I'll cut right to the chase. I don't have a Tab to test this out with, so figure it's to the Interwebz.
So you can link a Note to a Windows 10 laptop with the usb-c cable, you can link a Note to a tv with an hdmi cable, you can link a Tab S6 to a Windows 10 laptop with the usb-c cable and you can link a Tab S6 to a tv with an hdmi cable.
But, can you link a Note 10+ directly to a Tab S6 and treat the tab as the connected display?
I have looked and looked and found no details that say it is supported, but also have not found anyone attempting this. If a Tab could be treated as a portable Smart display, I would be so so so happy.
... will it work?
AlaricBaltha said:
I'll cut right to the chase. I don't have a Tab to test this out with, so figure it's to the Interwebz.
So you can link a Note to a Windows 10 laptop with the usb-c cable, you can link a Note to a tv with an hdmi cable, you can link a Tab S6 to a Windows 10 laptop with the usb-c cable and you can link a Tab S6 to a tv with an hdmi cable.
But, can you link a Note 10+ directly to a Tab S6 and treat the tab as the connected display?
I have looked and looked and found no details that say it is supported, but also have not found anyone attempting this. If a Tab could be treated as a portable Smart display, I would be so so so happy.
... will it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DeX will not work due to lack of an app on the Tablet.
meowone said:
DeX will not work due to lack of an app on the Tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But there are TVs with HDMI functionality that were manufactured far before DeX was even a thought and it works...
elogikal said:
But there are TVs with HDMI functionality that were manufactured far before DeX was even a thought and it works...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are talking about HDMI-in on the tablet, then it doesn't have that capability either because the USB-C port does not take display input. The only possible way to broadcast a screen on the tablet is to use Samsung's SmartView functionality which allows you to share screen between Samsung device. However, that app is finicky and I have not have success with my Tab S4.
meowone said:
If you are talking about HDMI-in on the tablet, then it doesn't have that capability either because the USB-C port does not take display input. The only possible way to broadcast a screen on the tablet is to use Samsung's SmartView functionality which allows you to share screen between Samsung device. However, that app is finicky and I have not have success with my Tab S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly,
I don't have a Tab S6 but older Tab A (2016)
I do have a Note 10 +
I have installed Samsung Flow which incorporates Smart View.
I can connect wifi direct method or Bluetooth from
my Tab A to Note 10 +
No issues, overall.
Connects every time.
Yes, it's a little bit "laggy" but quite acceptable for my use.!
I can control my Note 10 + from my Tab A (mirror)
See screenshots taken from Smart view @ Samsung Flow Tab A mirroring Note 10+
Note ...
If i can control my Note10+ from older Tab A ,it surely should work from a newer Tab S6....??
Hope this is what OP had in mind ?
Good luck
Post note.
Further examples.
i can receive notifications from outside, intended for Note 10 +
View them on my tab.
My notifications on Note 10 +,
is set to a notification bubble.
I can tap on the bubble on my Tab and view notifications.
I can answer calls etc for Note 10 +
via tab.
Further you can automatically dim your Note10 via Smart View.
To use tab you slide brightness up via tab etc
To save battery on "dormant" device.
I can pick my Note 10 up and carry on where i left off. etc
Whilst, I'm typing this post note it's mirrors every word on Tab.
I have put my Note 10 down and carry on typing this "note from my Tab.
There is a very slight lag but quite acceptable.
I Use the Wifi direct input rather than Bluetooth.
Good luck.
AlaricBaltha said:
I'll cut right to the chase. I don't have a Tab to test this out with, so figure it's to the Interwebz.
So you can link a Note to a Windows 10 laptop with the usb-c cable, you can link a Note to a tv with an hdmi cable, you can link a Tab S6 to a Windows 10 laptop with the usb-c cable and you can link a Tab S6 to a tv with an hdmi cable.
But, can you link a Note 10+ directly to a Tab S6 and treat the tab as the connected display?
