I am trying to decide whether to buy a Archos 80 G9 or not ? - Gen9, Gen10 General

I am trying to decide whether I should buy an Archos 80 G9 ( with 16 gb) , or the Nexus 7 .
I heard there are touch screen issues with A80G9 , and also reports of frequent applications crashing/freezing. Have those issues been resolved with software updates from Archos ( or a custom rom ) ? Are A80G9 flimsy so that users can damage them even under normal usage ?
To me the selling point of the A80G9 is its size and the 3G via usb option.
Do A80G9 comes with the 3g USB dongle (that accept a SIM card) ?

xyzdan said:
I am trying to decide whether I should buy an Archos 80 G9 ( with 16 gb) , or the Nexus 7 .
I heard there are touch screen issues with A80G9 , and also reports of frequent applications crashing/freezing. Have those issues been resolved with software updates from Archos ( or a custom rom ) ? Are A80G9 flimsy so that users can damage them even under normal usage ?
To me the selling point of the A80G9 is its size and the 3G via usb option.
Do A80G9 comes with the 3g USB dongle (that accept a SIM card) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an 101G9, generally satisfied with it, especially after installing CM9 on it. AFAIK 3G usb sticks are sold separately, Archos ones (natively supported by the G9 on stock ROMs) go for about 50 euro i guess, but trevd has managed to get full support for other 3G sticks (mostly Huawei ones if i'm not mistaken, could be others too) in CM9. So if you have one laying around, it'd be worth it i guess.
Otherwise, a Google tablet, quad core, 1 GB ram, with full support by Google, for 200-250 USD/EUR? Hard to beat, if it was available before i got the G9, i'd have gone the Nexus route. Besides, you can always tether the tablet to your phone.
Oh, and about the touchscreen: since i installed CM9 i didn't notice any such problems. Occasionally when the tablet wakes up it takes a while to register touches, but it goes away and is only present on the lockscreen. I've read that this is caused by the lockscreen and that by disabling the locksreen it doesn't happen, but i haven't tried it yet. On Archos ROMs i had "ghost" touches, regardless if the ROM was stock Archos or one of the excellent ones by Surdu_Petru. Touchscreen calibration/reboot fixed those. Apparently Surdu_Petru also succeeded to fix this in his latest ROMs.

re:
omegaRED7 said:
I have an 101G9, generally satisfied with it, especially after installing CM9 on it. AFAIK 3G usb sticks are sold separately, Archos ones (natively supported by the G9 on stock ROMs) go for about 50 euro i guess, but trevd has managed to get full support for other 3G sticks (mostly Huawei ones if i'm not mistaken, could be others too) in CM9. So if you have one laying around, it'd be worth it i guess.
Otherwise, a Google tablet, quad core, 1 GB ram, with full support by Google, for 200-250 USD/EUR? Hard to beat, if it was available before i got the G9, i'd have gone the Nexus route. Besides, you can always tether the tablet to your phone.
Oh, and about the touchscreen: since i installed CM9 i didn't notice any such problems. Occasionally when the tablet wakes up it takes a while to register touches, but it goes away and is only present on the lockscreen. I've read that this is caused by the lockscreen and that by disabling the locksreen it doesn't happen, but i haven't tried it yet. On Archos ROMs i had "ghost" touches, regardless if the ROM was stock Archos or one of the excellent ones by Surdu_Petru. Touchscreen calibration/reboot fixed those. Apparently Surdu_Petru also succeeded to fix this in his latest ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to install CM9 ? I went to cyanogenmod website but archos G9 products are not listed on their devices section.
Where can I find surdu_petru download and instruction ?
I am under the impression that none of the tablets can survive a 1 meter fall. I had a HP touchpad and someone drop it on the carpet. The case cracked and the speakers are not working. Do you think the g9 can be dressed up to absorb a 1 meter fall.
I am considering A80G9 which has a smaller screen than the 101, but bigger than 7" devices.

I have had both and prefer nexus 7. However I had no use for the 3g stick (they don't work on american carriers)
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

xyzdan said:
How to install CM9 ? I went to cyanogenmod website but archos G9 products are not listed on their devices section.
Where can I find surdu_petru download and instruction ?
I am under the impression that none of the tablets can survive a 1 meter fall. I had a HP touchpad and someone drop it on the carpet. The case cracked and the speakers are not working. Do you think the g9 can be dressed up to absorb a 1 meter fall.
I am considering A80G9 which has a smaller screen than the 101, but bigger than 7" devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea if they'd survive a 1 meter fall. It depends on your luck i guess. You'll forgive me for not testing that in practice
About CM9: The G9 isn't officially supported/mentioned on the CyanogenMod website. JackpotClavin made a fully working CM9, you can look here:
Anybody interested in testing a CM9 super-alpha build in a week or so?
All of Surdu_petru's ROMs ([email protected], Root only, Overclock Edition, Root deodex & busybox...) are in the Gen9 development section, have a look.
All ROMs require you to enable SDE (Special Developer Edition) on the Archos, see here how to do it: [TUT] How to Install Official SDE menu and rooted firmware (updated 15 June 2012)

omegaRED7 said:
I have no idea if they'd survive a 1 meter fall. It depends on your luck i guess. You'll forgive me for not testing that in practice
About CM9: The G9 isn't officially supported/mentioned on the CyanogenMod website. JackpotClavin made a fully working CM9, you can look here:
Anybody interested in testing a CM9 super-alpha build in a week or so?
All of Surdu_petru's ROMs ([email protected], Root only, Overclock Edition, Root deodex & busybox...) are in the Gen9 development section, have a look.
All ROMs require you to enable SDE (Special Developer Edition) on the Archos, see here how to do it: [TUT] How to Install Official SDE menu and rooted firmware (updated 15 June 2012)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 80g9 is tough. I bought two. One for me one for my 5 yo son who has autism. His has been dropped, bumped, made its way down a flight of hardwood stairs and just snap it back together and away we go. I'm very surprised as the tablet feels cheap. Ha ha. I'm going to get a tuff-luv silicone case for them for an added bit of protection.
I don't have a nexus. I cannot comment on its build. I know one thing, no expandable storage, is a big no no in my book. I use SD on my tablet all the time.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app

steve adams said:
The 80g9 is tough. I bought two. One for me one for my 5 yo son who has autism. His has been dropped, bumped, made its way down a flight of hardwood stairs and just snap it back together and away we go. I'm very surprised as the tablet feels cheap. Ha ha. I'm going to get a tuff-luv silicone case for them for an added bit of protection.
I don't have a nexus. I cannot comment on its build. I know one thing, no expandable storage, is a big no no in my book. I use SD on my tablet all the time.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the non-expandable storage could be a deal breaker for some. I don't need really need more than 8/16 GB, but it depends on what you do with it, i guess. I mostly use it for surfing and movies/music, but at home i just stream everything from my main computer.
It's a nice to hear the Archos tabs are durable and can withstand some abuse

Hah, actually my problem with the G9...it broke after a 3 foot (almost a meter) drop on carpet. Granted, it was charging, and the dc jack snapped right off the motherboard. These things are cheaply soldered on. I did drop my nexus 7 on accident from aroud 6 feet, and it survived, not a scratch on it, but it was not charging.

