PIPO X9, a tablet and TV box hybrid.

I've already posted two reviews of mini PCs from PIPO, but this one is more of a “hybrid”—not only in terms of its OS, like the PIPO X7S, but also in its design, since this mini PC has a screen.
This mini PC isn't new, though; it's an improved version of its predecessor, the PIPO X8.
Let's see what it inherited from its predecessors.

When the previous model came out, people asked me whether I was going to review it.
But when I saw the new version, my interest came back, so I ordered one for a review.
And of course, what review would be complete without a teardown, some “modding,” and analysis? We'll have it all :)

As they say, you judge a book by its cover. In this case, I started with the box, and couldn't help noticing that this time they finally got the packaging right.
Previously, it was designed so that you had to turn the box around to open it, leaving the picture on it “upside down.” Of course, it's a minor thing and doesn't really mean anything, but I made a mental note of it :)



The back of the box lists a few key features and notes that this version has 32GB of flash storage (there's also a 64GB version) and a black case.
The translation “Opreaционная система” gave me a bit of a laugh :)
The packaging is pretty basic, and a good part of the box is empty. The mini PC itself was also wrapped in a soft plastic bag, and a small piece of foam protects the screen.
The box was a little dented at the corners, but everything arrived intact, at least on the outside.


And here's everything in the box. PIPO's package contents have been just as sparse in the past: the computer, power supply, warranty card, and a small piece of paper with no obvious purpose. That's it.
No cables, adapters, or anything like that.


The only things on the warranty card that were more or less legible were the model name, PIPO X9, and a couple of other words. The rest was entirely in Chinese, so I don't see any point in posting a photo. Let's move straight on to the power supply.
The included power supply is exactly the same as in the previous versions, except this time it has a more familiar plug, so there's no need for adapters. That's a nice touch.
I had no complaints about this power supply before, either. It barely heats up; during normal operation it's just slightly warm to the touch, around 35 degrees.


Since there were no other accessories in the box, we'll skip the “foreplay” and move on to the computer.
Judging by its looks alone, I'd say it's excellent. Black case, black screen—it looks pretty good in its own way.
The case is a fairly large box, with its top surface sloping down toward the front. The screen is mounted on the top panel.


There's a Windows button in the center at the front. It's actually mirrored, but the photo stubbornly refused to show it the way it really looks.


The screen is glossy, so it's very difficult to photograph because it reflects just about everything :)
But it looks fine, perhaps because the case is black. I think it would look noticeably worse with a light-colored case, although if you're trying to match it to your interior, two colors might not be enough.


The screen is protected by two films: a shipping film and the main one. The shipping film seems a little thicker than the main one.
I later removed the shipping film and left only the main one.


The right side of the case has the controls (power and volume buttons), a pair of full-size USB ports, and a 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones or an amplifier.
One of the built-in speakers and the power indicator LED are also on the right side.


The first surprise was that the volume controls work the wrong way around.
That is, the markings on the buttons are correct, but logically, pressing the button away from you should turn the volume up, and pressing it toward you should turn it down. The power button is also upside down: the icon would normally have the little bar at the top.
You could assume it was designed for portrait orientation, in which case everything would line up (that's how it was on my tablet), but this device has a pretty obvious intended orientation.


There's nothing on the left side except the speaker.
As for the sound, it's just about good enough to say it works. You can watch the news, another YouTube unboxing, or listen to Windows sounds, but it's not suitable for quality audio playback.
There are no high frequencies to speak of, and the bass is very weak. The case volume could allow for pretty decent sound, but the speakers are really underpowered. I even thought my tablet sounded better.


The rear panel.
This is where most of the ports are, the ones that are usually left connected all the time.
microSD card slot
Two full-size USB ports.
An HDMI port for connecting a monitor or TV. The manufacturer didn't try to reinvent the wheel here and used a proper full-size port, which is a plus. This is definitely more reliable than the Mini and Micro versions.
An Ethernet port, which is very useful, but unfortunately it's only 100 Mbps, though that's more than enough for most uses.
And the power jack. This computer runs on 12 V, something I've only seen in devices from this manufacturer so far.

