It’s been nearly two years since Freecsale introduced its i.MX6 processor. The 1.2 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm since then… but there are now a number of inexpensive tablets powered by Freescale’s chip.

And the 10 inch tablets are reasonably cheap, with prices around $225 or less.

quad-core tablet with Freescale i.MX6

Retailer W2Comp contacted me today to let me know about the Ampe A10, which the store calls the first Chinese quad-core tablet. You can pick one up for $225 plus free shipping.

But a quick check of AliExpress shows that the Ampe A10 isn’t alone. Several sellers are offering tablets with virtually identical specifications. They’re selling for as little as $204, but you’ll have to pay around $25 for shipping from China on those models.

Interestingly, if you search AliExpress for “Ampe A10,” you get a bunch of listings for tablets with single-core Allwinner A10 ARM Cortex-A8 processors.

It looks like all of these tablets feature 10.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, WiFi, Bluetooth, front and rear cameras, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandiwch software.

They feature 10-point multitouch capacitive touchscreen displays and USB, SD card, and HDMI ports. The tablets have ARM Mali 400 graphics.

According to the product listings, they also feature support for the Google Play Store, which should make downloading third party apps easy.

I wouldn’t expect the same build quality or performance from one of these tablets as from an iPad, Kindle Fire, or Nexus 7. But $225 isn’t a bad price for a 10 inch tablet with a quad-core processor.

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20 replies on “Chinese tablets with quad-core Freescale i.MX6 chips pop up for $225”

  1. Why brother with cheap chinese clones when you can get 269.99 to 319.99 refurb. ipad2 and asus tf300 tegra fot 39.99 more.

  2. Hi, I bought a Pipo Max M1 from Dhgate for $215, free shipping. I must say I was very surprised with the quality. My parents have an iPad 2 and the Pipo is faster, same screen, but for a 3rd of the price. I was so pleased with it, that I ordered 4 more, one for my wife and 3 to sell to friends.
    I opened mine, and it is neatly arranged inside with quality screws and not just tape like some of the other Chinese tablets.
    It has all the ports, decent speaker, IPS screen and 1gb DDR3 ram.
    They also shipped very fast!

  3. Looks like the Vivante GPUs have official Linux and X11 (EXA) support on top of the Open XX APIs.

    https://www.vivantecorp.com/Product_Brief.pdf

    This is very good news for the “hackability” of the i.MX6 because Freescale in general is fairly supportive of Linux (demoed Ubuntu smartbooks at one point)

    If the i.MX6 finds its way into stick computers in 2012 it would be quite revolutionary (a two-generation jump in one year).

  4. I will be so glad when you reporter types stop comparing everything to the crappy iToy, and other devices. It is possible there are those who don’t care about keeping up with the Jones, or impressing the girl in the next cubicle, or they cannot affort $500.00 (558,525 KRW) + for a tablet, who think iToys and its developers are totally irrelevant, and just want a mobile device to check email, surf a bit, and watch movies on long haul flights like lets say Seoul, South Korea to San Francisco, CA, USA (10 hours 31 mins.) maybe less with a good tailwind.

    Furthermore those who buy the less expensive devices be they smartphones, laotops, tablets, mp3 players etc. already know or have a general idea how it is going to perform.

    I have been blessed to have the best 2 tablets available anywhere the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Asus Transformer Infinity 700, but I know a lot of folks rght here in Seoul where even this $225.00 (251,336 KRW) would be a stretch.

    Brad why don’t you be the start of a new type of reporter and let these devices stand on their own merit.

    Thanks for letting me have my say…

  6. > Any idea what the i.MX6 has not gotten traction?

    Because it is still in SAMPLING state and not production.
    Production silicon will be available Q4 2012.

  7. Brad, I have a suggestion. You frequently have news items about the low-cost Chinese tablets and Android sticks. They’re very interesting, but I’m leery about ordering such cheap devices all the way from mainland China, as aremany others, I’m sure.

    Have you considered running a series of reviews on a selection of these devices on this site? And if you ordered at least some of them as an ordinary customer, you could also provide some very important feedback on the speed and reliability of delivery from over there.

    Naturally, I’m sure it comes down to having the time and money to do this, but I suspect you’d get a lot of traffic for those reviews since it doesn’t seem that there is anywhere else with your reputation that does them (at least not in the US).

    If you started with two or three of the top 7-inch Chinese tabs selling for between $100 – and $150, I’m sure you’d find it worth the investment.

    1. Hi Mike,
      This would NOT be coming from mainland China, it would come from Hong Kong the cash cow of the world.
      W2COMP.com
      Address:
      W2COMP
      Trading Company
      Flat B, 2/F, Wah Hing Industrial Building, 2-6 Ma Kok Street,
      Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong
      Email: [email protected]
      MSN: [email protected]
      Phone:
      +852-6029-2348
      You could always take a holiday and go to Hong Kong for a month and pick one up and even get it for less if you like to haggle. I always love going to HK for the food, shopping and the people of course…cus we all don’t look alike 🙂

      1. Haha, “don’t come from China, come from Hong Kong…”. Nothing is made in Hong Kong, AMPE A10 QuadCore is made in ShenZhen, no matter if W2COMP (a reseller) is registered in Hong Kong or not. Also ASIAPADS.com is a company registered in Hong Kong but their warehouse is in ShenZhen too. AMPE’s factory is located in ShenZhen (China).

      2. If the Chinese tablets went through the same level of quality assurance their more expensive counterparts did, they would be more popular in the USA, but then they would be more expensive too.

        Given that most quality tablets are made in China today too, that’s the main difference. You have to cut corners somewhere, and that hurts the quality of construction and reliability. Not such a big deal when you can mail it back and get a replacement within a few days, but when you have to send it back (typically at your own expense) and then wait up to a month for a replacement (if you get one at all), that $120 tablet doesn’t seem quite so cheap all of a sudden.

        But I am interested in knowing more about these tablets and if they are worth the risk, which is why I suggested Brad reviews some of them. If you look on YouTube, the vast majority of “reviews” are either tedious silent videos from hopeless amateurs or from the retailers themselves, who are not exactly an impartial source.

        As for shilling for your own company, give us a break. Javi already pointed out that your Hong Kong office is just a front for mainland China factories. I’m sure it’s legit, but you don’t inspire customer confidence by trying to pretend it’s something it’s not.

        1. I am in no way trying to persuade anybody to buy this or any other tablet. I could care less what people do with their money be it USD or KRW.
          Nor is this my company and I do not work for them. I am fortunate enough to be financially stable and don’t need to work.

          1. Fair enough — just odd to be cut and pasting company details into comments, it’s typically what representatives of those companies do when spamming forums or discussions, hence my assumption.

  9. Looks like Freescale provides fairly strong Linux support as well (not only Android), so buying a tablet like this may also give you some hackable hw.

    Damn, I have to delay buying that Transformer Infinity again.

    Pls, somebody order one of these and write a nice little review.

    1. Next week should arrive one to me id make an extended review
      Hope for the Linux community to support this thing

Comments are closed.