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Hi, Great forum people, at least you get the chance to write up your thoughts.
My first Post on this site, and my initail thoughts.
I got an Ameo as an upgrade to my "MDA PRO" from T-Mobile. It looks like a UMPC but not quite there. I second all your thoughts on the device. One thing that is "interesting is the motion sensor" i.e. you can move around the web browsers via tilting the machine, but a bit like my PS3 Motion Sensor Games it gets a bit of getting use to so I tend not to use it.
Another useful thing above the MDA was the little 5 way joypad which is useful if you don't feel pulling out the pen. But this is definitely a Two Hands Device.
I always try and get the most techie gadget from my Tmobile as possible, the odd view I know but I dont actually believe this is a useable phone, so I still use my trusty SONYp900 with rubbish battery.
Although I must admit the MDA pro battery is pretty bad, that I upgraded to a larger and thus more bulkier model.
So Far I have been impressed with the Ameo's battery - life and as others have commented that the usb charging takes longer from Laptop/PC than the official adapter included. But alas I think after using it it will only really last a day at most … so I have to carry a charger with me if at work etc.
One thing I am confused about is that T-Mobile - I never had any Composite out / S-VHS output cable - just a VGA cable, not sure if this is standard or misinformation I did however had VGA out - it would have been nice to show family pics when travelling etc on family TV's at times.
For me this is exactly as you said a Filofax that BT headset would be useful for making calls. I use it to do exactly "work" related diarycalendar and massive contact list, and keep documents hat I am working on within for reference, must get a Blue Tooth keyboard that sounds useful.
Use the MDA PRO keypad was actually quite tactile and useable, this Ameo however is a very ZX80 "showing my age". but that being said I did edit my CV quite easily.
I would like to say when I saw the screen size I was impressed but the resolution is a let down, I think its more to do with WM5 rather than the device I presume but not sure of the Technical on this.
This machine is just screaming to be a LINUX machine with Phone and GPS built in, open office and more etc, utilising the screen size to a better effect. Dunno just a thought.
WM5 is not really eye candy in pink, so this is a let down, if not embarrassing, some peopel out there would slap you if you answered the Ameo in public so BT is useful and Hands free a necessity.
It "could" make a useful recorder for meetings. Also useful that it has a 3MP Camera, I took some shots and all were useful, but the device is slow and tedious and simple camera's are better Although it has stretched the boundaries i.e PDA/Phone etc. (noting the Nokia N95)
One thing is that it requires you to have a very steady hand or need to be leaning against something to take a top quality shot that again needs to be Still, I got tried of asking my 3 year old lad to hold still ;-) and did not even try with my fast crawling 9 month baby boy.
My wife thinks its yet another waste of money, but I explained to her that I never actually bought it, and it allowed me not to have to carry a laptop and the Work PC and this would be sufficient. So If you are after saving your back then great.
I am now actually on the look out for a really simple phone which can sync with outlook and preferably pay as you go.
So - now I don’t have to carry my ipod - music, Sony PSP for MP4, Laptop - general work. If I look at it that way all well and good. It does feel a bit odd that one I do pull it out it feels like the daddy of PDAs or an ARCHOS Media Player. Pity that the Linux thought that the USB sync cable could connect it to a further Hard drive? making it a TV recorder? Dreaming now sorry.
I hear HTC have a 7inch Vista Compatible. I think that Microsoft/HTC need to release WM6 on the AMEO with T-Mobile quickly.
Anyone know how to get rid of the T-Mobile customisation I remember that there use to be hack for the MDA PRO.
Also NO Anti Virus - or is it that I have not even opened or read Manual the CD-ROM may contain it? can someone confirm as I have to hide everything from the kids otherwise it becomes pulp in there mouths.
So far my littles ones have some great hand me downs, whilst I try and justify the Apple TV thing that just came through a month or so late ;-) belated Valentines Gift for my wife ;-), Pity I could not get this thing engraved with my wifes name on it, usually helps with the unwrapping.
Oh boy before I forget, I thought it was just me, but the screen is useless outside. it reflects so much that you cannot see anything outside. this is really annoying try to use the GPS. so the Voice and sound need to be loud. Notably I did have the screen protector supplied stuck on the Ameo. One thing it makes it more UNsensitive i.e. need to prod it firmly when utilising one finger and not the pointer, which surprisingly does stay in it hole, and does not fall out when there is a breeze in the air.
Another good thing is that streaming books is great for the Kids. The Speakers (stereo work well) althought they are very spoilt with Beolabs 8000 and 6000's around the house, amazingly they don't touch those.
With all the usb charges cables about the place and prying childrens hands I am a bit wary of the thing being pulled of table.
The leather case is really good quality leather, and I think although I like to keep everything quite new looking it may look even better with age.
BUT the protection it offers is minimal, i.e. its no ipod rubber skin etc, and the Ameo is no Light Bunny. If it was picked up I in a food fight accidentally then this would hurt ;-). Where am I going with this is that Hard Drive, and I have worked within IBM Engineering Manufacturing “Files/DASD or Hard Drives”. Can it take a bump is going to be found out by my toddlers sooner than later and this scares me a tad, Solid State could not arrive quick enough albeit for in flight parking technologies. Come on Samsung bring those prices down for that 64GB device.
That Magnetic Keyboard is definitely a Trick and credit to HTC nice idea and shows the shielding has been well thought out it reminds me of the shielding in Larger drives and Actuator Arms. One thing I would have like was another case which just allowed the Ameo to be used Palm Like.and a carrying strap should had least been an option, as long as it was not as girly as the PSP one.
Thinking Back PSION and HP and Ericson Pocket PC etc, this is that Nokia Communicator type machine. It nearly all there but not just quite.
Yes I will get an I-Phone engraved for my wife of course,. As I got this on a twelve month Contract. It does allow me to surf the web adequately but jave based websites still struggle with WM5. this is annoying if you use BT Yahoo, and even there non java based site there is issues with some very important icons.
Skype –usage with T-Mobile costs extra on top of web-n-walk so bear that in mind. This is a bit of a farce. But it would be ideal for Skype etc. If any hackers out there sort this out I will be impressed, I suppose T-Mobile monitor the Skpe services PORT?
One other thing I maybe correct about is there is no infra red port, as this would have made the best ever remote control. Although I do have an amazing B&O 7000 and beolink 5000 and standard beolink which all have immensely powerful beams. It would have been nice to add to my collection one that I could programme the non B&O kit with.
Hmmmm could add it to the Kitchen that I am thinking of doing up, drop down timer, internet cookbook, bollywood film streamer ;-) I think my wife may allow for it.
Anyways hope this adds to some of the thoughts others have written.
Speed of use and generally moving about I not totally impressed about although I am use to trading floor compute back bones, you can live with it. Thing that annoys me is the start up time to making a phone call quickly if you had to. One of the reasons for not using it as phone apart from looking like a person ready to be mugged.NFL.
More updates later.
Woah, that's one very helpful impression.
Thank you, please keep more coming.
I'm still with my Dopod 900/Universal, and thinking of upgrading to U1000 due to the speed, battery life, and bigger screen.
I find that my dopod 900 memory often drops below 10mb and this slows down the speed significantly. I do hope with U1000, the speed would improve tremendously. The Dopod 900 Battery life was not enough to keep me up for a whole day either. I do a lot of readings and typings with my PDA on the road, so bigger screen would be a bonus.
Although, U1000 seems heavier and bigger on spec paper, but I find that in my pant's pocket(Hugo Boss Dress pants) I find U1000 to be more comfortable, perhaps due to its thinner design?
The Dopod 900 is a bit thick and pressing against my thigh. So for some reason dopod 900 is less comfortable for me.
akhanaix said:
This machine is just screaming to be a LINUX machine with Phone and GPS built in, open office and more etc, utilising the screen size to a better effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you help me by running haret on Athena and doing some tests ?
There is already some information gathered here
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=AthenaResearch
and many subsystems are already supported.
It is realistic to run Linux off the ramdisk very soon.
jlingo said:
Woah, that's one very helpful impression.
Thank you, please keep more coming.
I'm still with my Dopod 900/Universal, and thinking of upgrading to U1000 due to the speed, battery life, and bigger screen.
I find that my dopod 900 memory often drops below 10mb and this slows down the speed significantly. I do hope with U1000, the speed would improve tremendously. The Dopod 900 Battery life was not enough to keep me up for a whole day either. I do a lot of readings and typings with my PDA on the road, so bigger screen would be a bonus.
Although, U1000 seems heavier and bigger on spec paper, but I find that in my pant's pocket(Hugo Boss Dress pants) I find U1000 to be more comfortable, perhaps due to its thinner design?
The Dopod 900 is a bit thick and pressing against my thigh. So for some reason dopod 900 is less comfortable for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I use 900 before and now with u1000..
Honestly, dont sell ur 900 for the u1000..
I have it both now..
900 have something really good as an alternative..
lighter, an all in one keyboard, a backlight keyboard, a 4 rows keyboard.
For me, both of them have similar battery life.... Both good. u1000 a bit longer if the light set lower (but 20% light is higher than the 900 already)
I use 900 for 1.5 yrs, it is great and still the best in any PDA phone.
Get u1000 for a new fresh good, wider screen, more bright screen, faster speed, GPS, HSDPA. It for sure worth!!!
wonder said:
Well, I use 900 before and now with u1000..
Honestly, dont sell ur 900 for the u1000..
I have it both now..
900 have something really good as an alternative..
lighter, an all in one keyboard, a backlight keyboard, a 4 rows keyboard.
For me, both of them have similar battery life.... Both good. u1000 a bit longer if the light set lower (but 20% light is higher than the 900 already)
I use 900 for 1.5 yrs, it is great and still the best in any PDA phone.
Get u1000 for a new fresh good, wider screen, more bright screen, faster speed, GPS, HSDPA. It for sure worth!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i also agree the keyboard isn't that good in Athena, but hey don't forget, there is a possibility that we can buy extra keyboard that is better then Universal to attach to out Athena in the future.
My Ameo - unlock cost me £15 on T-Mobile
OK ... still playing with My Ameo.
Updates ... I have a Tom Tom 6 installed. - Will report back GPS capabilities soon.
WMStorage - worked 2nd time around but cannot get it working anymore. cant connect to usb driver error etc. Tried the threads but to no avail. - it maybe a TT6 thing.
Noted that after TT6 install the abilitiy to open media player files have become messed up on the web, it like it does not recognise them and I have to "save as" only - anyone know how to solve or experince this?
Not sure if some file associations have gone AWOL.
Definately still too big to Talk into, screen useless still in the SUN, waiting for the right type of sunshine ;-), Probably a good thing that you cannot use it outside when people can see you! ;-). Actualy I have started to use my mda pro a bit more and it actually feels usuable and small and a breath of fresh air scarily I might even use it as a phone now.
Installed ozVGA, amkes its a supperb document viewer - although cannot use the phone pad, but hey I am not making any calls ;-)
Biggest update - I thought I would like to use it as an emergency phone. without having to pull out my SIM card from other phone all the time. Noting I use Wifi most of the time. I thus phoned T-Mobile - got into chatting how I wold like to use the newly bought device abroad for a Month and if I could have it unlocked, the representative said £15 on the next bill, I said darn oh well, plaease put it on my next bill, and proceeded to give the IMEI number over the phone, she said that it would take 28 Days, to deliver to my home address. I said could it be meailed - she said yes, but it still takes 28 days ... checkig and procedures I guess... but I went for the email option hoping it maybe quicker, plus I can chase them without getting into postal issues.
But this now gives me a unlocked phone, pending them saying I should not have been given the ability to have it etc.... I am on flext25 webnwalk (12 month Contaract) but have been with them since the begining. Hopefuly giving me enough time to see iphone in the UK for next purchase.
Next stage, understand what Haret is? and how to get the info requested - earlier in the thread.
About to go down to phones4u and pick up a Motofone for £15, thin and simple.
Noted one really annoying thing, by the vue flow, there is a scratch apperaing from closing the case i.e. the plastic form teh keyboard contacts rubs direct against teh edge of the screen metal, and this is casuing me concern, it could easily dent it. I like to keep everythign like new, plastic, I dont even throw ties away ;-) so this is going to be annoying. its like gettinga dent on the Ferrari after just buying it, touching the screen of the of Bang and Olufsen Beovision 5 or worse a hole within the fret ;-).
regards Aamir.
akhanaix said:
Next stage, understand what Haret is? and how to get the info requested - earlier in the thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haret is "HArdware Reverse Engineering Tool". It's a wince program
with the source code available under GPL,
and you can get the latest precompiled version here
http://jornada820.sf.net/files/haret
The program allows a very detailed research in an interactive mode,
but first i'm interested in the most simple things.
