Ainol Novo 7 Crystal review

Soulflier · Sep 13, 2012

Ainol Novo7 Crystal review
Note that the Crystal is not released yet, the final version may differ.

When the Crystal was announced everybody tought that it will be just an updated Elf II or Aurora II. The only differences the specifications revealed were the new multi-angle screen and JellyBean instead of IceCreamSandwich. From the outside they look very alike, the case and the connectors are exactly the same on both devices. I must put a decal on my tablets to be able to tell the difference (actually they have their model written on the back).

At the first startup I was quite surprised how good the display is compared to the Elf II. The image quality is about the same full frontal, but on the Crystal I can see the image from very extreme angles. On the Elf II even a slight tilt backwards (viewing the screen from the bottom) would invert the colors.

Frontal view. Top: Crystal Bottom: Elf II

View from the bottom. Left: Crystal Right: Elf II

View from the Left. Left: Crystal Right: Elf II

View from the Top. Left: Crystal Right: Elf II

View from the Right. Left: Crystal Right: Elf II

The Wi-Fi chip has been replaced by a Realtek chip, it is much faster and much stable than the AMPAK chip in the Elf II. The Crystal can estabilish a 150Mbps connection to the router while the Elf II only reaches 65Mbps link speed.

The Android 4.1.1 on the Crystal is set to the Phablet UI instead of Tablet UI. This is not a strange thing in a 7" tablet, the Nexus 7 uses the same User Interface layout. It is inconvenient that there is no possibility (yet) to switch between PhabletUI and TabletUI (it seems that the Tablet layout is missing altogether). The only real discomfort of the PhabletUI is that the default Launcher is fixed at portrait mode. You can install any other launcher and set them to Auto-rotate though.
The firmware I had preinstalled on the Crystal came with some chinese apps (some very cool ones, PPTV HD lets you stream full movies) and a complete collection of Google Apps (Calendar, Chrome, Gmail, Search, Google+, Maps, Play Books, Play Magazines, Play Movies. Play Store, Talk, Youtube) and they all work and sync correctly (well I could not test Movies or Books, they are not available in my country).

Google Play Store compatibility is bad. I had to root the Crystal and fix the permissions in order to be able to install some of the most basic apps. This issue was present on the Elf II official roms too.
However, one of the biggest issues is fixed in the Crystal, the Preparing Sdcard error. On the Elf II or Aurora II if you had a few hundred MBs of data on the internal sdcard of the tablet on reboot the Preparing Sdcard notification appeared and stayed there, making the internalsd and externalsd totally inaccessable. This does not happen on the Crystal.

Soulflier · Sep 13, 2012

The specifications on different webshops said that there are tons of languages on the tablet. Well that is not so.

The CPU cores run at maximum 1.2GHz each. The kernel level limit is 1320MHz but the CPU mode is set to 1200MHz max by default and there is no option in the Settings to change it like on the Elf II.
I ran some benchmarks but the results were very inconsistent.

Quadrant: 3238

Antutu: 6606

Nenamark: 49.7fps

Nenamark 2: 34.8fps

CF Bench: 9772, 2922, 5662

Gameplay video using HDMI Dual Display (image on the tablet's screen and TV at the same time)

DialerSega · Sep 13, 2012

works the same as the ELF II? same rom's

Soulflier · Sep 13, 2012

No, it is not the same. You cannot use the Elf II's roms on it. Wifi is different, the screen is different.

russy23 · Sep 13, 2012

so if your looking for you first tablet this would be ideal, but for an upgrade from the elf/aurora theres not much point..

Soulflier · Sep 13, 2012

If you have problems with the wifi or the screen you might want to replace your elf II or aurora II. If you don't have problems with your elf/auror, then there is really no point in buying the Crystal.
It is not only good for a first tablet, but if you have a single-core tablet then this can be a cheap upgrade.

Hammerhead61 · Sep 14, 2012

Hello, Soulflier!
I'm looking at the crystal to be my first tablet, and i was just wondering how bad the Play Store compatibility is. I am a complete novice with rooting android tablets, so could it be likely that this 'fix' comes in official firmware? Or would this tablet have to be rooted for the compatibility issues to be resolved? What does the rooting involve? And is this root 100% stable? This is the only issue i have with this tablet, as i would only use it for work.
Thanks for your time!

Also what did you root it with?

Mr. Splodge · Sep 13, 2012

Can you tell us if the speaker click/pop bug is present? Does this tab use the ceramic speaker like in the Fire, and does it make a mosquito sound when screen brightness is not on full? Do you know what touch screen controller chip is uses (hopefully not the same as the Aurora II)

Soulflier · Sep 14, 2012

I did not have the clock/pop bug on the Elf II, or I haven't noticed it so I can only imagine what it is like. The Crystal does not produce any kind of clicking or popping. I don't know about the speaker, I haven't opened the case.

