PiPo S1 Android Jelly Bean Tablet (Php5,489): Unboxing and Initial Review

Dual-core. Android Jelly Bean. Php5,489. Not bad!

PiPo S1 Dual-core Android Jelly Bean Tablet

Lazada Philippines is currently selling the PiPo S1 Android Tablet for Php5,489. This device runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and has a 1.6GHz dual-core processor (quad-core GPU). That’s pretty slick considering how much you’re just paying for it right? There are some compromises though. The battery is only 3,200mAh and the screen resolution is 800×480. However at just Php5,489 that still ain’t a bad deal, lol. We were able to get a unit for review and we’d like to share our initial impressions below.

PiPo S1 Spec Sheet

1.6GHz Dual-core processor (RK3066)
Quad-core Mali 400 GPU
1GB RAM
8GB Internal Storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
7-inch capacitive touchscreen, 800×480 pixels
2.0-megapixel rear-facing camera
0.3-megapixel front-facing camera
WiFi (b/g), 3G via Dongle, G-Sensor, HDMI port (No GPS and Bluetooth)
3,200mAh Battery (4 Hours est. working time)
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Unboxing

The PiPo S1 comes in a black box with a printed carton cover. To unbox we pulled the carton cover out and just popped open the lid of the black box. We were immediately greeted with the plastic covered PiPo S1 tablet. First thoughts that came to mind after seeing and touching it: kinda thick bezel, glossy plastic construction, but feels quite solid. Not that squeaky.

As far as design goes the PiPo S1 is passable, especially if we consider the price tag.

All the usual ports are there: power lock, volume rocker, headphone jack, and micro USB port. Outside of the ordinary is the AC charging port and the external card slot for additional memory. All of these controls, ports and buttons are located at the sides and at the back of the device.

In the looks department the PiPo S1 goes above and beyond what you pay for it. That’s always a good thing. 😀

Display: Can 800×480 cut it?

One of our biggest misgivings about the PiPo S1 when we first saw the spec sheet was the low resolution. It does become bothersome especially if your eyes are spoiled to high pixel density devices like the iPhone or the iPad 3 but if not then it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Display quality is a matter of preference.

We’ll have more to say about the display once we’ve spent more time with the PiPo S1 for the purpose of this review.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is fast on the PiPo S1

I was a bit skeptical about the performance of the tablet even if it was billed as a Jelly Bean device. However the dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and Google’s Project Butter (via Android Jelly Bean) truly makes for a much superior and better user experience for Android versus Ice Cream Sandwich. In our few minutes of playing around with it we found that the transitions and animations were quite fast and surprisingly rarely laggy. We definitely have to give props to PiPo for cramming in those specs together with the latest software in this tablet.

Expect more details like benchmark tests and more once the full review comes out.

What else is in the box?

That's a lot of stuff — That’s a lot of stuff

Inside the box you’ll find the manual, earphones, USB to microUSB cable, USB to AC cable, AC charger, USB on the go for 3G USB dongles (Smart Bro, Globe Tattoo, Sun). I’ve never been a fan of having to keep an extra charger so this one I found weird. They should have just taken that port out and stuck to USB to micro USB for both power and data transfer.

Watch out for our full review next week

We’re currently wrapping up our review for the Starmobile Engage 7HD so that means we’ll have time to put this through the paces over the weekend and even next week. Expect a full review of the PiPo S1 by then.

If you can’t wait for our review and you want one already you can buy it now via Lazada here.