Please put this program in some directory, and create a file named
"default.txt" containing a line
Code:
dump gpio athenagpio
in the same directory.
Start the program and press the "Run" button.
Exit.
You should see the file "athenagpio" in the same directory.
Please upload it here.
Haret dump file
CR2, Please see attached file.
It seems to be looking for a connection on port 9999, but I exited and the resulting file uploaded, let me know if this is incorrect or if I can assist further.
knid regards Aamir.
akhanaix said:
It seems to be looking for a connection on port 9999, but I exited and the resulting file uploaded, let me know if this is incorrect or if I can assist further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool Dumping settings from a working machine is often
much more helpful than any static analysis.
I'm already editing the wiki based on your data.
Can you connect to the machine with telnet to port 9999,
and do you know how to log the session ?
We need to find out your board ID (if you don't know it already from the bootloader) and it is possible to dump a lot of other useful info.
Please give me the details and I wil try, I am currently away from my pc, but in essence is this correct :
[1] get the bootloader details (quick link please)
[2] Connect to the "home" wifi network.
[3] Work out the ip address on the Ameo
[4] telnet form PC on Wifi network to the Ameo ip Address
e.g.
[4.1] open command window or cmd on Home PC
[4.2] telnet 192.168.0.xxx [space] 9999
After which i suspect I am connected to something running on that 9999 port?
please let me know if that is roughly what you are after and then I can assist.
kind regards Aamir.
akhanaix said:
Please give me the details and I wil try, I am currently away from my pc, but in essence is this correct :
[1] get the bootloader details (quick link please)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessary, we can find it out ourselves.
[2] Connect to the "home" wifi network.
[3] Work out the ip address on the Ameo
[4] telnet form PC on Wifi network to the Ameo ip Address
e.g.
[4.1] open command window or cmd on Home PC
[4.2] telnet 192.168.0.xxx [space] 9999
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly.
After which i suspect I am connected to something running on that 9999 port?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are connected to haret (remote debugger, if you like) and can run debugging commands.
BTW, it can be deduced from your dump that the phone and wifi are
switched off. Can you switch them on (maybe the GPS too) and
do the gpiodump again ?
Thanks!
wu5262 said:
yes i also agree the keyboard isn't that good in Athena, but hey don't forget, there is a possibility that we can buy extra keyboard that is better then Universal to attach to out Athena in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Wu,
What is this extra keyboard you are talking about?
jlingo said:
Hi Wu,
What is this extra keyboard you are talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one
http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=140983
jlingo said:
Hi Wu,
What is this extra keyboard you are talking about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there isn't one yet, all i am saying is there is a possibility that we will see third party keyboard that we can attach and replace the original one, it might have some more features such as extra row. Personally, i think it isn't that hard to achieve.
This IK8 Watch Phone looks a lot like a ZGPAX or EC-309, but the camera points across the band instead of from the front and I think it has a faster processor.
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"lightbox_download": "Download",
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I haven't seen any other mention of it here on XDA.
Does anyone know if it is a rebrand of something else that I'm missing here?
It's fast. I've been able to use Google Hangouts on it, even with video. Zello works with no problems and even sounds good. I'm going to get a SIM for it and see how well the phone works.
Biggest drawbacks are lack of support for Google Voice and Voice Search. I've been able to workaround most of the other issues. This appears to be a common issue for this type of phone, and it's a big disappointment here. I'd love to find a way to get those messages. Has anyone solved this?
I got mine at http://www.geekbuying.com/item/IK8-...4-0-512MB-RAM-4G-ROM-5MP-GPS-WIFI-325392.html but you'll likely find a place that ships more quickly than Geekbuying.
Thanks!
DC
Thanks for the small review! Runkeeper or other runner's app work on it?
dcrisis said:
This IK8 Watch Phone looks a lot like a ZGPAX or EC-309, but the camera points across the band instead of from the front and I think it has a faster processor.
I haven't seen any other mention of it here on XDA.
Does anyone know if it is a rebrand of something else that I'm missing here?
It's fast. I've been able to use Google Hangouts on it, even with video. Zello works with no problems and even sounds good. I'm going to get a SIM for it and see how well the phone works.
Biggest drawbacks are lack of support for Google Voice and Voice Search. I've been able to workaround most of the other issues. This appears to be a common issue for this type of phone, and it's a big disappointment here. I'd love to find a way to get those messages. Has anyone solved this?
I got mine at http://www.geekbuying.com/item/IK8-...4-0-512MB-RAM-4G-ROM-5MP-GPS-WIFI-325392.html but you'll likely find a place that ships more quickly than Geekbuying.
Thanks!
DC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own a ZGPAX s5 and I see this watch on ebay as well.
For the processor they are the same :MTK6577 1GHz Dual Core
Both IK8 and s5 actually run the same system as well (android 4.0.4)
They look different just because of different default launchers.
I just root mine and use Launcher 8 instead.
The real difference should be the position of the camera.
Both camera are 2MP and 5MP interpolated.
s5 is better for selfies and Skype while IK8 is better for taking photo shots.
Both are 2G as well.
They even share the same battery!!! ZGPAX s5 got 500mAH and 700mAH and IK8 should be 700mAH
You can take a look of this
http://www.ikwear.com/wangzhanjianshe/1.html
It should be a rebrand product.
The best solution is to mix the two products' camera into one LOL
Then I can selfie and take normal shot!!! :laugh:
Cheers!
---------- Post added at 09:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------
dcrisis said:
This IK8 Watch Phone looks a lot like a ZGPAX or EC-309, but the camera points across the band instead of from the front and I think it has a faster processor.
I haven't seen any other mention of it here on XDA.
Does anyone know if it is a rebrand of something else that I'm missing here?
It's fast. I've been able to use Google Hangouts on it, even with video. Zello works with no problems and even sounds good. I'm going to get a SIM for it and see how well the phone works.
Biggest drawbacks are lack of support for Google Voice and Voice Search. I've been able to workaround most of the other issues. This appears to be a common issue for this type of phone, and it's a big disappointment here. I'd love to find a way to get those messages. Has anyone solved this?
I got mine at http://www.geekbuying.com/item/IK8-...4-0-512MB-RAM-4G-ROM-5MP-GPS-WIFI-325392.html but you'll likely find a place that ships more quickly than Geekbuying.
Thanks!
DC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the Google Now, Just refer to the last two pages in [GUIDE] ZGPAX SmartWatch::1/22::Embedded more Videos/ OP
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=51806814&postcount=764
dcrisis said:
This IK8 Watch Phone looks a lot like a ZGPAX or EC-309, but the camera points across the band instead of from the front and I think it has a faster processor.
I haven't seen any other mention of it here on XDA.
Does anyone know if it is a rebrand of something else that I'm missing here?
It's fast. I've been able to use Google Hangouts on it, even with video. Zello works with no problems and even sounds good. I'm going to get a SIM for it and see how well the phone works.
Biggest drawbacks are lack of support for Google Voice and Voice Search. I've been able to workaround most of the other issues. This appears to be a common issue for this type of phone, and it's a big disappointment here. I'd love to find a way to get those messages. Has anyone solved this?
I got mine at http://www.geekbuying.com/item/IK8-...4-0-512MB-RAM-4G-ROM-5MP-GPS-WIFI-325392.html but you'll likely find a place that ships more quickly than Geekbuying.
Thanks!
DC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got a couple of quick questions if you don't mind. I find some interest in this smartwatch
1 How do you like this smartwatch now?
2 I noticed on a youtube video that this smartwatch seems to have a sort of hidden menu button and back button located at the bottom of display. Am I correct?
Any thing else you would like to comment on would be appreciated.
Thanks
sny11 said:
Got a couple of quick questions if you don't mind. I find some interest in this smartwatch
1 How do you like this smartwatch now?
2 I noticed on a youtube video that this smartwatch seems to have a sort of hidden menu button and back button located at the bottom of display. Am I correct?
Any thing else you would like to comment on would be appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. It is stand-alone watch phone, android v4.04 system, high definition touch screen, high resolution camera, you can use it smoothly and freely like a smartphone.
2. There is menu button and back button on the side of the watch, not at the bottom of display. And you can touch the screen to get what you want...
See more @ watchphonechina.com/watch-phone-china/
Zwatch said:
2. There is menu button and back button on the side of the watch, not at the bottom of display. And you can touch the screen to get what you want...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using the IK8 for a few days now, and I discovered that there is definitely a menu- and back-button located directly underneath the display. In fact, they often get in the way while trying to touch lower areas of the screen .
Is this $120 the same one on AliExpress?
it gives notifications when connected to a phone?
It says 700mah battery. .. many days use do you get from it?
I got mine from Aliexpress It's super fast for me just two days to arrive to Hong Kong! I ordered another one earlier before from Chinavasion to Scotland and it takes me four days.
Sent from my PadFone using XDA Premium HD app
IK8
simple1i said:
Is this $120 the same one on aliexpress.com/item/IK8-Smart-Watch-Phone-154-Inch-Screen-MTK6577-Dual-Core-50MP-Front-Camera-OGS/1851182462.html ?
it gives notifications when connected to a phone?
It says 700mah battery. .. many days use do you get from it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like the same device to me. Just be cautious since this seller has only received feedback once. I'm not sure if this deal is legit, especially since the price is incredibly low. The IK8 usually sells for about $135 - $145.
Since it's a standalone Android device, you don't need any additional phone running a companion app in order to receive notifications. Just insert your SIM card (regular SIM) and you're ready to go. If you'd like to pair the IK8 to your smartphone and receive notifications over Bluetooth, maybe it is possible to install the Osmart app which is originally developed for the Omate Truesmart. I'm not sure if this will work, but it's worth giving it a try. XDA user 'KOAO' already had some success using this app with his ZGPAX S5, which is not that different from the IK8;
KOAO said:
I am successfully able to receive notifications from Emails, and texts. i haven't tried to reject a call yet. However, i used the Osmart Companion app from the omate truesmart. You download the companion app to you watch by loading the Ostore app on your watch(i might ....might link the APK file i extracted from the Truesmart OS)Then you go to the post at the bottom, join the group and then download the master app to your Andriod based smartphone. Then you pair them up and test. If successful, WIN if not then try again.
Osmart Master app:
plus.google.com/109641424466258907138/posts/8PrkrDdUsR4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original battery supplied with the IK8 is 500mAh in contrary to what is promised on most websites/shops, it's exactly the same type of battery as used in the ZGPAX S5, but I'm not sure if they are interchangeable since the plastic 'mounting clips' look a bit different. With WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS turned off and the screen set at the lowest brightness I get about 7 - 8 hours of battery life. But I haven't been using the device a lot yet, so I think battery life will probably increase.
I ordered my IK8 from Aurabuy and received it within 1,5 week (to the Netherlands with SingPost).