Shano56 said:
Hah, actually my problem with the G9...it broke after a 3 foot (almost a meter) drop on carpet. Granted, it was charging, and the dc jack snapped right off the motherboard. These things are cheaply soldered on. I did drop my nexus 7 on accident from aroud 6 feet, and it survived, not a scratch on it, but it was not charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do the same thing with an iPad and see what happens. No matter what you have a fall on the plugged in charging cable can do damage. Not an Archie defect.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app

steve adams said:
Do the same thing with an iPad and see what happens. No matter what you have a fall on the plugged in charging cable can do damage. Not an Archie defect.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but look at the teardown by scholbert, you will see these dc jacks are cheaply soldered onto the motherboard, they break very easy even when not dropped, they have failed on many people.

i can only share my experience after one day. bear in mind i have hardly used it... mainly because i dont really have a need to as yet. i bought it to use as a media player (replace my wdtv live) and torrent downloader but havent had the time to set it up. obviously the bonus is it has a screen and a fair few apps that may possibly come in useful. it might even get used to read in bed but i have a kindle...enough said.
so at the moment my useage has been mainly downloading a few android hardware id apps because i was scratching my head wondering where the rest of my ram had got to. i honestly thought all 1.5ghz turbo models shipped with 1gb ram. my device proves that theory to be a myth. i have also called tech support who said they would get back to me today... i am still waiting.
CONS
thje touchscreen stopped responding to touches last night. sometimes it would work sometimes it wouldnt. gets very frustrating when you have to keep tapping at something in order for the tablet to do what you want.
not the fastest beast ever. i started browsing and opened about ten tabs and it ground to a halt. this may have caused the touchscreen to become unresponsive as above?
even though i have the omap 4460 running at 1.5ghz and yet i still only have 512mb ram. be very careful about which model you buy and i mean this. the 512mb ram version is obviously a lesser model and i think contributed to the above issue wihen surfing the net. if you can therefore have a look in the menu to see what you are actually buying.
terrible viewing angles.
cheap build quality - if you put slight pressure on the screen it will distort badly.
i have read that one must be very careful with the usb port because it can break very easily. makes me nervous any time i need to actually plug a cable in there.
as per the norm no ac3 support in videos.
tech support is pretty shoddy (this is simply my experience after the call i made yesterday and the fact that the promised call back never arrived).
it has a locked bootloader and development is pretty thin on the ground. it lacks a real community of modders mainly hampered by the locked bootloader. basically it aint that popular in the grand shceme of things and that means we wont get much in the way of custom roms. now before anyone starts...dont get me wrong the devs here are i am sure doing a fine job and i aint putting any of the work down (i havent even tested it yet although i will). what i am saying is that compared to any of the popular devices the modding scene is pretty threadbare.
PROS
Good media player with the ultra bonus that it can browse network shares as well as connect to upnp servers
i see it has an inbuilt media server... this is nice as it saves me having to download an app to do the job
it has an inbuilt remote control app so one can use the phone to navigate menus (havent tested this yet and i probably wont ever use it because i have a hdmi right next to where i sit but hey ho it is there)
apart from the build issue cons above the quality when it is sat in the hand is overall not bad at all. however it does feel a tad flimsy and i would hate to drop it or even have it fall off my sofa.
it is cheap i mean i got mine for about 110 quid brand new but without a box.
archos have pretty much left ics alone. there are a few apps that are pre installed and most of them are useful. there is also no skin on top which makes for a nicer experience in use.
the battery is a surprising. i charged it yesterday and it is still on 69 per cent left. granted i have used it for less than hour mainly jjust looking at my settings trying to figure out what had happened to the ram but hey... i am still quite impressed. lets put it this way it is a major step up from the 70it that i owned for a week or so. the battery in that was truely diabolical.
i think and this is a personal thing that the form factor is the best there is. it makes more sense to me to have a 4:3 format in such a small device but if it cant output at 1080p widescreen then i will be bitterly disappointed (i will therefore reserve judgement on this theory).
it has a kick stand which feels quite weak and one will have to be careful not to topple it over but for watching videos it will come in handy. it can also be used to simply prop it up and leave it as a dedicated digital picture frame.
i will say the audio from the inbuilt speakers aint that bad. it aint good though so dont be expecting hifi but then again i dont think any of the competition is any better.
so that is my experience of the tablet over the last 24 hours. i am going to spend some time with it tomorrow rooting the thing setting it up customising it and trying out some of the roms the devs have worked so hard to produce. hopefully they will go a long way towards making the machine an all round nicer experience. i will also be testing the hdmi output to me tv and seeing how it fares with torrents and media. if it can handle my media, download torrents and work as a digital picture frame then it will be money well spent. if it cant then i will be selling it on.
i will finish with this. it isnt exactly the coolest kid on the block so if style is more your thing go with the nexus. the nexus will also be quite a bit faster and the screen will be far better. however the screen on the nexus is also smaller, there is no way to expand the memory and there is no hdmi port.
pigs and troughs i say. for the price i paid at 100 quid the archos is pretty good value. however i wouldnt pay a penny more. if you can get it cheap then i say buy it (with some hesitation... dont come blaming me when you aint happy) but if you have to pay rrp then i would seriously look elsewhere.
EDIT: Doh i have made silly boo boo. its funny but it is only after i have bought the tablet did i think about the screen size format. obviously me telly is widescreen and the tablet isnt. so while it mirrors everything perfectly it is the same 4:3 format meaning major black bars down the dies. silly really i dont know why i didnt think of this before. it is the final nail in the coffin. so after owning it for about 2 days i have already put my 80 g9 turbo up for sale. OP think long and hard about what you want from a tablet before buying one and then ask yourself will it do all i need it to do. that way you may save yourself the same hassle i now find i have.

Does anyone have a problem with the power button not going on or off unless you plug it in? Mine seems to be doing it. Have a 101 g9 Turbo rooted with ics blue by surdu (thanks to him)
Sent from my SGH-T959V

Fatty1212 said:
Does anyone have a problem with the power button not going on or off unless you plug it in? Mine seems to be doing it. Have a 101 g9 Turbo rooted with ics blue by surdu (thanks to him)
Sent from my SGH-T959V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have. Sounds like it's broken.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

rockmonkey1973 said:
...
even though i have the omap 4460 running at 1.5ghz and yet i still only have 512mb ram...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you update to I.C.S ?
Apparently after doing this the 'missing' RAM will magically appear.