I have looked and looked and found no details that say it is supported, but also have not found anyone attempting this. If a Tab could be treated as a portable Smart display, I would be so so so happy.
... will it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see my post #5 above
good luck
Thanks for your replies.
So it is probably apparent that I have a few use cases in mind for my question.
For the example, I'm specifically referencing 4 devices: Note 10+, 17.3" Windows 10 Laptop, Xbox One S, and a "theoretical Future version of the Tab S".
1) I am a professional software developer and I hate working from a single monitor. My workstation drives 5 displays (counting my open laptop) and being without a mobile monitor means that I am always tethered to my workstation to do work. The portability of Galaxy devices doesn't really help me get work done atthe moment. It just makes it easier to "carry my stuff" endpoint to endpoint. I need a portable second monitor to be able to do work wherever I am and realistically, if the flagship devices were to become upgraded to support DP-Alt as a default feature, I could use DisplayPort's native daisy chaining feature to hypothetically drive multiple external displays. At the point I can cable my Note to two Tabs via DP-Alt and have 2 external displays, my Note (whatever future iteration would add support for this) would become my primary personal computer rather than my ultrabook. But the starting poijt towards that goal would be to upgrade the Tab for receiving DisplayPort-Alt input
2) I am building a vehicle and want to build in a couple of XBox Ones into the backseat for my children, but I don't want to install permanent, single purpose displays into the vehicle. The displays need to be portable. Miracast is far too slow for gaming (old, deprecated fallback casting protocol)
3) The screen on my Note 10+ is amazing, but when I'm wanting to watch a video in bed, I always find myself wanting a larger, higher quality screen. I will never permanently install a television in my bedroom, so I need this screen to be portable. (Miracast is ok for this because video is non-interactive)
4) I run multiple gaming systems directly on my phone and when I want to play a multiplayer SNES game, I really want to be able to display it on a screen large enough that we can both view comfortably. I don't want to run these games from a tablet. I just want to take advantage of its larger, higher quality display.
5) I carry my Note 10+ everywhere and sometimes I want to work with it on a larger screen but I don't want to carry my laptop with me. (Miracast is suboptimal. The delay is not terrible, but I want no delay)
Essentially, if the Tab can receive DisplayPort over USB-C (known by VESA as Display Port Alt-Mode) then it is immediately upgraded to be the only portable monitor on the market with a sAMOLED display, it could be natively treated by a DeX enabled smartphone as an external display (and therefore a Note would be able to natively DeX with a Tab), and a Windows laptop or Surface Pro would be able to treat it as an extended display so mobile productivity would more closely resemble a multi-monitor workstation setup.
Samsung does not currently have a product offering in the "portable usb-c monitor" market segment and -on some fairly extensive research- there are zero portable usb-c monitors available with an AMOLED display. The highest quality ones available are IPS and they are in the $300-400 range for non-touch and $400-500 range for touch enabled displays. But none of them have any ability to be used for anything other than as a dumb display.
If the Tab were extended with this capability, it immediately becomes the exact device that Samsung has been missing in the middle of its "Galaxy for Business" strategy and it becomes a perfect portable companion to Windows portable devices.
So, I'm very intrigued by any possibility for this to come in the near future.
I mean....*why not*? It seems to make so much sense to me as the killer feature that solidifies the Samsung+Microsoft partnership.
meowone said:
If you are talking about HDMI-in on the tablet, then it doesn't have that capability either because the USB-C port does not take display input. The only possible way to broadcast a screen on the tablet is to use Samsung's SmartView functionality which allows you to share screen between Samsung device. However, that app is finicky and I have not have success with my Tab S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is consistent with my expectations. I spoke with Samsung Technical Support on an unrelated issue (Data Usage is 3x the app data math on my Note since the One UI 2.0 Update) and took the time to ask a couple of targetted questions about this support being currently available or available in the near future.
