Plan to buy a onda v919 core m

[Anonymous]

Hey Jose,

I own two V919 Core-M and I like them.  I am not suggesting you buy  this tablet but I thought I would let you know a bit about it as to help you make up your own mind.  I should let you know that I have never tested the 3G and I don’t play graphic intensive games. I never really had the issues that other had.

Here are a few things you may like to know.

1. The tablet is a bit thicker than an Ipad Air so not all the Ipad cases will fit. I found a Belkin case that works well.
2. The glass covering the screen is not Gorilla or even tempered glass so I bought a glass screen protector off Aliexpress
3. The battery lasts as long as other Chinese tablets which is good considering the how powerful the CPU is.
4. This is probably the fastest 9.7 ” Android / Windows tablet you will find. It scores 101,000 in Antutu.
5. They are dual boot.
6. Both tablets came with pirated versions of Windows 10. So I ended up buying licenses for both.  You can find licenses for about $50 USD on the web.
7. The version of Android is 5.0.1. I posted a link to a debloated / Rooted / Playservices version in another post on this forum. It runs well but don’t expect Onda to update the firmware to a  newer  version of Android.
8. The tablet is heavier than other tablets its size but the extra processing power makes it a small sacrifice.
9. As a good rule you should never buy a first version (first release) of any Chinese tablets. You should give them time to work the bugs out.  I own a  version one and a version three of this tablet and the third version has slightly better build quality. So if you decide to buy this tablet then request a version that is three or higher.
10. Buying a Chinese tablet can be a big pain in the ass. If possible, pay more and buy a name brand.  It may be cheaper in the long run.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Mr Dasher

 

[Mike Murley]

I bought one from Amazon (seller Domnitree but Fulfilled by Amazon) – it arrived yesterday and am returning it today.  It shipped from the US.

1. The Android installation was a full Chinese installation.  Once I converted the language, there were no apparent Google services (Play Store, GMail, etc.).  When I tried to install the Play Store, the tablet said it was already there (Chinese version?) when I tried the most likely app (than God for the camera translate feature in Google Translate), it tried to update, but couldn’t and froze (and it was in Chinese).  Short of flashing a new ROM, it was useless.
2. The Android 5.0.1 install was filled with unremovable Chinese bloatware (that stayed Chinese after the system language switch).  To remove it, you’d have to root it and some people say the Onda ROM is already rooted and that bricks it.  I don’t know.
3. The Windows 10 install was in English (as the seller promised), but it was not a legal install (the hacker tool KMSpico ‘authorization tool’ was active and some people say that’s spyware).  So, I would have had to buy a Win10 license to be legit.
4. On the dual boot screen, the touch screen was unresponsive / uncalibrated.  To select an OS to boot from I needed to use a connected mouse.

To recap, for the price, I would have had to (1) flash a new Android RoM and (2) reinstall Win10 and buy a license.  Since I paid way too much for the next day convenience and return policy protection of Amazon, that was not worth it.

AS A FURTHER WARNING:  Just assume that if you buy one from China, even if the Android install is a real Google services install like the one on the Teclast X98 Air 3G I bought and not filled with unknown, useless (outside of China) apps, the chances are high it will have a Win10 Home Single Language (Chinese) installation – which means you can’t change the display / system language from Simplified Chinese (PRC) and will have to install a localized Win10 to get your desired language.  And probably have to buy a key (unless you have one).

So, be prepared.

[Anonymous]

I agree that having to buy a Windows license is a pain and for the price of the tablet. Plus you have to do a clean install to remove the Chinese. But there are many posts in this forum regarding other Chinese tablets having cracked licenses so it appears to be very common.  I also bought a Cube i7 that also had a pirated version of Windows. In the end I got my Windows 10 pro license online for 50 USD which isn’t too much of a sacrifice for having the fastest dual boot 9.7″ tablet currently on the market.

If you want to buy it then definitely go through Amazon for sure. I would have.

If I want to select an OS at boot I use the  volume controls to move up and down or use the software switches in each O/S.

I have posted a link in this forum to a modified firmware ( that I created ) that has no Chinese software and is rooted and has Google services installed. Very easy to install. I have done two of my own V919’s and three of my friends. It takes about 5 min

As I mentioned previously, the negatives for me are that it’s a bit heavy and there is plain glass protecting the screen so you definitely need to buy a tempered glass screen protector.

But you gotta love the 101,000 Antutu score.

In the end, if you don’t want to risk being being even the slightest bit inconvenienced then definetly don’t buy this tablet. In fact stay away from the Chinese tablets all together. Buy a brand name from a local supplier. That’s how i am going to buy my next tablet (maybe the new Samsung 12″)  Also you may want to hold off buying any Core M based tablet because the next generation is starting to be released.

 

[Mike Murley]

The difference being that if you buy it from China (banggoods.com) at $179 (USD) and understand that you are basically buying hardware, that’s fine – but to spend $400 on one (as I did from Amazon for convenience / return policy) and then have to flash the Android ROM and reinstall Win10 and buy a license is unacceptable.

 

[Anonymous]

I definitely agree that if you purchased this tablet on Amazon then you shouldn’t have to deal with these isssues.  That’s one of the reasons to buy from Amazon. Though I have been hosed in the past with counterfeit items from Amazon it’s always easy to get your money back. My point is that if you can get over the higher cost (  The Core M on Banggood is 365.00 USD. ) and know the caviots then the V919 Core M is a good and very fast tablet. For that reason I own two.

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