Review: Pipo W2

Introduction

I remember about four years ago when I finally got hold of a cheap Android tablet straight from a Chinese vendor.

I literally got what I paid for, which was not a lot. It shipped with Android 1.6 (Donut), was poorly assembled and the hardware was barely powerful enough to run Google's then-novel OS. Add a resistive display that had a life of its own, and it is fair to say that it made for a sour experience.

Microsoft is roughly at the same stage with its new generation of ultra-affordable tablets, based on Windows 8.1 for Bing and Intel's soon-to-be-ubiquitous, Bay Trail-based Z3735D combination.

And the Pipo W2, which was one of the first to hit the market back in April 2014. It couldn't be further from my Android ordeal in terms of overall look, feel and performance.

At $164.99 direct from Pipo (about £121 if you include VAT), it's surprisingly cheap for what's on offer (and you can have it for even cheaper if you shop around).

Bear in mind though that you're taking a bet as you will probably need to ship it back to Hong Kong if things go awry, so it's not for the faint-hearted.

The rather large box comes with a 2-pin charger, plus a converter, a microUSB to USB converter, some documentation and, of course, the tablet. The latter looks like a bog standard Android tablet.

It's clear that there has been some economies of scale as ARM and Intel-based devices use the same hardware bar the motherboard and the OS, and Intel worked with OEMs to produce a reference design to be adopted by the overwhelming majority of vendors.

Back to the tablet, it's a handy 206 x 126 x 10.3mm (8.11 x 4.97 x 0.41-inch) and at 360g, much lighter than Apple's iPad Air which sports a similar screen size display. Actually, it is just a bit larger than the Google Nexus 7 2013 tablet, one that has a smaller 7-inch display.

Rounded edges, a rubber back and thin bezels epitomise the design of the Pipo W2; nothing flashy and quite conservative. The tablet can be comfortably held in portrait mode (with its back on your palm) or in landscape mode (thumb on the bezel, four fingers on the back), even for prolonged periods.

However, the default handling mode for the tablet is the latter. The top and bottom bezels are noticeably thinner than the ones on the sides and the rear 5-megapixel camera and the positioning of the Windows logo/Pipo branding attest to it.

Pipo chose to pack all the keys on the left top corner (as well as a 2-megapixel front facing camera); this means that you can power up the tablet, switch between desktop and Metro mode (there's a dedicated desktop/Metro button) and change the volume using your index finger only.

Other ports on that left side include a headphone socket, a mini USB port, a type-C mini HDMI port, a microSD card slot (recognises a 64GB SDXC card, so higher capacity ones should be compatible as well) and the power socket.

Note that the USB port can be used to charge your tablet – even from a laptop - and essentially makes the charger (and its socket) redundant. The mic and a red charging LED are also located on the left.

Hardware and performance

Inside the tablet is an Intel Atom processor, the Z3735D, a quad-core model formerly known as Bay Trail-T. Its clock speed ranges from 1.33GHz to 1.83GHz plus it has 224KB L1 cache and 2MB L2 cache.

Since it uses a 22nm process, its maximum TDP is low (sub-4W) which means that it doesn't require a fan to dissipate heat. In other words, it does get warm in use but not hot as it is the case with a lot of other bigger tablets.

What's even more impressive is that it even packs an onboard graphics subsystem, Intel's own HD Graphics. The latter supports DirectX 11 and only packs four execution units, running at up to 646MHz; which makes it powerful enough for the odd game.

It also supports include 64-bit, hardware virtualisation, Quick Sync, AES-NI encryption, Clear Video HD and Wireless Display. Intel deliberately limited memory support to 2GB (single-channel, DDR3L-RS 1333MHz) to avoid any potential competition with more lucrative models (note that the motherboard is a QUMO Vega 8008W).

At 188ppi, the 8-inch IPS display has a higher pixel density than a full HD resolution on a 13.3-inch laptop thanks to a 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution. The display is decent enough for the average user; clear and bright under normal lighting conditions.

