Tablet PIPO U1 - optimal price-functionality-quality ratio. Pipo tablets Operating system and programs

Nowadays, people pay great attention to those gadgets that are able to simplify their life even for a few seconds. That is why the production of a variety of tablets is getting huge distribution. So, more recently, each person had a unique opportunity to become the owner of a PiPO tablet at a completely low price, taking into account the functional load of this gadget.

Your consideration seems to be a unique of its kind M9 3G, which will definitely emphasize the solidity of its owner, even in appearance, not to mention the inside. Therefore, your decision to purchase such a gadget in Moscow is definitely worthy of respect. It is capable of running Android 4.2.2 JB OS efficiently and quickly. The main advantage of its display is the clarity of the image, the absence of inversion, as well as the viewing angles. Note the fact that it has two cameras, 2MP front and 5MP rear. The latter is additionally equipped with LED-backlight and autofocus.

If you do not have free time to wander around the shops in vain, then especially for this there is an opportunity to buy a PiPO tablet in an online store, without even leaving your apartment. It is fast, convenient and, most importantly, reliable!

Full HD in 8.9-inch display and dual Micro-USB

Thanks to the development of production technologies, Full HD resolution (1920 × 1080), which until recently was considered the privilege of home theaters, has already become the standard for flagship smartphones from well-known manufacturers. Since a different aspect ratio is fixed among tablets, 16:10 instead of 16: 9, "their Full HD" corresponds to a resolution of 1920 × 1200. Traditionally, it is common in 10 "tablets, however, there are not uncommon exceptions. We recently introduced readers to the 11.6-inch giant Voyo A15. Today we also have a device in our test lab with an extraordinary, but already smaller display diagonal - 8.9-inch Pipo Max-M7 Pro 3G.

Shenzhen Pipo Company was established in 2003. In ten years, it has gone from producing DVD players, all-in-ones and digital photo frames to smartphones and tablets. The range of the latter is wide and varied. Considering that Pipo has a full-fledged representative office in Russia, we should clearly get acquainted with at least one of its products.

Detailed characteristics of Pipo Max-M7 Pro 3G

• Model Number: M7 pro
• Single Chip: Rockchip RK3188
• Central Processing Unit: 4 cores ARM Cortex-A9 @ 1.6 GHz
• GPU: 4 cores Mali-400 MP4 @ 600 MHz
• RAM: 2GB DDR3
• Display: IPS, 8.9 ″, 1920 × 1200, 254 ppi
• Internal memory: 16 GB
• Support for microSD memory cards
• Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, 3G
• GPS, Bluetooth
• Cameras: 2 MP front, 5 MP rear with flash
• Two Micro-USB connectors (for OTG and PC connection), a connector for a network adapter, a 3.5 mm jack for a headset, Mini-HDMI, Mini-SIM
• Orientation and lighting sensors, accelerometer, compass
• Battery capacity: 6300 mAh
• Operating system: Google Android 4.2.2
• Size: 218 × 161 × 9mm (measured when testing)
• Weight: 485g (measured while testing)

The comparative table, first of all, includes Barnes & Noble Nook HD + with very similar display characteristics. Then add Cube U30GT2 and IconBIT NetTAB Thor Quad FHD with the same filling and resolution. And let's complete the picture with the recently tested Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 (almost 3 inches larger Voyo A15 will remain on the sidelines today).

* - according to the manufacturer's data, except for Pipo Max-M7 Pro, measured and weighed in edition
** - at the time of writing the review; for all tablets, prices are for the 16 GB version, with the exception of the Asus MeMO Pad FHD, which has a much more common 32 GB version
*** - the cost is indicated for the minimum configuration, declared on the official website of the manufacturer, excluding shipping and tax (for Nook HD +)

Apart from the price, Pipo Max-M7 Pro 3G looks very advantageous against the background of competitors. It is the only one equipped with a 3G module, has a well-tested and fairly efficient single-chip system and the smallest screen with the same resolution among all the competitors. Here, of course, the Nook HD + stands out with two extra dpi, but its use is already separate and quite. GPS is also on the Pipo side. Against it, of course, is the price, as well as the smaller battery capacity. And the internal memory could be installed twice as much.

Equipment

The package includes a power adapter (with a red LED), an adapter for a Russian plug, an interesting type of OTG cable, a wire for connecting to a PC, a user manual and, most likely, a local warranty card.

In addition to this gentleman's set, the manufacturer has provided the tablet with contrasting white vacuum headphones. Their only notable feature is the flat cable to protect the accessory from tangles. It's not worth talking about the sound quality of the headphones - it is suitable, at best, for chat.

