are you a power user - if yes, go for Snapdragon, or for Exynos, but I'd really go for Snapdragon. Mediatek is not there yet.
Are you a mere mortal, looking for regular performance from your phone (save for the big screen) - you can bet on any of them.
I'd really go for the LeMax Pro though, unless other manufacturers announce 6"+ devices (I'm looking forward to a Sony Ultra this year). The Kirin935 & SD810 are a thing of the past now.
Again - what are YOU looking for?
first thank you adwinp and TheTruthSeeker
I will definitely heed to your advice and be patient for now see what comes next
I am leaning more towards the LE Max as future support is important for me I don't change phones often
I also desire to have a phone with a good internal speaker sound but then I guess the new le max will have the same speaker as the older one which I understand is only mediocre in quality...
I do use the phone to play music with sheet music on the go so I look at musical notes on the screen which have to be large and listen through the speaker
at the moment I have a small nexus 4 phone so even the 6.3 inch would be an upgrade screen wise but I am not sure if the speaker on the le max is better than the one on my current nexus 4 I can't find any details on the speaker of the le max...
my main concerns are
- good sound and good LARGE screen above 6 inch
- good support updates and preparation for future (as much as possible)
- smoothness of operation the least amount of lag when launching apps and multitasking (I don't do games though)
one of you mentioned some touch problems with the screen I think, this concerns me as I have such problems in my nexus 4 and they annoy me a lot
I listened to some music on the internal speaker of my cousin's lg g4 phone and was quite impressed with the quality, do any of these phones can compare with the quality of sound of the lg g4?
what other phones are to be waiting for this year, the le max pro the maybe p9 max but is the z6 ultra going to be better than any of these for my needs?
or any other phone you know off bigger than 6 inch?
thank you again!
- Emmanuel
After my Tour to Android and P8Max I would only take a Snapdragon device if u plan to have it longer and want Updates and Roms!
I think the Sony Ultra modell this yeah will be your best choice, I will sell my P8max too if the Specc are good!
thank you Hirs_E_Fruit, why do you think the sony would be better than theLE Max? and another issue is how do we know if sony is actually going to release a z6 ultra, and last are there any other upcoming phones larger than 6 inch?
I think because Sony will sell it worldwide officially so there will be a larger base of community. Rumours suggest there will be 4 Versions of the z6, lets hope its true.
P9max but i would not recommend it anymore.
emmanuelw said:
first thank you adwinp and TheTruthSeeker
thank you again!
- Emmanuel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TheTruthSeeker said:
Wait for the Le Max Pro, before deciding.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@ Truthseeker: How is the refresh/frame rate on the p8max? I heard it leaves trails, which I find odd. How are the colors/blacks and what about the sharpness (count pixels easily?) Last but not least, is the speaker of good quality? Cheers :good:
adwinp said:
Excellent pertinent comparison, @TheTruthSeeker. What do you do for a living?
@emmanuelw - I've been changing phones every ~6 months or so for the better part of my smartphone consumer years since the HTC Diamond Touch (yes I know, I'm ashamed, I was a Windows Mobile user). HTC, Sony, Huawei, ... you name it - I've owned most flagships.
Here's my experience with the device so far:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@ adwinp: How is the refresh/frame rate on the p8max? I heard it leaves trails, which I find odd. How are the colors/blacks and what about the sharpness (count pixels easily?) You're the only one who said that the speaker is horrible, strange.
adwinp said:
Excellent pertinent comparison, @TheTruthSeeker. What do you do for a living?
@emmanuelw - I've been changing phones every ~6 months or so for the better part of my smartphone consumer years since the HTC Diamond Touch (yes I know, I'm ashamed, I was a Windows Mobile user). HTC, Sony, Huawei, ... you name it - I've owned most flagships.
Here's my experience with the device so far:
1: really good all-around build quality - metal + glass. Neither scratch easily (I do not use a phone case or screen protector).