The tech communicated to me that they are working with pre-release devices in the Samsung building and that there are multiple combinations of devices that "just work" with a USB-C cable (probably TB or USB 3.2 Gen2x2) without the reliance on Miracast, but he had zero insight into the specifics of any future Tab model.
Either HDMI-Alt or DisplayPort-Alt would be fine for my purposes. I'd personally prefer it to work with DP-Alt but HDMI is more ubiquitous so there would be more mileage for this hypothetical feature.
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The good:
1. Solid build quality.
2. Vibrant, clear and sharp display.
3. MicroSD card support.
4. Amazing battery life.
5. Productivity Mode (PC Mode) is good for office tasks.
The bad:
1. Performance isn’t the best.
2. No fingerprint reader on the Tab P11.
Yes, Android tablet is still a thing in 2020, and we’ve seen a variety of slates being released this year. From solid entry-level slates like the Alldocube iPlay30, to versatile midrange devices like the Honor V6, then to the most cutting-edge powerhouses like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, consumers with different budgets could all find the right tablet for themselves.
Lenovo released two Android tablets recently: Lenovo Tab P11 and Tab P11 Pro. The Pro Edition was clearly more celebrated because of its fabulous 11.5-inch OLED display, quad JBL speakers and Snapdragon 730G processor. But both of them come with decent specs for their price tags, and have the potential of being real contenders.
Before we start, I have to say that I bought both tablets, one for myself, and the other for my partner, as they are extremely cheap here in China: the P11 Pro retails for RMB1,999.00 ($305), and the P11 is as cheap as RMB1,299.00($198). So, this review is NOT paid or sponsored in any way, and everything I have written here is based on my real experience.
Impressive design
Both the Tab P11 and Tab P11 pro look neat and elegant. The metallic rear and slim build give the slates an air of luxury.
The P11 has bigger bezels, and is also thicker than the P11 Pro does, but both still look like 2020 tablets which could easily blow the Huawei Matepad 10.8 out of the water in terms of aesthetics.
The Tab P11 Pro has a frosted aluminum back, which makes it feel much more premium than its tag would suggest. Apart from the Dolby Atomos Logo, the camera lens and LED are the only distractions. It’s incredibly clean, simple, and stylish. The P11’s back side looks a little bit more interesting, as half of it is actually plastic. According to Lenovo, the main goal of this design is to allow better WiFi reception, rather than saving cost.
Both tablets have 3 physical buttons: power/standby, volume+, volume-. The power key of the Tab P11 Pro also serves as a fingerprint reader, which makes unlocking the screen a lot easier. Both tablets support 2D face unlock, which is almost as fast as fingerprint recognition, although definitely less secure. The P11 Pro has an infrared camera, which works like a charm in low light conditions. The standard P11 doesn’t have one and, as a result, its front camera often struggles to recognize my partner’s face in low light, and he constantly has to turn to PIN to unlock the screen.
Both tablets have a multi-function USB-C port, which can be used for charging, data transmission, video and audio output. The P11 Pro’s Type-C port is of USB3.1 standard, which allows faster data transfer than the USB2.0 Type-C port on the P11. Also, both of them have a MicroSD card slot which supports cards up to 512GB. Neither tablet has a 3.5mm audio jack, if you intend on using wired headphones on them, you will need an adapter. Fortunately, the Tab P11 Pro comes with one, while the cheaper Tab P11 does not.
The P11 and P11 Pro each has a pogo pin port on its bottom side, which can be connected to their respective official keyboard case. The tablets also support stylus with 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. I haven’t got one yet because both the official pen and keyboards are out of stock in China.
The build quality of the Tab P11 Pro is extremely solid, and could even rival much more expensive slates such as the iPad Air 4, the Galaxy Tab S7, and the Huawei MatePad Pro. The P11 does feel less premium than the Pro edition, due to its bigger bezels and slightly thicker body, but it still feels a lot studier than other tablets in the same price range, such as the Honor Pad 6 and Teclast M40.