Design

The design of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro hints that the tablet should mainly be used in landscape orientation. However, thanks to the noticeably extended long margins, it is comfortable to hold with one hand like a book.

In addition to the display on the front panel, there was a place for the front camera lens and light sensor.

The back panel is the most successful design element of the tablet. The side plastic panels for which the grip is carried out have a pleasant texturing. Between them is a metal plate with very small longitudinal grooves. Speaker slots are neatly inscribed at the junction of plastic and metal.

At the top is the rear camera lens and flash. Slightly higher is the hole with the forced reset button.

All the functional elements of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro are collected on the upper edge. From left to right: SIM card slot, microSD slot, 3.5 mm headset jack, Micro-USB OTG connector, Micro-USB connector for PC connection. Next is the Mini-HDMI port, microphone hole, and a power adapter jack with a red LED indicator. The row is completed by a pair of identical Power and Esc buttons - small and with a small, precise stroke.

The distortion in the photo above, which hurts the eye, occurs due to the fact that the top of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro is slightly thicker than the bottom. This is noticeable to the touch.

Apart from the top, all the other edges of the tablet are beveled, and there was no place for a volume rocker on them - which is quite surprising, given that almost every Android device has this element. It is really unusual without it; the smaller volume buttons could have been inserted in place of the much less useful Esc button.

There are some complaints about the build quality of the tablet. The front panel squeaks when you try to push against the edge; it is felt that it is not connected to the side frame in the best way. Therefore, the Pipo Max-M7 Pro flex test fails.

Screen

The tablet screen is covered with a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface. In the tested sample, a protective film was glued to the outer surface of the screen (with good quality, possibly at the factory), which we did not remove and all screen tests were carried out with it. Judging by the brightness of the reflected objects, the screen does not have any antiglare filter (or it is very weak). The surface of the matrix itself under the glass is mirror-glossy, while the reflection in the screen is tripled, which suggests the presence of an air gap between the surface of the matrix and the outer glass. The protective film has some oleophobic (grease-repellent) properties, so fingerprints do not appear as quickly as in the case of ordinary glass, but are removed more easily.

With manual brightness control, its maximum value was about 300 cd / m², and the minimum was 50 cd / m². The maximum value is not very high, so in bright daylight, the image on the screen is unlikely to be clearly visible, especially given the absence of an anti-reflective filter, but indoors, in any reasonable light level, the tablet can be used without much difficulty. The minimum brightness will allow you to comfortably work with the tablet even in complete darkness. Automatic brightness control works according to the light sensor (it is located to the right of the front camera). In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness is reduced to a minimum of 50 cd / m², in an office lit with artificial light, it is set at 200 cd / m² (ideal), and in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight) rises to a maximum of 300 cd / m². However, sometimes in complete darkness, the brightness remained at a fairly high level, which indicates the unstable operation of the light sensor. At any brightness level, there is no significant modulation of the backlight, so no screen flickering is visually detectable.

This tablet uses an IPS type matrix. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

The screen has good viewing angles without inverting tints and without significant color shift, even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen. The black field, when deviated along the diagonal, lightens slightly, and acquires a red-violet tint or remains almost neutral gray. When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is average: there are small overexposed areas along the edge of the screen. Flickering dots of the capacitive sensor can be seen in the white field at some angles. The contrast is not the lowest - about 750: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 17 ms (9 ms on + 8 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (by the numerical value of the color) and back takes 28.5 ms in total. The gamma curve plotted at 32 points did not reveal any blockage in highlights or shadows, and the exponent of the approximating power-law function turned out to be 2.05, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve slightly deviates from the power-law dependence:

Color gamut narrower than sRGB:

Apparently, the matrix light filters mix the components together, and the spectra confirm this. This technique allows you to increase the brightness of the screen with the same energy consumption for the backlight. A side effect is that the colors on the screen have slightly lower saturation than natural.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is medium, since the color temperature is below the standard 6500 K. The deviation from the spectrum of a black body (ΔE) is relatively large, however, the variation in ΔE is small, as is the variation in color temperature, which has a positive effect on the visual perception of color balance. The dark areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring the color characteristics at low brightness is large.

The screen as a whole is a budget option on an IPS-matrix, but its additional advantage is the relatively stable black color.

Operating system

Pipo Max-M7 Pro runs on Android 4.2.2 operating system. The tests were carried out on the firmware dated August 19, 2013. In total, 14.51 of 16 GB of internal storage space is available to the user, which is a very good indicator. Unfortunately, superuser rights are not granted.

The system has a standard look, which in the row with the navigation buttons is complemented by the buttons for taking a screenshot and changing the volume - in the Pipo Max-M7 Pro there are no mechanical controls for these commands.