Edit: I came across several 'relabeled' versions of this watch lately. They are all exactly the same, but simply indicate different brand-names. For as far as I know, the IK8 Smartwatch is originally known as the TCW-006 and is being manufactured by Tecomax Electronics. This also explains the build-number visible in Android; TECO_V2.0_20140420.
haven't posted in xda for a while..let alone in the smartwatch section...but here we go. was in hong kong for a conference and decided to drop by the it shop. came across a host of smartwatches and just for fun picked up the ik8 for $90. haggled it down to $80 and figured i'd ditch it sooner or later. didn't play around with it until like 5 days later after i got back to melbourne. lo and behold, was actually quite surprised and impressed with it. my 2 cents worth:
display/interface
- not bad, quite responsive though i replaced the screen protector with a matte (anti-glare) one
- the small keyboard takes some getting used to but once you've used it you'll get around the limitations. i still make the occassional mistake but that's only when i'm using playstore
hardware
- camera is quite good though i have no plans of using it as i have my note 2
- speaker is surprisingly loud for such a small device
- one con i have is the lack of a 3.5mm jack. the built-in micro usb (for data transfer and charging) is also the plug for the earphones which comes with the watch. thus you can't really plug your own set of earphones...unless of course you use bluetooth
- quite light, watch strap is quite sturdy
- took in my 32gb microsd with no problem. pretty easy and straightforward in mounting the card
- same with the sim, but no plans on using the phone function
- don't think its "water proof" as some smart watches that claim to be (e.g. omate). but i'm not complaining.
internals
- i installed adw launcher which spiced up the homescreen (better than the default launcher). no hangs or whatever
- installed a bunch of widgets, just have to be careful as some are obviously built for larger screens. example, clokr (time widget) tends to not fit due to the length
- installed button savior to avoid using the hardware buttons. no need for root as i only need home, back and power off
- mx player works well, can actually watch a movie on it. no plans though as i have my note 2
- not planning on using this for music but poweramp works well on it. though there is sometimes a tendency for some icon labels to overlap given the small screen
gps
- i had to put a separate review on gps as i'm quite impressed with it
- installed navigon, apk had no problems loading. through wifi, the additional data and maps were installed
- also installed gps tester as well as other apps for cycling
verdict: gps signal takes around 1-2 minutes to get a good fix. the watch is able to lock on 4 satellites. accuracy is quite good but tends to be a little off when it's cloudy. the gps is not as spiffy as the one in my note but i'm not complaining. for a device this small, i was quite impressed how good the gps works
- strapped on the watch on my bike, used bikemate app. speed was quite accurate as well as keeping it locked on the satellites. didn't lose a signal as i cycled away
- had no issues with navigon. plotted home and the watch took me back to my house with no problems
haven't really tried out the full extent of the battery but without using wifi and gps, i was able to use it for 3 days before having the charge. with gps, battery went down to like 50% after riding for an hour or so. not bad in my opinion. overall, quite happy with it and i've now removed the speedo on my bike. no more wires and no more replacing batteries. this watch has now taken over the speed indicator duties for my cycling.
cheers
I got me one of these too, ordered from a Dutch guy who'd better pay back the import taxes caused by him drop-shipping it while pretending he had it in stock, or he'll be getting some negative publicity. Having to wait 3 weeks was bad enough.
I already had a ZGPAX S5 which I damaged, which is why I got this as a replacement. This is almost exactly the same hardware, as evidenced by the ability to restore a complete TWRP backup from the IK8 on my S5 with everything functional except the cell phone system. The IK8 is definitely the better of these two watch phones though: better build quality, no buzzing during calls, better cell signal reception, better clock & launcher system, no dead zone on the touchscreen. Definitely not waterproof with the gaping hole of the microUSB port, but it looks not as vulnerable to a few raindrops as the S5, whose screen doesn't even seem to be glued tight.
For the rest I concur with Robson, very good loudspeaker, the GPS is indeed impressively good and seems better than on the S5, at the condition that one does the usual dance of enabling EPO etc.
Can't login to Google PlayStore
The problem is that the teeny tiny keyboard is just too hard to navigate and when I try to switch the keyboard from alpha to numeric I get an "Android Framework has stopped" error message and the Google setup/sign-in app crashes and reloads.. Arrrggghh..
I tried installing two different Bluetooth keyboards to get around this problem but when you link the keyboards and go into the settings it will say "Use as input device" great, but when you go into "Languages and Input" to set the default to the Bluetooth keyboard the Bluetooth keyboard is NOT shown as an option just the default AOSP keyboard.. Can one of you guys help?? You know what a PIA it is to return anything to China so I just may be stuck with this which sucks because I can't use any of my Google apps (e.g. Gmail) which is why I bought this thing in the first place!
Any and all replies are appreciated!
Chris R.
crodgers79 said:
The problem is that the teeny tiny keyboard is just too hard to navigate and when I try to switch the keyboard from alpha to numeric I get an "Android Framework has stopped" error message and the Google setup/sign-in app crashes and reloads.. Arrrggghh..
I tried installing two different Bluetooth keyboards to get around this problem but when you link the keyboards and go into the settings it will say "Use as input device" great, but when you go into "Languages and Input" to set the default to the Bluetooth keyboard the Bluetooth keyboard is NOT shown as an option just the default AOSP keyboard.. Can one of you guys help?? You know what a PIA it is to return anything to China so I just may be stuck with this which sucks because I can't use any of my Google apps (e.g. Gmail) which is why I bought this thing in the first place!
Any and all replies are appreciated!
Chris R.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried to get Bluetooth keyboards and mice to work with two different phones that use this same chipset and Android version. My conclusion is that it is impossible. The devices pair, but the phone does not react to them. It looks like a fundamental bug in this Android release. If anyone has more success, I would certainly want to hear about it.
Your best option would be to install a half-size keyboard like Slidy Press, that has much bigger keys. Of course, installing the official version would require logging into the Play store first Your only option is to download the APK and install it from the file manager. I have made a customized version of Slidy Press available for download. I would post the link here, but for some reason the forum forbids this, so you will have to Google for this exact phrase between quotes: "I recommend installing Slidy Press" and you'll find the download link.
Unfortunately Google Framework Services has stopped
DrLex said:
I have tried to get Bluetooth keyboards and mice to work with two different phones that use this same chipset and Android version. My conclusion is that it is impossible. The devices pair, but the phone does not react to them. It looks like a fundamental bug in this Android release. If anyone has more success, I would certainly want to hear about it.
Your best option would be to install a half-size keyboard like Slidy Press, that has much bigger keys. Of course, installing the official version would require logging into the Play store first Your only option is to download the APK and install it from the file manager. I have made a customized version of Slidy Press available for download. I would post the link here, but for some reason the forum forbids this, so you will have to Google for this exact phrase between quotes: "I recommend installing Slidy Press" and you'll find the download link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!!! I installed Slidy but I'm now finding that if I touch any key that appears in the lower left corner I get a "Unfortunately Google Framework Services has stopped" error and the app crashes. Any ideas???
Thanks again!!!
Chris R.
crodgers79 said:
Thanks!!! I installed Slidy but I'm now finding that if I touch any key that appears in the lower left corner I get a "Unfortunately Google Framework Services has stopped" error and the app crashes. Any ideas???
Thanks again!!!
Chris R.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, regardless of the keyboard you're using, it always crashes when you touch the lower left key? That is extremely weird. Do you also get strange things when you touch that location without keyboard? Maybe your screen is defective and you'll have to send it back anyhow…
i concur with lex, i've never had this problem despite installing multiple apps on the watch. in your posts you mentioned that the error message first came up when you tried switching from alpha to numeric. and again the message comes up when you touched a key in the lower left. coincidentally, both areas you touched are on the lower left portion of the screen. there might be something wrong with your device/screen. unless of course another app is somehow causing this issue? though somewhat related, i once installed usb toggle in my note 2. though rooted, it seems that my note didn't like the app and frequently crashed. i had to fix it up it to the point of going to the bootloader to wipe out the cache. in any case, uninstalled it and now my note functions well. the same could be for your watch. again, unless of course there's something wrong with your screen/device...in which case you should have the watch replaced.
at first in setting up my wifi connection, playstore id/password, etc..it was quite a burden. though the keyboard is small, you'll eventually get the hang of it. i still get the occassional mistake of pressing the wrong letter. but i rarely do this anymore since the watch has been set up to what i need it to do (which is mostly for gps).
the one thing i'm looking around for is trying to either deactivate or change the watch face. i noticed that this can be done for the sony smartwatch...i'm still trying to find a way for the ik8. no luck at the moment though...
Returning
Guys,
Thanks.. I've done a Factory Reset and the problem persists. I think the digitizer is faulty in that one spot so I'm sending mine back for another.. Will let you know if the next one acts up! Thanks for all of the replies!
Chris R.
IK8 Review
I wrote a review about the IK8 (I think I should be allowed to post links by now). Because I already had a ZGPAX S5 and the IK8 is very similar, the review mostly focuses on the differences between the two. The general conclusion however is that the IK8 is noticeably better in most aspects.
The review also contains a list of tweaks and hacks, and custom versions of the clock screensaver and launcher. Enjoy!
DrLex said:
I wrote a review about the IK8 (I think I should be allowed to post links by now). Because I already had a ZGPAX S5 and the IK8 is very similar, the review mostly focuses on the differences between the two. The general conclusion however is that the IK8 is noticeably better in most aspects.
The review also contains a list of tweaks and hacks, and custom versions of the clock screensaver and launcher. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey lex
thanks for sending that link to your review. I rooted the phone to change the watch face lock screen. I think somewhere along the line I sort of did something wrong because now the lock screen watch won't come up....which is a good thing! what I did was installed ADW Launcher and used a live wallpaper for a nice watch face. I kept the home screen free of any widgets. Swiping to the right then brings up a whole bunch of short cuts and widgets which I use.
cheers
crodgers79 said:
Guys,
Thanks.. I've done a Factory Reset and the problem persists. I think the digitizer is faulty in that one spot so I'm sending mine back for another.. Will let you know if the next one acts up! Thanks for all of the replies!
Chris R.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried change the launcher and see if that spot keep faulty, my motoactv had a faulty spot on screen related to massive battery discharge, factory reset didnt work, but the problem was zeam i changed to adw, smooth as silk, i think it woth a shot
...by 'proper', I mean 'standalone'!
Basically the same as my old Vapirius AX (similar to Rock/Z1) that I've used daily for 2 years, but much cheaper and runs Android 4.1 and it has 320x240 2'' screen and not the square 240x240 1.5'' style of most watches which I can't get on with.
I'm going to order it and check it out. .
Nothing to lose at that price!
http://www.hongkongeek.com/en/smartwatches/5337-20-inches-watch-an1-with-android-41.html
Wearable Smart Phone Watch AN1 2.0" Touch Screen Android 4.1.1 w/ Camera / Wi-Fi - White + Silver - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
Looks like the Neptune Pine...
The AN1 Reviewed (I Think Comprehensively)
Here's what you need to know about the watch, which I've used for several days. It's more a sweet novelty than a gadget of genuine use. But it works. It's basically a mini-tablet phone (or phablet) and functions via the exact same Android protocols, except the master controls are hard, physical buttons built into the left and right sides, rather than soft touch-buttons on or below the screen. And of course the interface is configured to adapt to the tiny size. Yet at two-inches, that screen is a bit big for comfort if you like wearing the watch face on the inside of your wrist (which I do). So I sometimes rotate it to switch position.
Touch sensitivity seems excellent, as well as touch accuracy, which is hugely important given the minuscule QWERTY keyboard that pops up when you need to enter text. Unlocking the startup screen is frustrating at first until you figure out that you have to swipe the icon up or down, not to the side, as on bigger screens. There's no icon or hard control to access the active-apps screen (from which you can toggle back and forth between active apps and turn running apps off); as on certain larger phablets, you get to it by long-pressing the home screen button.
Because the AN1 is small, its WiFi receptivity is modest (the signal is strongest the closer you are to the source). So's volume but it's not bad for the size. You won't hear much through the earphones except in relatively quiet places, unless you have a separate sound booster; but in quiet places it isn't bad. However, it's impossible to attach the earphones one-handed; at least it is for me: You have to hold open the protective soft plastic flap that covers the mini-USB port (which is where they attach), which means you can't wear it while setting that up. That said, the AN1 will also transmit to Bluetooth headsets. And video/audio playback is very smooth. Even impressive, all things considered. Not a gamester, so no idea how gameplay would go. But with a two-inch screen, why would you want to?
Believe it or not, eBook reading is also a very decent experience in either the page or landscape aspect, though for simple eye-to-text positioning, page view works best if you take the watch off and operate it two-handed. In landscape view, though, you can make like **** Tracy. The only reading app I've tried so far is Amazon Kindle, but every feature seems to work per normal. Whatever normal is at that size.
No problem with the phone detecting a SIM card or storage-expansion microSD card (I added the 32G max, which costs all of $10 on eBay). But the cards are tricky to insert, because the lock flaps that secure them in place are so flimsy. However, once they're in, they're in. And insertion of the expansion card is critical, since the Internal Storage provided is write-protected; you won't be able to download (via internet) or sideload (via computer) files or apps without providing extra storage.
The battery is built into the back cover. Comes the time when it no longer holds a charge, one would need a replacement cover. I assume those are available or will be made so eventually.
There's no Playstore app included; plus it's futile to sideload-and-install Playstore from another source, since the app quits as soon as it boots. There is instead the HiMarket app, whose store features mostly Chinese text; but if you know the apps you want/need, you can still enter a search in English and find them -- most of the time. Sideloading and installing other apps also seems to work -- most of the time.