There's also a WiFi antenna and a Reset button on the back (just to the left of the memory card slot).


When you turn it on, you can choose what to boot. This menu is standard for devices with two operating systems.
If you don't make a selection, it automatically boots the OS that was used last.


Since Windows is more familiar to me, I decided to start with it, especially since Windows 10 was already installed, and I'd never used it before.
Judging by the fact that I wasn't asked to choose a system language or enter the name of the future user, the computer had been tested.


Tablet mode is enabled by default. The difference from Windows 8.1 is clear: that booted to the “tiles,” while this has a combined screen with both the “tiles” and the taskbar visible at the same time.
The camera flash washed out the screen a little in the photo; in reality, it's brighter and the colors are more vivid.


The description claimed it had an IPS panel, and I can confirm that’s true: the viewing angles are excellent.
You could say the image is viewable from any angle.
Photos don’t really do it justice, of course, but I was pleased with the panel.
The only thing some people might take issue with is that the panel has a resolution of 1920x1200 on an 8.9-inch diagonal.
In fact, it uses exactly the same screen as the Onda V891W tablet, which I’ve already reviewed.
It came with some quite pleasant wallpaper, even appropriate for the season.


As I mentioned above, the difference between Windows 8.1 and 10 is noticeable right from the start.
Although this isn’t a review of the operating system, I’ll still say a few words about it along the way, especially since I liked it.
I think some of you know that Microsoft has a habit of releasing a good operating system every other time. I really liked Windows 7, so now it’s Windows 10’s turn :)
In this version, the familiar taskbar is back from the start, so there’s no need to switch to desktop mode to get it.
I’d call this a more convenient approach.
By the way, Windows 10 brings back the built-in games, which some users will be happy about :)



Well, I think that’s enough for a brief description of the new OS. I’ll move on to the tests now.
Or, more accurately, the first part of the tests.

In my opinion, the overheating situation has improved noticeably since the PIPO X7 and X7S. The computer overheats less, which made me even more curious to take it apart and see what they had changed.
While I was at it, I decided to make a few modifications.



Let’s repeat the temperature and performance tests.

Since there was «no significant improvement», I decided to make a second modification.


After finishing all the experiments, I continued testing the computer.
Since the device has an HDMI port, I naturally wanted to see how it would work with an external monitor.
I connected my work LG monitor with a resolution of 1920x1080 and tried the two main modes:
1. Duplicate mode: in this mode, the computer's display resolution dropped to 1920x1080 to match the monitor with the lower resolution.
2. Extended desktop mode: there were no problems here, since each monitor runs at its native resolution in this mode.


I liked that the Start button and taskbar are duplicated on both monitors.


And then I decided to make the test a little more demanding.
For the test, I played a 4K video file with a bitrate of 100 Mbps, displayed it on an external monitor, and checked the CPU load. Let's just say I was surprised: the video played smoothly, while the total CPU load was only 10–15%.
I also tried a 6K video, but that didn't work out: there was no picture in the built-in Windows 10 player, and everything stuttered in MPC-HC :(.


During all these checks, modifications, and experiments, I completely forgot that this computer has two operating systems :))
Let's move on to Android
There's nothing new I can show here, since it runs Android 4.4.4, which many users are already familiar with.


I'll hide the remaining test screenshots, the dual-monitor mode test, and my comments under a spoiler.

A number of apps are preinstalled. I didn't find anything worth mentioning separately.
During testing, I didn't run into any problems installing apps, but I did encounter some issues updating them. At first I blamed the Wi-Fi, but the same problems occurred over a wired connection. The download would simply freeze; I couldn't figure out why.


The quick-access menu lets you switch to the second OS, naturally by doing a full reboot again, but this time automatically.


I checked performance with several benchmarks.




I even managed to install AnTuTu X. This version is said to give more accurate results.
The computer kept rotating the screen, though.


The video format support test was a real disappointment.



Synthetic benchmark of performance in various apps
This one also ran in portrait orientation, and disabling auto-rotate didn't help.




3DMark


There were also some issues with a dual-monitor setup.
Everything worked fine in desktop mode, and the 1920x1080 resolution was set automatically.