The manufacturer has expanded the operating system, adding the ability to display multiple windows at the same time. This function is enabled in the settings; there is also a description of it.

There is little practical value in multi-window mode, since it works poorly.

The list of preinstalled programs is small. It includes several apps for kids, an internal storage installer, the InkStage toolbox, and a few more apps. There was also some Chinese software, so it makes sense to get root rights for its subsequent removal - instructions on this matter are easy to find on the Web.

The over-the-air firmware of the tablet, as we expected, does not work. To enter the firmware mode, you need to connect the tablet to the PC and hold down the Esc and Power buttons for a few seconds. If the tablet is being flashed for the first time, then, ideally, the computer will detect an unknown device and in a pop-up window will offer to install a driver for it. In our case, in parallel with entering the firmware mode, we had to keep the "Device Manager" open and track the moment when "Unknown device" appears in the list when connecting.

After Windows asks for drivers for an unknown device, you must specify a file from the "Rockusb_v3.5 driver" folder of the flashing archive. To call the desired dialog in the device manager, select the "Update drivers ..." command from the context menu. If the installation is successful, the tablet will be recognized:

Now you can proceed to installing the firmware itself. First, you need to download its image (M7pro 3G device), then run the RKBatchTool program and specify the path to the firmware image in the FW Path column. Finally, connect the tablet in the same way as when installing the driver - holding down Esc and Power for a few seconds. As a result, it should appear in the Connected Devices list as follows:

Click Upgrade. Further action will be transferred to the tablet display, which will report on the progress of the installation. After its successful completion, a green line will appear in the program window. You can turn on Pipo.

If at startup you do not see the familiar Android desktop, photographed at the beginning of the section, do not be alarmed. In parallel with the standard shell, the manufacturer installed a proprietary Pipo Family Launcher in the tablet. In order to turn on one of the skins, you need to press some virtual Android button and select the desired item. We covered the standard shell at the beginning of the section; Now let's talk about Pipo Family Launcher.

At first glance, it becomes clear that this shell should conquer fans of Metro UI - Windows 8's touch-based graphical interface.

Pipo Family Launcher implements the InkStage applications that we mentioned above - explorer, LogBook (diary) and others. In addition to the main one, the user has four more screens available, as well as creating his own. Quick access to them is available through a semicircular menu that appears when you click in the center at the bottom. The four main screens - Office, Internet, Multimedia and Applications - have a typical structure, but contain their own, useful on this screen, interface elements. For example, Office has a bookshelf, Internet has bookmarks, Multimedia has a portable player, and Applications has folders. On tiles with pluses, the user can add their applications from the general list (and delete those already on the screen).

In addition, the user can create two more screens similar to "Apps". They will also appear in the quick jump menu.

There is a pink corner in the upper right corner of each screen. By clicking on it, you can go to the children's interface of the Pipo Family Launcher, similar to the "adult". Here parents can choose the time their child spends on the tablet, as well as the preferred content.

Alas, all the charm of this venture breaks down on the inviolability of the Android function keys, with the help of which any child is able to bypass children's restrictions. To switch between the regular Android interface and Pipo Family Launcher, it is convenient to set one of the many skin switches, for example Launcher Switcher:

The stability of the operating system in different shells varies. If in standard Android the tablet rarely frustrated us with a lack of responsiveness and ragged animation, in Pipo Family Launcher almost every press had to be duplicated. Surprisingly, the children's version of the Pipo shell performed slightly better than the "adult" one. We remind you that the version dated August 19, the latest at the time of this writing, was used as the working version of the firmware.

Platform and performance

The Pipo Max-M7 Pro tablet runs on the widespread and already well-known to us Rockchip RK3188 single-chip system, containing 4 ARM Cortex-A9 cores with a frequency of 1.6 GHz each and also a quad-core Mali-400 graphics adapter operating at a frequency of up to 600 MHz:

We have plenty of material for comparison: only in the same resolution we have already tested two tablets on the RK3188. We run benchmarks.

The browser test results are pleasantly surprising. Having the same processor, Pipo manages to consistently outstrip Cube and break away from IconBIT by 20-25%!

SuperPi on Pipo Max-M7 Pro has never been able to pass all iterations, so we do not include this benchmark in testing.

Starting with this review, Geekbench 2 is a thing of the past - it is no longer available on Google Play, like Antutu 3, which was replaced by the fourth version. Fortunately, we had a NetTAB Thor Quad FHD in our editorial office, and we tested it in new versions of benchmarks for comparison. Our hero unexpectedly lost in Antutu, and, as the study of detailed results showed, the reason for this was the result of flash memory. However, in the Quadrant Benchmark, the Pipo tablet was noticeably higher in almost all subtests and earned 5886 points in the flash memory benchmark (IconBIT had only 3322). It looks like the problem lies in the test suites after all.