Screen and Sound
Both tablets have wonderful displays.
The Tab P11 Pro sports a gorgeous 11.5-inch OLED display with Dolby Vision and HDR10. Resolution clocks in at 2,560 by 1,600, for 214 pixels per inch (PenTile). With deep, inky blacks and rich colors, the display is really a joy to look at, and the screen has a brightness level of up to 500nit.
The Tab P11’s 11-inch, 2000*1200px IPS LCD panel is undoubtedly less impressive when compared to the Pro edition, but it’s still a good-enough display for almost any scenario. Somehow I even find the P11’s display better suited for reading.
Both tablets come with quad speakers, but the P11 Pro’s JBL certified speakers are not only louder, but offer deeper bass, fuller and more layered midrange, and brighter treble. With that said, even the built-in speakers of the standard P11 can easily beat average laptops in terms of volume and overall sound quality. Even my HP Elitebook 745G, which sported a Bang&Olufsen speaker, delivers smaller and tinnier sound than the Tab P11.
System & UI
I bought both the Tab P11 and Tab P11 Pro in China, so they both came with Lenovo’s very own ZUI, a heavily customized skin on top of Android 10. The international editions of these slates will ship with stock Android OS, with only a few twists here and there. I installed the international firmware on the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro for better support for Google apps, but kept ZUI on the standard P11 as it is a gift for my partner, who can’t care less about YouTube or Netflix as he finds enough joy with Chinese counterparts such as bilibili and Watermelon Video.
Unfortunately, the Android ecosystem is going towards a direction which is less and less tablet-friendly. Many of the customized tablet applications in Play Store were released years ago and haven’t been updated for a long time. As a result, most of the apps I ran on these tablets were just phone apps blown up to fill tablet screens, and many of these apps only support vertical mode.
However, Lenovo has designed ”PC Mode” for its ZUI, and “Productivity Mode” for its international interface, These desktop modes work very much like Samsung’s DeX mode. You will get a taskbar similar to the one on Chrome OS and Windows 10. On the left side of the taskbar are the three classic Android keys: Back, Home and Multi-tasking, you can use them to control the running applications. You will also get a shortcut to open the application drawer. What really makes Productivity Mode/PC Mode so special is their ability to run multiple apps in windows. You can browse through Emails, chat on Skype and watch a movie simultaneously. You will almost feel like you are using Windows instead of Android.
Thanks to the keyboard shortcuts and right-click menus, the Tab P11 and P11 Pro feel much more productive than average smartphones and tablets. For instance, you can copy texts from a webpage and instantly paste them into office apps or social networking apps.
Performance
At the core of the Tab P11 Pro is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 730G chipset, which is built on 8nm process, has an octa-core CPU (4 Cores of Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.2GHz and 4 cores of Cortex-A55 clocked at 1.8GHz) and Adreno 618 GPU. The Tab P11, on the other hand, is powered by an older, and relatively weaker Snapdragon 662 chipset, which is built on 11nm process and also has an octa-core CPU (4 Cores of Cortex-A72 clocked at 2.0GHz and 4 cores of Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.8GHz) and Adreno 610 GPU. Neither of these two processors are real powerhouses, and benchmarks tell the story.
To help you better understand the performance of these slates, I also listed the benchmark scores of other midrange and entry-level tablets for comparison.
As can be told in the sheets above, the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro’s is in the same ballpark with the Kirin 810 powered Huawei Matepad 10.4 when it comes to overall performance, while the Tab P11’s horsepower is on par with other tablets in the same price range.
Both the Tab P11 and Tab P11 Pro features the same 128GB UFS2.1 storage, which should be much faster than eMMc drives in terms of speed. In the Androbench test, the P11 and P11 Pro handily beats the Huawei MatePad 10.4 and Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in terms of Sequential Read Speed, but slightly fall short in Sequential Write Speed.
