Sunday, November 25, 2012

iBerry auxus ax03g review - The Grand Finale

The bluetooth headset is able to pause/play videos, switch between previous and next as well provide volume control using an app MX player. So that problem resolved by me,without CSE support. The 3G is much much better. Battery is good, lowest brightness setting with bluetooth connection the battery lasts for 6 hours and 17 minutes at fully on state without any battery saver applications. Standby time is 1 day and about 18 hours, which is nearly double of previous state. The USSD problem still going on, with the garbled characters. The accelerometer calibration is still the same with wobbly effect in few of the games. but is ignorable. Customer care was good to me, thankfully. I got this tablet exchanged so many times that I had lost count. though not actually, it was 5. but they sent it back usually within time, 7 working days... Finally would I recommend this tablet? May be not, till all updates/patches are in place. There are other tabs in the market for a similar price now, More price/company options available now than a few months back when this tablet was first launched. So in good faith, know your budget and requirements, then purchase one.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

IBERRY AUXUS AX03G FINAL REPORT:


Guys, after months of back and forth of the tab which felt like a tennis match, I am ready to give what will my final opinion/update about the iberry auxus ax03g tab.

I experienced the 3G reception which was better than before, much better. Having said that, it is neither phone nor a USB data dongle, especially in terms of enhancing reception in areas with poor signal strength. I felt that the speed is limited to about 1-1.2Mbps in 3G data transfer, whereas the transfer rates were much higher with a phone, whereas the use of an USB dongle gave much better speeds than even the phone with the same network at the same time, thereby ruling out network congestion or limitation as a cause for the lower speeds. But the experience was satisfactory. The battery in continuous use of the screen in minimum brightness setting lasts for about 5 hours & 15minutes till it gives out completely. This is good enough, as far as I am concerned. The part where i am not happy is the battery backup / standby time given by the tablet, in no network, no Bluetooth, no wifi mode, with all apps killed state. The tablet barely manages to get to 24 hours before giving up on staying alive. The precipitous fall of the battery charge from 67% to about 30% is still present. I tried the battery calibration app from the play store, but it didn’t help much. However android does have a energy hungry nature in general, which is why the play store is filled with battery boosting apps, so I am inclined to give it the benefit of doubt. Also the accelerometer issue where there is woobling of the driver in certain games still persists. The same is not there in other manufacturer tablets like the GT2/ FB pro, which I had an opportunity to use. I shall hope that the issue, alongwith a few others will be resolved via a firmware update soon. The suggested upgrades which may not take place due to hardware limitations/non feasibility shall be a grouse, I shall hold till the end. However, as of today, I am fairly satisfied with the product I received, for the price I paid for it.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Tablet Repair/Replacement Melodrama

I have resent the tablet again for the 4th time. this time, while the assurance is the same. Also what comes with it, is the in depth technical discussion with the R&D team guy who assured me about some firmware update which is in the works for battery, network selection issues etc and is expected in a month or two. However no clear date whatsoever. Also that the tablet works perfectly in chennai and some stuff regarding the Indian bandwidth distribution pattern being different in every city. Point of the whole discussion was that there are about 4 batches of tabs, one or the other batch definitely works in each of the cities, hence sending the tablet back for diagnostics may make sense, but reception quality may not be the same in all of the cities. The bluetooth will not have a2dp update as it will hamper the already weak gsm/3g reception. The chipset (name withheld) used is not that great for network reception as the stuff in phones in the 1st place. The charger design will be changed and shall be provided at request sometime later in the year/early next year as the current one gives shock at the tip, but tab is apparently safe from overcharging and voltage fluctuations as a result of the above. So use of the current charger is still recommended albeit with care. I shall keep you updated in due course.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Repairs and Refunds

https://shop.iberry.asia/​index.php?option=com_content&vi​ew=article&id=51&Itemid=90

 All people who have been advised to return their tablets for inspection/repairs/​replacements/or just about anything else back to iberry, refer to the above link for their address.
Also people interested in claiming refunds, go through the return & refund policy here.
The people who have been advised the return for repair/replacements are expected to follow the below mentioned directions, but not told about it by the iberry guys unless directly asked for:
1) You are expected to return the entire sales package with all accessories included in the original sales package.
2) A note should be placed inside the tablet box, mentioning the issues faced by you.
3) After the above steps have been successfully completed, the entire sales package box is to be bubble wrapped and placed in waterproof cover (like the one you received your tablet in).
4) Seal it securely.
5) Write the address mentioned in the website link provided at the top of this post.
6) Write your own address at the back of the packed product.
7) The courier company authorised by iberry will contact you and send a pick up boy to collect the package from you.
8) After giving it to the authorised courier company personnel, contact and confirm/update the same to iberry, via the support website, using your email and ticket no. as the validation.
9) Wait for return...