2: huge screen - I wanted to see whether this would blur the line between a smartphone & tablet, as I've been using the latter for most of my multimedia needs (video, gaming).
The device sports one of the best screen-to-body ratios I've seen - one of the reasons I stopped liking HTCs after the original One/m7.
Anyway, watching, playing, reading feels really nice on such a huge screen & I've been reaching less & less for my tablet as it is. Doesn't seem to be too much of a battery sucker at low brightnesses but you feel the drain at higher brightness levels. I'm a 5ft9" guy & usually use the device with 2 hands; 6.8" is a bit too big - 6.2"-6.3" seems to be the sweet spot for me.
3: GPS - gets a fix fast & is usually reliable. Never really had an issue with it.
4: WIFI - as mentioned, won't connect to 5GHz, but 2.4GHz is OK, as are the speeds. No dropouts & doesn't take its toll on the battery. Range capture is OK, nothing to write home about.
5: Audio - one of the low points - if you have good earphones or headphones, the built-in DAC might make up for the crappy device audio. Speaker audio is downright horrible by today's standards.
Best I've experienced are of course HTC, & Sony.
6: Storage - I have the 64Gb + external 128Gb microsd Samsung EVO+. I am installing games with huge space requirements (Final Fantasy, emulators & their ISOs), lots of downloads, lots of audio, & not once have I been nagged for space running low. Storage speed is nothing special, definitely not Samsung-fast.
7: Bluetooth - drops out once in a while, but I rarely really use it.
8: 3G/4G - usually stays connected to 4G in urban areas, but sometime stuggles with keeping a connection where other phones still have connectivity.
9: Camera - quality is OK with decent lighting, but struggles in low light - definitely worse than the LG G4.
10: Touch responsiveness - OK, but not great.
11: Battery life - as long as you're not running on high brighness, it really does offer great battery life.
Barely comes close to 2 days of heavy usage, despite what Huawei advertised.
11: software-wise - gets some updates once every month or so, but even at the dawn of Android N, still didn't receive the Marshmallow update.
Virtually zero community support due to spotty GPL compliance related to the released open source components. Definitely no developer support like in the case of Sony. Zero responsiveness to queries by global support. Rooting & customization will be your only salvation.
Usability - the heavily skinned interface takes some getting used to it but nothing alternative apps can't remedy to. The phone itself is quite responsive, with support for most software features. Doesn't have NFC, but not an issue for me. Some built-in features are really useful, like the permission manager & background app monitor, but both are now a standard in android 6.0.
12: performance - you must keep in mind that the P8max is really a mid-ranger. You might encounter rare initial lags with demanding, big apps or games, but the regular mortal you will rarely feel it.
It all boils down to your needs - what are you looking for in a phone?
The snapdragon platform is mature - will provide excellent performance & compatibility, good battery life (especially on the 16nm FinFET process) & should have plenty of developer/community support. The Huawei Kirin platform is not there yet. I was hoping for changes due to advent of the Nexus 6P, but they used a SD810 instead of a Kirin.
Keep in mind that the Kirin935 in the P8max is an aging platform, but prices should drop in accordance.
Are you a power user - if yes, go for Snapdragon, or for Exynos, but I'd really go for Snapdragon. Mediatek is not there yet.
Are you a mere mortal, looking for regular performance from your phone (save for the big screen) - you can bet on any of them.
I'd really go for the LeMax Pro though, unless other manufacturers announce 6"+ devices (I'm looking forward to a Sony Ultra this year). The Kirin935 & SD810 are a thing of the past now.
Again - what are YOU looking for?
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Click to collapse
@adwinp - Thank you for your kind words, I work in the social legal field but repair mobile devices and dab in ROM play here and there. Learning and by no means near a pro/amateur/etc.
I too swap devices regularly and have not held a flagship longer than a year since my blackberry 8800 back in the day! Way back lol.
A wealth of information in your post here, well said and done! Great post!!!
Cheers.
