My M2 and M3 have arrived. This was supposed to be a M1 v M2 v M3 review but I don't think the M3 will be up to the job.
I have been focussing my efforts on the M3. There is an issue with it where the CPU seems to be running at 252Mhz 100% of the time so it seems very slow!
It also keeps locking up but this is probably due to the slow CPU. Antutu won't run it just locks up.
I don't have any build quality issues as someone else reported; buttons all seem to work ok and it seems well put together.
The screen is nice but not as bright as a Cube U30GT-H (32Gb) which I have borrowed. I'll post some comparison photos later.
It rooted ok with Zhuodashi 2.2.12 so I tried using Antutu CPU Master to see if I could set the CPU to run at a higher frequency but so far no luck.
Bottom line at the moment; I cannot say for certain that it is not a hardware problem but my view would be that it is probably a firmware issue. If it is then Pipo need to get some new firmware out and fast!! Watch this space....
Jez
P.S. On the subject of an old concern (see the original Cube U30GT thread) I am convinced that the Cube U30GT-H 32Gb model that I borrowed does have an IPS screen. Side by side with the Pipo it is hard to notice any difference in viewing angles and the Cube screen actually goes brighter. Colours seem very similar on both.
EDIT: Here are some photos of the M3:
This shows how the CPU frequency is stuck at 252Mhz:
Here are a couple of shots of the Pipo Movie M3 (top) compared to the Cube U30GT-H (bottom); both set to Maximum brightness:
I cannot add any more photos to this post so click here for some viewing angle shots or scroll down a couple of posts.
Hi Jez
I have been waiting on your comments re: M1 v M2 v M3 as I am in the market for a decent tab at the moment. I had the M1 in mind until I heard of the imminent arrival of M2 and M3.
Its a coincidence that you are comparing the Cube U30GT. I purchased the Cube Mini for my daughter a few weeks ago (from InGadget) and have been very impressed with it to the point of adding the larger version to my shortlist.
At this point and taking into consideration your experience with all of the above, which would you recommend? Use would be for browsing, games, video, reading etc..
I like the M3 but I really think that it is in need of some new firmware. If that fixes the issues I am having then it will be a great 10.x inch tablet.
The M3 speakers do sound excellent compared to the Cube U30GT-H but without new firmware I am unable to recommend the M3 at the moment.
The Cube that I borrowed is the black one with 32Gb RAM and I would definitely find that extra on-tablet storage very useful. Aside from the Cube's well documented poor single speaker it has a lot going for it and there are no quality issues that I have found on the one I borrowed.
Now if you are happy with a 9.7 inch tablet (4:3) I have a new favourite...the Pipo Mix M2. The version I have is without 3G and yes it is called the "Mix" not the "Max" (that's what it says on the back). The screen is every bit as good as the M1, maybe slightly brighter. It also has excellent stereo front facing speakers which sound great! Just like the M3's speakers in fact. The strange thing is that the M2 came with ICS 4.0.4 out of the box whereas the M1 and M3 both came with Jelly Bean 4.1.1. To be honest that would not put me off as the M2 seems to fly and I really like the styling with the brushed metal appearance of the rear. I'll post photos later...
Jez
P.S. I cannot put any more photos in the first post so here are some viewing angle shots showing the M3 vs the Cube U30GT-H (32 Gb):
I think the M2 Wifi-Only version comes with ICS and the 3G version comes with JellyBean. I ordered the Wifi-only version and got ICS as well.
We should expect new firmware upgrades to be released at this address any day now (the site seems to be unstable lately though):
I have my pipO M3 on order I'm hoping to get it in about 2 weeks. I'm excited to get it as I had been waiting 45 days for an Ainol Fire... before I had to file a PayPal dispute to get my money back. I will post here how I like it. I am hoping it gets the support the Ainol tablets have... lots of Roms available.
Charles Smith
Hi Jez,
have you rooted your M3 yet? If yes, you might want to try No-Frills CPU Control (available for free on the Play Store). You might already be aware of it..
And if it doesn't work, try flashing some other kernel maybe, it sounds like a kernel issue more than anything.
The strange thing is that the M2 came with ICS 4.0.4 out of the box whereas the M1 and M3 both came with Jelly Bean 4.1.1. To be honest that would not put me off as the M2 seems to fly and I really like the styling with the brushed metal appearance of the rear. I'll post photos later...
Hi my m2 came with jelly bean so I'm not sure why you're having such poor performance but mine is behaving okay... not fantastic, okay.
Quadrant about 4200... Responsiveness is acceptable.