But things got a lot less interesting after that.
The first photo isn't directly related to dual-monitor mode, but it shows that the image on the 1920x1080 screen isn't displayed quite correctly (or at least that's how it looks to me).
The photo shows the progress bar for installing an update, and you can clearly see that part of the bar is shifted by one pixel. This often means the image isn't being displayed at the native resolution (pixel for pixel), although I haven't noticed this problem in applications.

Next, I tested Full HD video output to two monitors.
2. Since the screens have different resolutions, I ran into a few problems. When I tried adjusting the display mode (I chose to stretch the image across the entire screen), it displayed correctly horizontally but incorrectly vertically.
3. The computer's own screen, however, displayed everything perfectly.
4. When I tried setting the image width and height manually, I got the full desktop on both monitors. But when I tried playing a video, it displayed correctly but was shifted down, beyond the edge of the screen.

All in all, I couldn't get the second monitor working properly :(
Also, when I played a video with the extra monitor connected, the computer's own screen turned off after about 5 seconds. But I think this is probably not a bug, but that infamous copyright protection.

By the way, when two monitors are connected, the OS selection menu at startup appears on the extra monitor.



That's it for the tests and descriptions. Finally, I measured power consumption from the mains. At maximum load and 100% screen brightness, it was 10 W. After accounting for the power supply's efficiency, the computer itself uses about 8.5-9 W.

In this case, it's hard to list the pros and cons separately, so I'll try to approach it a little differently.

Hardware
The engineers clearly listened to requests to improve cooling. They haven't finished the job, but it's noticeably better than on the X7 series. Still, it overheats under a sustained 100% load, and there's no hiding that. A modification can almost completely eliminate the problem.
They added an accelerometer but removed the fifth USB port. Personally, I wish they'd kept things as they were on the X7S.
For some reason, they reversed the volume buttons, just like the temperature adjustment buttons on my soldering station.
I really liked the high-quality display panel: the image is sharp and vivid, and the viewing angles are excellent.
A resolution of 1920x1200 on an 8.9-inch screen is both a pro and a con. I'd say it's a matter of personal preference. I like it, for example, but I'm nearsighted and can see small icons perfectly, so it's convenient for me. However, hitting small menu items at this resolution is difficult.
As for the sound, the best you can say is that it's there. You can watch a TV series or the news, and you can listen to music, in principle (I've been using this computer as an Internet radio for a couple of days), but the quality is poor, mainly because there's no treble.
Wi-Fi performance is average. The connection is stable, but the reception isn't particularly sensitive.
I liked that there's plenty of free space inside the case, both for improving the cooling and for various other modifications.
It's good that PIPO's engineers decided not to replace the full-size HDMI connector with one of the smaller versions.

Windows.
Honestly, I liked it. It works great. I had no complaints during the entire testing period: nothing froze or lagged. Video output is completely correct (pixel for pixel) on both the main and extra monitors. The Windows 10 interface was also a pleasant surprise, with its more thoughtful design.
The only real downside is the limited free space on the flash drive, so it's better to get the 64 GB version.

Android.
From the moment Android started up until I switched back to Windows, a line from the movie Kin-dza-dza! kept going around in my head: “We don't need a violinist.”
I got the impression that Android is unnecessary on this device. I'm not saying it's all bad—no, almost everything works, and the performance test results are quite good (except for the video format test). But there's a persistent sense that something is a bit off, whether it's sound problems or video output to the second monitor.
All in all, my impression of Android was the complete opposite of my impression of Windows. I don't want to offend those who prefer Android, but that's how it is on this computer.

A little about what this device is best suited for.
For some reason, I kept thinking of uses that weren't quite domestic. These ranged from using it in offices or schools for video presentations with a projector connected, to almost industrial applications.
One possibility is video and audio systems for retail spaces.
As a home computer, it probably wouldn't be very convenient, mainly because of the small screen and limited portability.
All in all, it's a pretty good, but niche, device.

That seems to be everything. I'll be happy to answer questions, hear suggestions for additional tests, or just read your comments.

The product was provided by the store for review.