The rest of the hardware list includes a 5-point touch capabilities, a speaker, 2GB of RAM, 32GB onboard storage (a Samsung MBG4GC model), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 18.5Whr (3,700mAh @ 5V) battery.

Once all the necessary Windows updates were applied, about 70% of the available storage space was free. 32GB translates into 32 billion bytes or 29.8 true GBs; Windows showed only 23.5GB out of which 16.2GB are available. The microSD card slot and cloud-based solutions should alleviate the chronic lack of space.

You do also get a 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 with Bing and a one-year subscription to Office 365 personal worth about £48 (about $78, AU$87), that's alone 40% of the tablet's cost.

You should be able to use that subscription on another PC or Mac as well (so 2 devices); all major Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and even Access) are included. Also bundled are 1TB of online storage plus 12 hours of Skype talk time (one hour a month).

While Windows 8.1 is free, users will need to pony up some dosh if they want to use Microsoft's office suite beyond the first year.

The tablet fared better than I was expecting in actual usage. Booting from cold (i.e pressing on the power on button) to the login page took about 14 seconds, less than my One Plus One smartphone.

PC Mark 8 scores were on par or slightly below our expectations. The Pipo W2 notched 1326 and 827 points respectively in the Work and Creative benchmarks and hit 1019 on the Home one. That's slightly below similar products like the Lenovo Miix 2 or the Toshiba Encore.

We used the PC Mark 8's "home" setting option to measure battery life and decreased display brightness to one notch above dark screen, leaving Wi-Fi on. The benchmark estimated that the W2 would last just over four hours which is slightly below par compared to the rest of the competition.

3DMark figures painted a better picture with the W2 outperforming many Atom-based devices (10929 on Ice Storm and 1015 on Cloud Gate). It couldn't however run Fire Strike and Cinebench 15 - the latter being only available as a 64-bit application.

Verdict

Pipo is one of many white-label tablet makers that have embarked on the Wintel adventure, expect many more to follow by year's end (HP just announced two models including an 8-inch Stream 8 tablet that is based on Windows and sells for $150). For now though, the W2 has set the standard.

We liked

The W2 is well built for a circa £100 device. No loose or poorly glued part and the screen shows no apparent gap and does the job great. I love the amount of connectivity available. The cameras are decent shooters provided you have enough lighting.

The rear one is a 5-megapixel model that even comes with autofocus. The rest of the important parameters: battery life, performance and value-for-money, are nothing short of exceptional for a device of this price.

We disliked

I'm hard pressed to find anything worth mentioning. One needs to bear in mind that this is a tablet that's meant to hit the lowest rung of PC ladder.

In the wide scheme of things, Pipo could get rid of the charger as you can charge the tablet from any existing charger with a microUSB port. That would shrink the package, cut down on the bill of material and make it easier to ship. Google did it with the Motorola Moto G, so why not Pipo.

I don't understand why the tablet shipped with a 32-bit version of Windows 8.1, which, I reckon is more of Microsoft's fault than Pipo; even more ludicrous when considering Intel's Z3735D is a 64-bit CPU. Some applications like Maxon's benchmarks are only available as 64-bit applications.

Last and not least, you can't buy the Pipo W2 like you'd do with an iPad. You have to take a punt and order it online from a Chinese web retailer. And Pipomall's terms and conditions can be pretty stringent.

Final verdict

Unlike some of its competitors, the Pipo W2 doesn't compromise on the hardware and delivers the type of performance you'd expect from a five-year old tablet but at a fraction of the price.

Indeed, you will be hard pressed to find even an Android tablet with this sort of configuration. The nearest Android tablet we've come across, the Google's Nexus 7 (2013 edition), costs nearly twice that price albeit with a higher-res display and a few minor improvements.

This is the cheapest new computer on the market that runs Windows and comes ready to run out of the box. Add a monitor, a keyboard and mouse and you've got a fully functional desktop computer as well.

The W2 shows how fast and far the market has evolved since the beginning of the year. The Schenker Element 10.1, which we reviewed recently and sports almost the same hardware bar a bigger display, costs nearly twice as much.

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