Whats your BIG Chromecast idea? More potential than a "traditional" A/V streamer?
So I've seen many people, developers and users alike, swarming the ideas of the expected basic usages of this wonderful device.
Examples: Out-of-Box expected usage (streaming from qualified providers), mirrored A/V from PC/Phone/Tablet, other connectivity proof of concepts (IE: emulators), ect…
So my question is: What's your big idea to extend the usage of this device beyond "traditional" implementation?
I’ll start by sharing mine (actually 2 product idea’s, that could become 1 at some point in time).
1. All-in-one media station. Taking the concept of a HTPC/XBMC build, and extending it to have the Chromcast as the “presenter”, and the PC/Phone/Tablet as the “remote”. The software package would include a “media server” run on a compatible PC on the same network, accompanied by the “remote” app on the Phone/Tablet (web-based control for PC remote).
I intend to also include the ability to queue/control presentation files such as PPT, PDF, ect… I’d like to have the package useful to both home and business clients/users.
One of my favorite parts of this idea resides in the remote app. Upon selection of the media you intend to cast, use a 2-finger up gesture to begin casting (makes me think of the scene in IronMan2 when he takes over the monitors in the courtroom by using a similar gesture on his “phone”, lol) It’s the little things that get me excited haha.
2. A home automation/security media point. On demand or automated view of automation/security enabled objects in your environment. Example: You have a security system with camera’s in your home, specifically, one is mounted at your front door. Someone appears at your door (motion-trigger), and/or rings the doorbell (another available trigger). HDMI-CEC enabled TV’s would switch the input to the Chromcast and display the camera at your front door.
My brain begins to hurt as all the possibilities for automation and security integration pile up. But hopefully, you get the point.
I’d love to hear from some of the other inventive people on this forum, and interested in the Chromcast. Again, what’s your idea?
Android stick with a BT android remote with cheapcast
Low power consumption httpd, ircd, VPN, or ssh.
Sent from my One true love.
The one thing I'd love to see the chromecast do is be able to connect directly to my phone and use it's 4g for streaming. I would figure something like this should be possible since it's basically what it does during initial setup.
Due to the layout of where I work (big concrete building), I get great signal with my phone in the window, but no signal anywhere else. i'd love to be able to plug the chromecast into the tv during breaks and stream from the phone.
evelbug said:
The one thing I'd love to see the chromecast do is be able to connect directly to my phone and use it's 4g for streaming. I would figure something like this should be possible since it's basically what it does during initial setup.
Due to the layout of where I work (big concrete building), I get great signal with my phone in the window, but no signal anywhere else. i'd love to be able to plug the chromecast into the tv during breaks and stream from the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No during initial setup the chromecast generates its own wifi hostpost. Ofcourse this hotspot has no internet access and so would be useless for anything but setting up.
But why not make a hotspot with your phone? That would do the same thing.
I just want miracast support
Chromecast ideas
Chromecast supports multiple connections so could do things like a card game where player cards need to be private. The screen shows the playing field and each player sees just their cards on phone/tablet/computer. Is a simple example but there may be other uses to have multiple game play or interaction to same screen.
Chromecast and DIAL protocol are free to license so could be put into any consumer electronics device - SmartTV, refrigerators, home thermostat, etc.
xenokc said:
Chromecast supports multiple connections so could do things like a card game where player cards need to be private. The screen shows the playing field and each player sees just their cards on phone/tablet/computer. Is a simple example but there may be other uses to have multiple game play or interaction to same screen.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is quite an awesome idea! Granted, I see it as a similar setup that the WiiU has tried to do with some of their games. And MS also with the "second screen" for xbox and such.
But why shouln't google get in on this tech as well? I'm very interested to start investigating this idea myself. Mind if I borrow your idea xenokc? lol
Unholyfire said:
That is quite an awesome idea! Granted, I see it as a similar setup that the WiiU has tried to do with some of their games. And MS also with the "second screen" for xbox and such.
But why shouln't google get in on this tech as well? I'm very interested to start investigating this idea myself. Mind if I borrow your idea xenokc? lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go for it!
Unholyfire said:
So I've seen many people, developers and users alike, swarming the ideas of the expected basic usages of this wonderful device.
Examples: Out-of-Box expected usage (streaming from qualified providers), mirrored A/V from PC/Phone/Tablet, other connectivity proof of concepts (IE: emulators), ect…
So my question is: What's your big idea to extend the usage of this device beyond "traditional" implementation?
I’ll start by sharing mine (actually 2 product idea’s, that could become 1 at some point in time).
1. All-in-one media station. Taking the concept of a HTPC/XBMC build, and extending it to have the Chromcast as the “presenter”, and the PC/Phone/Tablet as the “remote”. The software package would include a “media server” run on a compatible PC on the same network, accompanied by the “remote” app on the Phone/Tablet (web-based control for PC remote).
I intend to also include the ability to queue/control presentation files such as PPT, PDF, ect… I’d like to have the package useful to both home and business clients/users.
One of my favorite parts of this idea resides in the remote app. Upon selection of the media you intend to cast, use a 2-finger up gesture to begin casting (makes me think of the scene in IronMan2 when he takes over the monitors in the courtroom by using a similar gesture on his “phone”, lol) It’s the little things that get me excited haha.
2. A home automation/security media point. On demand or automated view of automation/security enabled objects in your environment. Example: You have a security system with camera’s in your home, specifically, one is mounted at your front door. Someone appears at your door (motion-trigger), and/or rings the doorbell (another available trigger). HDMI-CEC enabled TV’s would switch the input to the Chromcast and display the camera at your front door.
My brain begins to hurt as all the possibilities for automation and security integration pile up. But hopefully, you get the point.
I’d love to hear from some of the other inventive people on this forum, and interested in the Chromcast. Again, what’s your idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#1 will be done when Plex enables Chromecast functionality.
Hi guys,
I just wanted to let you know that my app is already out for a while now and I still haven't posted about it here.
Maybe some Chromecast owners could find it useful
This is Screen Stream Mirroring, it allows you to fully mirror your Android device to Chromecast, media players, web browsers, Chromecast, online broadcast...
Mirroring feature to Chromecast is out for a while, it was out even before Google announced their Mirroring feature
The app works from Android 4.0, and gives high quality results from Android 4.3 or higher.
Fo now for Chromecast the issue there is compared to other targets is that there is few seconds of delay introduced by Chromecast, I'll do my best to improve this if possible...
Main features are:
Mirror to Chromecast
Mirror to media players with RTSP
Mirror to web browsers with HTTP
Broadcast online to Twitch, Ustream, Youtube, and others ...
Mirror full audio if you have a rooted Android device (or microphone for all)
A lot of settings to change quality and speed
There is a free version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobzapp.screenstream.trial
If you like it, want to support my work and purchase, here is the link to full version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobzapp.screenstream
Main app thread on XDA is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-screen-mirroring-broadcasting-to-t3102378
App web site is here: http://mobzapp.com/mirroring
I hope I could have any feedbacks from XDA users.
Thanks !
Amazing app. Is it possible to get sound working on lollipop without root?
Doens;t work for me. None of the menu options do anything. The screen just stays on media players, which doesn't work either
Updated my Samsung s4 to lollipop the other day. Now the app doesn't work. Asks for root even if starting service from computer seems to work. Any ideas?
Johan1976 said:
Updated my Samsung s4 to lollipop the other day. Now the app doesn't work. Asks for root even if starting service from computer seems to work. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you don't have the last update... please get the new update from play store and it should fix it.
Dexter_Morgan said:
Amazing app. Is it possible to get sound working on lollipop without root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No internal audio can only work with root.
can this stream amazon prime from android to chromecast?
nickmax1 said:
can this stream amazon prime from android to chromecast?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
should work... but you can try with free version and see if that works.
good plan - will test it tonight when i get home from work/night out (!)
ah - just noticed its not compatible with 5.1.1 (I am on CM21.1)
Why do you say it's not compatible ?
based on the reviews - also i have just installed it and it glitches quite badly, i had to force close it to exit. I am afraid I had to uninstall it.
Hi @Sloosh
I have Samsung G901 ( This is almost Galaxy S5 ( snap 801)but i have version with better SoC (805).
Rooted stock but dont working Audio international.
Sammy stock 5.0, kernel 3.10 only with better th.
IF u need logcat, type to me. I rly like u app.
BTW. ADB recording working with sound
DienoX said:
Hi @Sloosh
I have Samsung G901 ( This is almost Galaxy S5 ( snap 801)but i have version with better SoC (805).
Rooted stock but dont working Audio international.
Sammy stock 5.0, kernel 3.10 only with better th.
IF u need logcat, type to me. I rly like u app.
BTW. ADB recording working with sound
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by "ADB recording working with sound" ?
Also please disable the option "keep internal audio" if you enabled it, this is maybe what is causing you issue.
@Sloosh
"ADB recording working with sound" - When i Connect G901F to PC or type in Terminal emulator type "adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/MyScreenRecordingGreetingsForSloosh.mp4". Then i get ADB Recording.
This file have dynamic bitrate (if u dont set --bit-rate xx) and sound from system.
In app Screen Stream Mirroring i cant set dynamic bitrate (0 working acts as a dynamic bitrate? i dont know/test it.) But the worst is i cant set audio from system. From mic working without problem. Only not working internal/mixed.
Yes, app working without problems if i dont set in Sound settings: Internal or Mixes settings.
Tell me what it is due. The problem is that I can not even born debbuging apps because it is closed source and app not leave anything worthwhile in logcat. Since there hangs just shows that there is a problem with sound. Aplication have root permission. I wonder why it is not working because SoC is this same as Nexus 6.
DienoX said:
@Sloosh
"ADB recording working with sound" - When i Connect G901F to PC or type in Terminal emulator type "adb shell screenrecord /sdcard/MyScreenRecordingGreetingsForSloosh.mp4". Then i get ADB Recording.
This file have dynamic bitrate (if u dont set --bit-rate xx) and sound from system.
