Three owner videos have been posted to Youku in China highlighting problems with the Chuwi V88.
At least two of these problems are potential deal-breakers.
For those who aren’t patient enough to sit through three Chinese-language videos, I’ve done screensnaps and will explain the problems.
These screensnaps aren’t of the highest quality because I’ve not yet found a way to rip Youku videos to play locally (several methods recommended on the Net don’t work). Click any snap to enlarge.
First, a rare view of the Chuwi V88 screen in portrait:
Unlike the Onda V818, Chuwi left Android mostly unmolested. No custom launcher, no change to the bottom navbar. That is good.
Now the bad.
Problem one: Protruding buttons.
Wow, the On/Off and Volume buttons really stick out! That could be a problem when carrying it in a bag or using a case. Could it be turned on accidentally? Update Wednesday May 1, 2013: A Commenter states the owner is actually talking about the buttons being plastic and not how they protrude. They still seem to stick out too much to me.
Problem two: The microSD card protrudes.
That is bad. Very, very bad. How could Chuwi have let that happen? The protruding buttons are one thing. But imagine having a 64GB microSD card and it popped out either in a bag or while using it outside. Who wants to risk losing a whopping 64GBs of data? Seriously, Chuwi couldn’t have found another two millimeters to sink the microSD card?
Problem three: Case fit.
That’s supposedly a case — albeit a fugly one — designed for the V88. Um, wut? If you watch the video, you’ll see the case covers the entire front of the unit. Which makes no sense. If you can’t access the controls at all, what’s the point of leaving clearance for the camera and the speaker? Again: Um, wut?
Problem four: Bad video centering.
I understand what’s happening there. Chuwi’s software (and it seems to be their bundled player, although I can’t be sure) isn’t including the bottom navbar in the vertical centering calculation. AnTuTu also tends to do that, reporting the screen as not being a full 1024 x 768. This problem can be fixed with a firmware update. It’s annoying to see it happen, however. Attention to detail is what makes a company world-class. This is just sloppy.
And those are the problems. The microSD card really bothers me and could be a deal-breaker.
Now for something brilliant that Chuwi did!
In Settings, tap on that (it has a checkmark, indicating it’s already selected here):
And BAM! The navbar gains a camera icon for screensnaps!
And I love the way it indicates a snap has been taken:
Bravo to Chuwi for that!
So before any “official” reviews have appeared, we have an owner pointing out problems. It will now be very interesting to see if any of the “official” reviews even mention what he’s pointed out.
Same-day update: Whoops! I left out something!
That’s the screen assembly issue mentioned in this earlier post. It’s something that many Chinese tablets suffer from but it’s still no excuse. The top is slightly warped and you can actually pinch a gap shut, as shown in the snap. So, if you intend to be an early buyer of the Chuwi V88, you might have to settle for that unless you like shipping things back and forth to China!
Now here are his three videos. With a bonus! A fourth video — thirteen minutes long — by someone else demonstrating several large games being played on the V88.
Previously here:
iPad Mini Clone Chuwi V88 Gets Unboxed, Nano-Fondled
iPad Mini Clone Chuwi V88 Benchmarked
Chuwi Makes CPU Speed Claims
ebay Seller Seeks Suckers With Money To Waste
Guide To Chinese iPad Mini Clones
Mike Cane’s xBlog 
They are not pointing out the buttons stick out, but why did they use plastic buttons as these are not elegant.
Ah. And yet the buttons do also stick out.
hello do you know if the sd card pop up fixed or still not. plus ive read that the chuwi v88 have 4200mah is it true?
So far, all we have is this report of the microSD card slot. While it’s possible he has a defective unit, the design works against that possibility. The battery info I have says it’s 5,000mAh. Where did you read differently?
I live in London and just received mine yesterday. Purchased from Merimobiles, which I wouldn’t recommend others do. Customer Services is poor at best, in terms of service, correspondence and clarity. Poor Sino-anglo translations notwithstanding.
On the whole, however, the tablet’s great. Well constructed, fast, responsive (1GB version though–bloody Merimobiles), light, great battery life, nice screen. A few niggles though:
1.) The volume rocker’s the wrong way around. Up is down and down is up.
2.) Wifi turns off once you turn the screen off and doesn’t restart automatically when you turn the tablet on again.
3.)Not sure if it’s just me, but my battery won’t charge up. I’m heading out later to see if a replacement charger will solve the problem. I wish it could charge via USB.
As a result of the battery situation (I used up the battery downloading apps) I haven’t had a chance to really test the tablet.
I hope you will keep us posted about this. Thanks for letting everyone know.
Hi, I went to Maplins, bought a replacement charger (an additional £20). Now the battery recharges. Phew, I was worried that I’d have to send back the tablet as faulty.
The problem was that the charger they sent with the tablet is underpowered. The battery in the Cuwi V88 is a 5V-2A affair. The charger they sent with the tablet works at 2.7V-1A.
However, despite sending a woefully underpowered charger, they did very kindly send along a UK adaptor in the box.
Having played with it for a couple of days now, and considering the bargain price, I’m very happy with the purchase and would recommend it.
There are a few instances when it freezes, or takes a while with loading a webpage on Chrome, but I’m sure a firmware update (or a root) will fix these problems.
