Screen backlight, burn-in and battery reporting issues

[Evil E.]

Chris G wrote:

Try this, hold the power button down for over 10 seconds. 15 to make sure. Plug it in and leave it for a good 4 hours or better overnight. If it fails to boot, try hold for 10 seconds, then 3-4 seconds, release and then 304 again. If you get nothing it’s dead. My Hi8 Pro is alive again after doing this. No too happy about this, I mean the Vi8 Plus is fine, the only difference is the screen right? And maybe a different bios is to blame.

I’ve tried it all, mate… With and without the power cable connected, with and without the volume buttons. Nothing works… I contacted the seller to see how they want to handle this from now on (still waiting on their reply). So this most likely means sending it back to China and I have to pay for it. And I already had to pay 30 euros customs import taxes on it to get my hands on it. Shipping back to China registered will cost me another 45 euros, I think… This PIECE OF CHUWI CRAP is starting to get real expensive……. 🙁 🙁 🙁 And this is the 2nd Chuwi that I need to send back to China (the other one was a Hi10 damaged during shipping).

The screen is higher resolution compared to the Vi8 Plus (1920×1200 pixels), but that’s why I wanted this tablet in the first place. I guess I’ll have to wait until Cube releases an 8 inch intel/Windows tablet with a Full HD screen…

[Chris G]

Not good, I’m going to post this on the main website as it seems the Hi8 Pro has this big issue Chuwi needs to fix. I might have to send mine back, It’s about 60 euros so not worth it. I can’t use normal post as they don’t accept batteries, I have to use DHL/Fedex or TNT, at a huge cost to me.

When it all goes well it great, however when we have troubles with these units it’s a pain in the arse. It’s the price we pay for getting Chinese tablets and playing the Chinese tablet lottery.

So far the Vi8 Plus is great, good thermals and all round great for the price. This however, is a disaster for now. Does anyone have a Hi8 Pro without any power issues below 35%?

Chris | Admin
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[Chris G]

Posted on the front page for the Hi8 pro buyers so they are aware of this issue. Just as soon as I did a got a mess from my Aliexpress seller:

Chris | Admin
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[Evil E.]

Chris, do you think that there is a possibility to force Chuwi to pay for return shipping of the dead tablets based on the fact that this is obviously a manufacturing error or (even worse) a design fault in the power circuitry ?

I also find it shocking that our support/warranty requests seem to be answered quite frequently with the standard reply of “we’ve informed Chuwi and they are working on a SOFTWARE solution“, as if these Chinese sellers don’t even bother properly reading what we write… I’ve had this exact same reply given to me for a tablet that arrived with a cracked display/glass. I’d LOVE to see how Chuwi fixes a cracked display/glass with nothing but a software update…

[Chris G]

It would be like getting blood out of a stone. They would just ignore it and no doubt tell us to deal with the seller. Aliexpress does this, cut and paste replies. Haha software update will fix a cracked screen, love to see that miracle.

After a full discharge and recharging my Hi Pro seems better, but I’m waiting to see what happens around 30-40% battery life mark if it will just power off again. At least, there is hope for mine if there is a bios update I can flash it, but for people that can’t power theirs on, it would have to be replaced. That sucks, I mean it was delayed. How could Chuwi not know of this issue? Was it even tested before release?

Chris | Admin
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[MDCool]

I got mine from gearbest. They are offering a refund if i post back otherwise only 20%… Mine is absolutely dead, doesn’t even charge, unresponsive plugged into the pc

[Evil E.]

Chris G wrote:

How could Chuwi not know of this issue? Was it even tested before release?

My guess is that Chuwi doesn’t properly test their products. Look at 2 of their latest products ( the Hi10 and Hi8 Pro) and the problems that buyers have with these devices, as evidenced by the posts in the forum here on Tech Tablets… Chuwi sure took their sweet time to fix that Hi8 Pro screen flicker issue before it was properly launched, for instance. Maybe the end-of-year sales period made them rush the Hi8 Pro and Hi10 design/development phase to be able to grab more money (at the cost of product quality and stability, which of course now shows its ugly head)…

I can only think of 2 reasons why these problems occur in these tablets :
(1) Incompetent engineers who don’t know how to design a properly functioning power delivery circuit for a tablet/battery
(2) Chuwi’s top management instructing their engineers to take shortcuts to save time and money at the cost of quality

or even worse : both…

[gmelchett]

I’ve had a Hi8 Pro for about a week. After first charging, it went off at 53% battery. After second charging, turned off on about the same level. Otherwise I’m pretty happy with what I got for about $100. The screen is really good, and it feels quite fast.