The new Antutu treated the Pipo tablet fairly: it placed it above the Galaxy S3 (which has a 200 MHz lower CPU frequency) and below the Google Nexus 10. The latter has half the cores, so it is inferior in the processor part, but this is more than made up for by the new GPU Mali T604. This is clearly seen on the scoring scales, which in the new version of the benchmark have become more colorful and interesting.

And again, Pipo outperforms all colleagues on the Rockchip RK3188, which was quite expected after the previous benchmarks. But it is inferior to Intel - mobile platforms of this manufacturer in gaming benchmarks very often show themselves better than expected. The Max-M7 Pro was slightly faster than the Nook HD +, although Epic Citadel Ultra High Quality was available for the Barnes & Noble tablet, but not for the Pipo.

We were a little surprised by the results of both scenes. We expected more superiority over competitors with a similar platform in Egypt HD, but instead, such a result was "drawn" in T-Rex HD. Of course, even with the maximum 6.9 fps this “game” will be “unplayable”, but the victory “on points” is indisputable here.

The list of games for tests has also changed. We crossed out Angry Birds Space, which will almost run on any modern Android device, and Dark Meadow, which, on the contrary, is, apparently, only compatible with the NVIDIA Tegra platform. Instead, we used the spectacular "diabloid" Dungeon Hunter 4, which has a 1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM and a PoverVR SGX540 graphics processor in system requirements. Having your own hardware requests is, you see, still a luxury for traditionally casual Android games.

Disappointment came unexpectedly: a third of the test games with the Pipo Max-M7 Pro are simply incompatible. In Max Payne and Dead Trigger, as is often the case, the interface is distorted.

Our newcomer, Dungeon Hunter 4, slowed down noticeably at intervals of 5-10 seconds. The gaps decreased as the graphical load of the scene increased, but this did not particularly affect the gameplay:

Video playback

Let's evaluate the playback of five standard video files:

The AC3 tracks, like all other components of the clips, were decoded by hardware. There were no problems with standard videos, but the Pipo Max-M7 HD was the first tablet that could not play our ten-hour video (MPEG-4, AVC ( [email protected]) / AAC, 1280 × 720, 25 fps) used for testing battery life.

Additionally, the HDMI interface was tested, for which we used the LG IPS237L monitor. The output mode can be selected in the setup menu:

We tested mainly in 1080p at 60 fps. With an active HDMI connection, regardless of the orientation of the tablet, the image on its screen and on the screen of the connected monitor is displayed in landscape orientation. The monitor always displays an exact copy of the tablet screen and full screen, but it is compressed vertically due to the discrepancy between the tablet screen proportions and the monitor screen proportions (and the aspect ratio of the 1080p video signal). The standard player on the connected monitor displays the image of video files in the same way in a vertically compressed form. This drawback can be ignored, or you can try to fix it using players with a choice of scale. In particular, with the help of MX Player, it was possible to obtain an image of the correct proportions, but since the Full HD picture was obtained by adjusting the original aspect ratio of the tablet screen to the aspect ratio of 16: 9, the vertical clarity still did not reach 1080 lines.

The sound is output via HDMI (in this case, the sounds were heard through the headphones connected to the monitor, since there are no speakers in the monitor itself) and is of very good quality. In this case, the volume is controlled by buttons on the tablet, and no sound is output from the speakers of the tablet.

Then, using a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see "Testing methods for video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices)"), we checked how the video is displayed on the tablet itself. Screenshots with a shutter speed of 1 s helped to determine the nature of the frame output of video files with different parameters: the resolution varied (1280 × 720 (720p) and 1920 × 1080 (1080p) pixels), as well as the frame rate (24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 fps). We had to carry out testing twice, since the results were very bad with the initial firmware: when connected via HDMI, a lot of frames began to be skipped, moreover, both on the connected monitor and on the screen of the tablet itself. Updating the firmware to the version dated August 19 has noticeably improved the situation. In our tests we used the MX Player video player in the "Hardware" mode. All results are tabulated:

Note: If both columns Uniformity and Skips"green" ratings are set, this means that, most likely, when watching movies, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and skipping of frames will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. "Red" marks indicate possible problems with the playback of the corresponding files.