omegaRED7 said:
I have no idea if they'd survive a 1 meter fall. It depends on your luck i guess. You'll forgive me for not testing that in practice
About CM9: The G9 isn't officially supported/mentioned on the CyanogenMod website. JackpotClavin made a fully working CM9, you can look here:
Anybody interested in testing a CM9 super-alpha build in a week or so?
All of Surdu_petru's ROMs ([email protected], Root only, Overclock Edition, Root deodex & busybox...) are in the Gen9 development section, have a look.
All ROMs require you to enable SDE (Special Developer Edition) on the Archos, see here how to do it: [TUT] How to Install Official SDE menu and rooted firmware (updated 15 June 2012)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one year ago, I bought two 80g9 tablets. One for me and one for my four year old son. Tablets are great for children with autism. Anyways, his tablet has been down the stairs, off tables, dropped from my jeep to the pavement. Scratches and nothing else happened. I have mine rooted with ice blue and it works really well now. I can only recommend the tablet if rooted with custom rom.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app

Extreme_One said:
Did you update to I.C.S ?
Apparently after doing this the 'missing' RAM will magically appear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes this only happens to the g9s that have ice cream sandwich label on the bottom left hand corner of the box. if your box has a honeycomb type bee icon then you are stuck with 512mb regardless of whether or not they are turbo models!
the rough guesstimate archos tech support gave me was any sold after march 2012 should have 1gb of ram but that the ice cream sandwich must be on the box if not say goodbye to the idea of having a decent amount of memory.
i returned mine as faulty anyway after a few days and thankfully got my money back. on top of all the other issues mine would randomly reboot when it was sleeping. i caught it a few times simply booting back to life after it had decided to shut down and restart. glad to be rid and wont ever buy archos again. burn me once i may try again but burn me twice and i will learn my lesson for life.

Thank you for sharing.I also have.:good::good::good:

rockmonkey1973 said:
yes this only happens to the g9s that have ice cream sandwich label on the bottom left hand corner of the box. if your box has a honeycomb type bee icon then you are stuck with 512mb regardless of whether or not they are turbo models!
the rough guesstimate archos tech support gave me was any sold after march 2012 should have 1gb of ram but that the ice cream sandwich must be on the box if not say goodbye to the idea of having a decent amount of memory.
i returned mine as faulty anyway after a few days and thankfully got my money back. on top of all the other issues mine would randomly reboot when it was sleeping. i caught it a few times simply booting back to life after it had decided to shut down and restart. glad to be rid and wont ever buy archos again. burn me once i may try again but burn me twice and i will learn my lesson for life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine did this too while running honeycomb. On ics, both work great. Made a huge difference. And with serdu's rom, its smooth sailing now. Just have to reboot once every couple of days. No big deal.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app

Im trying to get rid of mine, I havent used it in a while, I would like to sell it.
Sent via Imagination using Cup & String.

Another thing about the Archos is the size is way more appealing than a nexus. And expandable storage is great.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using xda app-developers app

Related

Considering Defy, a few questions.

Hi I'm considering the Motorola Defy, sim free from AmazonUK, but I have a few queries.
Are micro SDHC cards compatible with this phone? I know some devices can only use SD and not SDHC. Also is there a size limit for a memory card?
Is Android 2.2 confirmed by Motorola for official release?
Is it possible to selectively turn off 3g? I will be in Wifi zones most of the time I'm on the internet and don't have a data plan.
Can the flash be used as a flashlight? Alright this won't sway me but it could be useful.
What is MotoBlur? and do I need twitter/facebook to set it up or can I just use an email address?
I was also considering the HTC Desire however this phone seemed very similar but £100 cheaper, is there anything I would be desperatly missing? I know this has a slightly slower processor, but anything else.
Thanks I really appreciate you taking the time to read this.
Yes. No size limit.
Yes. Q2 of 2011
Yes.
Yes. download tesla LED from market.
Don't need twitter/facebook. Motoblur is a free service. You use your existing email and it let's you manage things from website including remote wipe.
Sent from my DEFY using XDA app
Thanks disturkis4u.
Also just a couple more questions.
Is the model with white sides the US T-mobile branded model? and are the other models completely black?
Finally, does the OS affect the compatibility of certain apps ie. would some apps be for Android 2.2+ therefore not work on 2.1? Seeing as the Defy is currently behind the latest OS I wondered if app compatibility could be a problem especially if I decide to keep the Defy for quite a while.
white sides is the t-mobile version. Not sure of all black models.
There are some apps that are 2.2 only. From what i've seen those tend to be the google ones like gmail 2.2, youtube, chrome extension etc.
Sent from my DEFY using XDA app
Wait dont buy it
People arround the world reported that the earspeaker becomes unusable after from 1 day to 3 weeks
Motorola Hasnt said anything
android-hilfe.de has polls and discusions, also the motorola support forums has examples
On the Motorola non-US site there are a lot of reports of the phone sounding like it's muted on a call and only speakerphone works. Most of these are from Germany, but they have had the phone the longest. I have seen a very few on the US site. I bought mine when it was first released in the US and so far have no issues. So far. I really like this phone and would rather have to get it fixed than get another phone because I don't like anything else out there... except the Nokia N8. Here's a link to the non-us Motorola Defy forum. Decide for yourself.
https://supportforums.motorola.com/...-android/defy_non_us?view=discussions&start=0
I sold my Htc Desire and got the Defy instead, havent looked back. Only thing I miss is the online rom kitchen over at Modaco, but I see a lot of devs getting the Defy, so I'm confident that we'll see a lot of custom Defy roms soon, or at least a lot of hacks and mods. I love that I no longer have to baby my phone (I tend to break things) and so my german Defy has the best in-call sound I've ever tried, way better than the Desire, whose speaker I broke (6 foot drop onto concrete, my bad) after 3 days.
Oh and Froyo is confirmed for O2 branded Defys from Germany for Q1 2011, so the 2.2 roms shouldn't be that far away. Rumors are also circling that China Mobile will start shipping Froyo-powered Defys "soon"...
disturkis4u said:
white sides is the t-mobile version. Not sure of all black models
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not 100% true.
I have a Defy with white sides purchased from Carphone Warehouse in the UK - completely unlocked and un-branded.
I asked clove.co.uk about the colors and they said black'n'white were for telecoms only as far as they knew, and that there might be other color schemes eventually.. They carry the all black, that's what on it's way to me, so..
Hello, thank you for the enquiry. We think that there will be colour variants, most probably just black and white however it is also very likely that if this is the case then they will be network exclusives in the UK and only the Black version will be available for sale SIM free. Of course if this situation changes then we will list all variations on the website and offer current customers the choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wirefly has them in black.
http://www.wirefly.com/eCommerce/SpecialOffer.aspx?cid=35981_115cb3c268cb4e1dbffb6a8a2622237f
At the end of the day if the earpiece goes I will send it back and get it replaced/repaired, it doesn't really concern me that out of thousands of phones sold a handful have developed faults
Sorensiim said:
I sold my Htc Desire and got the Defy instead, havent looked back. Only thing I miss is the online rom kitchen over at Modaco, but I see a lot of devs getting the Defy, so I'm confident that we'll see a lot of custom Defy roms soon, or at least a lot of hacks and mods. I love that I no longer have to baby my phone (I tend to break things) and so my german Defy has the best in-call sound I've ever tried, way better than the Desire, whose speaker I broke (6 foot drop onto concrete, my bad) after 3 days.
Oh and Froyo is confirmed for O2 branded Defys from Germany for Q1 2011, so the 2.2 roms shouldn't be that far away. Rumors are also circling that China Mobile will start shipping Froyo-powered Defys "soon"...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, seeing as you had a Desire what are the main things I would be missing if I decided to go for the Defy, the only thing I can really tell is that the Defy has a slightly slower processor, how does this compare to the Desires?
Also I saw in a couple of online videos there is a bit of lag when using pinch to zoom can anyone tell me how bad this is?
Finally if in a wifi zone (which I am connected to eg. at home) when using the browser will the Defy automatically use wifi before mobile internet?
PS. thanks for the heads up on the earpiece problem I think I'll go for it anyway as I have been slightly put off by the Desire due to widespread random reboot issues and to me this is less of a problem (and seems less common), so if need be I'll get it repaired.
Thanks all.
The benchmarks have been pretty good on this phone. In real life I only occasionally notice a lag when pushing through the app drawer.
Wifi: assume you are on T-Mo USA and will have wifi calling app? If so it has a selection to favor wifi connect, or even wifi only. With wifi favored, mine choses wifi over 3G if the wifi signal is good. I suppose it's possible it may differ with different routers.
scrannel said:
The benchmarks have been pretty good on this phone. In real life I only occasionally notice a lag when pushing through the app drawer.
Wifi: assume you are on T-Mo USA and will have wifi calling app? If so it has a selection to favor wifi connect, or even wifi only. With wifi favored, mine choses wifi over 3G if the wifi signal is good. I suppose it's possible it may differ with different routers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go for Launcher Pro or Adw Launcher. No more lag!
Sorensiim said:
Go for Launcher Pro or Adw Launcher. No more lag!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Launcher pro FTW!
Sorensiim said:
Go for Launcher Pro or Adw Launcher. No more lag!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read that Launcher Pro is a battery drain. Is this true?
Higgsy said:
HTC Hero - SOLD. I'll miss you baby
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can get a free upgrade from the Hero to the Defy. Is the camera a noticeable step up? How does it compare in low light? Is the flash any good?
Not that i have ever noticed. used it on the Cliq and never had an issue. Haven't had the defy long but I don't see any big drain by using Launcher Pro.
scrannel said:
I've read that Launcher Pro is a battery drain. Is this true?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes imo the camera is better
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
I'm going to order this tomorrow, just 2 more questions.
Can it handle 720p playback?
How is navigation on this device?
Thanks.

