[Android General] deadhp1:
Tronsmart PS7 Review

Original Link:

http://www.armtvtech.com/armtvtechforum/viewtopic.php?f=565&t=74134

Note: The original link has bigger pics because it's not resized by photobucket.

Tronsmart PS7 Review!

Tronsmart has been on a roll lately with it's devices. I've reviewed several of them recently and have been impressed.

For the past week I have been reviewing the Tronsmart PS7 Octa-Core Phablet.

Mod Edit: Commercial links removed.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the PS7 here are the specs:

7" 1920x1200 LTPS Screen

MTK6592 Octa-core SOC at 1.7Ghz

2GB of Ram

16GB of Internal Storage

Wifi B/G

BT

Micro-SD card Slot

Dual-Sim slots(1 micro-sim, 1 sim)

5MP Front Camera

13MP Rear Camera w/Flash

Micro-USB OTG port

Headphone Jack

Volume/Power Buttons

3500mAh Removeable Battery

GPS

2G:GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz

3G:WCDMA 850/2100MHz

Android 4.2.2

What's in the Box:

Tronsmart PS7

Headphones

Micro-USB cable

Power Adapter

User Manual

Screen Protector

First Impressions:

The Tronsmart PS7 is really massive for a phone, but when you consider it's intended purpose as a Phablet, then you'll see it's quite reasonable in size.

Thin bezels make the PS7 appear smaller than it actually is. If comparing to many 7" tablets out there you can see it's smaller.

Size Comparisons:

Tronsmart PS7(7"), iNew i2000(5.7"), Zopo ZP980+(5"), iOcean X7(5")

As you can see the PS7 is a bit larger than the i2000.

It dwarfs the X7.

And the ZP980+

First Start:

When I first booted the PS7 I was a little worried. The first boot took around 90 seconds. This is a little longer than I am used to.

A reboot had the PS7 running in about 18 seconds.

The first thing you notice about the PS7 is the screen. The 1920x1200 screen is HUGE and very BRIGHT!

It's so bright that I had to turn it down to minimum in order be comfortable in a darker room.

The details, colors, and viewing angles are quite good.

No complaints about the touchscreen. It supports up to 10 simultaneous touches.

The PS7 has a good feel in my hands. It's a little too big for one handed use, but lends itself to two hand with no issues.

Often on a larger device with bezels this thin I'll have accidental taps from holding it. I didn't experience that with the PS7.

It's just the right size.

I popped a 64GB microsd card into the back of the PS7, connected to my wifi and was downloading apps within minutes.

The About Phone Screen lists the following items:

Model number:

PS7

Android Version:

4.2.2

Kernel Version:

3.4.39 root@android #1 Tue Mar 18 15:25:55 CST 2014

Build Number:

2719_v92_gq3015_20140325

Baseband Version:

MOLY.WR8.W1315.MD.V21.P1, 2014/01/16 15:51

The Tronsmart PS7 comes without root access. I actually prefer it this way. Certain apps tend to be angry if root is detected.

It's good to have a choice.

Cellular Connectivity:

Using the PS7 as a phone is a pleasant experience. I didn't notice any odd echos, and the speakerphone works fine.

It is a little daunting to hold a 7" phablet next to my head, so I recommend a bt headset.

I wasn't expecting 3G to work since the PS7 only supports 850/2100Mhz for WCDMA, but I guess At&t has 3G on 850Mhz around me now.

So I was able to get H speeds.(No H+ though)

Bluetooth:

I tested the bluetooth with a car radio, headset, bt boombox, and keyboards. The PS7 did well in all tests.

Battery Life:

The battery life on the PS7 is very decent. I found that with mixed use the 3500mAh battery lasted me the entire day.

I also found that on standby the PS7 just barely sips power. I managed to get over 4 days(wifi on, checking email every so often, minimal browsing)

For screen on time I was able to stream HD video to the PS7 for a little over 6 hours before I was down to 25% battery.