The playback quality of test files (except for files with 60 fps) is good. However, uniform interleaving of frames is a relatively unstable state, since some external and internal background processes lead to periodic failure of the correct interleaving of intervals between frames and even to the skipping of individual frames. The brightness range displayed on the screen slightly does not correspond to the standard video range (16-235): in the shadows all gradations of shades are distinguished, but in the light a pair of shades is indistinguishable in brightness from white. When playing video files with a resolution of 1080p (1920 × 1080 pixels), the image of the video file itself is displayed one-to-one, exactly the width of the screen and without any loss in resolution.

On a monitor connected via HDMI, a picture of video files with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels is displayed inscribed in width in the display area of ​​the monitor, but the image is slightly compressed in height, so the horizontal resolution is 1920 pixels, and it is less than 1080 vertically. Displayed range on the monitor brightness does not correspond to the standard video range (16-235): there is a strong blockage in shadows and highlights, shades close to black and white are indistinguishable in brightness from black and white, respectively. We do not present the results of the tests on the monitor, as they are disappointing: a lot of frames are skipped in a chaotic manner both on the monitor and on the tablet itself. We hope that someday there will be a firmware that fixes this flaw. In the meantime, we cannot recommend using an HDMI connection for anything other than displaying a static image.

In general, if a tablet requires good quality HDMI output, then we cannot recommend this model.

Wireless support and OTG mode

The Pipo Max-M7 Pro tablet supports Internet access via Wi-Fi and 3G. In the first case, operation is provided in the 2.4 GHz band - with the help of one antenna operating in a single-channel mode, judging by the speed. Note that during testing, the tablet "lost" Wi-Fi a couple of times out of the blue.

To work with 3G, the tablet has a spring-loaded connector for a Mini-SIM card (regular, large "SIM"). The slot does not have a cover and the card needs to be inserted deep enough. Only girls with long nails can do this without tools at hand.

In order for the 3G Internet to work, after installing the SIM card, the tablet must be rebooted. Mobile Internet settings do not fit into the "Wireless networks" list and are available through the "More" button.

The tablet has a separate Micro-USB port for connecting external drives. Since both ports are placed side by side and differ only in the signatures on the rear panel, they will be confused for a long time after purchase. The average speed of copying a gigabyte file from an external drive to the internal memory of the tablet is slightly inferior to what we saw in Windows - 6.75 instead of 8 MB / s. The reverse move was faster, at about 7.8 MB / s, which is a very good indicator.

Cameras

The front camera of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro has a resolution of 2 megapixels. Rear, 5 megapixel resolution, equipped with flash. The quality of her pictures is not bad, the colors are quite bright, and there seem to be no noticeable artifacts. The detail in the second photo is pleasing to the eye.

The captured text is almost illegible, the camera is unable to focus:

The rear camera is equipped with a flash. We can confirm its correct operation.

The video (1280 × 720, MPEG-4, 19.994 fps, 5786 Kb / s) captured by the Pipo Max-M7 Pro looks smooth enough.

Autonomous work

The Pipo Max-M7 Pro has a 6300 mAh battery - less than the IconBIT and Cube competitors. But the screen diagonal is also smaller here.

The battery consumption of the tablet is surprisingly even, and only closer to full discharge is a "collapse" observed. For a tablet of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro class, this is forgivable.

The Pipo Max-M7 Pro cannot be called “long-playing”. In terms of battery life, it is almost identical to the Cube U30GT2 and slightly surpasses it only in reading mode due to the fact that here the lion's share of the charge goes to the backlight of the display, which our hero has less.

A full charge of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro takes just over four and a half hours. The tablet is not capable of charging via USB.

conclusions

The Pipo Max-M7 Pro does not look like a favorite in the budget segment. Even if in benchmarks it shows results enviable for analogs, in practice every now and then there are problems with the compatibility of games or video decoding. In addition, the build quality leaves much to be desired, which is unfortunate given the design of the Pipo Max-M7 Pro, which is very original for its segment.

However, on the other hand, things are not so sad. There is a representative office of Pipo in Russia, which means that one can hope that the tablets that go on sale officially will not have annoying assembly defects. And if the manufacturer also continues to improve the firmware at the same pace that was set in the version dated August 19, the Pipo Max-M7 Pro has every chance of success.

After Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, few manufacturers dare to release devices not with a standard diagonal of ten inches, but with dimensions "slightly smaller".

Equipment

• Tablet
• Charger
• PC cable (also part of the charger)
• Wired headset

The tablet comes with a good wired headset. To be honest, this is the first time I've seen such an accessory in Chinese devices.

Appearance, materials, controls, assembly

Externally, the M7 Pro reminded me of a smaller copy of the Nexus 10. This is perhaps the only feature that caught my eye. Otherwise, we have a regular tablet with rounded edges.