In the real-world use, both tablets can easily handle everyday tablet tasks with ease. I experienced no issues watching videos in the YouTube App, and editing photos in Snapseed at the same time. With that said, the Tab P11 Pro does feel a bit faster opening bigger applications and loading heavier webpages, but differences can only be perceived when I am running the same tasks on them side by side. Each of them feels fast enough for the tasks it is designed for.
Intense gaming should not be your main reason to buy an Android tablet, as most games are designed for phones and will be difficult to control on a 10+ inch screen. With that said, both tablets can run most games installed from Play Store without issues, but in order to have a smooth visual experience, you need to use moderate settings in some of the big titles. The Tab P11 has a weaker GPU of the two, but it is still able to run “Arena of Valor” and “PUBG” in mid settings smoothly.
Cameras
Cameras are not something I would be concerned about when choosing a tablet, with that said, I still want them to be as high-quality as possible. Both the P11 and P11 Pro come with a very decent 8MP selfie camera, but only the latter has an infrared camera by the side. The P11 Pro rocks dual rear-facing cameras: a 13MP main sensor and a 5MP ultra-wide lens, while the P11 only has a 13MP main shooter on the back.
The quality of their selfie cameras is more than enough for video chatting, and both tablets have the capability of taking clear and color-rich photos with their main camera setup in decent lighting conditions. However, as smartphone cameras are getting so good these days, who really need a 11-inch tablet for photography?
Battery Life and Charging
The Tab P11 features a 7,700mAh Li-Po battery, while the P11 Pro has a larger 8,250mAh battery under the hood. With display brightness and speaker volume both set at 50%, the P11 and P11 Pro lasted 11 hours, 37 minutes and 13 hours, 5 minutes respectively in our battery rundown test in which we played a 1080P local video on loop.
Both the P11 and P11 Pro support Qualcomm’s QC3.0 quick charge, and they both come with a 20W wall charger, but only the Snapdragon 730G powered P11 Pro can take full advantage of charging in 20W, the standard P11 only supports 18W charging at maximum.
Both tablets can be fully charged (from 0→100%) in around 3 hours.
Verdict
With Snapdragon 730G and Snapdragon 662 inside their respective shells, neither the P11 Pro nor the P11 is a powerhouse, but they are not really designed to be the best-performing tablets or break any new grounds. With that said, both tablets get a lot of essential things right. They each comes with a wonderful display, amazing speakers, and offers decent performance and perfect software optimization for everyday entertainment and productivity tasks. For me, they are easy recommendations for anyone who needs a new and affordable Android tablet.
Great review and recap! kudos
Hello!
Thank you for your review, very interesting.
How did you do to install the international rom in p11 pro? Is it easy?
Regards
I just picked up the p11 pro today 12% off sitewise sale and another 5% off customer coupon. Less than $500 shipping and taxes included for the 6 GB...
da_ny01 said:
Hello!
Thank you for your review, very interesting.
How did you do to install the international rom in p11 pro? Is it easy?
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very easy, takes only a few minutes.
Jupit3r said:
Very easy, takes only a few minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I will investigate about it. After installing the international rom, will it receive OTA updates normally or is necesary to repit the proccess to get the last rom?
Regards
I would also be interested in learning how to install the international ROM. I've tried once using the Qfil tool, but it beat me. How did you do it?
Also, I'm typing thisnon the Chinese Xiaoxin Pad Pro model of this tablet right now, and I can't get over how grainy text appears on this screen. Noticeably worse than my 4 year old Asus tablet when reading. I thought this screen would be amazing, and I'm considering returning it. Did you experience this at all?
Great review Jupit3r, thank you.
Thirdgenie said:
I would also be interested in learning how to install the international ROM. I've tried once using the Qfil tool, but it beat me. How did you do it?