On the whole, the user experience is great, Android runs very smoothly and so do apps and games.
Videos run well and most apps work, though not BBC iPlayer or GTA Vice City (neither did my Nexus 7 though). The screen is pretty good and has a high level of brightness.
The speaker is not the loudest, but clear, although I prefer headphones anyway.
The ports (audio, HDMI, USB, DC) work, but aren’t the best-designed as the aluminium can be rough and grating in places.
The camera and mic work fine, not the best quality, but good for a Skype.
The battery is amazing. Having such a large battery was one of the reasons I chose this tablet over the competition. The only annoyance is being stuck having to use a DC charger, I’d much prefer being able to charge with a USB cable. It’s not a huge concern though, as even with heavy usage, you’ll easily get a day out of it.
Bluetooth works as expected and is a very nice touch. Another of the reasons I chose this tablet.
Wifi is working fine for me now. Stable, good range and straightforward to connect.
The only thing about the Chuwi V88 that really annoys me, but hasn’t affected me yet (touch wood), is the MicroSD card slot. When plugged in, the card protrudes by a millimeter or two and this could easily be a dealbreaker for some. It could be fatal for my tablet if I ever lose data. I really hope I can find a case that negates this unforgivable design flaw.
I’m making your two Comments into a post so they’re more prominent and can help others decide. It’d be great if you could answer questions there in Comments so we have everything in one place. Thanks.
Ian , I really wait for your review!
I would like to buy one V88, but I want to know what happend with battery issue, and of course the microSD card protrudes.
Could you please can post something about it?
I await your comments.
Regards,
I recieved this tablet today and the touchscreen doesn’t work at all. BEWARE. Make sure your seller tests the touchscreen so you’re not screwed like me.
That’s happened with someone else. Not sure if it was an Onda, Ramos or Chuwi. Yeah, the seller should pre-test for things like that. I hope you can get a working one and will check back if/when you do.
Has anyone found a download of Chuwi’s newest firmware for this tablet? I’m hoping my touchscreen problems are due to my older firmware.
Huh. Very odd that it’s not on Chuwi’s firmware page. Google English:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=zh-CN&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chuwi.com%2F
http://kuai.xunlei.com/d/POSyBwMwqAA6LXpR693
It would have helped if you had explained what that link is. Is it for the Chuwi V88 firmware? Google Translate is no help. It looks like a Dropbox-like site.
Lance, this an info that I found. I hope it help you.
http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/72073-chuwi-v88-firmware-files-and-upgrade-procedure/
Regards,
Sorry, I was in a rush. That’s the firmware the admin posted on chuwi’s official forum (as I kinda guessed through Goggle English translation). The flashing tool contains a virus, so I used Rocktools 1.6 I had previously downloaded. But Andrea’s option from slatedroid looks even better :)
Lance, for what I read the problem is not the software, is basically an unconnected ribbon.
I think this is for you:
http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/72001-fix-touch-screen-not-working/
Regards,
I realize that this dates from May 2013, but I just stumbled across it and have some input. I have had my V88 since Fathers’ Day – so three months as of this posting. The first three potential “deal breakers” are all rectified with the proper case. If you compare the dimensions of the V88 to those of the iPad mini, you’ll find they are all (width, thickness and length) within millimeters of each other. So most, if not all, iPad mini cases work well. I’ve found this one works particularly well, is quite inexpensive and solves all three of your top “deal breaker” issues:
eBay – 2-Fold Lichi PU Leather Foldable iPad Mini Case $6.99 free shipping
Tmart – Super Lightweight PU Leather Foldable iPad Mini Case $7.37 free shipping
Chuwi V88 is craptasticly made by a 3 year old child like workmanship ! I bought one from Dinodirect and it took over 45 days to arrive. And I have to say it is by far the worst piece of garbage ever made besides Trio tablets. For starters the glass screen is loosely glued down to case so the edges constantly pop up and when you use it like touching screen it makes a crunch noise because it pops back in and out constantly. The backlight is LED backlit and has shadows of dark areas, totally inconsistent quality control. Also the touch screen is often unresponsive, often it will not respond to touch at all !!!. Even my cheapest Android tablet responds 100% better but also is made better, so price is not always better.
To say that I will never buy another Chuwi product is an understatement. Total and complete waste of my money and time.
Unresponsive touchscreen sounds like the connector is loose — especially based on your other comments about its poor construction. You could try to salvage some of your money by opening it to firmly attach the touchscreen connector. Google — others have done this and done photos. Maybe a YouTube video too. Good luck.
I have a different problem, hope you can help. My chuwi worked perfectly fine Last night but when I woke up it didn’t open, at first I thought needed to charge it and I left it for charging for like 5 hours and then I thought something was wrong I searched on the internet and it said leave it for charging for a day, I tried that too but….. Can u help?!?!!?!?
It might need to be opened to disconnect the battery and reconnect it. That’s another fix I’ve heard of.
Hola, mi problema es diferente, no se si alguien me podrá ayudar, mi hijo puso contraseña y la ha olvidado, ¿alguien sabe cómo desbloquearla?? me estoy volviendo loca, gracias de antemano.
Translation:
Hello, my problem is different, do not know if anyone can help me, my son put password and have now forgotten, does anyone know how to unlock ?? I’m going crazy, thanks in advance.