Addendum to Issues faced by Me


·         The touch keys at the bottom of the screen do not have backlight, making it impossible to use them in the dark. All the preview photos and 3600 view images made it appear as though they had backlights.  
The screen brightness and dimness settings should be tweaked so as to reduce the minimum and increase the maximum, Giving us bigger range of choice as to the display brightness.

User Manual Errata & Omissions.

The user manual needs to be more user friendly and show what the symbols on the interface mean. It should  explain the basic functioning of the tablet, at the very minimum, as the interface is new for most people . Even otherwise, manuals are made for helping people out when they have difficulties or for some to even get throough using things for basic purposes. And one thing is for sure, this version of the user manual does none of that. Currently as most tablets are already distributed, changes should be made for the next lot and at least  a copy should be made available on the website under downloads. I, personally felt that, the manual was for a different model to which a few pages were added and removed to make one for the iberry auxus ax03g. Why do I feel that way? It mentions package contents as pouch, earphones etc., 16Gb internal memory, none of which are part of the standard package offered by iberry. The fact that an English manual was even provided is a great thing, I guess. Lets hope for the better.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

iberry auxus ax03g problems faced by me


Issue 1: (network)
·         It has very poor 3G network reception. It does not even accept 3G network with full strength network coverage which is causing waste to my expensive 3G plan as I am forced to use it at 2G speeds.
·         Even 2G signal reception requires very good to excellent strength network coverage to even register on the network.
·         There is frequent total network loss (no coverage).
·          It says registered on network but no network bars are visible nor is it usable for calls or data transfer at that time.
·         It also frequently disconnects from the internet when used with sim card data transfer, causing data wastage due to interrupted downloads.
·         There is no 3G network related video calling.
·         There is no option to select the network mode i.e. 2G/3G (GSM/UMTS) or dual mode.
Issue 2: (Battery & charger)
·         Battery lasts for 3 hours & 28 minutes with the wifi on for downloading and browsing in airplane (offline) mode with Bluetooth switched off, with minimum brightness setting of the display & other tasks killed. This is after the firmware reinstall.
·         Battery standby time was about 13 hours & 30 minutes prior to firmware update, current standby time is about 18 hours & 20 minutes with all antennas off (Bluetooth, wifi & network), all apps killed and display off with brightness at minimum setting.
·         The charge falls slowly till 67% and there on it falls fast.
·         The charger tip gives a mild shock every time.
·         It takes about 6 hours & 34 minutes for 100% charging from 1%
Issue 3: (Miscellaneous)
·         Multiple games (motion sensor based) legally downloaded from playstore like racing moto, highway rider, speeding moto etc. to name a few show the rider to be shaky(wobbly) on default as well as special setting of the accelerometer. This happens even when the device is laid down on a flat table surface like a table, undisturbed. The above mentioned games work very well without the abovementioned problems on other devices that I have at home.
·         Multiple games from reputed developers like Gameloft are said to be incompatible with this device after download from the playstore. Also the playstore recognises the iberry tablet as a device from unknown manufacturer.
·         Internal memory is detected as memory card on preinstalled software like office suite pro and aldiko. I have to take a roundabout way to access the external sd card files.
·         Prior to booking, I was informed by some customer service executive, that the iberry auxus ax03g had A2DP support in the Bluetooth on specifically asking such a query. However after the usage of the said device, I have realised that, such is not the case. Hence, kindly advice, whether such an upgrade (adding A2DP/AVRCP/EDR) is part of a software upgrade or a hardware upgrade, should such a thing be made available later or now.