Also, I'm typing thisnon the Chinese Xiaoxin Pad Pro model of this tablet right now, and I can't get over how grainy text appears on this screen. Noticeably worse than my 4 year old Asus tablet when reading. I thought this screen would be amazing, and I'm considering returning it. Did you experience this at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Lenovo’s Rescue & Smart Assistant (LMSA) software to flash the P11 Pro firmware. I chose the “Power-off Mode Rescue” option > https://support.lenovo.com/uk/en/downloads/ds101291/ . LMSA can download the firmware but you can also manually download it from here > https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/lenovo/Tab_P11_Pro/TB-J706F/
I’ve seen some issues reported with LMSA (seems to be related to having older versions of Windows and/or hardware). If you want to try again with QPST/ QFIL, then this (Google translated) thread is the best information I can find > https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=605&t=6227500
However, the tablet has a different serial number format to the international models and will be identified as a TB-J706F_PRC. The only consequence I’ve noticed (so far) is the need to sideload Netflix, as Google Play lists Netflix as “no longer compatible”. The reason why is perhaps important to note: the Xiaoxin Pad Pro’s “Play Protect Certification” status is “Device Not Certified”. I haven’t found other apps (so far) that refuse to install or work however. Some apps may stop working and/or won’t update in the future though, if app developers choose, or or are forced, to implement this (a CTS profile check).
The other issue I’ve noticed is that the tablet sometimes seems to think my finger is an active pen, if I use it when charging and I'm not holding it. This sort of problem (picking up taps as swipes etc. while charging) isn’t unique to this device though. This issue doesn’t really bother me, other than the fact it may indicate further issues down the track (depending on what the exact cause is, I gather).
The lack of Google Play certification makes it hard to recommend buying the Xiaoxin Pad Pro, if the intention is to flash the international ROM. Aside from the two issues above, I really like this tablet - I much prefer the close to stock Android experience, compared to what Samsung do (for example).
I haven’t noticed the font to be particularly bad – but maybe my eyes aren’t as good as yours. Have you tried changing the display and/or font size?
Hello, this global firmware for the Pad Pro doesn't have DC, dimming. Do you know if with Zui firmware has flicker free?
Thank you
da_ny01 said:
Thank you! I will investigate about it. After installing the international rom, will it receive OTA updates normally or is necesary to repit the proccess to get the last rom?
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it will receive OTA upgrades.
Hi, Does the global firmware flashed on this tablet support Netflix in Full HD? Does it still have its widevine l1 certification?
Thank you
elventine707 said:
Hi, Does the global firmware flashed on this tablet support Netflix in Full HD? Does it still have its widevine l1 certification?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and yes. The only caveat is that you have to sideload Netflix; you can’t update the preinstalled app via Google Play.
I found another bug with the Tab P11 Pro/Xiaoxin Pad Pro that may be of interest. Using Productivity Mode with a third party launcher seems to break the Recent Apps functionality with third party launchers.
Steps to reproduce:
Install a third party launcher (I’ve tested Nova & Lean Launcher)
Set it as the default launcher
Turn on Productivity Mode
Use the toolbar buttons and resize some app windows (may not be required)
Turn off Productivity Mode
Open an app/apps and try using Recent Apps
I’ve tried restarting the tablet, reinstalling Nova, clearing the default launcher’s cache/storage. I’ve had to revert to the default launcher for now (Smart Launcher).
Hello!
You could try the following to certificate your device:
How to Fix the "Device is not Certified by Google" Error
Are you having trouble with signing in to your Google account? Can't access the Google Play Store or use Google apps like Gmail, Maps, Play Music, or Photos? Seeing a "device is not certified by Google" error? Here's how to fix that.
www.xda-developers.com
Let us know if it works. I will receive a tab p11 pro soon.