[Q] Would you buy this phone again?

OK, So I'm shopping for a new phone,
I've been enjoying getting my feet wet with a comparatively low end model & am becoming somewhat addicted to constantly tinkering, have managed to compile my own kernel and now feel the need for an upgrade.
This (Desire Z) is currently at the top of my list as it seems to be well supported by the dev community & I really want a qwerty keypad!
So, as users of this phone & knowing what you know now...
Would you buy this phone again?
Well, I love my Z and i think it works fast and the keyboard is amazing. But the problem these days is: Dual core phones are coming out a lot right now, and even the fast processor of the G2 can't compare to that. So, as much as i love my Desire Z, I would wait a while for a Dual Core HTC (like the Pyramid).
But ofcourse: If you REALLY want a phone right now, a Desire Z with an Otterbox Commuter case is my recommendation! (since I personally love the Otterbox case, hehe.)
hubba88 said:
Well, I love my Z and i think it works fast and the keyboard is amazing. But the problem these days is: Dual core phones are coming out a lot right now, and even the fast processor of the G2 can't compare to that. So, as much as i love my Desire Z, I would wait a while for a Dual Core HTC (like the Pyramid).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, thanks for the input...
I hear what you're saying, my thinking right now is that in order to learn more about kernel & ROM development, is that I should be getting something that has a good amount of hacking & dev work behind it already.
The newer phones are less charted waters & I'm not experienced enough to be a pioneer
Will be sure to look at the otterbox case
waydownsouth said:
Cool, thanks for the input...
I hear what you're saying, my thinking right now is that in order to learn more about kernel & ROM development, is that I should be getting something that has a good amount of hacking & dev work behind it already.
The newer phones are less charted waters & I'm not experienced enough to be a pioneer
Will be sure to look at the otterbox case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's also true. And indeed, there is alof of development going on for the Desire Z, it's great. And so many awesome roms to choose from as well.
As Hubba88 said, at this point, I'd wait for a dual core like the HTC Pyramid/Sensation. But, I love my G2 and am very happy with the purchase. Great keyboard, capacitive buttons are in the right place, very responsive trackpad. All in all typically great HTC build quality. CyanogenMod support is a huge plus as well for this phone.
If I knew that the z hinge was going to be so ****ty no,I would not buy it again. I'd go for a unibody design instead.
Sent from my Liquid Metal using XDA Premium App
If the keyboard is important to you, as well as the tinkering aspect, then I reckon this is a good phone.
Not sure there has been much talk of dual core's with keyboards? So a real Desire Z upgrade may be some way beyond the next few HTC phones. Even then when they come out it takes time to build the developer base behind it and get rooting sorted etc. I moved a month and a bit ago and reckon there will be nothing to make me desperately want an upgrade for at least a year.
Look how well the desire has done and still does. The DZ has a better processor and more storage on board etc. The overclockability of the chip seems to be something that will extend its lifespan in terms of performance against the newer phones.
Always worth remembering that there is often quite a difference between phones being rumoured, then announced, and then actually on sale and being hacked. Therefore if a desire Z replacement is not yet in the rumours, it will likely be quite a while before its out there in the real world.
So yeah, I think its a good phone, although not perfect.
As I have insurance with my contract I will be OK with any problems with the Hinge - but none so far.
I voted yes but if I were in the market for a phone now I'd wait till the G2x was available and compare side by side. I suspect I'd get that one because it's newer, faster and has a more future proof AT&T compatible radio.
Thanks all for your input so far,
I've been following the Official thread on which phone should I get for some weeks which does talk about the latest & greatest dual core's an awful lot, but, as I said above the support & dev work that has gone into the DZ already is probably the biggest factor for me, it should give me a good base to work/learn from.
crazyC said:
Look how well the desire has done and still does. The DZ has a better processor and more storage on board etc. The overclockability of the chip seems to be something that will extend its lifespan in terms of performance against the newer phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw in Hubba88's sig that 1.3Ghz is achievable, that seems more than fast enough given the apps that are currently available. I'm thinking it will take a while for any apps to be taking advantage of dual cores...
Re Hinge, well I can cope with that if it becomes an issue, the teardown & repair looks pretty straight forward.
waydownsouth said:
Thanks all for your input so far,
I've been following the Official thread on which phone should I get for some weeks which does talk about the latest & greatest dual core's an awful lot, but, as I said above the support & dev work that has gone into the DZ already is probably the biggest factor for me, it should give me a good base to work/learn from.
I saw in Hubba88's sig that 1.3Ghz is achievable, that seems more than fast enough given the apps that are currently available. I'm thinking it will take a while for any apps to be taking advantage of dual cores...
Re Hinge, well I can cope with that if it becomes an issue, the teardown & repair looks pretty straight forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even 1.9 ghz is achievable . And I haven't had any problems with my hinge, it's pretty sturdy.
If you need a phone now, get the DZ.
If you can wait, wait until the quad core phones come out in 2012.
I love my G2 but I would not buy this phone again. With Swiftkey I find that I never use the hardware keyboard which was the main reason I bought my G2. If I could go back in time I would get a Nexus S or maybe a galaxy s.
Obvious answer is obvious:
Why get the same phone again when it has been 6 months since it first came out, therefore rendering the phone "obsolete", so to speak. If I had half a grand cash in my pocket right now I would wait for the HTC Pyramid (Their Dual Core).