In app Screen Stream Mirroring i cant set dynamic bitrate (0 working acts as a dynamic bitrate? i dont know/test it.) But the worst is i cant set audio from system. From mic working without problem. Only not working internal/mixed.
Yes, app working without problems if i dont set in Sound settings: Internal or Mixes settings.
Tell me what it is due. The problem is that I can not even born debbuging apps because it is closed source and app not leave anything worthwhile in logcat. Since there hangs just shows that there is a problem with sound. Aplication have root permission. I wonder why it is not working because SoC is this same as Nexus 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but did you try internal audio or mixed audio source with "keep internal audio" option disabled ??
I don't understand how your screenrecord command would record system audio, because this tool from Google do not record audio from what I know...
@Sloosh
With option "keep internal audio" and without "keep internal audio" recording dont working.
Now i checked screenrecording command. You're right recording without sound BUT i now connect my old phone - I9300 with nameless rom and screenrecording recording with sound... strange magic. I apologize for misleading.
Look at YT why i mean -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M_kwCA-ogo
DienoX said:
@Sloosh
With option "keep internal audio" and without "keep internal audio" recording dont working.
Now i checked screenrecording command. You're right recording without sound BUT i now connect my old phone - I9300 with nameless rom and screenrecording recording with sound... strange magic. I apologize for misleading.
Look at YT why i mean -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M_kwCA-ogo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
weird... please be sure you have the last version (last one is for now 2.1.5c).
Did you try restarting your device ? (if you try, again please try with "keep internal audio" disabled...)
@Sloosh
Yes, i have version 2.1.5c.
Did you try restarting your device ? (if you try, again please try with "keep internal audio" disabled...) --- No effect positive.
Hi!
If your Android is 4.4.2 or higher Chromecast app is able to mirror to Chromecast.
Regards
-jc
Hi, so far I love this app! But the camera overlay is so dark on my Note 5 it's unusable, even in broad daylight. I'm forced to use a "floating mirror" app instead until this is fixed.
#2 on my wishlist is a basic text/image overlay. Currently I'm using a custom widget to do this, along with the Overlays app which makes widgets into overlays. It all works fine (mostly), but together with the stupid mirror cam, that's a four-piece workaround to accomplish what I feel should be core functionality in Screen Stream Mirroring.
Thanks for your hard work and consideration. Like I said I love this app. It's worth the price and a lot more!
Sent from my SM-N920V using XDA Free mobile app
I've been playing around with desktop mode quite a bit and overall it seems to be a good idea. With the exception of TeamViewer I could move my entire business day over to it quite easily. I'm using an Inapio hub and keyboard / mouse combo with a usb dongle.
Apps that I've found work well with it are:
1. All of the Microsoft apps. I mainly use the Outlook app and Microsoft Edge and have no complaints about either of them.
2. Enpass and Lastpass.
3. Most if not all of my banking apps work well.
Apps that don't work well:
1. Quite a few games. Some of the games that require taps don't recognise mouse clicks. Risk is one I can think of straight away.
2. TeamViewer (app-specific problem as it doesn't support remote desktop scaling from the Android app).
Bugs / annoyances I've found:
1. Quite often when clicking on buttons in browsers, email and other apps I have to click slightly off-centre to the left and below the button before the click is recognised.
2. When deleting the built-in apps from the desktop the rest of the icons don't auto-rearrange.
3. No auto-rearrange of icons.
4. Lacking a slideshow for the desktop background.
Do you use desktop mode and how do you find it?
How is performance and input lag? Is it smooth?
I couldn't get see Gmail. Which is a bummer since we use g-suite at work....
Apart from that it worked very well. My monitor has the most and keyboard plugged into it and the video about is a USB-C cable. When plugged into this the desktop is very well integrated with the most and keyboard working fine and the phone charging via the video cable as well. But as I said, no Gmail...
@Riio Performance is very good with no lag.
@palexr Yes, a bit odd that the gmail app isn't listed under the start menu. I think it must be about the only one that doesn't show up there. You could always use gsuite via a web browser?
One type of app that works well in desktop mode but not in phone mode is SIP / VOIP clients. I use Bria but have also tested Zoiper and both app stop running under the lockscreen; even with "ignore battery optimisation" enabled and yet Skype works perfectly.
Gmail app icon does not appear in the desktop, but if you receive Gmail notification and you click on it, Gmail will load. What I did was to pin to Task bar and now I have it in desktop. So all you have to do is to wait patiently for the notifications of your favourite apps to appear on the desktop.
musicdiary said:
Gmail app icon does not appear in the desktop, but if you receive Gmail notification and you click on it, Gmail will load. What I did was to pin to Task bar and now I have it in desktop. So all you have to do is to wait patiently for the notifications of your favourite apps to appear on the desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, yes that worked - to a degree. I can open Gmail from the notifications and then pin it to the Task Bar as you say. However, clicking on the resultant icon will only open my private email and not my work one. However, if I get a work email, I get a notification which I can open and access my work emails - pinning that to the task bar will only open my private gmail.
So, yep it works, just need to send my work email an email.
Thanks.
What determines whether an app icon will appear or not in desktop mode ?
I tried it but could not find YouTube app for example in Desktop mode ? So how do I trigger other apps not shown in Desktop mode ?
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
What triggers the DPI used on an external screen? I have two screens - one 23 Dell monitor and one 23 Samsung SyncMaster TV/Monitor. Both support 1920x1080 however when I connect HM10P to a Samsung Screen I noticed the DPI is much lower than on the Dell one (same resolution).
richardburt said:
I've been playing around with desktop mode quite a bit and overall it seems to be a good idea. With the exception of TeamViewer I could move my entire business day over to it quite easily. I'm using an Inapio hub and keyboard / mouse combo with a usb dongle.
Apps that I've found work well with it are:
1. All of the Microsoft apps. I mainly use the Outlook app and Microsoft Edge and have no complaints about either of them.
2. Enpass and Lastpass.
3. Most if not all of my banking apps work well.
Apps that don't work well:
1. Quite a few games. Some of the games that require taps don't recognise mouse clicks. Risk is one I can think of straight away.
2. TeamViewer (app-specific problem as it doesn't support remote desktop scaling from the Android app).
Bugs / annoyances I've found:
1. Quite often when clicking on buttons in browsers, email and other apps I have to click slightly off-centre to the left and below the button before the click is recognised.
2. When deleting the built-in apps from the desktop the rest of the icons don't auto-rearrange.
3. No auto-rearrange of icons.
4. Lacking a slideshow for the desktop background.
Do you use desktop mode and how do you find it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know if there is a list of supported app in desktop mode, or some specific flag/tag to search for in Play Store. I'm interested also into Visio replacement and some PDF editors but can't understand what to search for.
I didn't understand if this mode is valid only for EMUI desktop (so that developers need to change their app to work specifically on EMUI) or a general Android optimization.
I found a way to add any app, though not all work properly.. Prime video for example, it loads, but video playback is just a black box..
Use another launcher (I used Nova), and open that launcher in desktop mode. Nova looks broken, but don't worry.. Double click (left mouse) on the blank home screen and app search opens.. Find your desired app, open it, then pin it to the bottom bar..
Enjoy
When using PC Mode is there a way to force fullscreen for 3rd Party apps.
I use the Huawei standard video player which is always fullscreen but for some videos there is no sound so I use VLC or MX Player. Cant seem to get rid of the taskbar below when using the other apps.
RabidWolve said:
When using PC Mode is there a way to force fullscreen for 3rd Party apps.
I use the Huawei standard video player which is always fullscreen but for some videos there is no sound so I use VLC or MX Player. Cant seem to get rid of the taskbar below when using the other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same issue, a bit annoying, but nearly full screen.. Chrome won't go full screen in videos either, nor any other non stock video player I've tried..
Setting.Out said:
Same issue, a bit annoying, but nearly full screen.. Chrome won't go full screen in videos either, nor any other non stock video player I've tried..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang. Was hoping it was something I was not doing.
Emailed their support requesting they add this. Hopefully they enable with a software update.
RabidWolve said:
When using PC Mode is there a way to force fullscreen for 3rd Party apps.
I use the Huawei standard video player which is always fullscreen but for some videos there is no sound so I use VLC or MX Player. Cant seem to get rid of the taskbar below when using the other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what bothers me, I've been using terrarium app a lot lately, and casting my screen to our tv works just fine but since its using wireless connection, image quality is somehow affected and also the auto motion plus wont work, movements arent that smooth(was accustomed to 60fps). Tried using the desktop mode and image quality did improve and the auto motion plus now works but movies on mxplayer is not going on full screen.
Autocad mate 10 desktop mode
Someone can tell me if autocad app runs with desktop mode on mate 10?
Tested yesterday the Easy Projection mode, a huge disappointment from my expectations to get rid of my Windows laptop.
The Microsoft Suite is barely usable, the documents are resizing correctly but Word, Excel, PowerPoint features are just a ghost of the rich applications I have on the laptop. Also the UI is clumsy with commands to be accessed in weird way.
Also the user experience is far from productive, with the right button click doing the function of the left button, no point and drag, no changing apps position in folders.
Dropbox app, files app etc are just a stretched version of the mobile one with a lot of empty space.
The only well functioning is web browsing, so I suppose relying on Google Docs will be fine.
Want to ask if does someone else have this problems, maybe need I to do some setup.
My desktop test
Today I tested the desktop mode.
I was quite amazed about what I saw.
A few things I did not like:
-citrix receiver did not work well
-rdp connections did not go well
-no VoIP apps possible because the user that is activated has no rights to the phone options.
I am looking for the possibility to change some settings for the desktop mode. I can't find the application "desktop mode" to elavate the rights.
Also the edges for the chrome browser are not as good as we would like to see. I will subscribe to the fora for the Huawei desktop mode to see if I can learn. Something there.
If anyone has tips for me please advise me.
Setting.Out said:
Same issue, a bit annoying, but nearly full screen.. Chrome won't go full screen in videos either, nor any other non stock video player I've tried..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have problems with VLC, it works fine but playback controls dont appear on screen.
