PiPO X8: an Android/Windows dual-boot touchscreen device

Just when I thought technology couldn’t surprise me anymore, the guys at PiPO came up with a brilliant idea. Instead of producing just another iteration of their dual boot mini PC, they decided to mix it with other interesting things, and the result is the PIPO X8.

The PiPO X8 is a mini PC powered by Windows 8.1 with Bing, but it is also an mini Android box powered by Android 4.4.4, or, as it’s known by its snack name, KitKat. This offers a tremendous advantage if you have applications that you can use on one operating system, but not the other, and lets you customize your setup even further.

However, that’s not the only surprise this device has in store. The other surprise is fairly visible; these guys added a touchscreen to an already powerful and versatile device with not one, but two operating systems. Basically you now have a possibility to use this device as a standalone product for whatever you want, and also as a control touchscreen, for larger hardware setups. Do you see where this is going?

What possible uses could I have for the PiPO X8?

As you probably guessed by now, you can set up your home server or HTPC with this device, because it is a mini computer, and a very fast and powerful one -if you consider its price tag. However, you could take great advantage of the secondary screen, to turn it into a way to control your setup, having it always lit on one side of your TV. If that doesn’t appeal to you, the touchscreen can be turned off as well.

4 USB ports and an HDMI one let you use this device as a mini computer. You could hook up a keyboard and a mouse, or use wireless input devices. You can stream video, play music, take a look at pictures, and even do some casual gaming. Its Quad-Core Intel Z3736F processor, which can go as fast as 1.83GHz, provides you with the needed processing power, and the 2GB of DDR3 RAM on the device ensure that you can enjoy flawlessly your multimedia content.

There’s a catch though; there are some heat dissipation problems with this device. It might get too hot if you place it under stress –as any device would-, however, it is unable to dissipate the heat as efficiently as other devices, which might make the device lag or stall; then again, this only happens if you stress it too much, so if you plan on using it for media consumption, this shouldn’t be the case.

For a complete picture about this device, you can see its specifications below:

• PiPO X8 TV box with Windows8.1 and Android4.4 Dual OS
• Intel Z3736F quad core up to 1.83GHz
• 2GB DDR3L RAM + 32GB ROM
• Intel HD Graphics
• Resolution: 1280 x 800
• Built-in speaker and mic
• Support Bluetooth 4.0
• Support LCD display
• 802.11b/g/n LAN
• Power: 12V/2.4A
• Software: Youtube/ Facebook / Twitter / MSN / Skype / Calculator / Google Mail / Google maps / iReader / Quick Office
• Ebook: WORD / EXCEL / PPT / PDF / TXT / CHM/HTML
• PIPO X8 TV BOX Clear Screen Display

Should I get the PiPO X8?

If you are interested in a device which offers you touchscreen capabilities and the ability to dual boot in Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4.4, then maybe you could give it a thought and buy PiPO X8. Bear in mind it has no battery, so it is not a portable device; it has been designed to be used in a specific location, hooked up to the wall outlet, which is great if you plan on using this as a touch screen mini pc to set up an HTPC on your living room.

PiPO X8 comes with an official Windows 8.1 license, which is something worthy of note. It also allows you to run major HTPC apps such as Kodi, which you could run in Windows or Android. Some people have even gone further and installed Ubuntu on this device, thanks to its flexible BIOS; although this is not really supported by the manufacturer.

The Ainol mini PC we reviewed booted up in Chinese and you had to manually change the language to English. But when everything listed on language list is in Chinese there is noway a non-chinese person could guess which one was English. Pipo X8 booted up in English, which made setup a breeze. It was also much easier to boot from USB in case you want to install an OS of your liking. There are 2 things that could be better: 1) the USB ports could have been 3.0 instead of 2.0 (for faster file serving) and 2) wireless could have been 5GHz N or AC for better networking.

The PiPO X8 is an interesting device that would make a welcome addition to a larger and more complex hardware setup, providing a touch screen PC monitor, albeit small (only 7 inches) to control a much larger screen hooked up via its HDMI port. You can also use it as a standalone minicomputer, but then you would be kind of wasting away its true potential. However, given its very generous price tag, you should perhaps give this device -and its very interesting form factor- a chance at becoming a part of your HTPC setup.