---------- Post added at 02:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:04 PM ----------
gideonMorrison said:
@ Truthseeker: How is the refresh/frame rate on the p8max? I heard it leaves trails, which I find odd. How are the colors/blacks and what about the sharpness (count pixels easily?) Last but not least, is the speaker of good quality? Cheers :good:
@gideonMorrison In all honesty, everyday use NO trails or flashing (Everyday use being texts, emails, maybe two dots, chess, checking the weather and the like) but in memory intensive games (chaos rings 2, need for speed MW, 6 guns, anomaly 2, etc) you will notice trails, screen flashing, and (when the device heats up) dreadded laaaaag. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough to realize this is a midrange phone NOT a flagship, premium device built to dominate from Huawei.
As for the speaker, its decent. It can play at high volumes with no considerable distortion. BUT, do they have the same sound quality of say a Blackberry passport or HTC boomsound, sadly no. But this is my humble opinion. You will enjoy the speaker while on speaker phone, watching youtube videos, etc. True audiophiles will look past the specs and agree that this is a good speaker with ok sound quality.
Hope this has helped.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TheTruthSeeker said:
@adwinp - Thank you for your kind words, I work in the social legal field but repair mobile devices and dab in ROM play here and there. Learning and by no means near a pro/amateur/etc.
I too swap devices regularly and have not held a flagship longer than a year since my blackberry 8800 back in the day! Way back lol.
A wealth of information in your post here, well said and done! Great post!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers.
---------- Post added at 02:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:04 PM ----------
gideonMorrison said:
@ Truthseeker: How is the refresh/frame rate on the p8max? I heard it leaves trails, which I find odd. How are the colors/blacks and what about the sharpness (count pixels easily?) Last but not least, is the speaker of good quality? Cheers :good:
@gideonMorrison In all honesty, everyday use NO trails or flashing (Everyday use being texts, emails, maybe two dots, chess, checking the weather and the like) but in memory intensive games (chaos rings 2, need for speed MW, 6 guns, anomaly 2, etc) you will notice trails, screen flashing, and (when the device heats up) dreadded laaaaag. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough to realize this is a midrange phone NOT a flagship, premium device built to dominate from Huawei.
As for the speaker, its decent. It can play at high volumes with no considerable distortion. BUT, do they have the same sound quality of say a Blackberry passport or HTC boomsound, sadly no. But this is my humble opinion. You will enjoy the speaker while on speaker phone, watching youtube videos, etc. True audiophiles will look past the specs and agree that this is a good speaker with ok sound quality.
Hope this has helped.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Truthseeker for your extensive reply :good: I remember my old Galaxy Nexus suffering from bad ghosting, which is years ago, but find it somehow hard to believe the Max has the same issue (in the year 2015, that is). Is it something a lot more phones suffer from, because it is a new-ish device and by now you'd think they won't make (old) mistakes anymore. I wonder if I would really really (while gaming/watching movies as well?) notice and be put off about it (trails/ghosting/flashing). Not entirely sure what you mean by flashing however
Good to hear about the speaker. My Alcatel Idol 3 had superb stereo speakers, but have a feeling this one isn't bad indeed.
And if it's worth it, what's the main pros and cons?
I would mostly be looking at it for gaming and probably going with a custom rom, and for the price and specs it's hard to over look it compared to other tablets in the price range, it just looks to good to be true. Usually cheaper is never better with phones and tablets, I've learned the hard way...
Sent from my SM-T230NU using XDA-Developers mobile app
i bought the tab recently too . for starters i really like it and am already enjoying multirom benefits thanks to devs of xda.
Note these are only my thoughts , better read expert reviews to find out more.
pros
-smooth gaming performance
-impressive speakers
-good dev community
-direct stylus
-wifi direct controller (low latency compared to Bluetooth controllers)
- gamestream & game hub (nice pc gaming stream)
-okay to good battery life (for a gaming tab)
- full color management options
-connectivity options
-good android update track record (but poor quality sometimes)
-linux4tegraP)
cons
- not the best screen out there
-outdoor visibility is bit low
- idiotic power and volume button placemnet (no travel)
- accessories are not cheap (no charger or stylus included) (third party ones will get the work done for cheap)
neither cons nor pros
- old soc (kinda)
- future android updates (probably will get android N as stated in geforce community)
- 2Gb ram (mixed reviews)
-heat (duh!)