Perfect with stock video player but no audio in some videos
I use MX player, working 100% great
The three are full screen support, to do it go to the icon on the task bar and left button, then enable it.
Just wondering with the P20 series released, updated EMUI 8.1 have there been any improvements in desktop mode compared to the mate 10?
anyone know how to have desktop mode auto-launch when cable is plugged in, rather than having to choose desktop mode from status bar?
****ZUI14 UPDATE****
It works fine for the most part.
There are some changes:
STYLUS SUPPORT
the tablet now supports a stylus which explains why the underlying software supported external solutions like the Lenovo M14t portable monitor. Still, it begs the question "If the hardware supports a stylus, why didn't the earlier firmware support it out of the box?" Also important, AES (1.0 AND 2.0) only pens DON'T work, MPP only pens don't work either, which makes me think it requires strong WGP. I recommend only using a Lenovo pen which has been verified to work. The one I have personally tried is the Lenovo Precision Pen 2. I read elsewhere the Lenovo Active Pen 3 works but I can't personally attest to that.
DESKTOP MODE
There have been some complains on forums of ZUI14 removing desktop mode. This isn't exactly true. If you connect to an external monitor with the tablet's USB-C port (using a USB-C capable monitor OR an HDMI adapter you can use desktop mode on an external monitor. However, you can no longer use desktop mode on the tablet itself. This was done on purpose and Lenovo, in exchange for this modification, added the ability to use multiple floating windows in the normal tablet mode. These windows are reziable but the default aspect ratio cannot be changed. Also having multiple windows open only works using the floating window swipe gesture (swipe up, hold and then swipe to the top of the screen). If you try to use the task switcher to make a window a floating window all other floating windows will disapper/be minimized). I personally think this is acceptable on the smaller Y700 but can understand how it could frustrate those using the larger P11 or P12.
LEGION APP
The original Legion app has been removed but all of its functionality has been added to the settings (there is now a "Legion assistant" section in the settings). Now rather than swiping down you swipe in from the left. The graphics are different but functionality is the same. Adding apps to the games list is easier since you get an app list and a switch on the side (similar to how you enable individual permissions in different settings). I read a comment elsewhere that the new software made the fps graphic stick on the screen. This isn't true. When you swipe the assistant off screen the fps can stick around but just for a bit and then they disappear.
Personally I think it is an upgrade worth downloading.
**************************************************************
ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS
This is a LONG and detailed review. Hopefully it will answer questions many people have. If you want to skip to a specific section, check the contents list (this is easily a TL;DR sitch).
Contents:
Inside the Box
Design
Performance
Gaming
Gaming software
Video Out
Software and Multi-tasking
Lenovo One
Battery Care
Stylus Support? (Kind of…)
Downsides
Conclusions
Y700 Legoin Gaming Tablet Review
ProsConsBuildA tad thickPlay store is easy to installOnly Chinese market version availableScreenNot OLEDSoundCould be a bit louderPerformanceSome features are game exclusivesBattery protection featuresVideo out features are lacking compared to other options out there4K output4K output at only 30hzNetflix, Paramount+ and Youtube in HD/4KPrime Video is only SD
This review is my own personal opinion based on the my experience with it and other tablets. I am not a professional reviewer but have had my fair share of (Android) tablets (original Galaxy Note 10.1, HTC Flyer, Dasung notEreader, Cube T7, Yogabook android edition, Huawei Media Pad M5 8.4”, Galaxy Tab S6 and now Legion Y700) so I believe I can provide a relatively objective and critical review.
Inside the Box
The box is a premium affair with a great design boasting the logo/brand embossed on the top. Once you open the box you will find the tablet nestled in a platform which raises it above the cardboard edges of the bottom part of the box. In my case it is the 12GB/256GB variant. Under this platform you will find small boxes holding the charger, SD card removal tool and documentation, and under this the USB-C cable.
The Charger is a quite welcome inclusion. It has two ports, one USB-C and one USB type A. The C port tops out at 50 watts by itself while the A port tops out at 20 watts. If you choose to use both at the same time the C port will top out at 40 watts and the A port at 10 watts. Given that the tablet tops at at 45 and how you’re likely to have more than one device, this charger is a great inclusion. Sadly, the USB-C cable included is less impressive. It is perfectly capable of quickly charging the tablet, but when I tried to use it to connect a portable monitor to it (using the monitor’s USB 3.1 Type-C port) it was unable to drive the monitor (most likely it doesn’t provide the necessary data throughput). Connecting a USB 3.1 Gen 2 compliant cable and it worked flawlessly.
There is no screen protector or case included.
Design
The tablet is relatively slim, solid feeling, glass sandwich design with a metal frame in the middle. The back is matte and feels nice, whilst the front has slim bezels on the long edges and slightly thicker ones on the shorter ones in order to accommodate the camera. All are perfectly symmetrical.
The tablet comes with 2 JBL speakers on either side near the top edge when holding it in landscape orientation. It might seem a bit odd to have them so near one side but this is actually on purpose so that when gaming or watching full screen videos your hands won’t cover and muffle the speakers. Below the speakers (at the half-way point) you will find the headphone jack on the left and the charging port on the right, making it possible to have both plugged in without making it too awkward while holding it and gaming. This means that in order to keep the top and bottom (landscape) bezels slim (so one can maybe hold it one-handed in portrait mode), the camera is relegated to the left bezel below the headphone jack. This makes it easy to cover when holding it two handed (or left-handed) in this orientation and at a sub-optimal level reminiscent of those laptops with the camera above the keyboard and below the screen. The P11 and P12 have the camera on the top while in landscape for easier video conferencing, bug given that this device is focused on gaming, the placement of sound and power took priority. Still in landscape orientation you will find two buttons (volume rocker and power) on the top and the “game” switch. You will find that the bottom edge has nothing other than the microSD slot so you can use that edge to rest it on a table or in a stand without fear of anything being blocked or pressed.
The fact that this tablet was designed for landscape orientation is emphasized by the fact that when booting up the logo appears in landscape orientation.
Obviously in the center you have the high res, QWHD at 2560x1600 screen with great colour reproduction, nevertheless, in a side-by-side comparison the Huawei M5 has deeper blacks and more “pleasing” colours (slightly more vibrant overall). The Y700 on the other hand has more realistic colours in general (using the “Bright” colour settings, the “Standard is supposed to be more realistic but looks too yellow on my device even when the colour temperature is set to “cold”). It also provides more more vibrant colours, but selectively. When watching HDR video, what is meant to be vibrant will be more vibrant than the M5 (rather than making everything slightly more saturated). And of course, the Y700 is capable of both HDR and Dolby Vision which help quite a bit in both colour reproduction and quality. The blacks are still not as deep as the M5 and of course don’t compare to any OLED. In the videos it is less pronounced than in real life.
The reason I previously described the tablet as “relatively” slim is because it is thick enough that it doesn’t fit great in some of my tablet stands (one which is one of those cheap folding ones with a slot… which when opened wide become too “slim” due to the angle for the tablet to enter easily, and the other one which is a folding sleeve and depends on a lip of leather to hold it in place.) Other than that the thickness provides no issues.
Performance
As has been covered elsewhere it scores over 700 thousand in Antutu and about 950/2900 in geekbench (single and multi-core respectively). When I ran them personally I got about 706 on Antutu and 937/2970. These were not run with a clean install which can explain the slightly lower results compared to other reviews as I’ll have more background processes in all likelihood.
Audio is clean and full with good bass for what is being produced. It doesn’t get as loud as some other devices though. It will fill a room but not overpower a conversation. Most importantly, it sounds great at all volumes, even maxed out with little to no distortion. Of course, results may vary depending on what music you’re playing.
Bluetooth audio supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX TWS+, and LDAC with aptX Adaptive theoretically allowing for low latency which should work well with gaming and movies (aptX adaptive is theoretically also backwards compatible with aptX Low Latency).
All supported videos play great, including Dolby Vision videos which leave my Dolby Vision TCL Roky tv stuttering/buffering in high action scenes, making this an almost ideal video consumption devices.
It would be ideal if the screen were OLED but given that this is a consumption device, the choice of an LCD screen makes sense. OLED is prone to “burn in” when using there are static images (such as the controls in a mobile game along with health bars and such). This burn-in is caused by uneven deterioration of organic diodes (the subpixels). Now there are some techniques used to reduce this effect but it is limited what this can do. There are other techniques, available in some TVs, which help eliminate the burn-in, but this works by deteriorating the rest of the pixels so they even out (which effectively means reducing the life span of the screen). While an OLED would look better, it could potentially present problems for anyone who devoted a lot of time to individual games without changing things up.
There is no judder with videos or games due to the 120hz screen (clean multiple of 24 so movies display well, as do 30fps tv shows so no 3:2 pulldown is necessary). The screen rate is not truly variable. You can set the screen to 60hz, 120hz, or to automatically switch between the two but those are the only two options. If a game is running at 20fps (Chaos Rings 2, an old game which was designed to run at that frame rate) the screen remains at 120hz (the game switch tool shows the game fps, while the developers option lets you display the screen refresh rate at all times, which continues to show 120 despite the game running at 20). The same developer option lets you see it running at 60hz while in the settings app and switching to 120 on the home screen
The cameras and their software are fine and have a scanner mode (for documents and ID). There is digital zoom (5x in video, 8x in photo using the back camera) and are more than serviceable when it comes to tablet cameras, with the front one being for videoconferencing aside from the placement as has been mentioned.
Gaming
As you can see in other videos, all current Android games work great. Even some old ones which refuse to work on other devices of mine will work on this devices surprisingly (like the aforementioned Chaos Rings 2, though the other Chaos Rings won’t work). All recent games that I tried work flawlessly and look great. Depending on the game and their programming, they can go up to the full 120fps (Riptige GP: Renegade is one example).
Streaming (tested with Geforce Now) had no problems.