And oh, yeah -- in the "Good safety tip, Egon" department -- don't wear the AN1 (or any other Android watch of similar concept) in inclement weather. With an exposed speaker grille and exposed miniUSB access port (the protective flap doesn't fit snugly), not to mention hard buttons that aren't part of the case proper, bringing this out into very moist air or, worse, active precipitation, would be like putting your iPad in a filling toilet tank to see how high the water has to go before it fries.
Not encountering anything much in the way of buggyness yet. All in all, the AN1 does precisely what it claims to do. And for the conversation-pieceness of it, and frankly, the satisfaction of my curiosity, I'm happy to be an owner. It won't collect dust. But it's not for the customer looking for significant enhancement of his electronic life beyond what he already has.
Thanks for the review.
Also been using the AN1 for a couple of weeks and fairly impressed, but then I've been wearing a similar one for a couple of years and have only that and a conventional phone to compare it with.
Confused what you say about the battery; my AN1 has a battery on the back that can be detached and changed by pressing a small recessed lug/clip. The battery is the same as the old Z1/Rock/Vapirius so is readily available. Are you sure your battery is non-removable?
Also, as it's rooted - although Superuser is not installed - all current Play Store and Google services, sync adapters etc can be side loaded into system/apps, changing permissions the usual way. I am running all the latest Google App stuff now, but you're right about the Chinese Market and I removed it immediately along with anything Baidu related.
My only mild criticism of the watch (I can live with the floppy USB port cover as most mobile phones have no cover whatsoever) is the screen, not the digitizer which as you point out is responsive and works well, but the outside screen. It's scratched badly already and cleaning it makes it even worse. It's almost like a bad plastic. My other smartwatch has been used every day for two years and the screen still looks brand new without protection.
Lesson is get a good screen protector BEFORE even touching it! Although is fairness, the scratches don't really show when the screen is powered.
The sound can be tweaked in the engineering settings (I've forgotten the number/symbol sequence to access those settings right now) and I have managed to get it sufficiently loud to annoy other people listening to a phone conversation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxzycSNQsz4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yjVVHpP1AM
Cheers!
marcusroberts said:
Thanks for the review.
Also been using the AN1 for a couple of weeks and fairly impressed, but then I've been wearing a similar one for a couple of years and have only that and a conventional phone to compare it with.
Confused what you say about the battery; my AN1 has a battery on the back that can be detached and changed by pressing a small recessed lug/clip. The battery is the same as the old Z1/Rock/Vapirius so is readily available. Are you sure your battery is non-removable?
Also, as it's rooted - although Superuser is not installed - all current Play Store and Google services, sync adapters etc can be side loaded into system/apps, changing permissions the usual way. I am running all the latest Google App stuff now, but you're right about the Chinese Market and I removed it immediately along with anything Baidu related.
My only mild criticism of the watch (I can live with the floppy USB port cover as most mobile phones have no cover whatsoever) is the screen, not the digitizer which as you point out is responsive and works well, but the outside screen. It's scratched badly already and cleaning it makes it even worse. It's almost like a bad plastic. My other smartwatch has been used every day for two years and the screen still looks brand new without protection.
Lesson is get a good screen protector BEFORE even touching it! Although is fairness, the scratches don't really show when the screen is powered.
The sound can be tweaked in the engineering settings (I've forgotten the number/symbol sequence to access those settings right now) and I have managed to get it sufficiently loud to annoy other people listening to a phone conversation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxzycSNQsz4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yjVVHpP1AM
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all good and great but remember its running android 2.x!
cylent said:
all good and great but remember its running android 2.x!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The AN1 is running 4.1.1. The older Vapirius watch I mentioned is running 2.1.
with the z1 smartwatch / Vapirius they stopped with the clean rom I would like to see a custom rom for this :fingers-crossed:
I found this clone of Galaxy Gear and it's even cheaper at $85.99 !?
http://vifocal.com/mobile-phones/ot...-2-os-dual-core-wifi-fm-1-54-inch-screen.html
And a review for it:
http://www.quadcoremobiles.com/2014...ewgalaxy-gear-clone-dual-core-android-4-2-os/
Wasn't the Galaxy Gear a fail.
Specs'
acb123 said:
I found this clone of Galaxy Gear and it's even cheaper at $85.99 !?
http://vifocal.com/mobile-phones/ot...-2-os-dual-core-wifi-fm-1-54-inch-screen.html
And a review for it:
http://www.quadcoremobiles.com/2014...ewgalaxy-gear-clone-dual-core-android-4-2-os/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For $85.99 you get: +$15 delivery to UK
8MP Camera
Android 4.2 OS
Thickness is about 8-9mm
MTK6572 Dual core processor, 512M RAM+4G ROM
350mAh Battery
E-Compass, Direction, acceleration, temperature,pressure, ambient temperature and linear acceleration sensor
Not bad. I wonder if its splash proof?
** More importantly, can you use Play Store? Anyone? **
simple1i said:
For $85.99 you get: +$15 delivery to UK
8MP Camera
Android 4.2 OS
Thickness is about 8-9mm
MTK6572 Dual core processor, 512M RAM+4G ROM
350mAh Battery
E-Compass, Direction, acceleration, temperature,pressure, ambient temperature and linear acceleration sensor
Not bad. I wonder if its splash proof?
** More importantly, can you use Play Store? Anyone? **
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't a Play Store compatible device. Also, looking at the pictures, the apps are proprietary.
Some Android devices, especially Chinese ones that I've used, Google Services aren't installed and have been done so manually in order to get all the Android features.
This isn't one of them.
I can give the firmware for the AN1 if someone would like to make a custom rom.
marcusroberts said:
This isn't a Play Store compatible device. Also, looking at the pictures, the apps are proprietary.
Some Android devices, especially Chinese ones that I've used, Google Services aren't installed and have been done so manually in order to get all the Android features.
This isn't one of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shame hey.
All those sensors are useless if there's no app for it.
sensors
They've caught on to a great idea, but it seems pretty pointless as said before. Hopefully there will be some improvements in the (less expensive) range of android wear.
google apps
with the z1 i used gapps install zip and gapps copy zip.You guys that have the AN1 do you have these for this watch or can you point me to the place to get them.
1bluemax said:
with the z1 i used gapps install zip and gapps copy zip.You guys that have the AN1 do you have these for this watch or can you point me to the place to get them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Details on how to load all the Google stuff onto the AN1 and most other similar Chinese devices are here (reply#7):
http://linuxslate.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1399895851
These are the steps:
Here are my instructions for putting all the correct Google Play stuff and thereby having a full non-Chinese Android. Remember to totally uninstall all the Chinese Market and Baidu.
Download the files from here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/56ppcal1t9dwm6g/AACubjVgwQIcFjVv0_wvo05na
1. Use Root Explorer
2. Copy GoogleServicesFramework.apk, GoogleLoginService.apk and Google_Play-v3.8.17.apk to the system/app folder on your phone with Root Explorer.
3. In Root Explorer click Mount R/W. Change the permissions of the 3 files to match the permissions of the other files in the folder rw-r--r-- (6-4-4). Then click Mount R/O and exit Root Explorer.
4. Install GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter and GoogleContactsSyncAdapter the usual app way.
5. Reboot your phone. Hard reset is not necessary.
6. Go to Accounts & Sync in your phone's settings, click Add account and enter your Google/GMail account details.
7. Go to your apps and Launch Google Play.
8. Update any Google stuff from Play Store if prompted.
I'll do a vid of this sometime.
Good luck!
Marcus
Thanks for the info.:good:
AN1 Battery Clarification
Hey, Marcus -
Sorry to take so long to reply.
When I said the AN1 battery was non-removable, I meant that the back of the AN1 watch IS the battery, for all intents and purposes, and is the battery housing, not a mini-case into which a battery could fit. Yes, as you say, it's removable via the lug-clip and that gives you access to the card slots. But I didn't know one could buy a replacement; the lug-clip architecture is so specific to the watch build that I thought an AN1 battery replacement would have to be sold as a locked-to-the-model accessory. (Well, until today; trolling around eBay I saw a Z1 battery/back panel replacement for sale and kind of assumed it would fit the AN1. But it was $39 which struck me as high, so I didn't purchase. I'll do a broader search for Z1 replacements now, though. If you know of where they can be gotten cheaply, chime in.)
No Real Need for Rooting
By the way ...
Even though the AN1 isn't Play Store compatible, I've been able to load everything on it that I need. I either find direct links to download the APKs desired, or APK store links that bring me to the APK. In any event, sideloading from my computer is easy, then I just use File Manager to open the apps. If the apps don't work, I uninstall them. Most of them do. And there are so many choices that you can eventually have it doing everything you desire of it. (Beasr in mind, it's not really practical to install anything too unique or fancy on the watch because of its screen size; it's best for basic utilities that let you play videos, read books, manage calendar data, email, facebook, etc. And it does all that handily. Sometimes not with apps that work on your larger Android devices; but it doesn't take much time at all to find something that'll do the job as well in miniature.)
I just received my PiPO W3 tablet. Even though this tablet is a few months old I decided to go with it compared to the Teclast X10HD which didn't offer great reviews and seem to suffer from minor hardware and software issues. I liked the PiPO W3 because PiPO seem to make good solid tablets. They are in a rare class like Onda who I feel also make very good quality tablets. One of the big draws for me was the add-on keyboard case. Since PiPO actually have their own branded one, that means they have probably done some testing to see it all works out quite well, compared to the likes of Teclast who may have been offering a more generic keyboard. I really like the Microsoft Surface element of both the tablet and the keyboard. The other big draw for this tablet is of course the full size USB 3.0 port. This means we don't have to mess around with USB hubs or specialist OTG hubs in order to use this device. With the addition Micro USB OTG adapter you end up getting 2 full size USB ports. You only need a hub if you're planning to add even more devices so already this tablet beats out many other Chinese tablets.
PiPO have actually made a newer updated model called the W3F which is available in a WiFi only or WiFi & 3G model. This newer tablet is about $100 less than the older W3. The W3 and newer W3F actually look identical because PiPO are still using the same external casing. So why didn't I go with the newer W3F model? Well simply because it offers only 32GB of internal space. With Windows and Office installed, 12GB is already used up which doesn't leave much space to install anything else. I always feel that 64GB is the bare minimum these tablets should come with. Also the processor in the newer W3F is actually lower than in the W3 model. The W3F has an Intel Z3735F Quad Core (Max 1.8GHz) while the older W3 model actually has a Intel Z3775D Quad Core (Max 2.4GHz). Many sellers are also stating that the W3F has a smaller battery capacity of 4000mAh compared to the W3 which has a 8000mAh battery. There is some discrepancy about this as we don't know what the real value actually is but I personally wouldn't order and take that risk. So while the W3F may be the newer model, in specs it is certainly inferior compared to the W3. Apart from these details, both tablets are pretty much the same. All other specs remain the same.
Screen Size: 10.1“
Screen Resolution: 1920*1200 Full HD
Screen Ratio: 16:10
Touch Panel: Capacitive 10 point touch
System CPU: Intel Baytrail T, Quad-core, Z3775D
CPU speed: Clock 1.5Ghz, burst up to 2.4Ghz
Storage: 64GB (Samsung MCG8GC)
RAM: 2GB DDR3
Operation System: Windows 8.1 32 bit with Bing
Productivity Suite: Microsoft Office 365 (1 year subscription)
Camera: Front 2MP, back 5MP auto focus
I/O ports : 1x Micro SD slot
USB port: 1x micro USB, 1x Full size USB 3.0
HDMI output: 1x mini HDMI port
Earphone jack: 1x 3.5mm
DC-IN jack: 1x
Microphone: 1x
Speaker: 2x Stereo
Communication: Wifi 802.11b/g/n
GPS module: No
3G: Huawei E1220-2 3G UltraStick
Bluetooth: Yes
Power: AC adapter 9V 2.5A
Battery capacity: 29.2Wh
Weight w/o keyboard: 570grams
Dimensions: 257*172*10.3mm
Accessories: 1x AC adapter
USB cable: NO
OTG cable: 1x
Keyboard: 1x (optional)
Some photos I took:
Unboxing: Contains Tablet, Keyboard, USB OTG Cable, DC Power supply. An adapter for my home country was also included (not shown). There is no Office 365 card included with a serial number anymore. Office prompts you to auto-install it and then activates itself after the installation, without requiring a serial number.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Keyboard:The PiPo branded keyboard that comes with the tablet. The back cover can be flipped in 2 different ways to hold up the tablet. The keyboard is good. Keys are responsive. The trackpad is also good. No issues at the moment. The magnets are very strong as they can hold the tablet upside down if you hold up the keyboard! The 3 lights in the lower right corner are CAPS, SCROLL and NUM LOCK.