I will check the touch controller. What I noticed is that on the Elf II the touch digitizer does not recognize touches that are very close to the edge (a few millimeters). On the Crystal I can touch at the very edges.

WAI · Sep 14, 2012

there is a ROM linked that i have talk with developer of the ROM for me to Link it elsewhere. i will report back when he gives me the go to Link it here. i did however link the thread for the ROM to the OP of this review. it has root and fixes play store compatibility

Soulflier · Sep 14, 2012

Thank you for the info.
I checked out that rom's features and it uses the 0717 source. The firmware I have on the Crystal is dated 0830 so it is newer and I already put root and market fix on it so I do not need that rom. Also I will only use a trusted official rom as base for my custom fw.

Arbalath · Sep 14, 2012

er.. correct me if I'm wrong but strangely there is performance decrease (based on Antutu scores) since ELf II. It's like Elf II > Aurora II > Fire > Crystal. Screen gets somewhat better, but experienced no problems with Elf II, ghosting on A II and Fire models seems to have this dying screens bug. Let's hope this one will perform better..

Hammerhead61 · Sep 14, 2012

Just to let you guys know, the tablet is now ready to ship at ainol-novo.com

http://www.ainol-novo.com/news/ainol-novo7-crystal-in-stock/

Tzul · Sep 14, 2012

Thanks for the review, Soulflier! Interesting stuff.

Soulflier said:
The Wi-Fi chip has been replaced by a Realtek chip, it is much faster and much stable than the AMPAK chip in the Elf II. The Crystal can estabilish a 150Mbps connection to the router while the Elf II only reaches 65Mbps link speed.

Wow, time to get jealous. The WiFi in my Aurora II is quite stable since I modded the antenna, but the slow transfer speeds are annoying.
I have been wondering who manufactured the WiFi chip in the Aurora II (same as in Elf II). How do you know it is by AMPAK? That's the first time I'm hearing this.

However, one of the biggest issues is fixed in the Crystal, the Preparing Sdcard error. On the Elf II or Aurora II if you had a few hundred MBs of data on the internal sdcard of the tablet on reboot the Preparing Sdcard notification appeared and stayed there, making the internalsd and externalsd totally inaccessable. This does not happen on the Crystal.

As far as I know, this has long been fixed in the other Ainol tablets as well.

Soulflier · Sep 14, 2012

Tzul said:
Thanks for the review, Soulflier! Interesting stuff.

Wow, time to get jealous. The WiFi in my Aurora II is quite stable since I modded the antenna, but the slow transfer speeds are annoying.
I have been wondering who manufactured the WiFi chip in the Aurora II (same as in Elf II). How do you know it is by AMPAK? That's the first time I'm hearing this.

As far as I know, this has long been fixed in the other Ainol tablets as well.

I used the application that is called Fing. It can display every device on your network and display many info about them. I know the chips from this.

The 0717 version of the Elf II's firmware still has the preparing sd issue. There are solutions for it though, like formatting the internalsd with 64k setting.

Tzul · Sep 14, 2012

Oh, a MAC vendor lookup, clever. Didn't occur to me before.

I can't find the chip on the AMPAK website but it certainly looks like one of theirs. The Ainol Fire appears to be using one of them, too, unfortunately.

AndrewDB · Sep 15, 2012

The Elf II, Aurora II and Fire use a Broadcom wifi chip soldered on a miniature module.

kamrar · Sep 14, 2012

@Soulflier What about flash in browser, and battery life?

axeteve · Sep 15, 2012

Thanks Soulflier, Nice review. So basically it's a comparatively refined tablet then the previous offerings. Atleast all the hardware aspects has been taken care of, Software aspects can be fixed by community here.

Looking for a video review. for some reasons the attached images are not showing up here.

Geodex · Sep 15, 2012

axeteve said:
Thanks Soulflier, Nice review. So basically it's a comparatively refined tablet then the previous offerings. Atleast all the hardware aspects has been taken care of, Software aspects can be fixed by community here.

Looking for a video review. for some reasons the attached images are not showing up here.

I take it you are using Chrome? Wasn't showing as well for me till I used firefox.

axeteve · Sep 15, 2012

This is a latest development for me that anything hosted on Google usercontent server directly is giving access problem. like this one. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gCfT6jaWnQY/UFHZjwdTBEI/AAAAAAAAD0o/19END9LSKCA/s720/IMG_9306.jpg

*SideNote: I don't know what changes you guys have done to the forum, but the in settings, now I can't see the basic text editor enable box.

I use opera mini to save bandwidth on my tablet, while on 3G connection. And this full blown text editor box for comment post doesn't go well with compressed mode browsers like opera mini or most of the low data mobile mode browsers. Please fix it.

mrsburnout · Sep 15, 2012

Thanks for mentioning your issues, axesteve. I have linked this post and reported them to vs admin. It is a weekend, and he usually only checks in during business hours (M-F EST). Your patience is appreciated and please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

For future reference, admins will see issues much quicker if you report them in the suggestions/bug reports subforum here: http://www.slatedroid.com/forum/27-suggestions-bug-reports/

Tzul · Sep 15, 2012

Thanks for clarifying that. I know that MAC addresses can be changed at a whim in software, but still, isn't it a strange coincidence that the MACs of these supposed Broadcom chips point to a company that happens to make very similar chips (SDIO and limited to a maximum of 72.2 Mbps in 802.11n)?