Nevertheless, there is the odd compatibility issue and glitch. I tried Riptide GP: Renegade which ran super fluid at 120fps but it didn’t detect me tilting the screen (my character just drove completely straight, not even a nudge to the side). But when I tried Beach Buggy Racing 2 tilt controls worked perfectly. I actually then went back to Riptide to try it with my xbox controller and the tilt was now magically working. The compatibility issue is mostly more due to differences in Android than the actual device but as any experienced Android user knows, no device is compatible with all apps/games.
I quickly tried emulation and both Dreamcast and Saturn emulation worked fine. Redream worked at 1440p no problem. When I connected it to a 4K tv it reported a generally steady 50fps (PAL game) but I did see frame drops but I don't know if that was a performance issue or that output is only 30hz so you will experience some judder with a 50hz source. (I've seen a youtube video of it emulating God of War PS2 version at 2x and the PSP version at 4x).
Colours are great, the 120hz screen is fluid and the 240hz touch sampling rate means that it is really responsive.
My Xbox controller connects and works flawlessly with the device as should most Bluetooth controllers.
The device also provides semi-real vibration which honestly feels great in the demo, but it seems to only work with three games (all Chinese of course). It’s possible there might be others which are compatible and will show up once downloaded, but they’d be Chinese in all probability. Hopefully some apps or emulators learn how to tap into it though the chances of that are low unless Lenovo releases a global version (which currently seems unlikely since they’ve just announced the Y700 Ultimate edition with premium glass back but there’s no news on the global version).
The device can get quite warm in your hands while gaming but it never gets uncomfortably hot in my opinion (your own preferences will dictate what is “comfortable” and how much it heats up might depend on your ambient temperature).
Gaming software
For gaming Lenovo provides you with their Legion Realm software, the same one found on their gaming phones. It will theoretically add any game automatically but it doesn’t always work (it missed some games and oddly added the Adobe Sketchbook app and Wacom’s Bamboo app). Thankfully you can add any game, any app for that matter, manually by swiping up (app drawer appears) then tap and holding on the app you want until two options appear. The writing is in Chinese but one has a plus sign and the other a garbage can so it’s easy to figure out.. And for the rare “compatible” app it will show you “cover art” rather than the normal icon. Unfortunately I’ve only seen this work with some Chinese games and some of the recommendations (it asks you whether you want recommendations when you first open it and you can turn them off at any time, all recommendations are understandably Chinese games).
This software is not just an easy game launcher, it provides you with the option for mapping a controller’s buttons/controls as touch input using an overlay (though they responsibly warn you that some games will ban users for this kind of behaviour). This is actually under the normal settings under “advanced features” but I include it hear as it’s game related.
It also provides you with their game control panel, “Legion Assistant”, which has various short cuts (brightness, volume, wifi, bypass charging, gpu panel, ram cleaner, screenshot, voice changer, etc.) as well as the ability to switch between Energy Saving Mode (lower CPU and GPU speeds) Balance Mode (well, “Blance Mode”) and “Beast Mode” which should max out both CPU and GPU when gaming with no regard to battery life.
The Voice Change function seems great for privacy when playing an online game with voice chat functions and the GPU panel lets you fine tune if you want the GPU to focus on picture quality, frame rate, or performance. It has 5 settings: default, save power, balanced, high quality and “custom” (Custom lets you let the frame rate at 30, 34, 60, 90, or 120, Anti-Aliasing at 1x, 2x, or 4x, Anisotropic Filtering at 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, Texture filtering at High Speed, Balanced, and High Quality and a switch to “optimize grap..” which I assume optimizes graphics in some way but who knows what the specifics are). It also lets you record short videos of your gameplay topping out at from 360p to 1080p @30fps and for 5, 10, 15 or 30 seconds and use either the game’s audio for the video or whatever the mic pics up in case you want to narrate. They do warn you that at 30 seconds or 1080p you might experience lag.
All these settings can be modified from within the Legion Realm app by tapping on the nut beneath the games (the hexagon with a circle in the middle).
The game switch at the top which provide a small overlay on the left which shows CPU and GPU speed, fps and the temperature. If you tap it, it will collapse and just show the fps.
VIDEO OUT (4K?)
The USB-C port is a full 3.1 Gen 2 port. Now if you connect it to a display, it will output at “1080p” with pillaring on the launcher. But if you open certain apps they can output full screen. The only one I’ve seen this is VLC which will output directly and not show anything on the actual tablet. The other video apps just played on the tablet and mirrored onto the tv, keeping the pillar boxing. Since VLC can output directly there might be other apps which can output in full-screen directly if we can just find them.
Now if you connect to a tv and then pull down the notification panel and tap the PC Mode button/shortcut you will get a 1080p style Desktop style environment (if connected to 4K it will actually be 4K but with icon sizes as if it were 1080p).
BUT! If you tap on the notification asking you if you want to switch to PC Mode it will output at 4K when attached to a 4K tv. YouTube will even let you play 4K HDR content. However, it seems the device doesn’t actually output HDR as the HDR settings on my tv don’t activate, which is to be expected as it also seems to be limited to 30hz. I don’t know if this is because of the dongle I’m using. At least one of them is supposedly 60hz capable but it’s a few years old and I’ve never had a DP 1.4 capable device with 4K output and when looking at USB-C hubs they just say 30hz or 60hz, I have yet to see one which mentions HDR or Dolby Vision (there are simple cables capable of HDR but I want one with power delivery or it will just kill the battery).
SOFTWARE and MULTI-TASKING
While GSMarena reports it as having Android 12, mine is 11 and does not report any updates waiting.
While you can output at 4K, Lenovo really should adopt a more intuitive settings layout. The settings for video output are not under display, or PC Mode, but under “More Connections” > Projection (while casting is actually under WiFi at the bottom). Here you can choose whether to mirror or use PC Mode as default, the resolution and fps to connect at. The minimum is 720x400 @70hz and max is 4K @30hz (default). Frame rates vary between 24hz and 75hz depending on the resolution. The 4K option actually offers you TV 4K and true 4K. I have to admit it is disappointing that it does not provide 4K @ 60hz given that it is a gaming device and that the chipset supports it. Then again, the chipset also supports Bluetooth 5.2 but they opted for 5.1.
Multi-tasking is great both in PC Mode and in normal tablet mode. PC mode obviously lets you have multiple floating windows. Supposedly there’s a limit of 5 apps but I’ve gotten up to 8 apps when using it on the tablet (not using an external screen) and after that it tells me the limit is reached and one will be closed. On an external 4K screen, I didn’t get the limit reached message but it starts glitching after that (apps will start to disappear from the taskbar). The task bar has 4 anchored apps and then you can open 4 more apps which will appear in the task bar. On the tablet in PC Mode there is only space for four so if you open up more, they will also appear in the task bar but they’ll overflow to a second row (accessible through an arrow pointing left or right (depending on which row you’re on). You can open more apps but as I said that’s when they start to glitch. Using extended mode to display PC Mode on a 4K screen there is plenty of room in the task bar but it will still overflow after 4 apps.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
(PC Mode on Tablet)
(PC Mode on 4K tv using video out as extended monitor, not mirrored)
The task bar has an app drawer, a back button, a home button (minimizes all windows), a task switcher button, anchored apps, active apps, a search icon, basic notification shortcuts, a separate button for actual notifications, the battery (click to open battery settings) and the time (click to open the calendar).
In normal tablet mode (“Phone mode” as Lenovo calls it), you still have good multi-tasking. You have the normal task switching from android (task manager screen, alt+tab if using a keyboard, swiping along the bottom of the screen if using gestures). You also get a “free form” which is an app in a floating window. You are limited to one floating window, it has the aspect ratio of a phone, but you can resize it and it will automatically adjust to whatever orientation it detects as best (when I put Plex in the free form window it was in landscape orientation while playing a video but switched to portrait when I went back to the menu/video selection screen). Due to the fixed ratio, videos in free form will almost certainly have black pillars, but video apps can also use the PiP option in the settings to have their own flowing video only window which is not natively resizeable (I found if you resize the app in free form, in PiP it will then open at more or less the same size minus the ultra-wide aspect ratio).
You can also split the window to use two apps like on most devices. Tap on the divider and you can switch the two apps around or replace one of them or exit. Thankfully the split window is side to side in landscape orientation and top and bottom in portrait (this may seem obvious but my Galaxy Tab S6 insists on doing side by side, meaning in portrait orientation you have two really skinny, really tall windows which are basically only good for comparing lists).
There is a “smart split” option in the settings which allows apps to be displayed in a window more suited for landscape orientation but it actually is more of an “ignore” portrait orientation. What it does is that if an app is portrait only (like the Windscribe app), it will open it in landscape view by having it in the center of the screen and empty space to the sides. This also means you can then use said apps in split view if you want.
Split screen and a freeform app (firefox) in landscape and portrait orientation.
There is a “Security” app which provides RAM cleaning, disk space cleaning, privacy management, antivirus, autostart manager, network access, battery, advanced clean and automatic backup options.
Lenovo One
Lenovo One is actually a great feature. If you have another compatible Lenovo tablet, phone or laptop you can connect it with the tablet. My Legion 5 with 4800H AMD CPU is not on the compatibility list but works flawlessly, giving me the impression they never updated it as it only mentions older models. This software lets you control the tablet from your computer (it provides a window where the tablet’s screen appears. There is very little lag and you can use this to transfer files from and to the tablet (multiple files are fine but folders are not). File transfers are as quick as the network allows (within the device’s limitations of course).
Transferring to the PC you can drag and drop the files to whatever folder you want. The only downside to file transfers it that they are sent to the tablet, it doesn’t matter if you have the file manger open to a specific folder, they all get sent to the Lenovo One folder (a minor inconvenience).
If you open pictures, videos, audios, or installation packages on the tablet, they’ll be opened up with the corresponding app, but office files (Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF) are opened up on the computer by default.
You can also set the interface to full screen on your computer to play games or watch videos if you want.
Smart switch
One detail which is appreciated is that the physical game switch which will show you game states in an overlay can be "remapped" in settings to turn on/off adaptive brightness or to lock/unlock the screen auto-rotate. This can be done in the settings via the "Custom Switch" setting.