Mark
Bottom line at the moment; I cannot say for certain that it is not a hardware problem but my view would be that it is probably a firmware issue.
If it is then Pipo need to get some new firmware out and fast!! Watch this space....
Oh Man I was really counting on the M3 being as good as the M1 and M2 are reputed to be out of the box.
I'm getting desperate for a good reliable 10 inch 16:10 tablet with good battery life, good wi-fi, good responsive high resolution screen,
good sound output, no silly external card issues.......you know , just something that works.
After following the YuanDao N101 saga and then reading the favourable reviews of the Pipo M1 + M2 I thought that Pipo had done the triple with the M3.
I mean wtf are they thinking ?
I did notice on one of the photos of the rear case that the M3 is 'Designed by Toptech in Taiwan Assembled in China'
How about the M1 + M2 ?
Are the M1 , M2 , and M3 logical developments or distant cousins ?
Don't completely count the M3 out just yet though. Pipo could put it right with a single Firmware update.
My M3 does say 'Designed by Toptech in Taiwan Assembled in China' on the rear. The M1 and M2 don't mention Toptech.
I bought an M1 two months ago with JB. Wifi only. I was not aware there was a 3G version of the M1 or I might have got that for the GPS (assuming it functioned).
Hi Jez
Cheers for your information. It is extemely helpful to get honest opinions from people who have actually used and tested the tablets, especially for newbies like me!!
I have to say though, it has muddied the waters somewhat! My shortlist which was down to 2 (M1 & M3) is now back to 5 (Window N101-II, Cube U30GT, M1/2/3)!!
I think I am in the same boat as Stanton above, I just want a really decent tab which will be up and running out of the box, obviously with great options on Google play.
Thanks again
Lee
Hey Jez,
This is pretty disappointing... I was almost decided for this tablet and now this happens...
Let's see if it's only a fw issue, because I'm in the same situation as leemac and stanton, just looking for a tablet without real problems and good results in terms of performance.
Actually, I've started looking at the Visture tablets, any reference about those? How are they compared to the Pipo ones?
Best!
I've also ordered Pipo M3 (+ Teclast P85HD - will choose which to leave for myself later). Jezzer, you are really dissapointing me with your Pipo M3 experience...
I too own a pipo m3 and have the same problem with the CPU clocking at 252MHZ. It must be a firmware problem. I also have an issue with SD cards freezing getting corrupted. I have used 4 different ones made by three manufacturers. All of them were formatted NTFS and FAT32 on different machines just to be sure. One card is corrupted so bad that I can't recover it. This tablet is turning out to be a joke.
If it's only the fw causing all the issues, it could be easily fixed by the company.
My main concern is that it could be something more present in the hw, which wouldn't make much sense if the company has actually released the product... who knows anyway.
I will wait for a week or so to see if the problem can be solved before taking a decision on my purchase.
The brand, the speakers and the build quality had me convinced. Pity this happened.
Jezzer, you seem to know quite a lot. I wanted to buy a Pipo M3, but as I read this and other sites, I dont want to buy this one anymore. Could you give me any hints/tips which tablet to buy? I got about 230 USD to spend. Its gotta have the 3066 RK chip as this is the fastest around. Let me know, thanks. Thijs
Well if you must have a Chinese tablet with a 10.1 inch screen and RK3066 SoC then the choice is Pipo Movie M3 (wait and see if firmware resolves the issues that I and others are having), Yuandao (Window) N101-II (and variants) or Cube U30GT-H. I have owned a Cube U30GT (one of the first W models) and it worked fine apart from the SD card corruption issue which seems to affect most RK3066 tablets (maybe a Rockchip issue?). The workaround I found was to either format the card as NTFS or use it in a USB stick adapter. Both Cube and Yuandao have suffered QC issues although maybe Cube more than Yuandao (it's hard to get exact figures). The screen on the Cube U30GT-H that I borrowed to compare with the M3 was definitely brighter than the M3. At the end of the day it's your choice and be aware that it is a bit of a lottery; you may get a bad one with all that entails. This is why in the end after being lucky buying direct from China I decided to buy locally in the UK with a UK warranty and pay slightly more before my luck ran out.
I just got my M3 sample today. It runs great. At least it did... until I installed Antutu Benchmark to check what you were saying. Now it runs horribly.
I checked the processor speed with Elixir 2 before I installed Antutu and it was running at 816 Mhz so it wasn't stuck.
I checked with App Monster and noted Antutu has a background service running. I think the problem is with Antutu and NOT with the tablet per se' other than something with Antutu is interacting poorly with something on the tablet.