All the necessary ports, connectors and buttons are located on the upper end. From left to right: Back button and power key, own charging connector, microphone hole, microHDMI port, microUSB for connecting to a PC, microUSB for USB-OTG cable, 3.5 mm headphone jack, slot for microSD memory card and SIM card slot.

Behind you can see the peephole of the main 8 MP camera, the "Reset" hole and the speaker mesh.

The tablet is perfectly assembled, nothing creaks or plays.

Dimensions and screen

I decided to combine these two points into one, because the first is directly related to the second.

The diagonal of the screen is 8.9 inches, the resolution is 1920x1200 pixels, the matrix type is PLS, the display supports "multitouch" up to ten simultaneous touches. The screen is covered with a high-quality protective film that reduces the number of prints that appear. Also, thanks to the film, it is more convenient to slide your finger across the display, it is less likely to get stuck. In general, I do not recommend removing the film unless absolutely necessary.

The screen has excellent viewing angles, a good margin of brightness, colors are bright and juicy. There are also no complaints about image clarity.

In general, an excellent display for a tablet with a price of 10 thousand rubles.

With dimensions, a very interesting situation. Due to the fact that the diagonal was reduced by 0.7 inches, the manufacturer was able to reduce the size of the tablet. In everyday use, you hardly see any difference in using such a screen, but the difference in size is felt very well. Below are the dimensions of the popular ten-inch tablets so you can compare the M7 Pro with them.

• PiPO M7 Pro - 218x161x10 mm, weight - 470 grams
• Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10 - 264.6x182.4x9.5 mm, weight - 580 grams
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 - 243x176x8 mm, weight - 512 grams
• Huawei MediaPad 10 FHD - 258x176x9 mm, weight - 580 grams

Despite the slightly reduced size, the tablet is comfortable to hold with only two hands.

Operating system

The device runs Android 4.2.2. The manufacturer practically did not change anything in the system, except that he added the ability to disable the bottom panel and take screenshots with a button from it.

Performance

The tablet is equipped with a Rockchip RK3188 chipset with a quad-core processor running at 1.8 GHz and a Mali-400MP video accelerator. The volume of RAM is 2 GB, the capacity of the internal storage is 32 GB, there is a slot for memory cards.

Rk3188 has long proved itself well in the budget segment. You can play most modern games without any brakes without any problems, although some of them will not be available in the Play Store. In everyday work, the device also performed well: the browser, working with the launcher, mail and twitter - the tablet coped with all this perfectly.

Autonomous work

Built-in battery capacity - 6300 mAh. The figure is good, but not the most impressive one.

In reading mode (brightness 30%, airplane mode on) the tablet was discharged in 9 hours.

In video mode, the device was charged for 6 hours (maximum brightness, airplane mode is on).

If we talk about everyday use, the device will perfectly last 4-5 days with an hour of Internet activities with the screen on.

Wireless interfaces

The tablet has a Wi-Fi module (b / g / n), there is support for Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS, as well as a 3G module. Mobile Internet works only in modem mode - you cannot make calls from a tablet. There are no complaints about the work of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. A GPS cold start takes about two minutes. Let me remind you that the GPS in Chinese tablets is bad, so be careful when choosing such devices as navigators.

Conclusion

The cost of the PiPO M7 Pro is 8,800 rubles when it comes to buying in Russia. For the money, you get a good aluminum tablet with a smaller footprint than a 10-inch device and a great high-resolution screen. I also liked that earplugs were included with the device and did not save on internal and RAM memory.

The device has no direct competitors, however, if you are considering models without 3G, I would recommend paying attention to the Asus MeMO Pad FHD10. Of the advantages over the M7 Pro, it is worth noting the oleophobic coating and the eminent brand (after all, the Chinese are often "roulette").

The main advantage of PiPO M7 Pro is the presence of a 3G module, because for 12 thousand you cannot find a ten-inch tablet with 3G support and FullHD-resolution.

Evgeny Vildyaev (

The Chinese company Pipo has won the trust of consumers as one of the best tablet manufacturers on the Chinese market. Delighting consumers with new innovations in the field of tablet technology, Pipo never reduces the price per unit of production to the detriment of quality. Another undoubted advantage of the products of this manufacturer is a high-quality modern design and traditional black or white stylish design, which is conducive to favorable competition with such fashionable today "ipads".

Among the company's popular products are the M9 Pro tablets, the Pipo Max M6 with a Retina Display, the 8.9-inch Pipo M7 Pro and other models that have gained popularity among consumers.