Monday, August 6, 2012

The iberry auxus ax03g: The review of the original review

The battery backup with all apps killed, in offline(airplane) mode with data and modem disabled, with wifi and bluetooth switched off etc. in standby mode was 13 hours and 35 minutes only. the network preferential is towards 2G, the 3G latching does not happen and when it does, it does so for a fleeting moment, the transition between 2G & 3G network is not smooth. unlike in other 2g+3g devices, where u can select between either the GSM and WCDMA/UMTS(3G) networks or keep it in Dual mode, u cant do that here. also quite a number of motion sensor based games go wobbly, which is not the case in the other manufacturers devices used by me. changing the accelerometer to special didnt work either. Also the preinstalled apps like office pro do not detect the document files on the memory card. however this is due to the phone built in memory being recognised as memory card and if u want to access the memory card u have to select the device option then mnt then extsd folder. understanding the network icons is difficult and full interpretation is not available anywhere. for eg. why the white network bars become blue etc.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Iberry auxus ax03g unpacking

Iberry Auxus AX03G hands on review

I am going to write about the iberry auxus ax03g.
It is a budget tablet with a tonne of features.
The features are very well displayed on the official iberry website and quite frankly are up for the read and I won’t waste out time in going over it again.
There is about 6.07 gb of in built memory available. It comes with a 16 gb memory card with about 14 +gb free. Rest has preinstalled apps.
It comes with an official google play store. The aldiko reader is not preinstalled. It however comes with office reader.
Coming to the display, it is bright enough indoors and has a decent enough resolution for viewing. you can operate your phone for basic stuff in the sun but watching a video may be a problem if you concentrate on lookin at your face. the brightness settings do not appear to change much of the screen brightness, i mean it is more subtle u cant appreciate the difference much. but it is still fair enough.
The touch interface is smooth and has multi touch discrimination. So u can pinch and pull the images on your screen.
The colours are rich n bright. The camera quality is passable and anyway it wasn’t meant to be used for photography.
There is no 3g sim video calling like most 3g android basic phones available in the market. However video calling with skype is supported.
The mic and speakers are good. The loudspeaker is really loud and gives a good output in decibels as well as quality.
It has built in wifi and Bluetooth, both of which work perfectly fine. However the Bluetooth doesn’t support a2dp or avrcp, which means that while you can listen to songs, u can pause or change them with your a2dp ready headset. But the connectivity for Bluetooth is flawless and gives good audio quality. The overall build quality is good and it has a solid robust feel.
The external design looks good and pleasant on the eyes. The network may initially appear to be weak intermittently, however give it a few hours and you will not even know that there was an issue with it in the first place.
Some people may have trouble inserting the sim card. I have also uploaded a video with the insertion of sim being shown, the audio is a bit off but you will get it. The call quality was very good. Games and the auto rotation features work smoothly.
I have not tried out any heavy duty game. But i do not suppose that should be a problem.
There are some touch keys on the bottom of the screen which do not have backlight of any kind making it impossible to operate those keys in the dark.
Also those touch keys are not entirely useful as the ICS takes care of the touch stuff by its home, switch window and back touch keys on the bottom of the screen. Overall: it is the best tablet available for less than 17000INR.
None are comparable with the iberry auxus ax03g in terms of configuration. As of now even if u r willing to spend a couple of thousand rupees more for a budget tablet. The customer service execs are very polite, patient people and have been trained very well in handling the complaints in this. Judging by their talk mannerisms, it was very apparent that they have been given a protocol to follow tier wise in the resolution of the complaint, which in itself speaks volumes for the company. Anyway should the issue not be resolved at earlier tiers, there will be escalation and a ticket will be issued to u. The tablet will be picked up from your home and in minor repairs will be returned in 3 working days and in critical repairs or in circumstances involving replacement, it shall be resolved and sent back in 7 working days. For this tablet, the score i award it would be 9/10.
0.25 goes for the Bluetooth a2dp thing
0.25 goes for no led flash
0.25 goes for the lack of backlights on the display touch keys.
And finally the last 0.25 goes for not having 3G video calling. i wrote this at shadab's request yesterday night @ abt 1:30am on the iberry tablet, so please excuse any errors in spellings, grammar or difference of opinion. a few of the above negative points or deductions are based on my judgment and expectations from an ideal tablet, were never promised or told by iberry, so you people can freely overlook that. But for the price it is being sold INR 9990/11000, it is definitely a steal, coz even up to 17 grand there are no real competitors in terms of overall configuration. And that my friends; is saying something.

Iberry Auxus ax03g sim card insertion