Back Of The Tablet: Has a nice poly carbon/metal like effect and finish. Build quality is pretty solid. No creaks or plastic being depressed or anything.
Ports: These are all the ports the tablet has. The big plus on this device is of course the full size USB 3.0 port.
3G Module:The side panel can be opened (the none port side) and you can remove the Huawei 3G UltraStick. Handy when a 4G module becomes available, it can easily be replaced without having to buy a new tablet. You can see where the SIM card slots into on the bottom.
Comparison: The keyboard and tablet attached. I've placed my old iPhone 5 next to it so you can roughly gauge the overall size. I would have used my iPhone 6 Plus but I had to use that to take the photos!
Wrapped Up: This is what it looks like with the keyboard cover fully closed around the tablet. Pretty good fit.
I just got this tablet so i'm still exploring it. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.
Drivers:
http://pan.baidu.com/s/1eQlDJdK (154MB - official link)
Windows system Image:
http://pan.baidu.com/s/1sjO61RJ (4.6GB - Chinese language image - for tablets built after 20th August 2014)
http://pan.baidu.com/s/1mg3bO8K (4.6GB - Chinese language image - for tablets built before 20th August 2014)
There is no English language image (or any other language image) that I know of. The best case is to restore using the Chinese image and then change the language to English. If you recently bought this tablet then it is safe to say that it was built after the 20th of August 2014. I believe that the models before that date actually had a different case where the back cover is completely flat, from images I have seen.
How to PROPERLY remove the original language (Chinese, Mandarin) and choose your own system wide language.
What's the story?
Since the PiPO W3 is considered a "cheap" tablet, it comes with Windows 8 SINGLE LANGUAGE edition. Notably, all our tablets by default have Chinese (Mandarin) set in them by default. When we purchase the tablets, the seller goes in and adds a en-US (English United States) language pack that then gives us a way to actually use the tablet.
What is the issue?
Even though a language pack can be added and therefore used, it doesn't fully convert the system to that new language. There are still parts of the old language left. The original language cannot be removed. This issue highlighted itself when i recently went to update the tablet to Windows 10. The default language was Chinese (Mandarin) and I wanted to upgrade the tablet via a USB installation of Windows 10. The copy of Windows 10 I downloaded using their creation tool was English (United States). The problem however was that when you go to upgrade Windows 8.1 to 10, you are given 3 choices - keep all your apps, settings, etc or just keep your settings or fresh install that keeps nothing. As I was pressed for time and about to go on a trip, I wanted it to keep all my apps, settings etc. The problem however was that the installer was seeing that the original language of the device was Chinese (Mandarin) and my Windows 10 upgrade was English (United States) and therefore prevented me from doing an upgrade that kept all my installed software etc. I was only given the last 2 choices - keep a few settings, or fresh install that wipes everything.
What didn't work?
Messing around with language packs and keyboards etc does not fully solve this issue. Changing any other options in settings etc didn't work either. There are a bunch of videos and instructions on the net about how to change the language from the default to one that you want, but NONE of those actually solve the issue. A method was needed that actually REMOVES the default Chinese language and then allows you to make a new system wide default language. The instructions below show you how to do this. After I completed these very steps, the Windows 10 installer then allowed me to choose the first option which meant I could keep all my installed programs, apps and settings.
1. Download the appropriate (for your version of Windows 8.1) language pack listed further down in this post.
2. Rename the cab file to lp.cab
3. Put the lp.cab in some folder on your hard drive. Let's put it in C:\lp\
4. Open command prompt in elevated mode and type:
DISM /Online /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\lp\lp.cab
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Click to collapse
Windows 8.1 may recommend restarting after successfully adding the package. If returning from a reboot - go into elevated prompt again.
5. Now we need to remove the reference to the old language pack. To do that we need to find out the exact identifier of the language pack installed. For this we need to type:
DISM /Online /Get-Packages > C:\pack.txt
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6. Because the list of installed packages is long, the command sends it to a file called "pack.txt" located in the root of the C: partition. Open the file and look for:
Package Identity : Microsoft-Windows-Client-LanguagePack-Package........
Status: Installed
Release Type : Language Pack
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Click to collapse
7. Make sure you find the identifier for your old language pack, so if we're getting rid of the Chinese language - the identifier will have "zh-cn" in the name. For example a Chinese language pack that comes with your system will be something like:
Package Identity : Microsoft-Windows-Client-LanguagePack-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~zh-cn~6.1.7601.17514
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Note the zh-cn in the name.
8. Now let's run a command to remove the old language pack (listed in the above example):
DISM /Online /Remove-Package /PackageName:Microsoft-Windows-Client-LanguagePack-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~zh-cn~6.1.7601.17514
TIP: Since the package name is very long and manually typing it may cause errors, you can actually highlight the name from the txt file and right click and paste it into the command line window.
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Click to collapse
9. After the removal procedure is done, you will be prompted to reboot the computer. After the reboot you should be faced with the new language interface.
NOTE: Check the output txt file carefully. If you have already installed your desired language pack, it may be listed there alongside the Chinese one. In this case you can avoid getting the language cab file and start the above instructions from step 5.
Windows 8.1 32-bit (x86) MUI Language Packs
Arabic
Bulgarian
Chinese - Simplified
Chinese - Traditional
English - United Kingdom
English - United States
French
German
Italian
Korean
Portuguese - Brazilian
Portuguese - Portugal
Russian
Spanish
Thanks to Irina Likhter & Serge Argaman for this!
Videos: (Not mine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QhCYTCiPdQ (Unboxing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi2zGPiroCs (Review)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvuXxiixXBY (Game: Need For Speed Carbon - In Russian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pck-JerYSTw (Photoshop Demo - In Russian. It's long but you get the idea!)
Kindly request.
How awesome ! Congrats for the new acquisition !
Just today I start looking whether to buy this tablet or not,so i am lucky you showed up.I really need some insights from an actual person than owns the device.
So i have some questions for you if you're kind enough to answer :
1). How's battery life ? especially on video playback..how much do you think this baby can run while playing HD ( 1080p or 720p) videos ? (with WiFi of) because i travel a lot with train (for quite long distances) and i need a tablet that can run some more hours .
2). Does it get warm? like really warm ? for eg on intensive Chrome sessions
3). Does it have a proprietary charging port and cable ? because that's what i saw on some videos.
4.) How's the speakers and headphone jack sound quality?
And if you could tell me some cons of this tablet...or things that you don't like about it ,I would very much appreciate it .
Thanks a lot,and I hope you can answer me when you get the time.
recond9 said:
How awesome ! Congrats for the new acquisition !
Just today I start looking whether to buy this tablet or not,so i am lucky you showed up.I really need some insights from an actual person than owns the device.
So i have some questions for you if you're kind enough to answer :
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Since I just got this tablet, please give me a few days to try it out so that I can answer all your questions. Here are some answers, and more will follow.
1). How's battery life ? especially on video playback..how much do you think this baby can run while playing HD ( 1080p or 720p) videos ? (with WiFi of) because i travel a lot with train (for quite long distances) and i need a tablet that can run some more hours .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. So far the battery life is ok. I have only really tested it by the standby function which I can tell you lasts quite a while. I haven't tried to see how long it could last with a 720/1080p movie yet but I will do that and get back to you.
2). Does it get warm? like really warm ? for eg on intensive Chrome sessions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2. I haven't pushed the CPU/GPU to any level that would make it hot but so far from normal usage (surfing etc) there is no heat anywhere, It's actually cool to touch.
3). Does it have a proprietary charging port and cable ? because that's what i saw on some videos.
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Click to collapse
3. Yes it has a proprietary charging port and charger. You will see the charger in the first photo on the right and you will see the port in the 4th picture on the left. Some people may not like this as they prefer to charge via USB but I actually like this because it means that while the device charges, you are free to still use the USB port. I have heard that it can actually be charged via the Micro USB port however that charge is very slow unless you use a powerful charger. As I don't have a Micro USB cable I wasn't able to test this.
4.) How's the speakers and headphone jack sound quality?
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Click to collapse
4. The speakers are loud. 2 people watching a movie can easily hear it. Also the viewing angles are good so the screen can be viewed by more than one person. I tested with some mp3s and also some TV shows and the sound through the speakers was very good. Of course these are tablet speakers and so like other tablets and even laptops - the audio range isn't great. Don't expect any bass or anything wow. At a basic level if you just want to watch something or listen to music, it will not disappoint. The headphone experience was surprisingly good. I used Windows Media Player and messed with the EQ for movies and then for mp3s I used Winamp (also adjusting the EQ) and in both cases the sound was pretty good - a good audio range and lots of bass. You definitely get a better experience through the headphones and I had a pair of Sennheiser headphones connected so I definitely enjoyed the sound much better through those than the speakers.
And if you could tell me some cons of this tablet...or things that you don't like about it ,I would very much appreciate it .
Thanks a lot,and I hope you can answer me when you get the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will get back to the first 2 questions later on and also any cons about it when I have done more testing
OMGitsShan said:
Thanks! Since I just got this tablet, please give me a few days to try it out so that I can answer all your questions. Here are some answers, and more will follow.
1. So far the battery life is ok. I have only really tested it by the standby function which I can tell you lasts quite a while. I haven't tried to see how long it could last with a 720/1080p movie yet but I will do that and get back to you.
2. I haven't pushed the CPU/GPU to any level that would make it hot but so far from normal usage (surfing etc) there is no heat anywhere, It's actually cool to touch.
3. Yes it has a proprietary charging port and charger. You will see the charger in the first photo on the right and you will see the port in the 4th picture on the left. Some people may not like this as they prefer to charge via USB but I actually like this because it means that while the device charges, you are free to still use the USB port. I have heard that it can actually be charged via the Micro USB port however that charge is very slow unless you use a powerful charger. As I don't have a Micro USB cable I wasn't able to test this.
4. The speakers are loud. 2 people watching a movie can easily hear it. Also the viewing angles are good so the screen can be viewed by more than one person. I tested with some mp3s and also some TV shows and the sound through the speakers was very good. Of course these are tablet speakers and so like other tablets and even laptops - the audio range isn't great. Don't expect any bass or anything wow. At a basic level if you just want to watch something or listen to music, it will not disappoint. The headphone experience was surprisingly good. I used Windows Media Player and messed with the EQ for movies and then for mp3s I used Winamp (also adjusting the EQ) and in both cases the sound was pretty good - a good audio range and lots of bass. You definitely get a better experience through the headphones and I had a pair of Sennheiser headphones connected so I definitely enjoyed the sound much better through those than the speakers.
I will get back to the first 2 questions later on and also any cons about it when I have done more testing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answers so far.
Sure,I was a little quick with so many questions at once.
The main nasty thing about the proprietary charger is the fact that it can't be replaced easily replaced like lets say a normal USB charger.It would be a pain to wait a couple of weeks for a new one to be delivered all the way from China(some 2 good weeks for an packet to get here in Europe).But I guess you'll have to be careful with it.
As I can see from your sayings,is this tablet has almost no cons ,just pros..Chinese makers sure leveled up their game.
Well,I will check here in few days for your other answers,after you test it out.
Thanks.
Hey, glad to see you got yours and thanks for the writeup. Still waiting on mine, but will report here when I get it.
There are some good videos of an apparent W3 clone (actually it's probably a W3F clone as it has the slower CPU), the Kruger&Matz Edge 1081. In this video (others are linked there) he tests charging. Apparently the microUSB ports will charge it, but does not take advantage of more powerful chargers = around 10 hours for a full charge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt1kJupVWPk
---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 PM ----------
Here's an interesting questions - if you plug a powered USB3.0 hub into the 3.0 port, and then plug one of its inputs into the microUSB port, will that charge the tablet? Or will the universe collapse into itself from the bizarre USB loop?
I need to power the tablet and 2 USB3.0 devices from a 12V battery. That voltage doesn't work with the native charger port (9V) nor typical USB power (5V). But some USB3.0 hubs actually take 12V, so I could power a hub, and (assuming the tablet won't charge directly from a powered USB3.0 hub being connected to it) power the tablet from it -> microUSB. That way I'd need no voltage converters at all (if it doesn't destroy the known universe).