Most of the company's models are distinguished by their undoubted budget. The relatively low price for tablets of this brand allows us to speak about the availability of the product line for a wide range of consumers. The optimal ratio of price and quality pleases many consumers, as well as a wide range of tablets for every taste at "tasty" prices.

Among the April Fools' news, there were not only various sweepstakes, but also up-to-date information about new products on the market. The budget PiPO W4S tablet belongs to the second category. The gadget costs only 100 euros, and its main feature is support for two operating systems: Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4 KitKat.

Excellent IPS matrix with a resolution of 1280x800, powerful dual-core processor with four video cores, Bluetooth, aluminum body, the latest version of Android.
What else is needed? GPS, camera with autofocus and flash, 3G, bottle opener, etc. You can shove anything into the tablet. But you need to understand that little-used functions only make the tablet thicker, heavier and more expensive.
The PIPO company released a tablet with the most requested features and did not build in cheap components just to write about them in the specifications.
The review was filmed in a coffee shop. In the middle of filming, a pretty young girl walked into the coffee shop with an iPad under her arm. Without thinking twice, I went up to her and offered to hold a cheap Chinese tablet in my hands and express my opinion. She refused in disgust. She apologized for her refusal and said that the iPad is enough for her.
If you are not a girl with an iPad, then read this review.

Purchase and delivery
I was waiting for the release of Ainol Flame and followed the news. Suddenly, PIPO U1 appeared in stores with the same matrix, a more powerful processor and a manufacturer completely unknown to me. As far as I understand, this is only the second PIPO tablet, but after thinking it over, I decided to take it for comparison with Ainol Flame. Then Ainol renamed its tablet to Fire, also indicated that the back is aluminum, but still delayed the release.
I bought on pre-order in the pandavill store, so I had to wait. As a result, I got both PIPO U1 and Ainol Fire at the same time. In reviewing the Fire, I've already argued in favor of buying one of the tablets. In this article I will only compare sometimes.
The tablet was packaged as standard for the pandavill store, for those interested, you can watch the unpacking video and the first inclusion.

Specifications
Processor: Rockchip RK3066.
Screen: 7 inches.
Matrix: IPS 1280x800.
RAM: 1 GB.
Flash drive: 16 GB + Micro SD card up to 32 GB.
Camera: front 2 MP.
Battery: 3350mAh.
Declared working time: 5 hours.
Extras: Bluetooth, aluminum case, cables and chargers with ferrite rings, vacuum headphones included.
No: 3G (can be solved using a Wi-Fi 3G router or 3G USB modem), GPS (can be solved via Bluetooth).

First impressions
Until his eyes blurred, he shot a video about his first impressions.

Tablet and controls

Screen
The matrix has a resolution of 1280x800. This is the highest resolution on a 7-inch Chinese tablet at the moment. The picture is clearly visible from any angle. I don’t cite photographs from different angles. my camera does not provide picture quality.
Even in sunny weather, the image is visible on the screen. In the video review below, I showed the screen in direct sunlight.
Indoors (especially in the evening) 100% brightness is uncomfortable for the eyes. At home I work at 50% backlight. At night I do it even lower.
The screen is brighter than the Ainol Fire. The colors (especially white) also look more natural than the Fire.
In the photo on the left is Ainol Fire, on the right is PIPO U1. It can be seen that the Fire has a warmer hue, which makes the white look like yellow.


I worked with this 7-inch tablet for a week and got used to its high resolution. When I pick up a ten-inch tablet with the same resolution, I already notice dots. How quickly a person gets used to good things.
Unfortunately, there is a fly in the ointment in this barrel of honey. On a dark background, highlights are visible around the perimeter of the screen. Many tablets now suffer from this. Not critical, but offensive.

When I saw 3350 mAh in the store description, I thought it was very little. But when I started comparing the operating times of the Fire and the U1, I realized that this is not as bad as I thought.
First experiment: 100% brightness, Wi-Fi on.
Installing programs from Google Play, surfing sites with a standard browser, watching a movie from an SD card, working with an archiver, playing Max Payne and other small actions.
The PIPO U1 worked at this load for 3 hours. At the same load, Ainol Fire (the most capacious battery) worked for 3 hours and 30 minutes.




Second experiment: Wi-Fi is on for about 30 minutes, screen brightness is 50%.
While Wi-Fi was working, I was surfing the Internet while watching YouTube. The rest of the time watching movies from the SD card.
PIPO U1 worked for 4 hours and 40 minutes. I think this is a good result. Without Wi-Fi, you can watch movies for just over 5 hours. For the first time, the announced working time coincided with the actual one.
For comparison, the Ainol Fire with a 5000 mAh battery lasted 5 hours and 30 minutes.