A bit annoying was that it came with a user added – “john” and in Chinese. (bought mine from eud.dx.com)

[Alex]

I sent mine back to DX. I ordered at DX EU so the address is located in the UK. Got a full refund and also shipping costs are reimbursed. Good luck with your Chuwi. Hopefully there will be a solution for all of you.

[Chris G]

My latest issues, the screen is all messed up. @evil-e I think it’s both, clearly they knew it had issues but just pushed it out as it was delayed countless times. I must say thumbs up to Banggood, one of the only online retailers that refused to sell it. They are waiting for the fixed batch, unlike my Aliexpress seller that sold me my POS hi8 Pro. At least, I’m spreading the word about the Hi8 Pro and how it’s a broken tablet to save others the hassle.

Don’t buy this model. I’m lucky my Hi10 is fine, but mine is the second or 3rd  fixed batch. I got lucky.

Chris | Admin
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[Evil E.]

Chris G wrote:

My latest issues, the screen is all messed up. @evil-e I think it’s both, clearly they knew it had issues but just pushed it out as it was delayed countless times.

I’m sure that Chuwi knew about this. They held back the Hi8 Pro for 1-2 months because of the screen issues, and now we have video evidence that it still isn’t properly solved. And I’m guessing that Chuwi knew about the power problems as well…
My Hi8 Pro is on its way back to China (as is my Hi10) to be repaired or replaced with a properly working batch model (hopefully the latter).

I do know 1 thing : I’m not buying any more Chuwi crap, that’s for sure… 🙁 🙁 🙁

[Chris G]

Shame as my Hi10 is fine and so is the Hi12. But it can happen to any unit, bad batch etc. The Chinese don’t have QC like western known brands. Chuwi really messed up the Hi10 on launch and this Hi8 Pro.

Chris | Admin
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[Vedran]

Let’s put things here a bit in a perspective: I (and presumably others reading this forum) have bought a tablet with licensed Windows 10 Home for the price of 5 burger + beer sets at Shake Shack.

Most of your friends will stare blankly if you tell them you got a Chuwi. Or they will say “Chewie? Like Chewbacca?”.

This is not Surface Pro/Book or Vaio Z Canvas. I am actually happy it turns on at all. Okay, so I need to shortly press power button if the right side of the screen is messed up. Sure, I can do that. It’s obvious that this is a software issue. And it will go away eventually when they figure it out. I, for one, rather have Hi 8 Pro now with occasional battery and screen issue that I can work around, than having Chuwi engineers solving all this mess and delaying the release.

[Chris G]

Yes I understand where you’re coming from. It’s a $88 dollar tablet and I always have stated it’s a tablet lottery as to whether you get a perfect unit or not. But I’m going to have to disagree with you here, because of their track record on previous models. They got it right on the Vi8 Plus, Hi8, Vi8 & Hi12 etc etc.

But they knew this Hi8 Pro model had issues, delayed it many weeks due to this. But then decided just to release it anyway knowing it has issues? My unit is always having the screen half distorted when booting up, and trouble powering it on. I’m disputing it with Aliexpress now to get a replacement when the new fixed batch is out.

Chris | Admin
Please support us and help keep TechTablets online. Affiliate revenue is used to pay for the server, studio apartment (Techtablets HQ) and buy new tech to review. Without it, this site would be dead.
Next up for review:
Ordered and waiting for my: BMAX S15 & Teclast F6 Plus
Currently testing: LG G8X & Redmi K30

[gmelchett]

 

My hi8 pro battery problems magically disappeared. It used to die at above 50%, so I got into habit to charge it quite frequently. Last week I forgot and it was fully functional at 9%. I’ve not updated the bios, the only updates I’ve installed are windows updates from Microsoft.

 

[Author]

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