-16gb storage (i use 64gig sdcard and im doing fine)
Note : custom roms (except cm12 unofficial build) do not support the shield controller , but you can use multi rom like most of us do.
vimjam said:
i bought the tab recently too . for starters i really like it and am already enjoying multirom benefits thanks to devs of xda.
Note these are only my thoughts , better read expert reviews to find out more.
pros
-smooth gaming performance
-impressive speakers
-good dev community
-direct stylus
-wifi direct controller (low latency compared to Bluetooth controllers)
- gamestream & game hub (nice pc gaming stream)
-okay to good battery life (for a gaming tab)
- full color management options
-connectivity options
-good android update track record (but poor quality sometimes)
-linux4tegraP)
cons
- not the best screen out there
-outdoor visibility is bit low
- idiotic power and volume button placemnet (no travel)
- accessories are not cheap (no charger or stylus included) (third party ones will get the work done for cheap)
neither cons nor pros
- old soc (kinda)
- future android updates (probably will get android N as stated in geforce community)
- 2Gb ram (mixed reviews)
-heat (duh!)
-16gb storage (i use 64gig sdcard and im doing fine)
Note : custom roms (except cm12 unofficial build) do not support the shield controller , but you can use multi rom like most of us do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly the kind of replies I'm looking for.
Realiability is an issue for me too since I had a nexus 7 last year and I couldn't stand it, just on stock it had so many issues (so I never rooting for warranties sake, and had 3 in total with all the same issues), random touching and unable to scroll without screwing up, constant wifi drops, mic drops on Skype... It just goes on really. So just hearing that nvidia might have solid hardware and try to keep up with the software side of things could make it a winner for me, even if the official accessories aren't cheap the price of the tablet itself can make up for it. Plus if I need a controller I can just use my ps4s [emoji6]
It's really hard to find an affordable name brand tablet with decent specs anymore. And some official reviews are hard to believe sometimes, I don't really trust people that buy it, use it for a couple weeks and say it's great... Phone and tablets can deteriorate drastically by 6 months time.
I hope to see more replies to see what everyone thinks.
Sent from my SM-T230NU using XDA-Developers mobile app
I just got done setting up my Shield K1 this week. I came from a Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ on CyanogenMod 11. That thing is practically on its last legs in terms of usability since it's stuck on KitKat and it's noticeably laggy for even basic use now.
On the K1, I'm running an unlocked bootloader, TWRP recovery, rooted stock ROM, and Xposed. I'm not really into custom ROMs anymore as long as I can tweak an existing ROM to my liking, whether it's by manually editing system files or through Xposed. I've yet to play any games or even run the Fallout Shelter game that comes on it.
For $200, this tablet is really a bargain considering you get 1080p+ resolution, easy rooting, and tablet gaming performance that is still top tier today. As for what doesn't come in the box, I already have a QC 2.0 charger that I bought as a second charger for my phone, and I don't have a use for a stylus. I've never believed in spending lots of money on a tablet since it's realistically my least used computing device out of four (desktop, laptop, phone, tablet), so like the Nook HD+ back in its day, the Shield K1 is the best customizable/rootable tablet with a high resolution display for the money.
The only issue I have so far with the K1, which many others have had, is that the touchscreen is too sensitive and sometimes registers taps when my finger hovers over but doesn't actually touch the screen. You can recalibrate the screen by following this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tablet/general/adjust-touchscreen-sensitivity-t2963326
For a controller, I have a Xbox 360 wireless controller and USB PC wireless adapter, which can be plugged in to the K1 using a micro USB OTG dongle.