I have had my X10 for three weeks now and am quite happy with it. I was looking for a tablet with the right size, screen resolution, and screen ratio for watching movies and videos. I was also looking for good performance and a very low price. I also wanted a tablet that was available thru Amazon Prime in case of problems. The Dragon Touch X10 is the best tablet I could find that met these criteria.
I primarily bought the X10 for watching videos and movies when I use the elliptical trainers at my gym. I got it for myself as an enticement to spend more time on the cardio machines.
The plan has worked; because, I am able to get totally immersed in movies and videos on the X10. The HD 1366 x 768 (720p) resolution and longer screen (1.778 screen ratio) of the Dragon Touch are very nice. the IPS screen looks very good even under the bright lights of my gym. Brightness and contrast ratios are also much better than I expected for such an inexpensive tablet. Having Amazon Prime, it is has been great for viewing Prime movies and videos. YouTube videos also look fine. The streaming performance has been fantastic and steady. I have rarely had videos or movies freeze or stutter , so WIFI performance has been excellent too.
Setup of the Dragon Touch X10 was relatively quick and straight forward. During setup, I was able to use Google backup to "restore" all of my Apps from my phone (running Android 4.4.2) onto the tablet. It then took some time for the apps to update themselves to the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop of the X10. I had read that Lolipop stuttered more than Kitkat (Android 4.4.2). I also read that Lollipop uses more RAM than Kitkat. Accordingly, I found that apps were slow to start, would hesitate, and stuttered. However, once an app loads the performance improves and things like radar images and pictures load quickly over wifi.
Meanwhile, I went into Developer Options and set the limit on Background Processes to four. I also set all three of the Animation settings to "off" too. App performance is better after the adjustments and the tablet is snappier overall. Meanwhile, I have emailed Tablet Express Support about the possibility of downgrading my X10 to Android 4.4 by booting into recovery mode and applying the image "X10-HT-PW-V1-AL-4.4-20151104" via the USB Tool downloaded from their website. The X10's low power ALLWinner A83T 8-core CPU does seem to be quite a lite battery sipper which seems to be a fair trade off for the CPU's less than stellar performance. I suspect this tablet would perform much better with 2GB RAM. Ultimately, the X10 may need to be Rooted and played with to maximize its potential, but that can wait for at least 30 days when its return window closes.
I have also ripped Blu-ray movies into H.264 .MP4 1366 x 768, 29.97fps format trying various BitRates (5,000-10,000) using Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate 4.8.6.6. All the ripped movies have played fine from my micro-SD card in the Dragon Touch. However, movies ripped at 7,000, 8,000, & 10,000 BitRates play and look the best on the X10. This tablet really excels at video playback.
The tablet's speakers are rather weak, but I use some inexpensive Bluetooth Earbuds which have great sound with with plenty of deep bass
YINENN-U Bluetooth 4.1 Sports In-Ear Wireless Stereo Headset With Mic And Magnetic For Smartphones & Tablets-Black
. The Bluetooth connection is strong and clear, and the tablet paired quickly and easily with my earbuds. The sound is so clear that I am able to hear all the subtle sound effects in movies. Some noise/hiss becomes apparent if I'm more than six feet from the X10; however, that could be the earbuds and not the tablet.
The rear 5MP camera takes reasonably good looking pictures, and the front 2MP is good enough for Skyping. However, I currently don't see myself using these features very often. Still they are nice to have and are better than the cameras, if any, found on other tablets in this price range.
I purchased a PU Leather Case for my Dragon Touch X10:
MoKo Dragon Touch X10 Case - Slim Folding Cover Case for Dragon Touch X10 10.6" Inch Octa Core Android Tablet, BLACK
. the case is nice and does not block the front camera like some do. I also installed a 64 GB micro-SD Card which the tablet recognized and mounted immediately:
Silicon Power 64GB up to 85MB/s MicroSDXC UHS-1 Class10, Elite Flash Memory Card with Adaptor (SP064GBSTXBU1V20SP)
Meanwhile, I also bought a tempered glass screen protector to see if it would fit the X10:
EXMAX® Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Tempered Glass Screen Protector 0.3mm 2.5D 9H Hardness Round Edge Screen Film Cover for Microsoft Surface Pro 2 10.6" - Shatterproof / Anti-Scratch / Anti-Fingerprint / Oil-Resistant
I removed the plastic screen protector that came pre-installed on the tablet. Next, I installed the tempered glass screen protector and its dimensions fit even the cutout for the camera. However, applying it revealed something about the X10's construction. A small line of bubbles all the way around the visible screen could not be eliminated after applying the glass. So, I removed the tempered glass and used a razor to lift a corner of the unit's black-bordered "glass"... Turns out the X10 has a plastic screen over a smaller IPS Glass display Panel inside. Consequently, installing a perfectly flat tempered glass screen protector over the X10's screen had revealed a very slight unevenness inherent in the tablets screen. I have left the tempered glass screen protector on the device, as I don't see the line of air around the screen. And, I like the feel and responsiveness of the glass compared to plastic screen protectors. The fact that the X10 has a plastic screen does not take away from the quality of the tablet. In fact, it probably makes the X10 less prone to breakage from falls or flexing, and it keeps the weight of the tablet down. Importantly, one should be sure to use the X10 with a screen protector; because its plastic screen can be more easily scratched.
Overall, I am very happy with the Dragon Touch X10. It does exactly what I was looking for it to do (watching movies & videos) and all at an unbeatable price. Plus, the Dragon Touch comes with a 1 year us warranty, and Tablet Express has in the US and has a good website.
| Standing screen display size | 10.6 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 1366x768 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1366 x 768 |
| Processor | 2 GHz cortex |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Hard Drive | 16 GB |
| Graphics Coprocessor | PowerVR |
| Chipset Brand | PowerVR |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11bgn |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 6 Hours |
