In today's review we will try a particularly interesting product, namely the Teclast X98 Plus, a tablet equipped with ben 4 GB of RAM memory side by sideIntel Atom Cherry Trail Z8300, a combination able to guarantee good performance and excellent autonomy.
Il Teclast X98 Plus, and is available at 185 € from China to the store Gearbest, is it really worth it? Let's find out together in the full review.
Teclast X98 Plus: Z8300, 4GB of RAM, Windows 10 and Android 5.1. Our review!
Packaging and accessories
The sales package is made of white cardboard and it is really very simple, in fact it provides a simple cover of hard cardboard with some information on both the front and back. Inside we find, in addition to the tablet, the special power supply with Chinese plug and a output of 2.5 A to 5 Volt, for an USB-micro USB cable and a OTG cable, as well as a small warranty certificate and a user manual in Chinese and English.
Absent any additional accessories, such as bluetooth keyboards, covers and a cable micro HDMI, which we would have appreciated, perhaps together with a keyboard equipped with a reclining support.
Specifications
The technical specifications of the device are certainly not very high-end, since they include the entry-level processor of the new range Intel Atom Cherry Trail, more specifically the model X5 Z8300, characterized by four cores X86 supported by 2MB of cache and made with a production process 14 nanometers. The base operating frequency is of 1.44 GHz, but is able to go as far as 1.84 GHz during the most demanding loads. The integrated GPU is theIntel HD Graphics di eighth generation and can count on well 12 calculation unit operating at a frequency between i 200 and 500MHz.
Support for ai 64-bit, DirectX 11.2 and to memories Single-Channel RAM LPDDR3 until 4 GB. The installed memory is of type eMMC and has one capacity of 32 GBwhile the RAM amounts to well 4 GB.
The display is a panel from 9.7 inch IPS, with resolution QXGA di 2045 1536 pixels x, while the installed battery has a capacity of approx 8300 mAh, and carry the weight of the device a 533 grams, while the dimensions are of 24 x 16.9cm, for one thickness of 0.78 centimeters.
The device is characterized by one OTG USB micro port, a micro SD card slot to 128GB and a video output micro HDMI. Then present two cameras from 2 and 5 Mega-pixel, WiFi 802.11 b / g / n and the Bluetooth 4.0, while the GPS.
Finally, we find the latest operating system Microsoft Windows 10 in dual-boot with Android Lollipop 5.1.
Design and construction
Good construction of the device, which provides a mix of plastic materials e metal, since we find a body almost completely realized in metal. The frames are adequate, not too thick, while the covering glass has proven itself quite oleophobic ma poco resistant to scratches, since after just a few days of use I noticed some small scratches on the front glass, a sign of how it is easily scratched.
The shell does not have any bending e crunches at some point, an indication of the good construction quality adopted in the realization of the product. On the underside of the back we find the system speaker, while in the central part there is the logo Intel, the brand of Teclast and some information about the manufacturer and the safety marks.
Finally, in the upper right part we find the rear camera from 5 Mega-pixel, placed in a white plastic band. On the front we find only the display from 9.7 inches and, in the upper left, the front camera from 2 Mega-pixel.
On the left profile we find the volume balance and lock button and power on, followed, on the right, by the slot for micro SD cards, in addition to the system microphone. On the right and upper profile, however, we do not find connectors or buttons, while on the lower one there is the OTG USB micro port, the video output micro HDMI, and the jack from 3.5 millimeters for headphones.
Overall the solidity of the product has proven to be excellent level, as well asergonomics, thanks to the not too high diagonal and the excellent size. Only weight it makes itself felt, especially with prolonged use of the device, since we are talking about poco more than 533 grams.
The design is also nice and pleasant, with simple lines, but thanks to the metal frame, it is very pleasant to look at.
