Somebody on the Androidtablet subreddit EXPOSED the cheap arse China brands, namely the Bandoss N20 that I see constantly on flash sale at Lazada and was previously tempted to buy.
Anyway, the user did some intense checks after 3 apps report different specs.
- Marketed Mediatek deca-core X30 SoC (which is 3 years old btw) is actually a Mediatek Helio G35
- Marketed 10GB RAM is in reality 4GB of usable/physical RAM. There is some ZRAM but definitely doesn't add up to 10.
- Marketed 512GB storage is indeed 512GB but don't even need to bet it's emmc and probably at the cheapest type of HDD that will spoil in a year (already rolling my eyes at Amazon and Samsung for still using emmc).
- Marketed Android 11 is actually Android 8 but comes with certain scripts that forces Android 11 animation and for the tablet to display its OS as 11 and "behave" like 11 (animations, quick settings, etc.). This also means it will never receive updates.
So although the $199 or so price is tempting and the color looks quite nice, there is no need for such over-exaggeration of specs because it's really as good as false advertising and lying to customers that your product is something that it doesn't. Be like Lenovo and own your garbage tier tablets at least they're honest about weird specs like 2GB RAM in 2021.
* FYI, appears the post got taken down cos I can't find it anymore otherwise would be more than happy to share the link. Anyone who doesn't believe may get a set themselves and run some CPU-Z and deviceinfo apps to prove me wrong
---
My takeaway from this exposE is that my lowest bar are Allido/Chuwi type of brands (at least be something that's been heard of and reviewed by Chris that ang moh from techtablets cos he's thorough and would've called out lies) but be prepared that $100 = not a single software update ever.
There are sadly not much fun competition for tablets and iPads are in a league of their own. I'd have loved to support a Huawei matepad but the lack of GMS is annoying.
Amazon is "okay" if you can get it for cheap but the fact that FireOS is somehow still on Android 9 annoys me. Not to mention that aging SoC they're on.
Lenovo has very bad specs for affordable ones and constantly gimps the SKU locally (why are we getting a 4/64 Pro Plus).
Samsung is "okay" for their mid-range too but they know they can get away with cheapening out on things like the disgusting screen and aging chip on A7 Lite and the obvious lag and audacious 3GB RAM on the A7.
Even the Xiaomi Pad 5 reeks of cost and the previous Pad 4 only got 1 (or is it none) Android updates.
Sadly Android tablets are where the fun productivity is at with full Chromecast support, emulators, etc. People say technology has advanced yet we are being limited or gimped. Sigh.