Should I get a Samsung Captivate Glide (i927)?

Sorry if this has already been asked, but how is the Samsung Glide? I have been using an HTC Status (ChaCha) for years, and just recently rooted. I liked the form factor and keyboard, but the internal memory was miserably limited, even after rooting and getting rid of bloatware, moving apps to SD, etc. The sound from the speaker was pretty poor too (I am aware that Beats audio can be installed to rooted phones ... have yet to try that) and putting the SD card slot underneath the battery is awkward. I have gotten a handle on Android's strengths and weaknesses (Gingerbread) so I will have a better idea of what to expect for my next phone. I definitely prefer a physical keyboard, and most Android based phones do not have one, or have poor specs. The Captivate Glide seems to measure up. I have read the specs GSM Arena gave on this phone,and it seems pretty good. It claims that it has Flash. Is this Adobe Flash, or something along the lines of HTC Status' Flash Lite? I definitely want Adobe Flash support, even if Adobe plans to end future support. I have an LG Neon lying around, a basic phone with a slide out keyboard ... it was okay, but for some weird reason only recognized one key input at a time, which made playing video games like Galaga miserable, even though the graphics were quite close to the arcade. I need to be able to press more than one key input at a time! I am also interested in Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean, neither of which would likely run very well on the Status, if they even can run. I have read of Glide users having a lot of problems with ICS. Should I wait for another phone with ICS preloaded, or just wait for a better Glide optimized ICS or Jelly Bean? Finally, how easy was it to root this phone? Rooting the Status was a real pain, as the HTC Dev software was getting me nowhere, by claiming the rom version is not supported ... even after the AT&T update. I bought the XTC Clip and couldn't get it to work, until a friend of mine got it working right (stick the flex cable in real tight in the SIM slot) and put on CWM and SuperUser. Somehow it did not unlock the carrier though. Anything like this for the Glide? How is the battery life?
Hello DearestLeader (that's an interesting choice of nickname given the origin of the devices being discussed!)
There are a few threads reviewing the device. I've played with one prior to giving it (SGH-I927R) to my girlfriend, so I won't be able to comment on all aspects of the phone.
If you're buying outright, another, more expensive (500$ outright) model that might be worth looking into is T-Mobile USA's recently announced Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G (SGH-T699). Same screen, worse camera (5MP versus 8MP for the 927), DC-HSPA 42 instead of HSPA 21, and a Snapdragon S4 Krait SoC instead of a Tegra 2. And it does support AT&T bands as well.
The ICS update for the Glide was just pulled from Kies, which indicates another build is on its way, likely fixing the issues reported here.
Rooting is easy: switch the phone to download mode, install CWM with Odin, install superuser zip of your choosing.
Unlocking is easy provided you're rooted and know how to use a hex editor.
If you're with Sprint, they released a new qwerty physical keyboard android called Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE. Comparable stats to our glide but it does have ICS preloaded.
I came from a Sony Ericsson k850i and couldn't live without buttons so I grabbed the Glide. It had a rough start not being as popular as other devices. We didn't get an official otterbox case or get official cyanogen mods but in the last few months, devs/testers/community really banded together and we have quite the support. We may not have ICS 100% but the hardworking devs and testers will take care of that. JB seems like a dream but who knows, someone just may surprise us.
Like Darkshado said, rooting & unlocking is fairly easy. There are many guides in the development sub-forum. Battery life was crap on gingerbread but improves quite a bit when on ICS. The only problem I've ever had was very minor GPS finding issues but I don't use it extensively so it was negligible.
With the ICS update, the Captivate Glide is a spectacular device. :good:
There were several major issues with Gingerbread (compass orientation incorrect, general lag and instability, poor bluetooth audio quality and battery life, etc) but they've all been resolved by the update and the community.
The screen, while not the highest res (800x480) is AMOLED and looks great. The CPU, while not quad-core, is still plenty fast, and it has 1gb RAM. Onboard storage is pitiful, but add a 32gb SD card and swap /mnt/sdcard with /mnt/sdcard/external_sd, and your primary storage can become up to 64gb.
It's not LTE, but it is still pretty quick. On Rogers in Canada I get ~5mbit/s down and 2mbit/sec up, which is totally respectable.
It's also a very cheap device now, since it is somewhat dated. Honestly, I can't recommend another keyboard phone more highly.
My $0.02.
bottom line, captivate glide is best phone available with physical keyboard.
even before ICS, i was highly please with the performance.
camera pics are GREAT
until they come out with a quad core phone with a physical keyboard, the only other phone i'd consider right now is a galaxy note.
i love this phone :good:
Thanks for the replies!
I will have to stick with AT&T, as I am on my mother's plan and not only she but several other people I call or text regularly are on AT&T too.
I did try out the phone at the AT&T store and it was nice. However, the sales rep said units sold after August 26th will not run Adobe Flash (the in store unit did not have it but was downloadable from Google Play and ran great). He did have people returning units for lack of Adobe Flash (I do not ask if these folks tried rooting or if they even bothered to download from Google Play). If Flash is good to go, without rooting (have to wait to see if there are no defects lor serious flaws like frequent unexpected reboots before rooting, as my warranty would be void) then I am getting one.
ericpeacock79 said:
bottom line, captivate glide is best phone available with physical keyboard.
even before ICS, i was highly please with the performance.
camera pics are GREAT
until they come out with a quad core phone with a physical keyboard, the only other phone i'd consider right now is a galaxy note.
i love this phone :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worse case you could probably sideload the Flash apk onto the phone.
Remember that root's not supposed to void your warranty, there were some XDA portal posts about this iirc. Either way its nothing that a DIY stock re-flash wouldn't solve.
I have to stick with AT&T for the same reason. I love this phone though, but I just can't get used to the physical keyboard. My girlfriend texts and uses my phone sometimes and she loves the physical keyboard though. Overall its a good phone and I would recommend it to anyone wanting an android with decent specs.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)
