Review of the tablet Freelander PD10 Typhoon - "full stuffing" at a reasonable price

Chinese manufacturers are constantly increasing production capacity. But, in fact, the devices in one segment (7, 8, 9.7, 10.1 inches) on the same platform are the same type. Practical identical characteristics with a difference in price. Over time, it bothers you and you want something really new and interesting.
For me, the novelty brought the tablet of the Chinese firm Freelander, which recently in the tablet market, but before that they were engaged in the release of car navigators.
It all started with a PD10 tablet on a Telechips 8923 chip: 7 inches, a weak screen with a resolution of 800x480, but there was an integrated GPS module. And then launched a lot of new modifications under the same name PD10, but with different prefixes. There was a version with built-in TV, then a version with built-in 3G and GPS on an MTK6575 chip with a better screen (1024x600), but 512MB of memory. Then there was a modification with 1GB of memory. And the top of this development was the Freelander PD10 Typhoon tablet on the MTK6577 chip, which we will look at in this review.

Specifications

Screen: 7 inches, 1024x600 IPS, multitouch 5 points
Chip: MTK6577
Processor: Cortex-A9, dual-core 1GHz
Video Accelerator: PowerVR SGX531
RAM: 1GB (LPDDRⅡ)
ROM: 4GB
Camera: front 2.0 MP, rear 2.0 MP
GPS: yes
Bluetooth: yes
WIFI: 802.11 b / g / n
3G: built-in, one sim card
Network:
GSM 850/900/1800 / 1900MHz
WCDMA: 900 / 2100MHz
Battery: 5200mAh

In fact, the PD10 Typhoon is built on a Mediatek MT6577 “telephone” chip.
A distinctive feature from other tablets is the built-in 3G module and GPS module. Also, compared to the previous version on MTK6575, in which there were 2 SIM card slots, PD10 Typhoon has only 1 SIM card slot for operation in GSM or WCDMA standards.
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Packing and packaging

White cardboard box with a MID in the front and a sticker with a brief description of the characteristics of the back:



Tablet and accessories in different compartments:



Standard equipment includes: charger, USB cable, headset, instruction in English. The manual does not even describe the technical characteristics. Not knowing in advance the appearance of the tablet is very difficult to guess that they sent you exactly the model that you ordered.



Charger for 5V / 2A and USB cable. The USB cable is not a regular microUSB-USB, but a 30-pin-USB. Very strange decision.



Unmarked headset:



Additionally, there were orders:
Car Charger (USB):



Universal glass mount:



Universal cover:



The tablet is held fairly well, but with this insert (touch buttons below) it can slide out:



With the help of Velcro case turns into a stand:

Appearance

PD10 Typhoon its appearance really wants to be like a smartphone. A metal insert is used at the back for better heat dissipation. I got an aesthetic version with a gray insert (still happens with white).



The first thing you notice is the backlit touch buttons:


The volume buttons are recessed into the case, which is bad for usability.



Headphone input and microphone:



Two speakers are built in: one is on the bottom, the other is on the front:



30-pin USB connector:



SIM card slot and microSD card slot:



If the microSD card can be inserted without additional funds, then the SIM card is not. The latch is fixed very deeply, you need to resort to using a thin ruler or a plastic card to pin down the SIM card. The same situation occurs during extraction.

The tablet can be held in one hand. But because of the heavy weight of 398 grams, this is not very convenient.



Thickness is 11mm.

Camera

Front camera 2MP:



Rear camera 2MP:


There is a flash, but the brightness is very low, poorly suited even for use as a flashlight.
The quality of the photo is very average, but in Skype the front camera looks normal. Definitely better than 0.3MP.

Sound

The sound is loud, but when held horizontally, one speaker often overlaps with a finger.

Wifi

The Wifi signal level is good, the standard is supported up to 802.11n, but, unfortunately, it was possible to check only on a router with support for the 802.11g standard.

Screen

7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1024x600. The screen is really bright, the installed 50% brightness is enough to work during the day.


