[Review] Vido/Yuandao/Window N90S

[jimi_jimi_jimi]

Hello to everyone! I recently got myself a rather inexpensive tablet from DX.com - Dealxtreme for $153 USD (SKU:178545, just in case you decide you wanted one for yourself as well), and i thought that I would do a little first impressions review on it.

So, before anything lets take a look at the specs:

Specifications:

Manufacturer:	Vido/Yuandao/Window
Model:	N90S
Screen:	9.7 inches Capacitive Multi-Touch screen @ 1024 x 768 w/ 132 PPI (aspect ratio of 4:3)
Operating System:	Android 4.1
Processing Chip:	Rockchip 3066 CPU: Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 @1.6GHz GPU: Quad Core Mali 400
RAM:	1 Gb DDR3 SDRAM
Internal Memory:	8Gb
External Memory:	TF Card (expandable up to 32Gb)
Battery:	6000mAh Li-ion; Charged via Power Adapter

Key Components:
	HDMI out, Accelerometer, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, External 3G, USB OTG, 0.3MP Front Camera/ 2.0MP Back Camera Integrated Speaker/Mic Combination 3.5mm Jack

Slots:
	1 x DC power interface, 1 x Micro USB, 1 x TF, 1 x 3.5mm jack, 1 x HDMI

Here are some manufacturer info-graphics (The originals are in Chinese, so i translated them myself)



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Unboxing:

The box that it came in is very rigid, it feels very close to that of the iPod 1[SUP]st[/SUP] gen cardboard box but in a much larger size. The print on the box is also very nice.
It is pretty weird for them to have the wall charger not enclosed inside of the box, but rather as a separate component. This could be that the manufacturer did not provided the charger, but rather it is added on by the retailer afterwards.


All of the components included are: a pair of (crappy) headphones, a USB cable to connect to your computer, a wall charger, and the tablet itself.

The manual it came with is typical of that of cheapo Chinese products. With some spare time and a cryptology degree; you will decipher the manual in no time.

A little sample of what to expect from the manual:

On first boot it takes around 1.5 minutes to boot up before it reaches the lock home screen. Unlike my previous experience on my Samsung phone (on Android gingerbread), it does not take you through the wizard of Google accounts, date…etc. Once unlocked you are ready to go, except for the fact that it will be in simplified Chinese interface. It easy enough to navigate and change to your desired language.

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Impressions:

Physical product:

The tablet does not feel particularly heavy, but isn't that light either. After 10mins of holding in the upright position, fatigue will being to creep its way into your arms forcing you to place the tablet down on the table allowing you to scrape the camera on the back. (yes the camera is flush flat on the back; making it unsafe to push the tablet while laid on any surface)

The back of the tablet feels almost identical to that of the iPad. It is real smooth anodized aluminum with a brush metal feel. But the grandeur feel of the aluminum quickly fades away as you run your hands to the edge of the tablet. The rim is enclosing the tablet is made of plastic. It is not the nice to feel rubbery high end plastic, but the type you get in your $1 mathematics geometry kit when you got for fun as a small child.

The buttons make a loud click, the kind that feels cheap and not sturdy. The buttons themselves are really poorly finished, it feels very rough round the edges. Contrary to intuition and popular belief, the button on the face of the tablet in the center is not the 「Home」 button. So unlike, say, all the other tablets beforehand, the center button act as the 「Back」 button. What made them change it to that function boggles even the mind of Steven Hawking.
Consistent with the rest of the product, the slots for all of the accessories are poorly crafted as well. The TF/Micro SD slot is very very tiny. It also does not tell you which way to fit the card it. After scratching your cards connectors numerous times, you will manage to get the card to go in by using your fingernails to push it in.

A short composite of all the physical product:

TL;DR : Typical Cheapo Chinese product, What did you expect. It is half the price of its closest brand-named rivals.

Build Rating:
(3/5)

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Screen:

The screen is fairly good. The colours are wonderful. Strong contrasts of colours. The resolution isn't as high as I would have liked, but it is good enough. Thus, it gives plenty sharp images. Yet it is also due to this lower resolution, sometimes images may look a bit blocky.

The screen is very bright, even near sunlight you can still use it without a problem (except for the battery). Under direct sunlight, you might as well be staring into the sun itself. The screen acts as a mirror and will flash bang all the cells inside of your retina rendering you temporary blind. (yes, this really happened).

Angle of view is pretty poor, if your friend is sitting to the side of you all they will see is black. So I am guessing the lateral sweep angle of view would be 60 degrees. The viewing angle is much better in the vertical sweep orientation. You can view the tablet pretty much almost 140 degrees from the surface.

