Dragon Touch i8 Pro Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4 Tablet Review

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Can’t decide if you want to buy an Android tablet or a Window tablet? Now you don’t need to. The Dragon Touch i8 Pro allows you to dual boot into either Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4.

PROs

  • Windows AND Android: Can’t decide between a Windows tablet or an Android tablet? Now you don’t need to. This tablet comes with both Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4 pre-installed. You can easily reboot the tablet from one operating system to the other. So if you’re invested in the Android ecosystem but occasionally need to run a Windows-only application (or vice-versa), this tablet is ideal.
    To boot from Windows to Android: Go to Desktop mode and tap the Android icon on the task bar.
    To boot from Android to Windows: Swipe down from the top-right of the screen and tap “OS Switch”
  • Quad Core Processor: Whether your checking Facebook or playing games, a responsive interface is important. No one likes delays or “stuttering” when trying to scroll a web page or start an app. The tablet comes with a quad-core processor. It may not be top-of-the-line, but I found general web surfacing and app loading to be very good, with only occasional hesitations. Some games do run choppier than they would on other tablets, but the Subway Surfers game showed in my video performed very well. The Geekbench multi-core score came in at 2011.
  • 32GB of storage: This refers to how many apps, photos, videos, and music files you can store directly on the tablet. There is 32GB, but please note that it is split between the Windows and Android operating systems. About 5GB is free for Windows and about 7GB is free in the Android operating system If that’s not enough space, you can expand the storage with inexpensive Micro SD cards, like the ones you would use in your phone and some digital cameras. +
  • IPS Display: It’s not very often that you find an IPS display in a budget tablet, but Dragon Touch includes it on the i8 Pro and it looks great. IPS means that you can look at the display at an angle and it does not appear to be washed out or “reflective”. This tablet has a colorful display and an appropriate 1024×800 resolution for web browsing and many games. It doesn’t have a Retina resolution, but it is widescreen and works fine for watching Netflix or YouTube.
  • Bluetooth: This tablet also has Bluetooth so you can use it with Bluetooth keyboards and Bluetooth speakers. Sometimes Bluetooth is omitted on lower-end tablets, so I’m happy to find it on this tablet. This also makes navigating Windows’ Desktop mode easier by pairing it with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
  • Two cameras: The tablet features both a front and rear-facing camera. Low light performance is not great, but the front facing camera is fine for a Skype video call. I wouldn’t depend on taking stellar photos with the back camera, but it’s nice to have the option to grab a quick snapshot.

CONs

  • Windows 10 free space issue: I received a message within Windows 8.1 stating that I was eligible to upgrade to Windows 10 on this tablet. However, the Windows partition does not have enough space for the Windows 10 installer to proceed. You may still be able to upgrade the tablet by using a Micro SD card, but I have not verified this yet.
  • 1GB of RAM: While this is a good amount for Android, it is on the low-end for Windows. This may limit the number of applications you can run at once it Windows, or you may notice performance degrade when you have multiple windows open. If you tend to focus on one application at a time and do not switch back and forth very often, this may be less of an issue for you.
  • Cameras: While I like that there are cameras included on this tablet, they are low resolution and the picture quality is poor in low light. However, its better than having no camera for quick Skype calls.

Overall, I’m impressed that this tablet packs both Windows and Android operating systems into one unit at a low price tag. The tablet performs very well for basic web browsing and gaming.

Check out the Dragon Touch i8 Pro on Amazon

— Sample provided for review

  1. Did you have better luck with the Windows 10 upgrade with an SD card?

    • I have not. I’ve inserted a Micro SD card, and while Windows detects it and I can browse it in Explorer, the Windows 10 installer does not allow me to select it. I’ll need to keep looking at this.

      • Yes, it will upgrade with the micro sd card. I think I used a 32gig, but I think a 16g will do. It just needs a little extra storage. I had no problems with that part. It worked beautifully, in a timely manner.
        The problem I had once upgraded, the touch screen was all messed up. It was about an inch off from where I was tapping, meaning I had to tap/hold about an inch above where I wanted to type/login in and with the built in keyboard. Unless you have a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Whether or not it was my fault or something that could have been easily resolved, I couldn’t use it and switch back to W8.1.
        Also, I couldn’t figure out how to switch from W10 (once upgraded) to Android. There is no icon to switch OS systems from W10 to Android, mind you I didn’t hunt for it. I just wanted it usable again.
        To me, Windows 8.1 is a better for this tablet and because there is very limited information on this. It works great with w8.1 and have no complains as of yet.

  2. I was wondering if anyone was having trouble with either OS partition recognizing and utilizing an external flash drive. I purchased a 64g card with the tablet and cannot get either OS to save anything to it.

    • In Windows 8.1 mode it was simply, you update your default drive locations in Windows OS to point to your SD Card, you can install almost anything there except Windows STore installs, so need to install apps traditional desktop applications, not through Microsoft Store which can only use C Drive. For Android, the option is in the individual app when you go to the application, some give you the option to “move to external device” or SD Card, very few Android apps I find actually support this, and no games however.

      • Wow…that is unfortunate regarding the Android apps. I wish I had known that before I purchased this tablet actually…would have probably steered me away from this product entirely. I mainly bought this tablet as an e-reader for comics since I am switching to digital media for most of my subscriptions. Makes it hard when the comics are coded into the actual reader app so I cant even save them separately on the flash drive. Being mainly a Windows user, the sexiness of the dual OS really wowed me since I don’t have access to the Android marketplace with any of my other devices.Thanks for the info on this…looks like I just purchased a dedicated Hearthstone tablet. I guess I will keep looking for a cheap e-reader that will suite my apparently ridiculous storage requirements 🙂

  3. I’m in Windows and I am trying to switch back to android but the icon is not in the task bar. Any suggestions

    • Hi David, check out Brian’s post below. Search for a file named “DUALOSSWITCHER.EXE” on your hard drive and it should allow you to switch back to Android when you run it.

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