To those with SD card corruption issues. This has been a problem noted across multiple RK3066 tabs running Jelly Bean.
I also sell the Yuandao N101 II. I like the M3 better. The N101 II does have a slightly nicer screen. But the M3 is WAY BETTER built, the speakers are great, it is FCC and CE certified.
I did note my M3 was a LITTLE bit sluggish but I noted the same thing on the N101 II which as also using the same horrid launcher these companies seem to favor. Once I get the stock JB launcher on it I am sure it will be just fine.
If someone has a link to the stock firmware I would be happy to start working on a custom rom.
For the time being, I would recommend owners avoid Antutu.
Kind Regards,
Roman
EDIT: Thanks for your thoughts on the M2! I will have to give it a go now! I had avoided messing with it before as I felt it was a bit superfluous vs. the M1 but it sounds like they made some good changes on it.
EDIT2: I uninstalled Antutu Benchmark and the M3 immediately became more responsive
I will try to do a comparison review in the next day or so between the M3 and the N101 II.
I don't carry Cube products because that company can't QC its stuff to save their life (super high fail rate) and they are constantly release product revisions that fragment their firmware releases. I am not saying they are a bad unit (as long as you get a good one) I am just saying those kinds of issues are HELL for a retailer
. The M3 also has CE and FCC certifications. That is a huge deal because it means PiPo actually is trying to compete in the real western market and if it really is CE and FCC certified it means they spent a LOT of money on development. PiPo has from Day 1 impressed me because they take their products seriously and they do a good job supporting them.
I am not just saying this because I sell their stuff, I say this because I have sold other stuff (Ainol, OEM brands, Wopad, etc.) that absolutely suck and you can tell the companies don't give a rip about their product or the customer.
My 2-cents and I am not trying to discourage folks from criticizing the unit OR putting pressure on PiPo to fix problems in firmware. I am not trying to belittle real problems either. I don't know why Antutu breaks this device so badly but it does and it doesn't break others so that would seem to indicate a firmware issue of some kind.
What I am saying is that I think PiPo is a significantly better brand (like Onda) and my gut feeling is that M3 owners by and large will be happier in the long run vs. Cube, unless Cube has suddenly seen the light and started building good products from the ground up rather than doing the Ainol thing and beta testing and tweaking units that are already released.
I'm glad your M3 is running better than mine! When I saw your post I thought "great" an easy fix
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case
First I uninstalled any Antutu related apps. The tablet seemed a bit more responsive after this but Android System Info (and Elixir 2) still showed it as running at 252Mhz all the time. I really hate the launcher too so I tried Apex just in case the default one was adding any lags. No joy.
The real issue aside from the slow CPU speed is that certain apps that are user installed "lock up" when you try and run them. The only way out is to reset the tablet (long hold the power or use the reset switch). It seems to only affect apps that the user installs and then not all of them. Most of the built-in apps seem to work ok. In fact having done a bit more testing it seems to be only benchmark apps that lock up so far
e.g. Quadrant, Antutu, CFBench, Nenamark2 all freeze the tablet and probably others that I haven't tried yet. Other apps I tried which don't freeze are Android System Info, Elixir 2, ES File Explorer and Root Checker. No frills CPU locks up when you try to apply a new governor setting. Incidentally ZhuoDashi rooted the M3 without any issues (The Pipo Mix M2 was trickier - Zhuodashi didn't work but the method on Vondroid half worked, then I had to copy SuperSu.apk manually and change its file permissions).
The Pipo firmware page has been down all day but here it is anyway. I can't help thinking that either a new firmware or a fresh flash of the same firmware would solve these problems.
By the way I hope you like the Pipo Mix M2. The styling is a little different to the M1 and may not be to everyone's taste. Personally I prefer it. The screen is brighter and of course the speakers are the deal clincher. I'll be posting some screen shots tonight. UPDATE: See here.
That is EXACTLY what happened when I tried to run Antutu. Total system freeze. I wonder if it has something to do with apps that toy with the CPU? Elixir 2 just displays info.
I absolutely love the M3 tab. Quality is perfect and I feel much better about it than the Yuandao N101 II as far as that goes. The FCC and CE certs really drive it home for me. I will install a bunch more apps and games and see what happens. I think the CPU is somehow finnicky.
If someone could get M3 firmware that would be wonderful
It could be a permissions file issue. I have noticed on one unit that toying heavily with the permissions issues really caused system stalls and freezes (N90 II)
Regards,
Roman
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