Here is another link about how to install international firmware with QFIL:
【国际版系统·刷机】小新 Pad Pro
前言与联想的朋友聊了几句，对方答应送我一部新出的小新 Pad Pro体验一下，当然体验是有代价的，总得表示表示对不？于是就有了这篇文章——的前身。写完评测的开头我就觉得无聊了，这明明只是一个主打性价比、屏幕不错的平板，并不值得大书特书，除此以外还有什么好夸的呢？思来想去我又问了问有没有操作空间，答复是：有，刷国际版系统，对于Google生态用户而言比国内的预装ZUI好用多了。于是这就有了下面内容，当然在开始教程前，简单介绍这部平板。个人主观体验我用来看完了Netflix的新剧Queen\'s Gambit...
news.axiox.net
Regards
Thanks for that
I should probably have mentioned that I did enter my devices GSF Device-ID at https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/ to see what affect that might have. It doesn’t appear to have had any affect; Netflix still has to be sideloaded.
My experience was not the same as per the article. I never received a “device is not certified by Google” warning prior to completing the GSF Device-ID registration. So, perhaps Google have changed the way this is handled – perhaps the warnings don’t appear immediately after you login to your Google account anymore?
Or, perhaps Google has different categories within the “Device Not Certified” designation. I don’t believe that this situation is what play protect certification is really about – the Xiaoxin Pad Pro tablet has identical hardware and (with the ROW ROM installed) identical software to the certified Lenovo Tab P11 Pro. The device is not rooted nor is the bootloader unlocked. Perhaps there is more leeway because of this, or, for large manufactures in general.
I’m not certain as to the exact reason why a TB-J706F_PRC is not certified, given that the Chinese/ZUI ROM *I think* now supports GSM. I’m guessing it’s because Lenovo didn’t submit the TB-J706F_PRC with the ROW firmware for certification – for legal, political or just cost saving reasons?
These tablets are very interesting, thanks for the review. I wanted to ask you please could you extract the system apk from these tablets (clock, calendar, calculator ...) and upload them here or on apk mirror? On apk mirror the zui apks are old. Then I wanted to ask you one more thing, are these system apps the same in both the "zui" and "international" versions? Or in the international version have they been replaced by the google counterpart? Example zui clock and google clock
MattySAu said:
I should probably have mentioned that I did enter my devices GSF Device-ID at https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/ to see what affect that might have. It doesn’t appear to have had any affect; Netflix still has to be sideloaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As someone who is following this thread with interest, could you let me know if the sideloaded Netflix still let's you watch stuff in HD?
I'd be very interested in what it shows under App Settings -> playback specification for your device!
Thanks for your input into the thread - great to understand the options here
Tamlyn said:
As someone who is following this thread with interest, could you let me know if the sideloaded Netflix still let's you watch stuff in HD?
I'd be very interested in what it shows under App Settings -> playback specification for your device!
Thanks for your input into the thread - great to understand the options here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like a lack of Play Protect certification (failing a ctsProfileMatch check) doesn’t affect Widevine/Netflix DRM. I guess there is no guarantee that this will continue to be the case.
From my understanding, any developer can use the SafetyNet Attestation API to:
Hide their app/not allow it to be installed via the Google Play store (this is what Netflix does), AND/OR
Allow their app to run but block certain functions (such as with Google Pay - you can’t run contactless setup)
Block the app from running at all (I think some banking apps do this, but not the ones I use, fortunately)
I’m not really sure why the TB-J706F_PRC fails a ctsProfileMatch check though. I presume it’s because Lenovo didn’t/couldn’t submit the TB-J706F_PRC variant (the Xiaoxin Pad Pro) for verification.
Reading some Chinese/Taiwanese forums (via Google Translate) it seems like the Xiaoxin Pad Pro’s firmware (the original Chinese ROM with ZUI) didn’t support GMS (Google Mobile Services), but an OTA update has since provided support. I guess supporting GMS does not include passing Play Protect certification though.
The other possibility is that just flashing a different ROM is the cause (even when using Lenovo’s official software to flash their official TB-J706F firmware).
Thanks for that @Mattysa - really informative answer.
Given me lots to think about