l_n
Senior Member
- Dec 28, 2010
- 788
- 99
Intro
As Android tablets move into their newest generation, various Shenzhen manufacturers are now releasing Cortex A8 and A9 tablets.
One of these is the 'GPad GForce' offered by Pandawill, which is a 9.7" 1:1 iPad clone running Android 2.2. They recently sent a demo unit to us, and I’ve spent a couple of days taking a good look at it. This is a new second generation revision of the tablet previously discussed here. The device currently is sellling for $285USD with free shipping.
Hardware Features
The hardware features of the device are as follows:
It has a Freescale iMX515 ARM Cortex A8 processor clocked up to 800MHz its core, with 512MB of RAM. The /data partition is approximately sized at 1 GiB to be used for Android applications and data, with another 5.2 GiB mounted at /extsd for file storage. The multitouch capacitive screen supports up to 2 points of touch. The screen supposedly uses IPS technology, and has a resolution of 1024x768. Viewing angles are pretty good.
Standard accessories - AC charger, USB data cable, USB host cable, screen protector was included with my demo unit
At first unboxing, this unit seemed to be of average quality construction (average by Shenzhen shanzhai standards, that is). There is a visible gasket between the screen and the aluminum backing. The screen seems to be slightly loose at the corner where the headphone jack is. The image quality of the screen is on par with other capacitive TFT screens I've seen. It's nice and clear with bright, not overly saturated colors.
Included in the box with the tablet are the following items: (1) 30-pin to USB cable (approx. 6″
, (1) 30-pin USB host cable (approx. 6″, AC adapter (9VDC@1500mA output), earbud-style headphones, a pack of screen protectors, and an imitation leather envelope-style case. Nowhere to be found is a manual, warranty card, or any other documentation.There is a single speaker on the lower right of the device (when held with the front button on the bottom). The sound quality from the speaker is decent, considering this is a single-speaker mobile device. Also on this edge is a proprietary 30-pin connector and power connector. Along the right-hand edge, in this same orientation, is the Menu/Volume Down and Back/Volume Up buttons. Each side of this rocker switch serves dual purposes, with either a short press or a long press, respectively. Next to these buttons is a switch to disable the gravity sensor. I’ll talk more about this later. Finally, along the top edge, you have the power button, a small reset switch embedded in a pinhole, and the headphone jack. Also along this edge is a cover that when removed reveals a MicroSD card slot. There is a front-facing camera on this edge of the tablet as well, just above the screen. The software reports the camera as a 2MP device.
top edge
Features
The tablet features a pre-rooted Android 2.2 with the official Google Market preinstalled. It also has the Hiapk Market available, which is an app store oriented for Chinese users. Other software preinstalled included: Superuser Permissions, Dev Tools, Spare Parts, ES File Explorer, 3GDialer, Calendar, Gmail, Sound Recorder, Speech Recorder, and Google Talk. There is no YouTube app installed, and I was not able to find it on the Market, but more about that later. In the notification bar, you’ll find a Home and a Back software keys at opposite ends, and they cause the bar to be about 2-3 times the normal height. The stock Android Launcher2 is the default launcher:
The GPad GForce is fairly responsive. There is no apparent lag in the UI, which is stock Froyo. Apps load fairly quickly and respond well. In several days of usage, there have been no force closes from applications. The UI can be locked in one orientation by moving the slide switch that is next to the Back/Menu rocker. This is actually useful for reading forums, web pages, etc.
It has a gravity sensor with 360° rotation support in applications supporting rotation. However, the orientation is 90° off in some games, as tested with Labyrinth Lite and Raging Thunder 2. This is a common issue in multiple shanzhai tablets, and is a software issue that tends not to be fixed with future firmware updates in most cases. The battery type is unknown and so is the mAh rating of it, but it seems to last for around 4-6 hours of moderate usage.
The 3GDialer app was interesting, as it suggested the device (as per the box) is 3G capable. After not finding a SIM slot anywhere in the device, I have to assume that 3G is supported via USB dongle only. Since I don’t have one, I could not test the 3G features. The box also lists GPS as being supported, but since there is no built-in GPS radio, I could not test this, either.
The Market experience with this device is less than expected. YouTube is not present in the Market, and neither are quite a few of the other Google Experience apps. I discovered that many common apps were missing from the Google Market on the GForce. For some reason, the Market only ever displays exactly 10 apps at any given time. I don't even know where to start looking for the fix to this.
There is another market app included, namely Hiapk Market. The problem with this market is that most of the text is in a Chinese dialect, rendering it unusable for the average non-Chinese speaking person. They should probably remove it.
Conclusion
Despite the Market limitation, the GPad GForce has exceeded my expectations for a Shenzhen shanzhai device. The tablet is responsive and works as expected. The only problems I had with it was the lack of an included YouTube app, the strangely crippled Android Market, and the g-sensor being off by 90° in the tested games. The build quality around the screen seem to be par for the course with Shenzhen shanzhai manufacturers. If you are looking for a tablet to import, this is a decent choice.
Oh, and Angry Birds works flawlessly, which is a plus.
GPad GForce Review Copyright 2011 by Shawn McIntosh (l_n) and AndroidTablets.net
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