Battery care
The phone provides three options to actually protect your battery (unlike the “battery saver” which just prolongs battery life):
Health charging: it will supposedly learn from your habits to “intelligently control” charging past 80% to prolong battery life and slow down battery aging.
Battery Protection Mode: it will keep it charged between 40% and 60% when plugged in to keep it healthy.
Battery bypass: it will power your device when connected to a charger and not charge the battery. This is good for prolonged usage/gaming sessions. It is especially good for games as it noticeably lowers the heat level. I turned it on while playing Injustice 2 and I could actively feel the device cooling in my hands, it was VERY impressive.
The only downside to battery bypass is that 1) you can only activate it from the Legion Assistant. This means that you have to have added the program you want to use to the Legion Realm and then while using the app, swipe down for the assistant and then activate it. This means that 2) you cannot activate it from the desktop mode since even if you open up a compatible program, swiping from the top will not summon the Legion Assistant. What you CAN do is, if you’re not mirroring PC Mode, is open up a compatible app on the phone and activate bypass charging that way.
There are other small perks like “region screenshot” where you can take a screen shot of just part of your screen (you choose what, as long as it’s a rectangular area). You can also have the system give you a different background or blur it when using the camera (like with skype and zoom, but app independent). The backgrounds are nice but limited and you cannot add any.
Stylus support? Kind of…
Now the documentation and such never mentioned stylus support but some people have asked about it, no doubt due to the P11 and P12 both supporting it.
No, the tablet’s screen does not support a stylus, but the software actually does.
What do I mean? Well, I have the Lenovo m14t portable monitor which supports stylus input. When I have connected it to my Galaxy Tab S6 and my LG V60, both of which DO have stylus support, they both just detected the stylus on the portable monitor as a simple touch input with no pressure sensitivity and no tilt detection (and abnormal lag to be honest).
But the Y700 works perfectly with it. There’s no lag and it detects both pressure sensitivity and tilt detection in apps like Concepts and Adobe Sketchbook.
What does this mean for users? You can’t use an active stylus to take notes on the tablet while out and about but you can use it for artistic purposes if you have an external stylus capable monitor (and who knows, maybe it even works with non-screen drawing pads). The device is fast and has plenty of RAM so you can definitely take advantage of that. It also means if you have such a monitor you can whip it out at café and annotate documents by hand and the like.
As for note taking on the go? The screen is really sensitive and responsive so basic handwritten notes are possible with a simple capacitive stylus. Of course, you won’t get palm rejection or anything of the sort.
Downsides
Prime Video and Netflix work, but Prime video doesn’t allow for HD video (it reports the movie as having it available, but it streams SD). Netflix on the other hand looks like HD to me.
There are glitches, when playing around with split screen and settings and such my screen became off center. Now, this isn’t normal usage so if it doesn’t repeat during normal usage it should be fine.
In PC Mode some apps aren’t fully compatible. The top bar which has the minimize, maximize, close buttons and which you use to drag the window around…, well, retroarch doesn’t have that bar (you can resize it by dragging the edges/corners) but that means if you want to move it you’ll have to do it by resizing it and you’ll never have to maximize it in PC Mode.
When using the AOSP keyboard in the search bar in PC Mode it would glitch and refused to work with Firefox in the same mode. I could not sign in to my Kobo account in PC Mode because as soon as I tried and the keyboard appeared, the sign in screen would disappear (and if I tried to write and then minimize the keyboard, nothing had happened). Oddly enough in normal phone mode I couldn’t upgrade my redream account as it would crash the app but it worked in PC Mode.
The bluetooth profiles are a bit wonky. Like they work, but despite my Logitech M720 Triathlon mouse working perfectly with it, it officially recognizes it as a keyboard. In the bluetooth panel it shows a moouse icon next to it, but in the physical keyboard section of language and input it shows the mouse as the physical keyboard. So if it's connected, the virtual keyboard won't pop up any time I click in a text field. I can force it to show the virtual board while a physical keyboard is connected, but then if I do and am actually using a physical keyboard I have to deactivate that option so the virtual keyboard doesn't unnecessarily block half the screen.
As mentioned, it could be a bit louder (my Tab S6 is slightly louder and slightly deeper bass but then again it is bigger with twice the speakers).
Notifications don’t really work so it is not ideal as a primary communications device (since people won’t be able to reach you). Of course, if you open up your mail app or your chat app it will show you your messages without a problem but you have to open it first. This is most likely not a problem with wechat or QQ but as I don’t have an account with either I cannot check.
I was using skype and an incoming call did not show up on the tablet despite the app being open (actually open, not just in the background). But I was able to make a call with it.
It’s a Chinese device, this means that it interprets Money symbols which should be the dollar sign as the yuan sign ¥. If I find a way to install my own font this should be fixed but I haven’t found that out yet.
No GPS so no using it for navigation or with GPS dependent games like Pokemon Go. Of course it also doesn’t have mobile data capabilities so that might be a moot point (unless you planned on using your phone as a hot spot).
Conclusion
It’s a great tablet for gaming, media consumption and productivity but not communications. It was designed FOR GAMING and you can tell. If those use cases are your primary focus it will work great for you despite it being from China. If you want a Language other than English you’ll need a language switching software but from what I saw from a Spanish user online it should be fine.
I bought the 12GB Ram, 256GB Rom version from Aliexpress for $470 plus shipping (express in my case as aliexpress shipping in my country was proven undependable during the pandemic).
Edited it to add the mention of PS2 emulation.
Thank you for the very detailed review! I have been hanging on to my MediaPad M5 8.4" since it works fine for my needs and I have not found a suitable replacement yet except for the M6 which I can't locate anymore and now potentially the Legion Y700.
Still on the fence about upgrading as I would prefer not to have another device with limited support (not an official Global release) and I don't do any gaming (productivity and media only).
The M5 is essentially a clone of my Note 20 Ultra with the same Nova Launcher setup. Still worth considering and it is interesting to see it recognized as a P8 with the rumors floating around that it may be released globally with that moniker.
Thank you again, very informative review.
Thank you for a detailed review, @solsearch . It's so difficult to find them for China-only devices.
I'm thinking about getting this tablet, but I'm wondering if it has support for hardware-accelerated HEVC (H.265) 10-bit playback. Would it be possible for you to check that? It'd be especially great if you verified it with MX Player, as sometimes despite other programs reporting such capabilities, there's no support in practice.
why dont they give this its own forum. so annoying having to dig through a 17 page thread
[removed]
I would love to be able to run Windows 10 in this device for some productivity.
I've noticed Android, even in PC mode, lacks absurd features to do some work like open 2 excels at the same time.
solsearch said:
Notifications don’t really work so it is not ideal as a primary communications device (since people won’t be able to reach you). Of course, if you open up your mail app or your chat app it will show you your messages without a problem but you have to open it first. This is most likely not a problem with wechat or QQ but as I don’t have an account with either I cannot check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a known issue in all CN ROM devices - be it Lenovo, Xiaomi, Oppo etc.
CN ROM devices are missing some APIs related to notification (which could be part of any Google-related app framework)
Quick fix? - Press and hold the app and go to app info. Select 'Battery' and choose "Unrestricted".
Lenovo is actually aware of this. Motorola China phones (under Lenovo) built a nifty app called "Device Shield" where you can manually set any app to run in background hence, fixing the notification delay/not receiving notification unless you open the app.
ijuanp03 said:
This is a known issue in all CN ROM devices - be it Lenovo, Xiaomi, Oppo etc.
CN ROM devices are missing some APIs related to notification (which could be part of any Google-related app framework)
Quick fix? - Press and hold the app and go to app info. Select 'Battery' and choose "Unrestricted".
Lenovo is actually aware of this. Motorola China phones (under Lenovo) built a nifty app called "Device Shield" where you can manually set any app to run in background hence, fixing the notification delay/not receiving notification unless you open the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there, I can't find the "Press and hold the app and go to app info. Select 'Battery' and choose "Unrestricted"."
I just see :Notifications, Permissions, Data usage ans Storage.
TH4N1X said:
Thank you for a detailed review, @solsearch . It's so difficult to find them for China-only devices.
I'm thinking about getting this tablet, but I'm wondering if it has support for hardware-accelerated HEVC (H.265) 10-bit playback. Would it be possible for you to check that? It'd be especially great if you verified it with MX Player, as sometimes despite other programs reporting such capabilities, there's no support in practice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, sorry for not responding earlier. I don't seem to get the notifications in my e-mail and I don't frequent the forums too much.
Yes, it supports hardware acceleration for 10-bit and also 12-bit (Dolby Vision is 12-bit and it's hardware accelerated, working on the default player and mx player but not VLC). On MX player HW decoding works better than HW+ (Dolby Vision doesn't work on HW+ for example).
elm0nch said:
I would love to be able to run Windows 10 in this device for some productivity.
I've noticed Android, even in PC mode, lacks absurd features to do some work like open 2 excels at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One workaround for that is use two different office apps (like WPS and Sheets for example). Theoretically you could install windows (ARM version) on this as it uses a Qualcomm processor but it would require someone taking an interest in it and developing it for this device)
LisaMaria said:
why dont they give this its own forum. so annoying having to dig through a 17 page thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. The main thread gets really annoying since half of it is dedicated to rooting and flashing and the other half is for people who don't do that so it gets tedious sifting through all the posts which are unrelated to your interest.
solsearch said:
One workaround for that is use two different office apps (like WPS and Sheets for example). Theoretically you could install windows (ARM version) on this as it uses a Qualcomm processor but it would require someone taking an interest in it and developing it for this device)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
solsearch said:
If just someone did that, this tablet would become the ultimate machine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
I have updated the review to include the changes I have seen in ZUI14. The changes are at the beginning so there's no need to reread or to scroll down.
I assume this review is for the Chinese stock ROM or is this the "global" one (bootloader unlocked with something else flashed)? Is it usable in English if using the Chinese default ROM?