Viewing angles:

Browsing the Web

In the standard firmware, a very large parameter LCD Density (240) is set, because of this, it is not very convenient to view the pages. This parameter can be reduced to a value of 160 using the LCD Density Modder utility (Root is required).
Pages open quickly, Flash is supported.

Video

Supported video playback in various formats. The performance of the MTK6577 chip is not enough to watch movies in FULL HD.

OS

PD10 Typhoon has Android 4.0.4 operating system installed:





After changing the LCD Density parameter, the native launcher almost fails, you need to use another one. For example - Go Launcher.

Hardware

The tablet has a “telephone” chip MTK 6577. The architecture of which is based on a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor with a frequency of up to 1.2GHz, the PowerVR 531 is used as a GPU. This video accelerator is probably not as powerful, but it copes well with games.

Antutu 3.0.2:



Quadrant:



Linpack:

Working hours

Operating time was estimated by Antutu Tester and Nova Battery Tester synthetic tests:



For comparison, the Ainol Fire tablet with a 5000 mAh battery scored 488 points in Antutu Tester.
Theoretically, the tablet tablet can work for about 6-6.5 hours under load.

Disassembly

The tablet is quite simple. Unscrew the 2 screws and open the latches using a plastic card around the perimeter.



General form:



The first thing that catches your eye is the marking on the battery. Yes, it says 5800mAh! With that, according to official information, a battery is installed with a capacity of 5200mAh. Perhaps there is another specification under the label.
Battery thickness:



By the size of the battery (11.3x5.3cm) it is difficult to say what kind of real capacity is there. But it seems that it is just that it gives the total weight of the tablet to almost 400 grams.

GPS

Satellites are caught confidently. On the left - the tablet on the windowsill, on the right - in the car:



The suction cups on the car mount are quite powerful, the quality of the plastic is also good, they should not break under the weight of the tablet when shaken. It is best to mount the tablet in the center, if the torpedo prevents the tablet from attaching to the left of the driver and reduces visibility to the driver. I fasten my old 5-inch navigator to the left (the view is not blocking), in my opinion such an arrangement distracts from the road less, the central location is more suitable for traveling with the navigator.


The photo is open Google maps that do not display my location.

3G

Tablet tested on operators Life (2G) and Ukrtelecom (3G UMTS-2100MHz)
There are all sorts of settings for working in the modem mode and choosing the preferred work network (GSM / WCDMA)



Works in phone mode with or without a connected headset. The audibility of the opponent is a bit deaf (perhaps you can fix it in the engineering menu), the microphone works well, no noise is observed.
The interface is as usual as on any Android smartphone:



Of the problems found: the tablet can sometimes stop seeing a SIM card for no apparent reason, can only be treated by rebooting.

Firmware and Root access rights

New firmware could not be found. Root access rights can be obtained in the following way:
1. Install the program
2. Enable USB debugging in the tablet settings and connect the tablet using a USB cable to the computer.
3. Run the program, wait until the tablet is determined. Select the 4th icon above:

4. Select the icon where in the name there is the word Root. Click "Next" and wait.

Done!

By simultaneously pressing the Volume + and Power buttons, you can enter Factory mode and test various functions of the tablet. Tests offer a choice of testing options and Test Pass or Test Failed response options. The choice is made by the Home touch button.



Of interest is the presence of the FM transmitter and FM radio, which successfully pass the test. But in the current version there is no standard radio application, programs from Google Play for listening to FM Radio also did not work.

findings

pros

+ bright screen
+ built-in GPS, Bluetooth, 3G
+ backlight touch buttons
+ high capacity battery

Minuses

- difficult to insert and remove the SIM card
- periodically ceases to see the SIM card (it is treated by a reboot)
- firmware needs some work

PD10 Typhoon - an interesting tablet that needs to be finalized software. Unfortunately, Freelander is trying to produce more and more new models, and there is almost no good support for products already released. All hope for enthusiasts who can unlock the potential of the tablet at 100 percent.
This equipment, which included: a tablet, a case, a mount on the glass, a car charger, cost me $ 195 with free shipping from China.