I have the unlocked (and of course rooted) Samsung Galaxy Captivate Glide that I picked up used (but still in very good condition), and I can tell you that purchasing the phone (either old or new) is worth it, IMO. I like the fact that this phone have the hardware keyboard, decent organic LED screen, dual-core superscalar out-of-order Cortex A9 processor, and good 8MP camera. 4GB on-board storage didn't stop me from getting it. Loving this phone.
There is also few Android phone with the same hardward keyboard setup - try browsing through your favorite PC part internet store like Newegg as they sells both locked and unlocked smartphones nowaday too.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app
You can also buy a Bluetooth keyboard that's originally made for ipods that I seen once, they work for Android too I'm sure if you really want or need a keyboard. I use my touchscreen more personally than my slider, except on chrome for some reason has a bug? And let's me use my screen keyboard maybe 20% of the time.. odd but lol
Samsung SGH-i927:
CWMR Touch v4.0.0.1
Keyboard fix
Superuser 3.2r3 ARM Optimized
Samsung SGH-i897:
A work in progress…
Stock & Rooted (need kernel and update)
hazard1nc said:
You can also buy a Bluetooth keyboard that's originally made for ipods that I seen once, they work for Android too I'm sure if you really want or need a keyboard. I use my touchscreen more personally than my slider, except on chrome for some reason has a bug? And let's me use my screen keyboard maybe 20% of the time.. odd but lol
Samsung SGH-i927:
CWMR Touch v4.0.0.1
Keyboard fix
Superuser 3.2r3 ARM Optimized
Samsung SGH-i897:
A work in progress…
Stock & Rooted (need kernel and update)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya I experienced that bug on chrome a well. Kinda sucks that the soft keyboard would not display.kept having to pull out the hardware one for quick searches. That's why I switched to dolphin.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927R using xda app-developers app
I love this phone
I came from HTC g2 phone t-Mobile. I got this phone used off ebay in great condition. The company I work for is on att and I wanted a physical keyboard. Not too many to choose from. I use both on screen & physical keyboard equally. Rooting was a snap and am so happy with ics. Before ics I used dman's Inception v2 rom and loved it. Now I'm using nardrom 0.4 and hope dman comes out with a v3 rom. I'd recommend this phone to any one who likes the choice of a physical keyboard.
If you need a physical keyboard, GSM service, and want a powerful phone, there really aren't many other options. I say get it, I love mine.
I've been wondering about this myself. I love the Epic 4G, but I don't want to go back to Sprint, and I'm not too thrilled with Cricket (I don't love them nor hate them, they'll do for now). So I figure, get a Captivate Glide, unlock it, and go to Net10 or Straight Talk. The Captivate Glide appears to be a sort of unofficial successor to the Epic 4G, so it seems logical. Plus since its GSM I can take it with me whenever I travel outside the United States.
rogernizzLe said:
Like Darkshado said, rooting & unlocking is fairly easy. There are many guides in the development sub-forum. Battery life was crap on gingerbread but improves quite a bit when on ICS. The only problem I've ever had was very minor GPS finding issues but I don't use it extensively so it was negligible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I do use the GPS very extensively, so this is giving me pause in getting this phone.
EpicMikeNC said:
Well I do use the GPS very extensively, so this is giving me pause in getting this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on the Rom you are using for GPS. I have found GB to work great with the GPS but ICS is a little lack luster as it connects but only after about 10 minutes. Please be patient as a lot of people have mixed results and I am curious with CM9 or possibly CM10 with GPS once those roms are out of alpha.
JB
dudejb said:
Depends on the Rom you are using for GPS. I have found GB to work great with the GPS but ICS is a little lack luster as it connects but only after about 10 minutes. Please be patient as a lot of people have mixed results and I am curious with CM9 or possibly CM10 with GPS once those roms are out of alpha.
JB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah okay. See the most I was going to do to a Captivate Glide when I get it would be to root it. So basically if I root it I should go ahead and get a rom, preferably the one you mentioned (GB), until something better comes along. I have no problem waiting, and if GB is a good fix in the meantime, well problem solved.
GB is not a rom per say but I meant Ginger Bread which is what it has installed by default. There are many GB Roms available I recommend OSIMOOD but I am sure many will recommend others. I have never had an issue with GPS on any of the available Gingerbread Roms. Only people that had issues with GPS and GB are not in North America and then you will have to do some tweak for it to work. Some have got that working and some have not. I am sure that is where you saw many posts on GPS for the glide having issues. Just go back and see those posts as to where the people are from. ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) on the other hand has some issues where it can take a long time to connect but as I said before some people are working on this.
JB
I use gps all the time on my Glide. The most issues I've had is a few time I've had to turn gas off and back on 2 or 4 times in a row.
But that only happened a few times in 5 months.
This ia using both the stock GB and the stock ICS , and after rooting ICS.
Overall, i would give GPS on my Glide 9.5 out of 10
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app
dudejb said:
GB is not a rom per say but I meant Ginger Bread which is what it has installed by default. There are many GB Roms available I recommend OSIMOOD but I am sure many will recommend others. I have never had an issue with GPS on any of the available Gingerbread Roms. Only people that had issues with GPS and GB are not in North America and then you will have to do some tweak for it to work. Some have got that working and some have not. I am sure that is where you saw many posts on GPS for the glide having issues. Just go back and see those posts as to where the people are from. ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) on the other hand has some issues where it can take a long time to connect but as I said before some people are working on this.
JB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. So when I get a Glide, I can either leave it alone (let it stay on GB and not update it to ICS), or root it to stock GB. If I do the latter then I can get roms made just for the GB.