---------- Post added at 02:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 PM ----------
actually re. my power question, that USB loop should work. The hub->microUSB path doesn't need to be a data connection, a power-only USB cable should work without causing complications. Now I just have to find the right 12V taking 3.0 hub ...
recond9 said:
Thanks for the answers so far.
The main nasty thing about the proprietary charger is the fact that it can't be replaced easily replaced like lets say a normal USB charger.It would be a pain to wait a couple of weeks for a new one to be delivered all the way from China(some 2 good weeks for an packet to get here in Europe).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always use a standard USB charger (with a microUSB cable) if the 9V charger ever goes down, it will just be slower. And I don't think it's proprietary in the sense that it's just a thin version of the typical 2.1mm DC jack, you can probably find an adapter for a generic 9V supply (just needs to be the correct polarity and >= the amps the tablet needs).
As I can see from your sayings,is this tablet has almost no cons ,just pros..Chinese makers sure leveled up their game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Main cons I'm aware of are no GPS, and screen is not optically bonded. It will be interesting to see how much of the sRGB colour space it covers, and what the black levels are like (I can measure that with my colorimeter when I get it). 4GB would have been nice. And even though it's a higher-end Baytrail CPU, Core M tabs will be faster (but also look like they're going to be super-expensive).
But the full-size USB 3.0 is very handy (main reason I bought mine), looking forward to getting it in my grubby paws .
Great pics and write-up.
I have also received my W2 a couple weeks ago.
Glad to know that this thing can be charged via the micro usb port so that I can put my 10000ma portable battery to good use with this tablet.
One annoying thing about this tablet (or maybe windows8.1) is that when I press the power button to put it to sleep and then close the cover, either the keyboard hit the windows touch button below the main screen or the touch screen hit the windows key on the keyboard and that would wake the tablet and turn on the screen draining battery while not being used.
Same thing happen when I plug in my charger, it will be awaken and screen turned on.
So to sort of temporary solve this problem, I created hibernation shortcuts on taskbar, desktop, start menu, and start screen. So I just hibernate it whenever I don't use it. Lucky that it just takes about 10 to 12 seconds for this thing to wake from hibernation.
Hope there is some ways to disable the keyboard, touch start button, and charger from waking the tablet up when I press the power button.
---------- Post added at 01:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 PM ----------
BTW, since Onda is mentioned here, I wanna let you guys know Onda have just released a 11 inch tablet with full HD screen, 2gb ram, 64gb storage, but have dual OS with both Windows 8.1 and Android4.4 installed and can be switched instantly.
It is getting a lot of praise in Hong Kong.
I am quite interested in this thing.
OMGitsShan, thank you so much for the review. I was thinking about buying this wonder, mainly because the keyboard and the case. With those pics, I almost have no doubts right now.
Just a silly question: You mentioned it comes with a 1-year subscription to Office365. What about OneDrive? Iw ould be great to have anything attached with that subscription.
Thanks again.
Hey, I've got similar tablet (it's the same just named and sold by local firm in Poland - Kruger&Matz EDGE 1081 - with current currency exchange rate it's 214$ and that's already with taxes for WiFi only 32gb). I've got an issue - sometimes Windows button (touch sensor) bugs out and act as if it was pressed all the time and it doesn't respond at all, meaning pressing power/screen lock button leads to CTRL+ALT+DEL screen and Volume UP button launches up narrator. Problem appears randomly, though very often when tablet is docked into keyboard cover.
Got mine yesterday. First impressions - overall pretty good. IPS screen is nice and sharp, black levels are decent. Not quite as saturated (colourful) and super-black as the best, but not bad. Wifi reception is good, using my iPhone with 3G as the gateway via Wifi it has no problems getting a good signal one floor up (my old Gadmei E8-3D tablet would loose the signal about 5m away already). Battery seems decent, but need more time with it (and it may improve a little after a few full charges).
CPU speed isn't bad for a tablet, I'm not sure I'd want to use the slower Baytrails though (eg. W3F) so I'm glad I paid for the 2.4GHz boost. It does seem to throttle it down though if all 4 cores are maxxed. This is most likely thermal management, when total core utilisation < 75% or so (TBC) if does get up to ~2.33 GHz (it doesn't seem to be a true 2.4, if so then kinda sneaky rounding up like that), but then it drops down as a cores get v. busy. On the plus side, tablet only gets warm, never hot, even when running 3D Mark (though I didn't try running a 3D app over a long time yet). Thermal management seems good. There might be scope to push it a little via the BIOS temp. settings, but I'm not messing with those for now.
Tablet feels nice in hand and considering the size isn't too heavy or thick imo. But it has a small ridge all around the edge - this protects the buttons and ports a little by recessing them, but also slightly digs into your hands slightly. Not loving that, it's not painful but slightly uncomfortable. They should change that on the next model.
Keyboard is pretty good actually, thin but fairly rigid, as is the touch pad and button response. Feels decent quality, surprising how much travel there is in the buttons/keys considering how thin it is. Touchpad mouse tracking is good for general use, though if you try to do pixel-accurate scrolling it does sometimes jitter a bit. But you don't notice it for normal use. For more accurate mousing it's definitely handy, the touch screen will struggle for fine control sometimes, especially with apps that aren't DPI scaling aware. The magnet that holds the tab to the keyboard is very strong, no danger of it falling off (even upside down I think). But the soft and thin cover provides zero protection from dropping, so I'll look into getting a better case when it goes out the door.
I'm still setting it up - have calibrated the screen (max brightness is around 220mcd, contrast ratio around 930:1, good for an IPS screen). USB 3.0 seems to work though I still need to test the max bandwidth. It also does not work with my Seagate portable USB 3 HD - it briefly detects it, then disconnects it. Suspect it cannot supply enough power, so a powered USB hub may be necessary (will try that later, I can measure the USB current too).
Office trial is there, haven't activated mine as I don't intend to pay for it, so won't use it anyway (lots of free alternatives available, eg. OpenOffice). You have to activate it before August 2015 though or it expires. OneDrive app is there, but I haven't looked at it yet (probably won't use it either).
3G Huawai stick is there, but seems to take a full-size SIM cards and I only have a microSim, so will buy an adapter. There's a mobile-something app that seems to do text messaging, maybe even phone calls?
Anyway, so far overall seems a pretty good package, I'd recommend getting the keyboard unless you definitely won't need it. It's a well thought-out solution and pretty compact, and no wires to worry about or wireless batteries to run out.
Oh btw, first thing I did was download 70+ Windows updates. Maybe a freak occurrance, but they took forever to discover and then wouldn't download (always stuck at 0%). One time they finally did, but on a reboot didn't seem to be applied + "TiWorker.exe" was taking massive CPU even after a reboot. Turns out the update database got corrupted somehow - fix: Control Panel -> Trouble Shooting -> Windows Update. Repairs the DB + reboot (may need to dl' the updates again to get them to stick).
@Marrond, I think I've seen what you describe. For me it very occasionally goes a little nuts, eg. it registers presses all over the tablet when I press in a spot, and think I've seen it trigger the start button once. In my case it seems to be interference with other gadgets on my desk (I'm still setting it up, copying files etc). For one I have a Wacom tablet that probably radiates stuff as part of what it does. I noticed that if I moved the tablet elsewhere on my desk, it's all fine again. I'll keep an eye on it.
One thing, be careful updating the Intel HD graphics driver. I used their auto-driver update tool, found & installed an updated HD driver. Worked fine, except every time the screen went to sleep, it would then wake up all black. Backlight still on and tablet still running fine, but nothing on screen and no way to fix it except hard reboot! Thanks to @OMGitsShan's link to the driver package I just put the old one back on and fine again. Google suggests it's a long-running problem with Intel drivers, but couldn't find the exact cause. Never seen this on my desktop (with HD4000).
---------- Post added at 11:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:03 PM ----------
Apparently most Win 8 devices (even 'with Bing') have device encryption enabled by default (so if someone steals your tab they can't then pull the files off from another OS etc). But it doesn't seem activated on the W3. This might be the reason & workaround, scary though in case it bricks it.
If anyone is brave enough to try, please report.
---------- Post added at 11:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 PM ----------
BTW @Marrond, your tab might be a clone of the W3F (it's a cut-down version of the W3 with a slower Baytrail CPU).
---------- Post added at 11:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 PM ----------
BTW if anyone needs a driver let me know (takes FOREVER to dl from China).
OK I took a gamble on enabling the security stuff in the BIOS, and sure enough it worked (note I didn't bother to create a password). You then have to create/sign into an online MS account (I did that inadvertently by trying to download a free app from the store). This changes your login into an online login. And seems to enable Device Encryption silently & also automatically uploads your encryption key to MS as a 'backup'. You can also make or print your own copy for safe keeping. I can now see Device Encryption is enabled (with option to disable) on the PC Info screen - but this is only shown on the Metro version, not the desktop one. But yeah, seems to have worked. You can then also choose to go back to a local login (Account Settings) if you don't want to be signed into MS permanently. You can also choose to use or disable OneDrive.
The touchscreen weirdness came back quite badly, fake touch events all over the place, but recalibration seems to have fixed it (Start Menu -> Search for 'Calibration'). That should fix the Start button too as that's likely just using the touch screen.
The USB3 Seagate HD also works if I plug a USB power monitor between it and the tab, so it does have enough juice to power it, but perhaps a firmware glitch makes it disconnect, maybe a short power drop that doesn't happen when the monitor is also plugged in. But it works fine with my powered usb3 hub. And all other USB devices I've tried so far work directly on the tab.
recond9 said:
Thanks for the answers so far.
Sure,I was a little quick with so many questions at once.
The main nasty thing about the proprietary charger is the fact that it can't be replaced easily replaced like lets say a normal USB charger.It would be a pain to wait a couple of weeks for a new one to be delivered all the way from China(some 2 good weeks for an packet to get here in Europe).But I guess you'll have to be careful with it.
As I can see from your sayings,is this tablet has almost no cons ,just pros..Chinese makers sure leveled up their game.
Well,I will check here in few days for your other answers,after you test it out.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Last Friday my main PC decided to die on me. So its been an exhausting week of recovering data from the hard drive then buying a new drive, reinstalling windows and software (we all know what a pain that is!) and so I am slowly back to where I was. I did keep a text file that I noted all the problems I had with the W3 just for you but I sadly lost that when the PC died. So I will hopefully try to remember the points I wrote about and so if I remember something at a later time, I may edit this post with the additional information.
As far as HD video play back is concerned. I play a 1080p movie that was an MKV file with a bitrate of 8000kbps - the movie was 2hrs:02mins long. I managed to play the movie 2.5 times before the device went to around 3% battery.
For a 720p mkv movie that had a bitrate of 4000kbps - movie length was 2hrs:10mins. I managed to get the movie to play 3 times fully and then it played an additional 12 minutes before the battery died.
In terms of heat - it gets hot when playing games (I installed Asphalt 8, a car racing game from the App store) and when charging. Not hot where you cant hold it though. And if you place your fingers behind like holding it with the screen in front of you, only the fingers on your left hand will feel any heat.
CONS:
1. The windows button/logo on the bottom of the screen on the front bezel causes the vibration motor to go off every time you press it. I don't really understand why we need a physical and audible indicator that we have pressed it. I just want to press it and get to the Metro interface so I'm not sure why PiPO bothered to add the vibration to it. Just one of those little things that's annoying. I hope I can find a way to disable it.
2. Chrome runs ever so slow on this device. I'm not sure why Google haven't adapted it to be more streamlined on a tablet, but scrolling on it is jerky. In contrary, Internet Explorer is way smoother. I prefer using Chrome as my browser but I've had to put IE as default just to make things easier.
3. Keyboard is slightly flimsy - even on a flat surface like a table. It is not very bendy or anything but when you press down on a key the board gets depressed as well. You can still easily use it and it wont affect your typing just wish it was more solid. Therefore typing on your lap might take a bit of effort.
4. The battery seems to give 2 different values based on whether you are in the Metro interface or the regular desktop.
5. You can charge it and use it, the battery does charge reasonably fast. I know some people were worried that if they charge and use it, the charge would be slow but I never experienced that.
6. I have a small portable 2.5" USB 3.0 hard drive, for some reason that drive does not get detected when connected to the USB 3.0 port. USB pen/flash drives work fine and powered larger desktop drives such as my Seagate Expansion drives show up fine, but the smaller unpowered drive does not get detected. The weirdest thing though? My girlfriend has an unpowered USB 2.0 hub. When I connect this hub to the USB 3.0 port and then connect my portable hard drive to the hub, it shows up fine in Windows. So how does a slower hub (USB 2.0 and one that is unpowered "kick start" windows into seeing my portable drive? Confused!