Personally I'd like to see phones or tablets with a double size battery option, but the 3500mAh seems to last long enough for me.

Wireless Display:

The settings menu has an option for Wireless Display, but there is no where to actually turn it on. I'm told that a new firmware update will fix this problem.

I'll be testing it out with my Tronsmart T1000 Ezcast dongle.

Media Playback:

I tested several apps to check how the Tronsmart PS7 plays media both locally and from the web.

XBMC:

The first one I downloaded was an XBMC stable build. I was expecting it to launch quickly and was not let down. It took about 5 seconds.

I was able to playback many 1080p and 720p files without any issues.

The 7" screen works well with XBMC, and for the first time on a phone I can use the onscreen keyboard!

With 2GB of ram there is plenty left over after launching XBMC.

MX Player:

The only real problem was with the audio codecs. I don't believe the MTK6592 has support for AC3 or DTS audio built in.

I had to choose software decoder for AC3 files and installed the DTS codecs for MX Player in order to get this to work.

Dice Player:

Most files played well in HW mode. The MTK6592 in the is more than addequate to playback 1080p in software decoding mode. DTS and AC3 were properly decoded and played back.

Netflix:

Videos played smooth in HD and subtitles/audio were in sync. At first it seemed that Netflix was having issues. It kept switching between high quality and low quality. A pause to let it buffer quickly ironed that out.

HBO Go:

Everything looked and sounded great.

Crackle:

Works like a charm.

GPS:

Left side indoors Right side outdoors wooded/cloudy area

I had no issues with GPS in the PS7. After turning it on I was locked onto 17 satellites within 12 seconds.(This was on a very clear day)

Accuracy was good within 4 feet. When compared to other MTK6592 phones, it seems like the PS7 has better than average GPS signal.

Compass:

The compass works well.

Google Sky Maps responded properly.

FM Radio:

One of my favorite things about the MTK chipsets I've used is the FM Radio.

The inlcuded headphones act as an antenna for the FM Radio. It's possible to record music and talkshows directly onto the PS7.

The FM Radio app also identifies what song and station are currently playing.

Wifi

Wifi reception is very good. My routers we're on the other side of the house.

Front Camera:

The front camera claims to be 5MP, but is most likely 3MP interpolated to 5MP. Quality is still decent.

Rear Camera:

The rear camera is 13MP, and provides a decent image. The flash works and is timed right, but it could be a little brighter. It's not too great for low light shots.

Considering most 7" tablets I've seen have 5MP rear cameras with no flash, the PS7 does well in this category.

Pics taken with PS7 in shade/no flash:(more coming on next nice day)

Full size image link: http://www.armtvtech.com/ps7_pics/IMG_20140507_190303.jpg

Full size image link: http://www.armtvtech.com/ps7_pics/IMG_20140507_190317.jpg

Full size image link: http://www.armtvtech.com/ps7_pics/IMG_20140507_190401.jpg

Full size image link: http://www.armtvtech.com/ps7_pics/IMG_20140507_190412.jpg

Benchmarks:

I tested the PS7 with Antutu, Quadrant, Vellamo, GFXBench, 3DMark, and NenaMark2.

Antutu:

The PS7 scored 27482 on it's first try.

Quadrant Standard Edition:

The PS7 managed an impressive 14429.

Vellamo:

The PS7 scored a 2002 in the HTML 5 test and 676 in the METAL test.

GFXBench:

3DMark:

NenaMark2:

Conclusion:

The Tronsmart PS7 is a great phablet! This size is just about perfect. It's bigger than most phones, yet small enough to still fit in my jeans pocket.

Screen quality is a huge plus when browsing the web or watching videos. Performance is great even though it's running at 1920x1200 resolution.

I'll never have to carry my phone and my tablet with me. The PS7 replaces both!

My only real gripe with the PS7 is the lack of backlight for the navigation keys. This turns into a non-issue once you get used to the locations.