What phone to get after Desire?

I had HTC Desire for nearly 3 years, and it is a great phone, but I think it is time to upgrade, because:
- it is annoyingly slow with my regular set of programs installed, even on fastest available roms
- it doesn't have kernel 3.0, and because of that JB roms have shortcomings
- a little bit too small screen for GPS navigation
- really crappy camera
- somewhat short battery life
Some time ago I had a chance to look at Galaxy S2 in person and it looked like a perfect phone (at least for 2 minutes I had it in my hands).
Somewhat bigger screen, more internal storage, kernel 3.0.
I use custom roms, so big development community is important for me. I have been spoiled by Desire as it (still) has a large one.
Galaxy S2 would cost me around 170-200 euro to get it.
Should I take that, or look for something else in this price range?
My requirements:
- larger screen (not necessarily much larger)
- android (duh)
- solid build quality
- large development community
- noticeably faster CPU than Desire (Dual+ core would come in handy)
- microUSB
- good/very good camera
- good battery life
- price up to 200 euro (used)
- would be nice if it had FM transmitter (not receiver) but it is not necessary
- it must by BLACK or therebout
I also considered s2 but there's one serious setback to it. Namely, the screen is amoled and without pentile matrix.
What's bad about it you ask? pixels that are frequently used lose color and items that you have on screen for most time are somewhat paler than the rest of the screen, and you can see their shadow for the whole time, ppl reported that with all amoled displays and non pentile of s2 is even more susceptible to that. That happens even to devices 3 months old, depending on how heavily they are used I guess. You can google it to see for yourself, just type galaxy s2 amoled burn in. There are also few good YouTube vids showing that. Items that you usually can see are burned in status bar, soft keys from your most used app, keyboard, alarm icon and "fully charged" sign across the screen as during night charging the phone lights up when battery is full and keeps the screen on until you turn it off or unplug it/on some ROMs at least, stock including/.
Is Desire not affected by that?
Then what else would you suggest?
Only first edition of desire pvt1 I believe had amoled screens, the rest are sporting slcd which is not organic and does not suffer from this burn in effect.
impactor said:
I had HTC Desire for nearly 3 years, and it is a great phone, but I think it is time to upgrade, because:
- it is annoyingly slow with my regular set of programs installed, even on fastest available roms
- it doesn't have kernel 3.0, and because of that JB roms have shortcomings
- a little bit too small screen for GPS navigation
- really crappy camera
- somewhat short battery life
Some time ago I had a chance to look at Galaxy S2 in person and it looked like a perfect phone (at least for 2 minutes I had it in my hands).
Somewhat bigger screen, more internal storage, kernel 3.0.
I use custom roms, so big development community is important for me. I have been spoiled by Desire as it (still) has a large one.
Galaxy S2 would cost me around 170-200 euro to get it.
Should I take that, or look for something else in this price range?
My requirements:
- larger screen (not necessarily much larger)
- android (duh)
- solid build quality
- large development community
- noticeably faster CPU than Desire (Dual+ core would come in handy)
- microUSB
- good/very good camera
- good battery life
- price up to 200 euro (used)
- would be nice if it had FM transmitter (not receiver) but it is not necessary
- it must by BLACK or therebout
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go for SGS2+. It is newer phone, available almost at the same price as SGS2, probably have warranty and no burn-in effect of any major cosmetic wear.
But I think there is no black variant, but dark blue.
Price is 200-230 EUR.
HTC sensation
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda app-developers app
dvd777 said:
Go for SGS2+. It is newer phone, available almost at the same price as SGS2, probably have warranty and no burn-in effect of any major cosmetic wear.
But I think there is no black variant, but dark blue.
Price is 200-230 EUR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is the model number of that one? Galaxies have very confusing customer names.
impactor said:
What is the model number of that one? Galaxies have very confusing customer names.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I9105 if l'm not mistaken.
Sent from my Sony Xperia Z C6603 via Tapatalk 2
S2+ makes no sense, is more expensive than regular s2, has same screen with same setbacks and worse gpu, videocoreiv vs Mali 400.
Sensation seems good, but I've got no experience with that phone.
If you want a dev community supporting your device, avoid htc phones. HTC is terribly slow when it comes to releasing updates and sources.
If I helped, hit the thanks button!
What you like
totalnoob34 said:
If you want a dev community supporting your device, avoid htc phones. HTC is terribly slow when it comes to releasing updates and sources.
If I helped, hit the thanks button!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree with you. But again, it is on him to pick something that he likes. We are here to suggest him.
I like HTC Because of Sense,speed (on some new devices) new features big rom list's etc. I dont like samsung bcs every new phone (LG,ZTE,Nokia,Sony, and many more) are copy of Samsung,Same android UI, same phone design i will say. JUST A COPY .
HTC Have some original from begining of production for me that is a great and like i sayed i will suggest you to buy some HTC Model (HTC One X, HTC Sensation.not new but very good, HTC One v (it is not so special but it is very good,speed, and it is very Cheap)
But if you want to buy some other phone mark Yes i will suggest you to but SGSII or SGSIII Mini. Mini have small Display but have great camera great speed great support and what is importatt you can find it for 170/80 Eur
If i helped something to you give FIRST THANKS to my profile
+1 for the sensation, i baught mine used for 100 euro and its like brand new, i got it off a guy cheap coz it was stuck in bootloader lol, i got it home, flashed a ruu then s-off & rooted and it has great dev support, loads of sense roms, 3.5 - 3.6 - 4.1 - 4+ and now waiting for team venom to release sense 5. Also loads of JB - AOSP roms and 4.3 JB roms, really is a great phone with good hardware to handle all roms.
About sensation, the newer roms have working camera/video or is it stuck with that issue like our old desires?
And how do you cope without the trackpad, I tend to write lengthy emails/forum posts and it's a great tool when I want too correct something, yet no other phone has it. does it mean trouble for guys like me?
freebird24h said:
About sensation, the newer roms have working camera/video or is it stuck with that issue like our old desires?
And how do you cope without the trackpad, I tend to write lengthy emails/forum posts and it's a great tool when I want too correct something, yet no other phone has it. does it mean trouble for guys like me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
everything works, and i never really used trackpad on the desire.
I would never buy sensation. Death grip issues and dust under screen glass is way too much for me. Sgs2+ is ftw in my opinion.
Sent from my Sony Xperia Z C6603 via Tapatalk 2
Meh, I am stuck.
I read around here that s2 display is horrible when compared to s3.
s3 has even cheaper feel, and is 100-170e more expensive
Sensation is useless to me.
Price of S4 is absurd...
impactor said:
Meh, I am stuck.
I read around here that s2 display is horrible when compared to s3.
s3 has even cheaper feel, and is 100-170e more expensive
Sensation is useless to me.
Price of S4 is absurd...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What bout One X/S? In ireland they going for bout 175 - 225 euro, good all round phone and fairly solid.
One S would be good bargain, but no official 4.2.2 for him. He is eol already, unfortunately. One X is expensive, like S3.
Sent from my Sony Xperia Z C6603 via Tapatalk 2
My friend is selling his One X for 200 euro in mint condition, he dont use it, its just sitting in his drawer. I was gona buy it but i always wanted a sensation lol. If ur interested i could say to him, he has it a while so maybe i can get it cheaper for u. Postage would be round 10 euro. Let me know
P.S - im not dodgy r that, user k3lcior had no gps antenna so i gave him mine from my desire (coz my desire is dead), free of charge, and i posted it to poland.
well if I may make a suggestion, I would say get the Nexus 4
Pros: (according to what you listed)
larger screen and clearer screen
will always have the latest and greatest Android OS since its from Google
I don't remember the build quality on it but I know its at least better than the desire
haven't checked the dev support but since its a bit more open.... should still be better than the desire
very fast 1.5GHz quad-core CPU
microUSB
8MP camera and a 1.3MP front cam
decent 2,100 mAh battery
and most importantly it comes in Black
Cons:
its $300 which about 224 euros (so slightly over budget although sorta worth it)
no FM trasmitter
limited storage and no SD card expansion
so really its an amazing phone, its mainly only brought down by not having an SD card slot but if you find the 8 or 16GB models fine then I'd say go for it.