TL;DR: Good brightness, not ultra high res, poor lateral viewing angle

Screen Rating:
(4/5)

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Media Capabilities:
Video playback:

It can play almost any video file you can manage to throw at it. The stock player that it came bundled with is very strong. The processor was able to smoothly render out full 1080p files with no hint of lag. *see video demo*

Audio:

The audio playback quality is nothing much to go on about. Don't expect it to be supremely clear. The stock app produces a rather small tight soundstage with not much clarity. The bass does not extend that deep. Maybe with a different app (e.g. Poweramp) will produce different results. That will have to be tested at another time.

Web capabilities:

It supports flash and therefore is able to play most online videos. It also supports HTML5, and depending on the browser you select will give you varying support of HTML5.

A decent score for the test for HTML5 using chrome

Speakers/Mic:

As with all on-board speakers, this one is just as bad. The only real issue with the tablet's speakers is that it is on the bottom edge. This will mean that if you hold the tablet like a normal person, your palms will be obstructing the output and lead to a muffled sound.

The microphone is very ordinary, its not exceptionally good or bad. It does the duty of recording sound.

TL;DR: Plays online video, html5, and smoothly plays 1080p

Media Rating:
(4.5/5)

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Camera:

Back Camera (facing out):

Colours are rather dull, pictures come out very flat. Contrast is nearly nonexistent. The pictures are not very sharp, there is plenty of blurriness and colour fringing. Low light performance is very grainy and does not capture very well. There is not a significant Moire effect. Continuous shutter is as fast as you can tap the button with your fingers. However, you will only manage 7 FPS due to the tablet saving the images. The camera is also 2 Megapixels, it is far behind what the current audience deems reasonable.
As they say, the best camera is the one with you. However, if you have any other camera, please use that one.

****due to the lengthy testing of the camera, please follow the link to see the full comparison between the tablet and a camera phone****
http://i.imgur.com/Qscrz9d.jpg : Camera Test 1
http://i.imgur.com/JHQKiim.jpg : Camera Test 2

Front Camera (facing you):

This camera has the power to time travel. It has definitely come from the year 2004 and stuck itself on the front of this tablet. 0.3 Megapixel is the resolution on one of the first camera phones back in the day. Yet it managed to be put onto this tablet. Unless you are going to video call anyone using any applications, I suggest you keep that camera on the function it is best at; off.

A sample of the horrible quality front camera:

TL;DR: Has 2 cameras. The back camera (facing out) is not very good. The front camera (facing you) is very poor, but exists so you can video call.

Overall Rating:
(3/5)

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Performance:

A Short video of performance demo:




Antutu Benchmarking App Screencaps:

3D (game) performance:

There is absolutely no lag, even when running hardware heavy games like CSR racing. The screen is very responsive and not prone to lag. The GUI is very smooth as well. There are no lags in between transition screens.

Overall Rating:
(5/5)
TL;DR: Runs everything you throw at it smoothly

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Overall thoughts:

In terms of overall performance it is quite good. It has very capable hardware and supports wide ranges of website apps (html5/flash). The screen is very nice, if you are nitpicking it is smaller than a 10.1」, but 9.7」 is just as big. Touch screen is responsive. The overall build is not as good as you want but good enough. Support for the product on the manufacturer website is massive, although it is in simplified Chinese. If you can read/guess what the website says after using Google translate, there is a lot of support by the users and the company itself.

Heres a sample of what to expect for the OEM forum support for your obscure Vido tablet. Translated using Google Translate:
http://i.imgur.com/lsu1O9C.png

Not sure how long this product will last, but from experiences with other cheapo-china electronics, it will most definitely last for a shorter time than the iPad.
As for price, this is one of the cheapest non-7」 dual core tablet I have found. With this hardware and this price, it is an absolute bargain. However, If you plan to resell, this tablet may not be the best choice.

For $153 USD at DealExtreme (SKU:178545) , there is probably nothing out there at this price range that will even come close to it. Even the closest performer to it (as I recall) ,the Ainol Hero 10" Dual Core, is more expensive (by a bit; maybe around $20 USD) and has a lower performing chip.


Summed up:
Cheap and strong performer; would recommend. It has its drawbacks, but it does not outweigh the cheap bargain price.

Overall Rating:
(4.5/5)

PS:
This is my first time at doing a review, so please tell me how I did
I really enjoyed my tablet and I really would like to share my thoughts about it. Therefore I decided to write this review. This brand deserves better recognition than it is currently given.

Have a nice day everyone!