7. Screen glare. The screen is very reflective. It's a little shinier than I would like.
Well that's what I can think of at the top of my head. If I get more I will add to this!
_gl said:
Hey, glad to see you got yours and thanks for the writeup.
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Thanks and you're welcome! I'm happy to see you got yours! We'll be able to bounce ideas and suggestions now and hopefully figure things out.
misbehave said:
Great pics and write-up. BTW, since Onda is mentioned here, I wanna let you guys know Onda have just released a 11 inch tablet with full HD screen, 2gb ram, 64gb storage, but have dual OS with both Windows 8.1 and Android4.4 installed and can be switched instantly. It is getting a lot of praise in Hong Kong. I am quite interested in this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I haven't experienced the problems you have but if I do i'll let you know. I actually heard about the Onda v116w a few days after I had ordered my W3, and initially I thought OMG I want that instead but looking at it now, I'm kind of glad I didn't go with it and here's why. Most people buying the 8 and 9 inch models of these Chinese tablets only want to use them to consume media. Yeah sure full Windows is a bonus of course. However with a 10 inch tablet not only is it as good for media consumption but you finally get a device that you can do work with. So in the case of the PiPO W3, the keyboard is a big draw and because PiPO include their own, it feels safer than picking some random magnetic keyboard or even using a bluetooth one. With the Onda being 11 inches - that would be a perfect companion for work (and great for media too!) however Onda have not released or even mentioned a keyboard case with the device. In my opinion, that was a huge loss to them. Without a keyboard option, the need for the tablet is limited. Also on an 11 inch screen - Onda could only offer a 1080p resolution?! What is this - 2011? Such a large screen deserves a high resolution to turn a great screen into a gorgeous one. I really don't understand Onda. Its like they never push hard enough. Every tablet of theirs always has some major limit. Previously they never offered HDMI out. So with such a low resolution for an 11 inch screen, the PPI (Pixels per inch) will be pretty low. Also they offer the same processor as the current crop of tablets. With a slightly bigger screen, it would be nice to put a more powerful CPU in to help games etc work better. So for me Onda always do something to screw up their upcoming tablets.
EQLucky said:
OMGitsShan, thank you so much for the review. Just a silly question: You mentioned it comes with a 1-year subscription to Office365. What about OneDrive? I would be great to have anything attached with that subscription. Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
You're welcome! OneDrive is included with Office 365. You get 1TB of space online to store your documents. Your Microsoft ID would get you 15GB of OneDrive space outside of this Office 365 subscription however. Hope that answers your question.
Quick update on the external USB 3.0 HD issues we're both having. We're not alone, it's also happening on Surface.
As I wrote there, mine actually works unpowered on the (2.0) micro-USB port, so it's not a power issue. And my USB power monitor (that makes it work on the 3.0 port) drops the connection to 2.0, so that explains why that works too. So the issue is only with the true 3.0 connection. It seems very unlikely this is a hard drive firmware bug, as people are reporting the same thing with all kinds of HDs. So either the Intel USB 3.0 driver or some Windows USB 3.0 part (maybe from a bad update) must have a bug, or maybe it's a bug in Baytrail itself (but the driver could probably work around that). I've not been able to find any Intel USB 3.0 drivers for Baytrail (updated or otherwise), anyone?
Also @OMGitsShan, when you had the HD problem did you already download all the Windows updates, or was it clean? I already got the updates so I don't know if it would work clean. I guess I could uninstall them all again, but if someone has a clean install to test...
BTW I hear you having to reinstall Windows, it sucks! My (power-user) desktop system takes WEEKS to rebuild from scratch - no exaggeration! Word of advice, set it all up, and then image the OS partition. I do these days because I'm never going back to a full rebuild (just catching up the few months between the last backup takes long enough ).
---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 PM ----------
@OMGitsShan, check you System even log for "disk <x> has been surprise removed" messages. That's what I get when it briefly detects and then disconnects the drive when I plug it in (about 50% of the time, the rest it doesn't see it at all).
---------- Post added at 07:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------
I got my micro-> full SIM adapter, and tested the 3G stick at home. I'm near a mast so get a v. good signal - the stick gave me the same as I get on my iPhone 4s. Haven't tried in a weak signal area yet, but looks promising. There's no voice call facility in the supplied Mobile Partner software, but it seems to be able to send/receive texts (that probably explains the vibrate motor - which I don't mind firing on the Start button, but there's probably a tweak to turn it off).
_gl said:
Quick update on the external USB 3.0 HD issues we're both having. We're not alone, it's also happening on Surface.
As I wrote there, mine actually works unpowered on the (2.0) micro-USB port, so it's not a power issue. And my USB power monitor (that makes it work on the 3.0 port) drops the connection to 2.0, so that explains why that works too. So the issue is only with the true 3.0 connection. It seems very unlikely this is a hard drive firmware bug, as people are reporting the same thing with all kinds of HDs. So either the Intel USB 3.0 driver or some Windows USB 3.0 part (maybe from a bad update) must have a bug, or maybe it's a bug in Baytrail itself (but the driver could probably work around that). I've not been able to find any Intel USB 3.0 drivers for Baytrail (updated or otherwise), anyone?
Also @OMGitsShan, when you had the HD problem did you already download all the Windows updates, or was it clean? I already got the updates so I don't know if it would work clean. I guess I could uninstall them all again, but if someone has a clean install to test...
BTW I hear you having to reinstall Windows, it sucks! My (power-user) desktop system takes WEEKS to rebuild from scratch - no exaggeration! Word of advice, set it all up, and then image the OS partition. I do these days because I'm never going back to a full rebuild (just catching up the few months between the last backup takes long enough ).
---------- Post added at 06:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 PM ----------
@OMGitsShan, check you System even log for "disk <x> has been surprise removed" messages. That's what I get when it briefly detects and then disconnects the drive when I plug it in (about 50% of the time, the rest it doesn't see it at all).
---------- Post added at 07:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------
I got my micro-> full SIM adapter, and tested the 3G stick at home. I'm near a mast so get a v. good signal - the stick gave me the same as I get on my iPhone 4s. Haven't tried in a weak signal area yet, but looks promising. There's no voice call facility in the supplied Mobile Partner software, but it seems to be able to send/receive texts (that probably explains the vibrate motor - which I don't mind firing on the Start button, but there's probably a tweak to turn it off).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which carrier sim card are you trying with?
misbehave said:
Which carrier sim card are you trying with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3 (UK).
I also agree that the W3 is more of a work horse - if you're not planning to use the desktop much, it's probably overkill unless you want the faster CPU just because. But to me it's a poor man's Surface Pro (in a good way).
Gotta say I'm also really impressed with what MS has done with the mobile part of the OS. I run 8.1 on my desktop, but never use Metro at all. It's horrible to navigate with a mouse (or my Wacom graphics tablet, which doesn't react like the touchscreen even though that makes more sense). But it's great on this - I love IE in Metro mode, super slick, all the touch gestures in general finally make sense and are intuitive. I especially like swiping in from left to switch between desktop & metro screens, very slick.
And I'm very impressed with what they have achieved with the power usage. I'm a programmer and I know how much they would have had to gut the OS and rewrite massive parts of it, including the drivers, to get that to happen. It even seems to boot a little faster from cold than my (admittedly old) iPhone 4S. Sweet.
---------- Post added at 01:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 AM ----------
Anybody know how we can replace the Pipo boot logo?
---------- Post added at 01:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 AM ----------
... simple.
The NO.1 Sun S2 is a budget smartwatch witha circular display, camera and heart rate monitor. We kindly received the silver version with a silver metal watch band from the Gearbest Online Shop. You can get the Sun S2 for about $52 → here from Gearbest with the code GBSS2 .
You can find the post also here with all pictures in higher quality :
http://klonom.com/no-1-sun-s2-review/
Let’s start with the “official” technical specifications.
Specifications:
-Chipset: MT6260
-Bluetooth 3.0
-240×240 Display
-300 KP Camera
-1.33″ IPS Display
-Heart rate monitor
-IP-67 (according to NO.1)
Items delivered:
The NO.1 Sun S2 is delivered in a white, nearly cubical box. Beside the actual watch a charging shell, a microUSB cable and a small manual (in English & Chinese) is included. The metal watch band is protected by a plastic foil against scratches, while also the screen is protected by scratches on the transport. An overview of the items delivered is shown in the next picture.
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Items delivered with the NO.1 Sun S2
Unboxing Video:
First Impression:
While unpacking, the No.1 Sun S2 surprised me with its heavy watch body. It is made out of polished metal, no plastic like assumed partly before. You also notice that because of the weight (88 g in total) and the cool touch of the metal. Unfortunetaly the metal watch band at my silver version is quite light and does not have the same high quality impression as the watch body.
The top view of the No.1 Sun S2
The display is nearly completely dark in the powered off state, the transition between the display and bottom black border (more on that later) is just noticable at strong daylight. The dark black watchface while being in standby or powered off gives the watch a fancy look in my opinion.
Camera and Button
On the right side you can find the camera and the control button. The camera is hidden very unobtrusive in the “winder” of the watch. Friends just discovered the camera after being told where it actually sits – solved very discretly No.1!
The Microfone
The microfone can be found on the left side. The position does not seem to be chosen randomly: The speaker is placed at the opposite and is speaking in the opposide direction.
The Bottom
On the bottom 3 features are placed: The USB contacts, which can be accessed with a normal microUSB cable via the included charging adapter shell. Also the heart rate monitor is placed on the bottom. At last, the the speaker is placed there as well. The metal watch band is closed with a folding clasp. The watch band is unfortunetaly quite rattly and not made from solid metal. At least the watch band can be adjusted in the size. My personal small highlight is that the watch band can be exchanged with standard watch bands – finally a watch with this feature!
The charging Shell
The Sun S2 is connected and charged with the help of the included charging shell adapter. Comfortable: The shell is kept magnetic at the bottom of the No.1 Sun S2. It even has a hole for the speaker, so that the sound can be lead out to the side, in case you want to use it while charging.
OS/Launcher:
The No.1 Sun S2 does not run like on Android Wear but on a Nucleus OS variant from Mediatek. If the watch is in standby it can be turned on by pressing the button (or via a “look-at-watch-movement”). After that you will see one of three possible analog watch faces. With a swipe the mainscreen is entered.
The main screen
On the main screen a small notification bar is placed on the top, showing the battery status, BT connection and the active profile. Beside that, two shortcuts are available which can be configured with any app installed on the watch. An additional swipe opens the main menu.
The main menu
The main menu is controlled via swiping. You have to be quite careful partially, because of the size of the display.
All in all the system is intuitive and stable. I did not notice any freezes or similiar yet. The firmware can be updated via flash tool and a pc. No.1 already supplied a first update.
Display:
The display has its pros and cons. A huge improvement in comparison to older generations of China-Smartwatches is the IPS-display. Finally a display with stable viewing angles, the colors stay constant also at a very steep angles. And it is round. I also do not know why I like that fact so much . The probably most discussed drawback is the black bar at the bottom of the display (“flat tire look”). The connections are placed here. Anyhow, this is not something unusual – also way more expensive watches like the Moto 360 have the optical drawback (although smaller). The only possibility to bypass it would be a bigger bezel all around the display, which would contain the connection (like the LG Urbane).
While the black bar is not noticable a lot with dark backgrounds, with white backgrounds it can be noticed even more. If this is acceptable is a matter of taste. Personally, I do not a have a problem with it.
The resolution is average. A higher resolution would look nicer, but in general the display resolution is ok and not too low.
Functions:
The NO.1 Sun S2 offers several of functions. I could not fully test all of them completely, so I will add some more infos here in the future.
-Calling: Works flawlessly. You can search through your contacts and start calls via your smartwatch. The calling is done “via your wrist”. The best speaking quality is reached when you talk quite near to the microfone. Incoming calls are shown on the watch and you have the possibility to accept them directly on your watch. Alternatively you can also switch to the watch during ongoing calls started from your phone.
-Pushing Notifications: Also this is working fine. By default all popping up notifications in the notification bar of your Android are pushed to the watch. This can be filtered directly on the watch or in the app.
-Messaging: Reading and writing of messages are possible. Anyhow, the writing is quite difficult due to the alpha numeric keyboard which overlays roughly half of the display.
