Last year the Rockchip RK3188 quad core was a clear winner for the Chinese tablet manufacturers. Pipo was one of the many companies that took advantage of this powerful yet inexpensive solution to drive their devices. In fact they used it throughout their entire tablet lineup. Being a Pipo M9 user myself, I can vouch for the effectiveness of the chip and have been anxiously awaiting their new lineup.
Several months ago the Rockchip RK3288 was announced with the intentions of being the first company to use ARM’s new A-12 technology. Add in the upgrade to a Mali T76X GPU, 2k/4k screen support and 4G compatibility and you have my attention. It would make sense following Pipo’s success and history with Rockchip that all of their tablets would once again use them. But Pipo has thrown a very surprising and exciting curveball into the mix.
Announcing the Pipo T9. An 8.9” tablet powered by the Mediatek MT6592 eight core CPU clocked at 2.0Ghz. The tablet appears to have been physically designed more in the direction of a huge phone. My complaint with many tablets is the cameras are merely an afterthought and don’t work very well. This time around, Pipo have opted for a 13MP rear camera with an LED flash, placed it in the top corner and put a 5MP camera on the front. Throw in a 1920×1200 display, along with Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS capabilities and this tablet is starting to look like a big winner in the specs department.
I don’t believe for one Pipo has abandoned their plans to use the Rockchip RK3288. What I do see is a very good tablet company looking to break the mold and become great. Diversity is the key to a great tablet line and this is certainly a bold first step.
Nice design and build quality, powerful hardware, solid ROMs with support, decent pricing and now some surprise designs. Watch out world, here comes Pipo.
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