Charging time from 0% to 100% - 2 hours 40 minutes.

This is the first tablet I've ever had in my hands, where aluminum is not a design element, but a really useful thing.
Thanks to the good thermal conductivity of aluminum, the entire back cover is heated evenly. Heating occurs only during 3D games and then no higher than 37 degrees. If you turn off the game and put the tablet down, the temperature drops sharply. We can assume that the tablet always has hand temperature :-)


I wrote "aluminum body" because most of the tablet is aluminum. Not aluminum - this is just the front panel, which simply cannot be made of metal. This gives the tablet increased durability and impact resistance.

Performance
The tablet has a Rockchip RK3066 processor. It is a dual-core processor with four video cores, clocked at up to 1600 megahertz.
Thanks to 1 GB of RAM and a powerful processor, everything works smoothly on the tablet. Yes, games don't slow down either.
AnTuTu Performance Test - 8013


Quadrant - 4007

Android 4.1.1
PIPO U1 is one of the first tablets with Android 4.1 preinstalled. Before that, I have not worked with the new operating system, so I will describe my feelings a little.
Everything has become more beautiful and smoother.
Now you can dictate the text not only while on the Internet, but also offline.
Improved standard image viewer.
And the main desktop doesn't flip. I got used to it, but when I first turned it on I was surprised.
I noticed other improvements, but now I can't remember, so they are insignificant. There are many articles and videos on the Internet comparing this operating system with previous ones.
I would also like to note that Google Chrome is installed right out of the box, flash and YouTube are working.

Bluetooth
Some may think that this is an unnecessary thing. Others, on the contrary, believe that a tablet without Bluetooth is an unfinished piece of iron. The truth, as always, is somewhere in between.
I only use Bluetooth to turn my tablet into a navigator and to access the Internet through an old phone. I also want a Bluetooth keyboard, but that will be later.
You can learn how to make a navigator from a tablet without GPS from the video.

Camera
The camera is only front-facing, and it is difficult to use it as a camera. Its main application is video communication. Here are photos from this camera without resizing and other adjustments.

Compatible with apps from Google Play
Before shooting a video about first impressions, I installed several programs from Google Play and was glad that they were compatible. And then it turned out that I was just lucky, and these programs are compatible, most of the other programs issued an incompatibility message. This is not a problem for most, but newbies can get frustrated that their tablet is not compatible with apps. Perhaps this is the biggest disadvantage of this tablet.
It's good that this is a feature of the firmware, not the hardware. I think that in the next installments, the company has already done everything to make apps from Google Play compatible.
The easiest way is to upgrade your tablet to firmware from independent developers. But I decided to stay on the stock firmware. I rooted, tweaked build.prop, tweaked the tablet_core_hardware.xml file and got normal compatibility. I will not describe the whole process here, you can read the article if you are interested.
Before.


After.

Video review
As I said at the beginning of this article, most of the review was filmed in a coffee shop. Unfortunately, the girl with the Apple iPad refused to hold the PIPO U1 in her hands, so we won't know her opinion, but you can make your opinion on the basis of this review and video. Of course, nothing replaces the ability to feel, but the Internet has not yet reached that.

Comparison with Ainol Fire
I have already compared Fire with U1 a little, but for those who want to know more, I shot a video with a more detailed comparison.

Minuses
1. Lights on the screen.
2. Backlash of corners.
3. Insecure fixation in the charger socket.
4. Stripped down Google Play.
The latter can be solved and, most likely, it has already been fixed in new games.

pros
1. Good IPS matrix with a resolution of 1280x800.
2. High productivity.

4. Speaker on the front side.
5. The presence of Bluetooth.
6. Android 4.1.1.
7. Cables with ferrite beads and vacuum headphones.
8. The tablet does not have functionality that does not work well. Everything that is built into it can be used normally.
9. The price is below $ 150.

PIPO has made a good tablet, albeit with minor flaws. There is a chance that the following models will be even more successful. I will follow the innovations of this manufacturer.

Optimal price-functionality-quality ratio
I put this in the title for a reason. I believe that this tablet contains everything that most people use.
Would it be nice if it had 3G? Of course it's good, but it would be 50 dollars more expensive and 30 grams heavier.
And what about the GPS? Of course good, but the tablet would become even more expensive and heavier.
Rear camera? If it is good, then it can be useful, but if only for show, then it is not needed.
Don't forget that you have to pay for anything built into your tablet. Pay not only with money, but also with weight, battery life.
If you use 3G and GPS most of the time, then this tablet will not work for you. If these functions are needed only occasionally or never at all, then this tablet and many other Chinese tablets will satisfy your needs by 90%.