Display
Il IPS panel installed has a diagonal of 9.7 inches with resolution QXGA di 2045 1536 pixels x, a good value that is exploited properly, especially on Windows. The color rendering proved itself very good during the appropriate tests, even if not comparable to solutions like those of the iPad, which proved to be more performing. Good viewing angles, which proved to be more than adequate on all four sides.
Mediocre the brightness, since it will hardly allow you to use the device in sunlight, also thanks to thehigh reflectivity of the covering glass, the oleofobicità it turned out to be quite good. Discount e accurate also the touch screen, which, unlike others Teclast already tried, it turns out to be precise and reactive in every situation.
Performances
The processor Intel Atom Cherry Trail X5 Z8300 manages to guarantee some good performance, especially with Android, thanks also to the 4 GB of RAM, which allow us to obtain performances comparable to the current ones SoC mobile mid-range.
The computing power was also more than good on Windows 10, even if on this front the installed chipset falls in the low end of the mobile sector, well below the solution Intel Core M and significantly lower than the Z8500 e Z8700, accomplice the much lower frequency but above all theassenza to memory support Dual-Channel, that they limit the bandwitch area of RAM about 12.8 GB / s, about half compared to 25.6 GB / s dell 'atom Z8500 e Z8700.
On the other hand, the chipset manages to keep consumption really low for a solution X86, since we are talking about a best before date maximum of about 3 watts,, but that in real use they are well attested to below 2 watts,, really excellent data also due to the production process a 14 nanometers.
The system performed quite well in practical use, where I rarely noticed jitters. Using the two operating systems, however, it emerges as Android have that dash of sprint more than Windows, a sign of the different nature of the two OS.
With Windows 10 we can easily make someexcellent web browsing, editing of documents and even playing the titles on the Microsoft Store. Clearly we are not in front of a solution to be used with heavy programs of video editing or the classic desktop games, as we are far from the performance offered by a mid-range PC.
With Androidhowever, there are no problems of any kind, not even with the most demanding applications, such as the main games of the Play Store and many other very expensive apps.
Good but not too fast the installed memory, which manages to guarantee adequate speeds but which remains far from the most models performers di eMMC 5.0, especially in writing. Unfortunately an 3.0 USB port is missing although they are supported by the processor.
I 4 GB of RAM they have proved to be useful, often and willingly, especially on Windows 10, where with many tabs open in the browser and some program in back-ground we often get to saturate 3 GB of RAM, while it hardly happened to me to exceed this value.
Moving to the graphic department, the Intel's new eighth generation GPU manages to guarantee a significant performance boost compared to the last generation, certainly accomplices the 12 calculation unit operating at a frequency between i 200 and the 500 MHz.
However, the performance still remains far from those offered by low-end PCs and high-end mobile chipsets, a sign of how Intel I still have a lot of work to do on this department. Despite this, the scores of the main graphics benchmarks proved to be acceptable, and also the result of our test with Asphalt 8 Airborne it proved to be satisfying, since the gameplay turned out to be quite fluid with a medium-high graphic detail on both operating systems.
In any case, if you have to play I recommend using the operating system Android, which besides offering a greater number of App on its own Store guarantees you also one greater playability, given that the applications Android are more optimized for a SoC Mobile with limited performance.
Temperature
L'Intel Atom Z8300 it is a solution that does not require any active dissipation system and that, unlike what is seen on other tablets based on the new chipset, has a heat development much lower than the Z8500 e Z8700, thus managing to ensure good thermal management even with prolonged uses.
Even with some intensive stress test applications, the operating frequency hardly tends to drop, and remains stable at 1.6 GHz on the 4 cores, or precisely the value in which all the core they are operational at maximum effort. Even after several and abundant minutes of demanding testing, I have not found Thermal throttling, and the processor temperatures have peaked maximum of 74 ° C, far from the limit temperature TJMAX of 90 ° C.
Good also the temperatures of the body, which did not reach high values, since, afterwards over 30 minutes of testing intensive, at the hottest point I recorded values of 34.6°C in the back and 38.4 ° C degrees on the front, a sign of how the metal body manages to dispose of the heat outside.