This tablet seems like ideal hardware for what I'd like to use (actually a bit of overkill) since I would like something with more than 4gb ram and at least full hd screen. It is very difficult to find these kind of specs in an 8 to 9 inch tablet from any other manufacturer and there seems to be a big hole in the market. There are many Android cheap kids or reader tablets in the size range with skimpy memory and lower resolution displays but not much that even matches a midrange or higher phone.
I've been using a Huawei Media Pad M5 8.4” until recently when I bought a tab P11 plus since it was on a good sale and the last security update on the Huawei was in 2020 and the updates and support were always terrible. The p11 plus is good enough for me aside from the size. It's too big to really use in bed or hold comfortably in one hand for long or put in a large coat pocket. The larger form factor works for desk or on lap use but it's too big for extended handheld use and the weight is a lot more than the 8.4.
I really wish they'd release a real global or US edition, but I don't believe they ever will despite some unfounded rumors.
I'm really torn about getting this since I'll likely need to do all the updates and maintenance myself and it's basically unsupported which was something I also disliked about the Huawei in the US. Also it's rare enough outside of China that there isn't much of a community or information about fixing problems for it on outside ROMs. I know project treble ROMs are supposed to help yet it seems like there are always parts that don't work in the reviews of these ROMs and risks of bricking the device when updating ROMs.
I've considered an iPad mini since it would have good ongoing support and updates (unlike many of the Android manufacturers) but it doesn't allow some choices that Android gives (like web browser engine) and only comes with 4gb ram and it's Apple expensive pricing.
It still seems like you're liking this tablet after 6 months or more of use? Can you imagine that it will be possible to use for the next 3 years without major issues?
I'd wait if I thought something better supported was coming, but not sure anything is on the way that I can wait for.
I hate the state of the 8" to 9" tablet market these days.
Hello! I have the global rom variant. When you say the legion app is removed. Do you mean legion realm ? Because I only have Google play store. And zero legion named apps.
I finally ordered and received mine since I'd had enough of my Huawei media pad M5 8.4 with no security updates since 2020, Huawei blocking all updates to Android 9 for US users and making rebranding to European or 3rd party ROMs as difficult as possible.
I really like this Lenovo tablet a lot and at least they seem more open to unlocking than Huawei. The notifications thing is a little annoying, but I generally ignore notifications anyway and still get them on my phone so can live without them.
To the previous poster, there is a Legion assistant in the tablet settings and a Legion Zone app in the Chinese ROM in ZUI version 14 which I have. From what I understand, the "Global ROM" isn't a real ROM that has been released by Lenovo, but is probably a third party GSI ROM that someone else made and some vendors are unlocking the bootloader and flashing the custom ROM before sending out the tablets. That's my understanding, anyway, but never had one to compare.
Some vendors like Giztop switch the language to English and install Google Play before sending out, which is what they did on mine. But that's still a Chinese ROM with the language set to English.
There seem to be quite a few people on the mega thread who have decided to flash back to the standard Chinese ROM in order to get the Lenovo-specific features and optimizations.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-unbrick-lenovo-y700-tablet.4509297/ is a thread about unbricking and re-flashing the original Chinese ROM after some problems. Seems some people that flash back from the "global" don't automatically get over the air updates unless they can relock the bootloader or get on a VPN to China.
I'm glad Giztop didn't install the "global" ROM for me, but just switched the language to English and installed Google Play.
solsearch said:
****ZUI14 UPDATE****
It works fine for the most part.
There are some changes:
STYLUS SUPPORT
the tablet now supports a stylus which explains why the underlying software supported external solutions like the Lenovo M14t portable monitor. Still, it begs the question "If the hardware supports a stylus, why didn't the earlier firmware support it out of the box?" Also important, AES (1.0 AND 2.0) only pens DON'T work, MPP only pens don't work either, which makes me think it requires strong WGP. I recommend only using a Lenovo pen which has been verified to work. The one I have personally tried is the Lenovo Precision Pen 2. I read elsewhere the Lenovo Active Pen 3 works but I can't personally attest to that.
DESKTOP MODE
There have been some complains on forums of ZUI14 removing desktop mode. This isn't exactly true. If you connect to an external monitor with the tablet's USB-C port (using a USB-C capable monitor OR an HDMI adapter you can use desktop mode on an external monitor. However, you can no longer use desktop mode on the tablet itself. This was done on purpose and Lenovo, in exchange for this modification, added the ability to use multiple floating windows in the normal tablet mode. These windows are reziable but the default aspect ratio cannot be changed. Also having multiple windows open only works using the floating window swipe gesture (swipe up, hold and then swipe to the top of the screen). If you try to use the task switcher to make a window a floating window all other floating windows will disapper/be minimized). I personally think this is acceptable on the smaller Y700 but can understand how it could frustrate those using the larger P11 or P12.
LEGION APP
The original Legion app has been removed but all of its functionality has been added to the settings (there is now a "Legion assistant" section in the settings). Now rather than swiping down you swipe in from the left. The graphics are different but functionality is the same. Adding apps to the games list is easier since you get an app list and a switch on the side (similar to how you enable individual permissions in different settings). I read a comment elsewhere that the new software made the fps graphic stick on the screen. This isn't true. When you swipe the assistant off screen the fps can stick around but just for a bit and then they disappear.
Personally I think it is an upgrade worth downloading.
**************************************************************
ORIGINAL REVIEW FOLLOWS
This is a LONG and detailed review. Hopefully it will answer questions many people have. If you want to skip to a specific section, check the contents list (this is easily a TL;DR sitch).
Contents:
Inside the Box
Design
Performance
Gaming
Gaming software
Video Out
Software and Multi-tasking
Lenovo One
Battery Care
Stylus Support? (Kind of…)
Downsides
Conclusions
Y700 Legoin Gaming Tablet Review
ProsConsBuildA tad thickPlay store is easy to installOnly Chinese market version availableScreenNot OLEDSoundCould be a bit louderPerformanceSome features are game exclusivesBattery protection featuresVideo out features are lacking compared to other options out there4K output4K output at only 30hzNetflix, Paramount+ and Youtube in HD/4KPrime Video is only SD
This review is my own personal opinion based on the my experience with it and other tablets. I am not a professional reviewer but have had my fair share of (Android) tablets (original Galaxy Note 10.1, HTC Flyer, Dasung notEreader, Cube T7, Yogabook android edition, Huawei Media Pad M5 8.4”, Galaxy Tab S6 and now Legion Y700) so I believe I can provide a relatively objective and critical review.
Inside the Box
The box is a premium affair with a great design boasting the logo/brand embossed on the top. Once you open the box you will find the tablet nestled in a platform which raises it above the cardboard edges of the bottom part of the box. In my case it is the 12GB/256GB variant. Under this platform you will find small boxes holding the charger, SD card removal tool and documentation, and under this the USB-C cable.
The Charger is a quite welcome inclusion. It has two ports, one USB-C and one USB type A. The C port tops out at 50 watts by itself while the A port tops out at 20 watts. If you choose to use both at the same time the C port will top out at 40 watts and the A port at 10 watts. Given that the tablet tops at at 45 and how you’re likely to have more than one device, this charger is a great inclusion. Sadly, the USB-C cable included is less impressive. It is perfectly capable of quickly charging the tablet, but when I tried to use it to connect a portable monitor to it (using the monitor’s USB 3.1 Type-C port) it was unable to drive the monitor (most likely it doesn’t provide the necessary data throughput). Connecting a USB 3.1 Gen 2 compliant cable and it worked flawlessly.
There is no screen protector or case included.
Design
The tablet is relatively slim, solid feeling, glass sandwich design with a metal frame in the middle. The back is matte and feels nice, whilst the front has slim bezels on the long edges and slightly thicker ones on the shorter ones in order to accommodate the camera. All are perfectly symmetrical.
The tablet comes with 2 JBL speakers on either side near the top edge when holding it in landscape orientation. It might seem a bit odd to have them so near one side but this is actually on purpose so that when gaming or watching full screen videos your hands won’t cover and muffle the speakers. Below the speakers (at the half-way point) you will find the headphone jack on the left and the charging port on the right, making it possible to have both plugged in without making it too awkward while holding it and gaming. This means that in order to keep the top and bottom (landscape) bezels slim (so one can maybe hold it one-handed in portrait mode), the camera is relegated to the left bezel below the headphone jack. This makes it easy to cover when holding it two handed (or left-handed) in this orientation and at a sub-optimal level reminiscent of those laptops with the camera above the keyboard and below the screen. The P11 and P12 have the camera on the top while in landscape for easier video conferencing, bug given that this device is focused on gaming, the placement of sound and power took priority. Still in landscape orientation you will find two buttons (volume rocker and power) on the top and the “game” switch. You will find that the bottom edge has nothing other than the microSD slot so you can use that edge to rest it on a table or in a stand without fear of anything being blocked or pressed.
The fact that this tablet was designed for landscape orientation is emphasized by the fact that when booting up the logo appears in landscape orientation.
Obviously in the center you have the high res, QWHD at 2560x1600 screen with great colour reproduction, nevertheless, in a side-by-side comparison the Huawei M5 has deeper blacks and more “pleasing” colours (slightly more vibrant overall). The Y700 on the other hand has more realistic colours in general (using the “Bright” colour settings, the “Standard is supposed to be more realistic but looks too yellow on my device even when the colour temperature is set to “cold”). It also provides more more vibrant colours, but selectively. When watching HDR video, what is meant to be vibrant will be more vibrant than the M5 (rather than making everything slightly more saturated). And of course, the Y700 is capable of both HDR and Dolby Vision which help quite a bit in both colour reproduction and quality. The blacks are still not as deep as the M5 and of course don’t compare to any OLED. In the videos it is less pronounced than in real life.
The reason I previously described the tablet as “relatively” slim is because it is thick enough that it doesn’t fit great in some of my tablet stands (one which is one of those cheap folding ones with a slot… which when opened wide become too “slim” due to the angle for the tablet to enter easily, and the other one which is a folding sleeve and depends on a lip of leather to hold it in place.) Other than that the thickness provides no issues.