[Review] Chuwi Hi Pad

Chuwi Hi Pad Helio X27
Specs:
CPU: MTK6797X Helio Deca Core
GPU: ARM Mali-T880
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 32GB (supports TF up to 128GB)
Screen: 10.1 inch OGS Screen 1920x1200
Camera: Front 5MP, Back 5MP
Battery: 7000 mAh
In the box in a nice foam packaging you can find the tablet (obviously), a charger 5V 2000mA, user's
manual in English and a pin for extracting the TF card port
The tablet has only the basic stuff so no 4G support, no NFC, no fingerprint scanner.
Design:
The tablet has a full metal body. It looks sturdy without any squeeks and cracks.
On the back there is an X shaped design that looks good and adds to the overal gaming orientation.
There are also the speakers (i can't really tell where exactly) but they are loud and clear for a tablet of
this price range.
In portrait position we find in the top the USB port, 3.5 mm jack and the TF card slot
On the right hand side from top to bottom there is the power button and the volume rocker.
Screen:
The tablet comes with a pre applied screen protector that i haven't removed yet (until i find a proper
tempered glass at least). Colors are nice although i think that the dpi of the screen makes icons and
some apps bigger than i would prefer. Viewing angles are great and visibility out in the open is adequate
for outdoor use.
I have experienced some random inputs when scrolling but hopefully there will be an update from Chuwi to solve this problem.
Software:
Out of the box it comes running Android 8.0.0 with 5 june security patch.
The feeling and actual experience is good. There is some occasional lag here and there but nothing deal breaking.
Gaming wise i tried Asphalt 9, Real Racing and Need for Speed with the same results.
Fully playable but seems to be running in low resolution (maybe because of the low DPI?)
Camera:
Nothing special here from both. Good enough for Skype calls maybe.
Battery life:
It seems to get 7-8 hours of normal use but i will test some more and come back with an update.
Other:
The device is not authorised so no Netflix on high quality
Conclusion:
A decent tablet for the price. Nice screen, loud speakers and adequate performance on daily use as well as in gaming. Battery life will get you easily a day.
There is the issue with the touch sometimes and some occasional lag here and there but nothing dramatic.
Gaming Asphalt 9
Reserved
Keeping an eye on your thread, this tablet is ridiculously cheap at the mo. The only thing I have seen that's a worry is the input/touch issues which you also mention. Hopefully something that can be fixed in an update though.
Sent from my Redmi Note 5 using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
Keeping an eye on your thread, this tablet is ridiculously cheap at the mo. The only thing I have seen that's a worry is the input/touch issues which you also mention. Hopefully something that can be fixed in an update though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In everyday use you just notice this sometimes.
But if you try to write something as I do right now from the tablet, there are some hit and miss clicks that are noticeable.
Hope this is a software issue too.
Great tablet overall for the price.
Good review freaktech. I've had my HiPad a few weeks, I completely agree with everything you said... great tablet for the price, but a few things that can hopefully be improved with s/w updates.
That being said, one thing I think would really help would be if we could get root on this thing. I'm assuming the governor is set to interactive but I think changing it to OnDemand would make the performance even better. And maybe we could also change the DPI setting?
Unfortunately I'm not sure how to start trying to root it... I don't know if this is helpful to others, but Chuwi has posted the Hi-Pad rom image, driver and flashtool:
https://forum.chuwi.com/thread-6620-1-1.html
seeknom said:
Good review freaktech. I've had my HiPad a few weeks, I completely agree with everything you said... great tablet for the price, but a few things that can hopefully be improved with s/w updates.
That being said, one thing I think would really help would be if we could get root on this thing. I'm assuming the governor is set to interactive but I think changing it to OnDemand would make the performance even better. And maybe we could also change the DPI setting?
Unfortunately I'm not sure how to start trying to root it... I don't know if this is helpful to others, but Chuwi has posted the Hi-Pad rom image, driver and flashtool:
https://forum.chuwi.com/thread-6620-1-1.html
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Root and custom recovery is something I'm looking forward too.
I found a topic somewhere here on how to compile twrp for helio CPU.
I'll give it a try. But still we need root to install it am I right?
I'm reluctant to try one click root solutions.
Good to know that we can go back back to stock if something goes wrong though.
I guess flashtool instructions are the same for all mtk devices?
I've added a video playing asphalt 9 on the first post (seems to be the most popular game a the moment) sorry for my bad filming skills.
I'm not sure about the whole root/TWRP thing either, it's a chicken/egg situation for me too. I've always just followed other people's instructions on how to root and install TWRP, I've never sorted it out myself.
Since we've got the stock image available, my understanding is that trying one-click recoveries should be okay but hopefully someone with experience will chime in.
I received an OTA update today.
No changelog though.
I got it too. Too bad there's no changelog, but at least it shows they're fixing things.
Something potentially interesting I've noticed - if you run the Google "Find my device" app, it identifies the HiPad as a "Hi9 Air". I'm guessing this is because they re-used software from the Hi9 Air, but I'm wondering if it also means the HiPad could be rooted using one of the Hi9 Air root methods. Anyone with rooting experience willing to give it a shot?
Did the update fix the phantom touch issue?
chadamir said:
Did the update fix the phantom touch issue?
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What's the phantom touch issue? I haven't experienced anything I would classify as phantom touches, are you sure it's a widespread issue?
seeknom said:
What's the phantom touch issue? I haven't experienced anything I would classify as phantom touches, are you sure it's a widespread issue?
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From the original post "I have experienced some random inputs when scrolling but hopefully there will be an update from Chuwi to solve this problem"
Has the os lag been fixed? Do you think this is worth purchasing over the fire hd 10
I have a question, Is their a way to get netflix In HD?
chadamir said:
From the original post "I have experienced some random inputs when scrolling but hopefully there will be an update from Chuwi to solve this problem"
Has the os lag been fixed? Do you think this is worth purchasing over the fire hd 10
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It's been a long time since i used my English skills and maybe they are a bit rusty.
The touch issue i'm experiencing is more of a hit and miss rather than a phantom touch.
For example let's say you want to type the word "chuwi" and you actually type "chui" or "cuwi".
[edit] I added a photo to be more clear. You just have to trust i'm not that bad in typing
Now for the lag part the tablet is smooth 99% of the time but here and there there is a frame drop mostly in the ui in my experience.
I'm a bit hypersensitive with that kind of stuff but i did noticed it and thought to mention that too.
It's a budget tablet after all
I use the tablet daily with no problems.
applicationz said:
I have a question, Is their a way to get netflix In HD?
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There various threads here on xda either providing an apk or requiring some skills to do it you shelf but i haven't tried any of them to comment.
I use mine daily without problems as well. Really good tablet and it'll only get better with root.
In case it helps anyone, I just came across this tutorial on downloading the latest Chuwi HiPad USB Drivers and MediaTek driver:
https://www.getdroidtips.com/download-latest-chuwi-hipad-usb-drivers/
I was just reading the Chuwi forums, and according to their forum correspondent "Emily", the OTA they released the other day was intended to address the touch sensitivity/accuracy problems (she wasn't very specific though). Personally, I do think the touch sensitivity has improved a bit. Anyone else have an opinion?
Can anyone test the new update?
I'm using it right now (and have been for a few days). I definitely think touch sensitivity has been improved. Anything else you're wondering about specifically?
seeknom said:
I'm using it right now (and have been for a few days). I definitely think touch sensitivity has been improved. Anything else you're wondering about specifically?
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hope so,
Mine is on the way, Now I am only concerned with Netflix, It was one of the reason I ordered this.
As freaktech mentioned, you can find various apks (on XDA and on the web) that allow HD Netflix on non-certified devices. I haven't done it on my Hipad yet, but I used these apks to install HD Netflix on an Android box in my living room. Piece of cake (just download and install) and works great.

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