PiPo M8HD Review – Superb!

Resembling Sony’s Book Wedge Design, the PiPO M8HD comes with a Snappy RK3188 Quad Core Processor, A Full High Definition Retina Display, built in 3G and a decent battery life, all in a budget package. Take a peak at this beautiful monster and see if this tablet is perfect for you.
At a glance …. (Starting @ $286)
PROCESSOR: Rockchip RK3188 Quad Core @ 1.8 GHz
GPU: Mali 400 MP4
MEMORY: 2 GB DDR3 RAM and 16 GB Nandflash built in
EXTENDED STORAGE: Support TF-Card up to 32 GB Maximum
DISPLAY: 10.1 inch IPS @ 1920 x 1200 pixels, AHVA, 10 point multitouch
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 4.2.2 Jellybean (multilingual Support)
CAMERA: 5.0 megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and 2.0 megapixel front facing camera
3G SUPPORT: WCDMA 850/2100MHz
OTHER FEATURES: Supports Flash 11.1, Playstore, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (support 5 GHz), OTA Upgrading, OTG Support, Compass, Gyroscope, Micro USB 2.0, Mini HDMI 1.4, Gravity Sensor, Light Sensor
BATTERY: Built in 8000mAh (7 to 8 hours)
DIMENSIONS: 240 x 172 x 10.5mm 570g
PROS:
Impressive Performance
Gorgeous Display
Interesting Book Wedge Design
Smooth 1080p Video Playback performance
Decent Battery Life
Supports automatic Update
Loudspeakers are loud
CONS:
No 4G or LTE Support
Design more incline for Horizontal use (placement of speakers and camera)
No Android 4.3 out of the box
PERFORMANCE
There’s no doubt that the PIPO M8HD Delivers in terms of performance, the RK3188 Quad Core Processor, 2 GB DDR3 RAM and Mali 400 is able to handle most current application available. Antutu Benchmarks scores an impressive 19584points for a budget tablet. More so, Nena FPS test results a superb 52.3 fps.
The PIPO M8HD runs Android 4.2.2 Jellybean out of the box with support for OTA (Over the Air) software upgrading which is certainly more than welcome as we did experience some minor bugs with the stock firmware. Furthermore, at stock English language is set as default, although it does support Multiple languages.
Light Games like Plants versus Zombies 2, Temple Run 2, etc… run without a hitch but on highly 3D intensive games like that of Real Racing 3, Street Fighter 4 etc… we did experience minor slow down’s especially in the beginning but it does not appear to affect gameplay.
Playing 1080p video is a breeze with no apparent delays even with skipping or fast forward. More so, movies are rendered properly with good contrast and color reproduction.

OPERATING SYSTEM
The Pipo M8HD runs Android 4.2.2 Jellybean out of the box, 2 interface are present. The first is PiPo’s own interface which resembles that of Windows 8 and those familiar with the OS will easily find out. The other is the basic Android 4.2 interface, you can easily switch between the two interface via a launcher.
Furthermore, the PiPo M8HD sports multi-window operation similar to the Windows 8 interface which enables you to run multiple applications at the same time. Watching movies and browsing the internet simultaneously. Although running multiple applications at the same time, we noticed slow down’s and lags.
DISPLAY
The PIPO M8HD as the name suggest comes with a 10.1 inch Full High Definition Resolution at 1920 x 1200 AHVA Capacitive display on a 16:10 ratio which delivers clear, vivid and vibrant Images. Light Sensors make sure that proper brightness are maintained even on direct sunlight.
CAMERA
The PIPO M8HD comes with Dual Camera with a 5.0 megapixel rear camera with LED Flash and supports auto focus, panoramic capture and other features. Images are decent for a tablet but don’t expect to replace this as a shooter anytime soon. Also, a 2.0 megapixel front facing camera is adequate for video chats such as skype etc…
APPEARANCE/BATTERY
The PIPO M8HD is of book wedge type design which resembles Sony Tablet and is meant to be used horizontally, due to the placement of the camera’s and Loud Speakers which are located on the front top portion of the screen. Design wise, the M8HD is quite different from what we’ve seen from the Ipad as well as the Ipad Mini. Although this new radical design is quite ergonomic especially for its 10.1 inch screen and a horizontal oriented use.
Furthermore, the PiPo M8HD also sports additional ports such as a Micro SD Card Slot, Microphone, Micro USB, Sim Card Slot and Mini HDMI Port. Not the thinnest and lightest tablet, dimensions reveal 240 x 172 x 10.5mm and weighs roughly 570g.
Underneath this powerful machine is a decent 3.7V/8000mAh battery which last up to 8 hours for light usage and tested with maximum brightness, and movies for 3 hours, battery consumption resulted to 55% which translates to about 6 hours of heavy use and 8 to 9 hours of light usage like web browsing or reading ebooks.

VERDICT/OVERALL
The PiPo M8HD is one of the must have tablet to date. PiPo, ever since the Pipo M9PRO and the M7 PRO, the M8PRO is a very good addition value tablets that offer performance, features, design and budget. A book wedge type design, dual interface, multitasking, gorgeous display and a decent battery life surprise us with this budget tablet.