Performance
As has been covered elsewhere it scores over 700 thousand in Antutu and about 950/2900 in geekbench (single and multi-core respectively). When I ran them personally I got about 706 on Antutu and 937/2970. These were not run with a clean install which can explain the slightly lower results compared to other reviews as I’ll have more background processes in all likelihood.
Audio is clean and full with good bass for what is being produced. It doesn’t get as loud as some other devices though. It will fill a room but not overpower a conversation. Most importantly, it sounds great at all volumes, even maxed out with little to no distortion. Of course, results may vary depending on what music you’re playing.
Bluetooth audio supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX TWS+, and LDAC with aptX Adaptive theoretically allowing for low latency which should work well with gaming and movies (aptX adaptive is theoretically also backwards compatible with aptX Low Latency).
All supported videos play great, including Dolby Vision videos which leave my Dolby Vision TCL Roky tv stuttering/buffering in high action scenes, making this an almost ideal video consumption devices.
It would be ideal if the screen were OLED but given that this is a consumption device, the choice of an LCD screen makes sense. OLED is prone to “burn in” when using there are static images (such as the controls in a mobile game along with health bars and such). This burn-in is caused by uneven deterioration of organic diodes (the subpixels). Now there are some techniques used to reduce this effect but it is limited what this can do. There are other techniques, available in some TVs, which help eliminate the burn-in, but this works by deteriorating the rest of the pixels so they even out (which effectively means reducing the life span of the screen). While an OLED would look better, it could potentially present problems for anyone who devoted a lot of time to individual games without changing things up.
There is no judder with videos or games due to the 120hz screen (clean multiple of 24 so movies display well, as do 30fps tv shows so no 3:2 pulldown is necessary). The screen rate is not truly variable. You can set the screen to 60hz, 120hz, or to automatically switch between the two but those are the only two options. If a game is running at 20fps (Chaos Rings 2, an old game which was designed to run at that frame rate) the screen remains at 120hz (the game switch tool shows the game fps, while the developers option lets you display the screen refresh rate at all times, which continues to show 120 despite the game running at 20). The same developer option lets you see it running at 60hz while in the settings app and switching to 120 on the home screen
The cameras and their software are fine and have a scanner mode (for documents and ID). There is digital zoom (5x in video, 8x in photo using the back camera) and are more than serviceable when it comes to tablet cameras, with the front one being for videoconferencing aside from the placement as has been mentioned.
Gaming
As you can see in other videos, all current Android games work great. Even some old ones which refuse to work on other devices of mine will work on this devices surprisingly (like the aforementioned Chaos Rings 2, though the other Chaos Rings won’t work). All recent games that I tried work flawlessly and look great. Depending on the game and their programming, they can go up to the full 120fps (Riptige GP: Renegade is one example).
Streaming (tested with Geforce Now) had no problems.
Nevertheless, there is the odd compatibility issue and glitch. I tried Riptide GP: Renegade which ran super fluid at 120fps but it didn’t detect me tilting the screen (my character just drove completely straight, not even a nudge to the side). But when I tried Beach Buggy Racing 2 tilt controls worked perfectly. I actually then went back to Riptide to try it with my xbox controller and the tilt was now magically working. The compatibility issue is mostly more due to differences in Android than the actual device but as any experienced Android user knows, no device is compatible with all apps/games.
I quickly tried emulation and both Dreamcast and Saturn emulation worked fine. Redream worked at 1440p no problem. When I connected it to a 4K tv it reported a generally steady 50fps (PAL game) but I did see frame drops but I don't know if that was a performance issue or that output is only 30hz so you will experience some judder with a 50hz source. (I've seen a youtube video of it emulating God of War PS2 version at 2x and the PSP version at 4x).
Colours are great, the 120hz screen is fluid and the 240hz touch sampling rate means that it is really responsive.
My Xbox controller connects and works flawlessly with the device as should most Bluetooth controllers.
The device also provides semi-real vibration which honestly feels great in the demo, but it seems to only work with three games (all Chinese of course). It’s possible there might be others which are compatible and will show up once downloaded, but they’d be Chinese in all probability. Hopefully some apps or emulators learn how to tap into it though the chances of that are low unless Lenovo releases a global version (which currently seems unlikely since they’ve just announced the Y700 Ultimate edition with premium glass back but there’s no news on the global version).
The device can get quite warm in your hands while gaming but it never gets uncomfortably hot in my opinion (your own preferences will dictate what is “comfortable” and how much it heats up might depend on your ambient temperature).
Gaming software
For gaming Lenovo provides you with their Legion Realm software, the same one found on their gaming phones. It will theoretically add any game automatically but it doesn’t always work (it missed some games and oddly added the Adobe Sketchbook app and Wacom’s Bamboo app). Thankfully you can add any game, any app for that matter, manually by swiping up (app drawer appears) then tap and holding on the app you want until two options appear. The writing is in Chinese but one has a plus sign and the other a garbage can so it’s easy to figure out.. And for the rare “compatible” app it will show you “cover art” rather than the normal icon. Unfortunately I’ve only seen this work with some Chinese games and some of the recommendations (it asks you whether you want recommendations when you first open it and you can turn them off at any time, all recommendations are understandably Chinese games).
This software is not just an easy game launcher, it provides you with the option for mapping a controller’s buttons/controls as touch input using an overlay (though they responsibly warn you that some games will ban users for this kind of behaviour). This is actually under the normal settings under “advanced features” but I include it hear as it’s game related.
It also provides you with their game control panel, “Legion Assistant”, which has various short cuts (brightness, volume, wifi, bypass charging, gpu panel, ram cleaner, screenshot, voice changer, etc.) as well as the ability to switch between Energy Saving Mode (lower CPU and GPU speeds) Balance Mode (well, “Blance Mode”) and “Beast Mode” which should max out both CPU and GPU when gaming with no regard to battery life.
The Voice Change function seems great for privacy when playing an online game with voice chat functions and the GPU panel lets you fine tune if you want the GPU to focus on picture quality, frame rate, or performance. It has 5 settings: default, save power, balanced, high quality and “custom” (Custom lets you let the frame rate at 30, 34, 60, 90, or 120, Anti-Aliasing at 1x, 2x, or 4x, Anisotropic Filtering at 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, Texture filtering at High Speed, Balanced, and High Quality and a switch to “optimize grap..” which I assume optimizes graphics in some way but who knows what the specifics are). It also lets you record short videos of your gameplay topping out at from 360p to 1080p @30fps and for 5, 10, 15 or 30 seconds and use either the game’s audio for the video or whatever the mic pics up in case you want to narrate. They do warn you that at 30 seconds or 1080p you might experience lag.
All these settings can be modified from within the Legion Realm app by tapping on the nut beneath the games (the hexagon with a circle in the middle).
The game switch at the top which provide a small overlay on the left which shows CPU and GPU speed, fps and the temperature. If you tap it, it will collapse and just show the fps.
VIDEO OUT (4K?)
The USB-C port is a full 3.1 Gen 2 port. Now if you connect it to a display, it will output at “1080p” with pillaring on the launcher. But if you open certain apps they can output full screen. The only one I’ve seen this is VLC which will output directly and not show anything on the actual tablet. The other video apps just played on the tablet and mirrored onto the tv, keeping the pillar boxing. Since VLC can output directly there might be other apps which can output in full-screen directly if we can just find them.
Now if you connect to a tv and then pull down the notification panel and tap the PC Mode button/shortcut you will get a 1080p style Desktop style environment (if connected to 4K it will actually be 4K but with icon sizes as if it were 1080p).
BUT! If you tap on the notification asking you if you want to switch to PC Mode it will output at 4K when attached to a 4K tv. YouTube will even let you play 4K HDR content. However, it seems the device doesn’t actually output HDR as the HDR settings on my tv don’t activate, which is to be expected as it also seems to be limited to 30hz. I don’t know if this is because of the dongle I’m using. At least one of them is supposedly 60hz capable but it’s a few years old and I’ve never had a DP 1.4 capable device with 4K output and when looking at USB-C hubs they just say 30hz or 60hz, I have yet to see one which mentions HDR or Dolby Vision (there are simple cables capable of HDR but I want one with power delivery or it will just kill the battery).
SOFTWARE and MULTI-TASKING
While GSMarena reports it as having Android 12, mine is 11 and does not report any updates waiting.
While you can output at 4K, Lenovo really should adopt a more intuitive settings layout. The settings for video output are not under display, or PC Mode, but under “More Connections” > Projection (while casting is actually under WiFi at the bottom). Here you can choose whether to mirror or use PC Mode as default, the resolution and fps to connect at. The minimum is 720x400 @70hz and max is 4K @30hz (default). Frame rates vary between 24hz and 75hz depending on the resolution. The 4K option actually offers you TV 4K and true 4K. I have to admit it is disappointing that it does not provide 4K @ 60hz given that it is a gaming device and that the chipset supports it. Then again, the chipset also supports Bluetooth 5.2 but they opted for 5.1.
Multi-tasking is great both in PC Mode and in normal tablet mode. PC mode obviously lets you have multiple floating windows. Supposedly there’s a limit of 5 apps but I’ve gotten up to 8 apps when using it on the tablet (not using an external screen) and after that it tells me the limit is reached and one will be closed. On an external 4K screen, I didn’t get the limit reached message but it starts glitching after that (apps will start to disappear from the taskbar). The task bar has 4 anchored apps and then you can open 4 more apps which will appear in the task bar. On the tablet in PC Mode there is only space for four so if you open up more, they will also appear in the task bar but they’ll overflow to a second row (accessible through an arrow pointing left or right (depending on which row you’re on). You can open more apps but as I said that’s when they start to glitch. Using extended mode to display PC Mode on a 4K screen there is plenty of room in the task bar but it will still overflow after 4 apps.