Also, I didn't find any useful information about the BCM4018x with a quick google search, so how do you know they should theoretically be faster than the Realtek ones? The chip in the Elf/Aurora II seems incapable of link speeds above 65 Mbps (or 72?), whereas a good 802.11n chip should get 150 Mbps even with a single antenna.
Furthermore, connecting the chip to the system via SDIO sounds to me like a crappier and cheaper way than USB - I could be wrong of course, maybe SDIO is actually faster and better? Anyway, I've noticed several times on my Aurora 2 that the WiFi completely breaks down while copying large files from USB to sdcard - maybe because of the fact that it's SDIO and the SD bus is busy with the file transfer.

I have a Broadcom 4321AG in my notebook, by the way. Perfect reception and performance with my TP-Link router.

Anyway, my point is that the Elf/Aurora II WiFi chip, even though using BCM40181 drivers, could be a clone by Ampak. Take the G-sensor, for example. Using Bosch BMA250 drivers, right? But is there really a BMA250 on the mainboard (I couldn't find one) or just a compatible clone?

AndrewDB · Sep 16, 2012

Tzul said:
...
Anyway, my point is that the Elf/Aurora II WiFi chip, even though using BCM40181 drivers, could be a clone by Ampak.

Nope. They are using Broadcom's proprietary firmware blob. It's impossible to "clone" a wifi chip and use another company's binary blob, too much IP to reverse engineer. Ampak is a small Taiwanese company that just assembles the miniature module, that's the company's know how: http://www.ampak.com.tw/product.php?id=2

Than33 · Sep 16, 2012

I really want to buy this crystal tablet mainly because of quad core gpu and screen which probably is mva, not ips (or maybe I am wrong).

My question is: can you run vellamo benchmark? It gives better idea of how smooth system is in normal use.

Soulflier · Sep 16, 2012

I think that quad-core GPU thing was only a marketing stunt done by the shops. I do not know if the panel is ISP or MVA, the official Ainol brochure said HD-IPS.
I will run vellamo.

weareone · Oct 5, 2012

Hi Soulflier,
How is the Audio speaker volume on this tablet . I have cube U30GT , it is very good tablet but speaker is not at all good. Very low volume. Also camera is only 2MP. I would appreciate if you can provide your input about speaker and Camera.

kamrar · Sep 16, 2012

Could you say something about battery life?

Soulflier · Sep 16, 2012

I did not have time to test this yet.

Soulflier · Sep 17, 2012

My second USB charger exploded while charging (the first while charging the Elf II) so I will not test the battery extensively because charging through PC is sloooow. These chargers were the same crappy cheap chinese ones. I ordered two DC chargers and a 4-port usb charger, we'll see which one works. My USB HUB's power adapter stopped working with the Ainol devices, previously it worked on the Elf.

Vellamo crashes on the Crystal at the Canvas-Aquarium test.

Slatedodol · Sep 18, 2012

so far this thing doesnt have any bug or problem right? bug and hardware defect on A2 prevent me from buying it.I think This model is the cheapest dual core you can get on market, priced only at 110$

THORMUNZ · Sep 22, 2012

Hey i'm looking fwd to this forum and i want to know where can i buy this tablet there is many sites i found but i don't know which to trust can u guys help me?

Pneuhaus · Sep 23, 2012

I just purchased one from dino direct. Still waiting shipping. Previously bought an Aurora II and had no problems.

THORMUNZ · Sep 24, 2012

how much did you buy it for?

Cooad · Sep 27, 2012

Hello ;]
I'm thinking about buying the Crystal, and the only thing holding me off are those battery test results

So, does anyone know something about the battery life already?

Soulflier · Sep 27, 2012

From my usage I think that the battery life is about the same as the Elf II's.

DeLonge · Oct 8, 2012

hi, i'm plan to buy this tablet. any negative feedback for this tab?
and does this tab get same behaviour & issues like ainol fire?
like:
- popping sound, mosquito noise, screen flickering on lower brightness
- sometimes need press many times before the screen actually wake up
- some of them have dead touchpanel
- overheat when using official firmware

Soulflier · Oct 8, 2012

I will try the low brightness thing. The sound pops sometimes when I turn the screen off, but not while in sleep mode. No mosquito noise, not that I heard.
I don't have problems with waking up.
No idea about dead touchpanel.
Since the chipset and the body is all the same as the elf and the aurora, the heat is all the same. The official rom doesn't have a CPU mode switch in Settings so you can't set the tablet to Power saving mode for lower heat.

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