-Anti-Lost: If the BT connection is lost an alarm will start.
-Pedometer: Seems to be working quite well, although I will add some more experiences here since I will measure in parallel with the Mi Band. Unfortunetaly there is no possibility of syncing the data with the smartphone,
-Sleep Monitor: Same as for the pedometer.
-Sedentary Reminder: The watch reminds you after an adjustable interval to move.
-Audio-Player: The Sun S2 has a surprisingly good speaker for such a small device. Just in the upper quarter of the volume the speaker starts to distort. Obviously this is more or less a gimmick, but with a way better sound quality I expected.
-Heart Rate Monitor: On the bottom of the watch a heart rate monitor is placed, so it can be measured while wearing it. The accuracy is quite varying. It feels like around every second measurement delivers a kind of “plausible” value. Also here was unfortunetaly no feature included which can push the data to the phone.
-Thermometer: While measuring the temperature also the bottom LED is turned on. I haven’t figured out how you could measure the temperature with this or if it is fake.
-Calculator
-File manager
-Video-Player
-Gallery
-Sound-Recorder
-Stop-Watch
-“UV Measure”: A fake app, which returns an UV value ranging from low to high depending on the time.
Camera:
The camera is placed hidden in the “winder” of the watch. As expected, the quality is quite let’s call it humble. The stated resolution of 300 KP (640×480) seems to real. Inside the camera app some settings can be set: delay, anti-flicker-frequency, contrast, resolution and quality (low-medium-high). You have to get used to take pictures especially at the beginning, since you watch kind of 90 degrees rotated. Here are some sample pictures (take in the dusk):
Unfortunetaly the camera seems to be not perfectly placed in the middle at my device – you can see a circular black blur at the right side of the pictures, probably caused by the borders of the “winder”. The pictures can not be used for real pictures for obvious reasons, but for small James-Bond-like secret snapshots is funny (in my opinion).
Wearing Comfort:
I like the feel of the watch in general while wearing. The metal watch band can be adjusted well to my wrist size. It should fit small as well as bigger wrists. I personally have quite small wrists, so I directly removed four links. Anyhow, a new watch band is going to be inserted soon, not because the old broke, but because I want to try it .
The automatic light-on feature works very well. It does not need a special shaking movement to wake up, but just a simple “look-at-the-watch-movement”.
Battery:
According to the shop the No.1 Sun S2 has a built-in battery with a capacity of 350 mAh. I did not verify this yet, but I will measure it in the future. While automatic wake-up feature turned on and constant BT the battery the battery lasts about a day at my usage. Charging at night is mandatory.
Conclusion:
Despite several drawbacks, I like the the No.1 Sun S2 very much, especially because of its small price. Obviously you do not get a watch which can compete with brand smartwatches at every aspect. But it supports all major smartwatch functions which I use and it has a high quality look. Since the day of arrival it is placed on my wrist daily . Especially the high brightness if the display and the automatic light-on are convincing me.
How to update the Firmware of the No.1 Sun S2
The No.1 Sun S2 smartwatch has just been released and No.1 is already offering firmware upgrades to their first circular watch. In this post, I will explain step-by-step how to upgrade the firmware of your No.1 Sun S2.
For pictures in higher resolution, check the original blog post here:
http://klonom.com/how-to-update-the-firmware-of-the-no-1-sun-s2/
First of all, here’s a disclaimer: I am not responsible for any possible damages to your device while upgrading the firmware. Flashing a new firmware always contains the risk of breaking your device, making it unusable. Although unlikely, there can be always a small risk to brick your device, resulting in a permanent error. If you are not sure whether you want to take this risk or are completely unaware of flashing steps, I recommend you not to continue.
Read the above carefully? Still want to continue? Good . So let’s go. What do you need?
-No.1 Sun S2 Smartwatch
-The Sun S2 USB connector and a microUSB cable
-An USB Port
-Windows
1. First of all, download the latest firmware for your Sun S2. You can find it here.
2. After downloading, extract the .zip-file.
3. Open the “2502 firmware update tool” folder.
4. Open “Flash_tool.exe”.
5. Click on “Options” and make sure the “USB Download/ReadBack (Data Card)” is checked. Then click on “Format FAT (Auto)”.
6. Make sure the third option “Format FAT” is checked.
7. Back in the main menu, click on “Scatter/Config File” and navigate to the .cfg file of the downloaded fimware. It should be in “EXTRACTED_FOLDER/T2_S2_LANGX_XXXXX/T2PCB01_XXXXX/”. EXTRACTED_FOLDER represents the folder you extracted the .zip file in, while the X’s can be different numbers or letters. Afterwards, the Flash Tool should look similiar to this:
8. Power off your No.1 Sun S2. Put it on the USB connector. Don’t connect the USB connector the the PC yet.
9. Click on “Download” in the Flash Tool. Does it show an error similiar to e.g. “Can not connect to certain COM Port”? If yes, continue here, if not jump to step XX.
10. That means the drivers are not installed yet. Close the Flash Tool and go to the folder “drive” in the main folder and install the drivers by launching the “InstallDriver.exe”.
11. After successfully installing the drivers, make sure you closed the Flash Tool. Plug in the powered off smartwatch and after a short time your PC should recognize the watch and should see it in the explorer. Then unplug the watch again from the PC.
12. Start again the Flash Tool program, the settings should be saved. But to be sure, check steps 5 to 7 again.
13. Click on “Download”.
14. Make sure the USB connector sits tight on the Sun S2. Connect the powered off No.1 Sun S2 to the PC. Leave it in a stable position, since the USB connector can easily lose connection. Losing connection while flashing the preloader results in a broken device.
15. The Flash Tool starts flashing now. It takes around 2-5 min.
16. If it succeded, a window with a green circle should pop up. Congratulations, you just upgraded your smartwatch !
That was it, I hope it worked for you as well .
Was this tried on Windows 8 or 8.1? You need to add which OS you worked with in the description, thanks for doing this, it's appreciated
dragon2knight said:
Was this tried on Windows 8 or 8.1? You need to add which OS you worked with in the description, thanks for doing this, it's appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can not find official details from the No.1 page, for which exact Windows version it is suitable. I remember on other flash tool versions, you had to deactivate driver signature check in order to install the drivers on Win 8.
If it helps you, I am working currently under Windows 7, it works without any problems.
KloNom said:
I can not find official details from the No.1 page, for which exact Windows version it is suitable. I remember on other flash tool versions, you had to deactivate driver signature check in order to install the drivers on Win 8.
If it helps you, I am working currently under Windows 7, it works without any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I kinda figured it was done under 7, most of these Chinese flash tools don't work well, or at all, under 8 or above. I personally wouldn't like to be the guinea pig on seeing if it works or not. ...thanks for responding
What about setting up a virtual machine ?
It keeps saying 0% everything is right followed all steps??
---------- Post added at 06:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:07 PM ----------
jwhood said:
It keeps saying 0% everything is right followed all steps??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its just hanging at 0%( waiting) its been at least 10 mins any idea what's going on,drivers are installed also
jwhood said:
It keeps saying 0% everything is right followed all steps??
---------- Post added at 06:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:07 PM ----------
Its just hanging at 0%( waiting) its been at least 10 mins any idea what's going on,drivers are installed also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your watch turned off? Otherwise I don't really know, try to unconnect the watch again, close the program, restart it, hit download and then reconnect..
I get an otp box at bottom does that need checked in box in flash tools and yes watched is turned off
---------- Post added at 06:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:45 PM ----------
Here is what I'm talking about...
Do you hit "download" then plug watch in???
No, you don't need to check that OTP checkbox. And yes, exactly. I clicked "Download" and then plugged in the turned off watch. Maybe try a different USB slot or run the Flash Tool as an administrator?
I got it klonom,thanks again for the review and tut!!!
KloNom said:
What about setting up a virtual machine ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, good idea, will try that out, thanks
Would love to see that IP rating put to the test. I can say from personal experience, most IP67 rated Chinese smartwatches fail even a 24in submersion test.
Oh, in the video it's stated that it's the only round display Chinese smartwatch other than the DM360. This is incorrect. It's just one of the least expensive.
Lokifish Marz said:
Would love to see that IP rating put to the test. I can say from personal experience, most IP67 rated Chinese smartwatches fail even a 24in submersion test.
Oh, in the video it's stated that it's the only round display Chinese smartwatch other than the DM360. This is incorrect. It's just one of the least expensive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I highly doubt that it sersiously has that given IP rating. It just sounds "better", I also don't think that they actually tested it. But first I want to test the watch in daily life, not that I test it and it's broken afterwards .
Thanks for the info , can you show me some other circular watchface chinese smartwatches? I thought that I kind of followed the upcoming products in the last times..
KloNom said:
Thanks for the info , can you show me some other circular watchface chinese smartwatches? I thought that I kind of followed the upcoming products in the last times..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A couple of other circular watches I've been thinking of are UWatch UO http://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterproof-Bluetooth-Smartwatch-Wristwatch-Smartphone/dp/B00XVC4A6E and ZGPAX S360 http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watches/pp_203904.html although I haven't decided to buy either of them and may well wait until Omate Roma/Racer are available.
Edited to add: there is also the RWatch R11 http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watches/pp_203002.html which looks good value.
KloNom said:
I highly doubt that it sersiously has that given IP rating. It just sounds "better", I also don't think that they actually tested it. But first I want to test the watch in daily life, not that I test it and it's broken afterwards .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Testing is how I killed a number of "IP67" smartwatches. BTW, it's illegal to market as IP67 unless it's actually IP67 certified.
Pseud O'Nym said:
A couple of other circular watches I've been thinking of are UWatch UO http://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterproof-Bluetooth-Smartwatch-Wristwatch-Smartphone/dp/B00XVC4A6E and ZGPAX S360 http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watches/pp_203904.html although I haven't decided to buy either of them and may well wait until Omate Roma/Racer are available.
Edited to add: there is also the RWatch R11 http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watches/pp_203002.html which looks good value.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Roma, it is almost the exact same size as the Panerai Radiomir 1940 Acciaio 42mm it was modeled after. And the transflective display that I suggested they use is readable even by the light of a TV. (1/12s f/2.0 3200ISO). It's only real flaw is , like other MT2502 smartwatches, it's BT connectivity is spotty. Which may be due to MTK no giving a crap. But no surprise there.
Lokifish Marz said:
I have a Roma, it is almost the exact same size as the Panerai Radiomir 1940 Acciaio 42mm it was modeled after. And the transflective display that I suggested they use is readable even by the light of a TV. (1/12s f/2.0 3200ISO). It's only real flaw is , like other MT2502 smartwatches, it's BT connectivity is spotty. Which may be due to MTK no giving a crap. But no surprise there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been wearing a Mimi mi-w3 for the last five months and that's convinced me that I would't go back to a non-transflective screen, hence my interest in the Roma, plus I like the Panerai style case. I'm just not sure I can justify spending twice what the Mimi cost me, for much the same functionality, simply to have a circular alternative to wear.
I can't help thinking that there must be some big problems with MT25xx, with the number of cheap companion watches using them how come all the cheap standalones that have appeared since Aster was launched are still using the old feature phone chips?
Thanks @Pseud O'Nym and @Lokifish Marz for the hints, seems like I seriously missed a lot of the new circular smartwatches generation from china. Will try to have a closer look at them . About the IP certification: I guess especially NO.1 does not care about those western regulation .
About the July 7 update I noticed 3 more things:
-The shutter icon in the camera app is not anymore between Options and Back, but now placed on the middle right side. Way better, since before it was hard to aim and not hit Options or Back.
-Shutdown animation is now in a kind of Samsung style
-I found out how the UV-"Sensor" works: If you open the UV-App and click "Measure", it will state "Measuring..." for a few seconds and then show on a scale something like "Low", "Normal" or "High". Well, I found the UV-Sensor . The app is simply time depended. If you switch the time to noon and sync it, the UV-App will return a high level after "measuring". If you switch it then to midnight and sync it again, it will return "low" .
Can you try to receive a call using a Bluetooth earphone? Does s2 show the caller id?
Inviato dal mio A0001 utilizzando Tapatalk
KloNom said:
I highly doubt that it sersiously has that given IP rating. It just sounds "better", I also don't think that they actually tested it. But first I want to test the watch in daily life, not that I test it and it's broken afterwards .
Thanks for the info , can you show me some other circular watchface chinese smartwatches? I thought that I kind of followed the upcoming products in the last times..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is really waterproof