View attachment 5675383
(PC Mode on Tablet)
View attachment 5675385
(PC Mode on 4K tv using video out as extended monitor, not mirrored)
The task bar has an app drawer, a back button, a home button (minimizes all windows), a task switcher button, anchored apps, active apps, a search icon, basic notification shortcuts, a separate button for actual notifications, the battery (click to open battery settings) and the time (click to open the calendar).
In normal tablet mode (“Phone mode” as Lenovo calls it), you still have good multi-tasking. You have the normal task switching from android (task manager screen, alt+tab if using a keyboard, swiping along the bottom of the screen if using gestures). You also get a “free form” which is an app in a floating window. You are limited to one floating window, it has the aspect ratio of a phone, but you can resize it and it will automatically adjust to whatever orientation it detects as best (when I put Plex in the free form window it was in landscape orientation while playing a video but switched to portrait when I went back to the menu/video selection screen). Due to the fixed ratio, videos in free form will almost certainly have black pillars, but video apps can also use the PiP option in the settings to have their own flowing video only window which is not natively resizeable (I found if you resize the app in free form, in PiP it will then open at more or less the same size minus the ultra-wide aspect ratio).
You can also split the window to use two apps like on most devices. Tap on the divider and you can switch the two apps around or replace one of them or exit. Thankfully the split window is side to side in landscape orientation and top and bottom in portrait (this may seem obvious but my Galaxy Tab S6 insists on doing side by side, meaning in portrait orientation you have two really skinny, really tall windows which are basically only good for comparing lists).
There is a “smart split” option in the settings which allows apps to be displayed in a window more suited for landscape orientation but it actually is more of an “ignore” portrait orientation. What it does is that if an app is portrait only (like the Windscribe app), it will open it in landscape view by having it in the center of the screen and empty space to the sides. This also means you can then use said apps in split view if you want.
View attachment 5675387View attachment 5675389
Split screen and a freeform app (firefox) in landscape and portrait orientation.
There is a “Security” app which provides RAM cleaning, disk space cleaning, privacy management, antivirus, autostart manager, network access, battery, advanced clean and automatic backup options.
Lenovo One
Lenovo One is actually a great feature. If you have another compatible Lenovo tablet, phone or laptop you can connect it with the tablet. My Legion 5 with 4800H AMD CPU is not on the compatibility list but works flawlessly, giving me the impression they never updated it as it only mentions older models. This software lets you control the tablet from your computer (it provides a window where the tablet’s screen appears. There is very little lag and you can use this to transfer files from and to the tablet (multiple files are fine but folders are not). File transfers are as quick as the network allows (within the device’s limitations of course).
Transferring to the PC you can drag and drop the files to whatever folder you want. The only downside to file transfers it that they are sent to the tablet, it doesn’t matter if you have the file manger open to a specific folder, they all get sent to the Lenovo One folder (a minor inconvenience).
If you open pictures, videos, audios, or installation packages on the tablet, they’ll be opened up with the corresponding app, but office files (Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF) are opened up on the computer by default.
You can also set the interface to full screen on your computer to play games or watch videos if you want.
View attachment 5675381
Smart switch
One detail which is appreciated is that the physical game switch which will show you game states in an overlay can be "remapped" in settings to turn on/off adaptive brightness or to lock/unlock the screen auto-rotate. This can be done in the settings via the "Custom Switch" setting.
Battery care
The phone provides three options to actually protect your battery (unlike the “battery saver” which just prolongs battery life):
Health charging: it will supposedly learn from your habits to “intelligently control” charging past 80% to prolong battery life and slow down battery aging.
Battery Protection Mode: it will keep it charged between 40% and 60% when plugged in to keep it healthy.
Battery bypass: it will power your device when connected to a charger and not charge the battery. This is good for prolonged usage/gaming sessions. It is especially good for games as it noticeably lowers the heat level. I turned it on while playing Injustice 2 and I could actively feel the device cooling in my hands, it was VERY impressive.
The only downside to battery bypass is that 1) you can only activate it from the Legion Assistant. This means that you have to have added the program you want to use to the Legion Realm and then while using the app, swipe down for the assistant and then activate it. This means that 2) you cannot activate it from the desktop mode since even if you open up a compatible program, swiping from the top will not summon the Legion Assistant. What you CAN do is, if you’re not mirroring PC Mode, is open up a compatible app on the phone and activate bypass charging that way.
There are other small perks like “region screenshot” where you can take a screen shot of just part of your screen (you choose what, as long as it’s a rectangular area). You can also have the system give you a different background or blur it when using the camera (like with skype and zoom, but app independent). The backgrounds are nice but limited and you cannot add any.
Stylus support? Kind of…
Now the documentation and such never mentioned stylus support but some people have asked about it, no doubt due to the P11 and P12 both supporting it.
No, the tablet’s screen does not support a stylus, but the software actually does.
What do I mean? Well, I have the Lenovo m14t portable monitor which supports stylus input. When I have connected it to my Galaxy Tab S6 and my LG V60, both of which DO have stylus support, they both just detected the stylus on the portable monitor as a simple touch input with no pressure sensitivity and no tilt detection (and abnormal lag to be honest).
But the Y700 works perfectly with it. There’s no lag and it detects both pressure sensitivity and tilt detection in apps like Concepts and Adobe Sketchbook.
What does this mean for users? You can’t use an active stylus to take notes on the tablet while out and about but you can use it for artistic purposes if you have an external stylus capable monitor (and who knows, maybe it even works with non-screen drawing pads). The device is fast and has plenty of RAM so you can definitely take advantage of that. It also means if you have such a monitor you can whip it out at café and annotate documents by hand and the like.
As for note taking on the go? The screen is really sensitive and responsive so basic handwritten notes are possible with a simple capacitive stylus. Of course, you won’t get palm rejection or anything of the sort.
Downsides
Prime Video and Netflix work, but Prime video doesn’t allow for HD video (it reports the movie as having it available, but it streams SD). Netflix on the other hand looks like HD to me.
There are glitches, when playing around with split screen and settings and such my screen became off center. Now, this isn’t normal usage so if it doesn’t repeat during normal usage it should be fine.
In PC Mode some apps aren’t fully compatible. The top bar which has the minimize, maximize, close buttons and which you use to drag the window around…, well, retroarch doesn’t have that bar (you can resize it by dragging the edges/corners) but that means if you want to move it you’ll have to do it by resizing it and you’ll never have to maximize it in PC Mode.
When using the AOSP keyboard in the search bar in PC Mode it would glitch and refused to work with Firefox in the same mode. I could not sign in to my Kobo account in PC Mode because as soon as I tried and the keyboard appeared, the sign in screen would disappear (and if I tried to write and then minimize the keyboard, nothing had happened). Oddly enough in normal phone mode I couldn’t upgrade my redream account as it would crash the app but it worked in PC Mode.
The bluetooth profiles are a bit wonky. Like they work, but despite my Logitech M720 Triathlon mouse working perfectly with it, it officially recognizes it as a keyboard. In the bluetooth panel it shows a moouse icon next to it, but in the physical keyboard section of language and input it shows the mouse as the physical keyboard. So if it's connected, the virtual keyboard won't pop up any time I click in a text field. I can force it to show the virtual board while a physical keyboard is connected, but then if I do and am actually using a physical keyboard I have to deactivate that option so the virtual keyboard doesn't unnecessarily block half the screen.
As mentioned, it could be a bit louder (my Tab S6 is slightly louder and slightly deeper bass but then again it is bigger with twice the speakers).
Notifications don’t really work so it is not ideal as a primary communications device (since people won’t be able to reach you). Of course, if you open up your mail app or your chat app it will show you your messages without a problem but you have to open it first. This is most likely not a problem with wechat or QQ but as I don’t have an account with either I cannot check.
I was using skype and an incoming call did not show up on the tablet despite the app being open (actually open, not just in the background). But I was able to make a call with it.
It’s a Chinese device, this means that it interprets Money symbols which should be the dollar sign as the yuan sign ¥. If I find a way to install my own font this should be fixed but I haven’t found that out yet.
No GPS so no using it for navigation or with GPS dependent games like Pokemon Go. Of course it also doesn’t have mobile data capabilities so that might be a moot point (unless you planned on using your phone as a hot spot).
Conclusion
It’s a great tablet for gaming, media consumption and productivity but not communications. It was designed FOR GAMING and you can tell. If those use cases are your primary focus it will work great for you despite it being from China. If you want a Language other than English you’ll need a language switching software but from what I saw from a Spanish user online it should be fine.
I bought the 12GB Ram, 256GB Rom version from Aliexpress for $470 plus shipping (express in my case as aliexpress shipping in my country was proven undependable during the pandemic).
Edited it to add the mention of PS2 emulation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for such extensive review. Are you still using this tablet? Is zui14 latest version still causing any issues or glitches or reboots? I lso heard that for Zui14 one can download APK where you can switch to PC mode manually, wander if you tried that app and what are your thoughts?
nebo0919 said:
Thank you so much for such extensive review. Are you still using this tablet? Is zui14 latest version still causing any issues or glitches or reboots? I lso heard that for Zui14 one can download APK where you can switch to PC mode manually, wander if you tried that app and what are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes just search in this forum zui PC mode switcher. It work fine but I don't use PC mode on a small tablet like this.
I don't have any issue with latest zui 14 doing office work and watching movie
Mrxyzl said:
Yes just search in this forum zui PC mode switcher. It work fine but I don't use PC mode on a small tablet like this.
I don't have any issue with latest zui 14 doing office work and watching movie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you confirm that pc mode switcher on zui14 actually turns on pc mode on tablet without it being connected to external monitor, like it was on zui13? Or perhaps I misunderstood something?
nebo0919 said:
Can you confirm that pc mode switcher on zui14 actually turns on pc mode on tablet without it being connected to external monitor, like it was on zui13? Or perhaps I misunderstood something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I confirmed it work
Has anyone managed to find or enable the GPU Panel which was on the Legion App in Zui13, but is missing on the new Legion Zone App on Zui14.
Here's a screenshot from youtuber ETA Prime of how it looked like on ZUI13.