Autonomy and connectivity
The cell installed by 8000 mAh he manages to secure one good autonomy, variable depending on the workload and therefore the type of use.
With a classic use of netbooks, or web browsing and light document editing, below Windows 10 you will easily be able to get to the 7/8 hours of battery life with brightness at 50%, while with more demanding workloads such as watching streaming video, gaming or editing demanding documents, autonomy will drop to 6 abundant hours, a value however more than good and acceptable.
Also on Android I recorded excellent values, ranging from one maximum poco more 7 hours up to 5 hours during the most intense uses. Autonomy therefore promoted, both on Windows that of Android, autonomy that with some little trick and update could further improve.
Regarding the connectivity, the device is equipped only with the Wi-Fi b / g / n, therefore the last AC standard is missing, in addition to an integrated modem for the LTE connectivity e 3G. Finally present, the Bluetooth 4.0, functionality OTG and an exit micro-HDMI for connecting the device to external diagrams also in 4K, while the form is missing FM radio and unfortunately also the GPS, which could have been convenient for use as a "navigator".
Camera and multimedia
Sul Teclast X98 Plus there are two cameras: one rear from 5 Mega-pixel and a front from 2 Mega-pixels, both characterized by sensors of OmniVision and able to return more than enough shots but far away even from entry-level smartphones.
The two solutions proved to be more than adequate for making simple video calls on Skype and other messaging programs, even if the video recording quality is limited to only 720P on the front chamber and in Full HD on the back one.
Unfortunately, there are no shortage on the media department, especially on Android, where I have not been able to video player in 4K and in Full HD with H265 codec in a fluid way, not even with an external player.
Better, however, the situation with Windows, since all the major codecs are supported, so we can easily play video in Full HD e 4K both with codecs H264 and H265 without problems. Only videos in 4K a 60 FPS and 10-bit they reported some fluidity and lag problem.
As far as audio reproduction is concerned, the system rear speakers can play back in clean and precise way the audio samples, even if the volume turned out to be a bit too low. Excellent quality and volume on the headphones.
Software
On the software front we find two operating systems, on the one hand Windows 10 and on the other Android Lollipop 5.1, the first completely clean and the second in full style Teclast with different App in Chinese pre-installed, although most can be easily removed.
Windows 10 it can also be translated into Italian by installing the appropriate language pack, while Android has some translation errors. The launcher Android is slightly revised, as some icons have been redesigned.
The choice of installing two operating systems is excellent, but unfortunately, however, it limits the internal space, which for Windows amounts to poco less than 20 GB freewhile on Android a poco less than 18 GB.
In any case, having two OS allows you to use Android in the recreational and recreational area, given the most user-friendly interface on a touch screen display; is Windows 10 in the production area ed Office, given the greater possibilities offered in these areas by the new operating system of Microsoft.
Both Windows and Android they proved to be fluid and reactive, making them pleasant during use.
The software side therefore, tends to meet the needs of both those who love Windows and Android, although an option to be able to delete or shrink the partition of Windows or Android according to your needs, in order to have a greater amount of available space.
Conclusions
Il Teclast X98 Plus it's really a great device, characterized by one balanced hardware platform and well managed, either thermally than for consumption, given theexcellent autonomy returned. Excellent also the display, which only sins for the maximum brightness, fluids and reactive the two operating systems, thanks certainly to the 4 GB of RAM.
Very good too realization and of used materials, which return a pleasant feedback to the touch and that allow you to have more than adequate dimensions, as well as a design pleasing to the eye.
Difficult to ask more for this figure, even if the choice to insert it Z8300 instead of Z8500 it will positively affect autonomy and consumption at the expense of higher performance, the price to pay for having a good autonomy.
Il Teclast X98 Plus, and is available at 185 € from China at the store Gearbest.
