Tripltek- Bright New Drone Tablet

[Brian Fist]

I forgot to mention that I got in the DJI tablet mount as well as the generic aluminum mount from Amazon.

The DJI mount is al plastic, but really well built. My concern is that if the tablet is too heavy it won't stand up to using it long-term. I tried it with my Samsung Tab 10.1 and the tablet itself is almost too heavy. Being outside in hot weather I would imagine would only accerate the looseness of the arm pivots. It may go back once I get the Tripltek.

The generic tablet holder is all aluminum and has cam levers for the pivots joints. Once locked down they are not moving. The big issue is that the tablet holder or Crystalsky adapter does not fit tightly in the quick-change receiver, thus it rattles a little. I just need to see if I can somehow shim the adapters to fit tighter, If I can do that I think that will be the long-term use winner. It also has dual holes for a neck lanyard to fit nicely. The big bonus here is I have a Crystalsky mount I can use to help develop a bracket for the Tripltek. It shouldn't take much.

 

[Brian Fist]

I got tracking info for my "Pro" model to show an anticipated delivery date of next week Thursday.

I also have been seeing what I can do about shimming the generic tablet holder. I think either a lockdown screw that threads into the other half will work, or a rivet-nut put into the bracket that bolts to the Tripltek would work as well. Since I have a week to play around with it, I think that I will come up with a solution before I get the tablet in.

The one really nice thing about the generic one is that it can articulate freely and it has enough extension that oyu cna put the tablet above the controller and the support arm barely gets in teh way with over 95% of the controllers screen still visible.

If you don't want the tablet above and forward (like the Phantoms have it), you can also articulate it anywhere from just above the original phone location to sitting much higher above the controller (giving a lot more room for your hands/wrists).

I will post pictures based on what I come up with.

 

[Mavikhan]

I got tracking info for my "Pro" model to show an anticipated delivery date of next week Thursday.

I also have been seeing what I can do about shimming the generic tablet holder. I think either a lockdown screw that threads into the other half will work, or a rivet-nut put into the bracket that bolts to the Tripltek would work as well. Since I have a week to play around with it, I think that I will come up with a solution before I get the tablet in.

The one really nice thing about the generic one is that it can articulate freely and it has enough extension that oyu cna put the tablet above the controller and the support arm barely gets in teh way with over 95% of the controllers screen still visible.

If you don't want the tablet above and forward (like the Phantoms have it), you can also articulate it anywhere from just above the original phone location to sitting much higher above the controller (giving a lot more room for your hands/wrists).

I will post pictures based on what I come up with.

Let us know how you like the PRO tablet. Very interested!

 

[Brian Fist]

Well, I got in the Tripltek Pro today...

First impressions, it is a solidly built, rugged tablet.

Standard Android 9, latest security updates for it (Nov 2020), plain vanilla.

I had to select hidden network under advance WiFi options for it to connect to my network. It is a 2.4Ghz radio with good reception. (I do have Unifi products for APs/Infrastructure in the house here, so Wifi is usually never an issue, FYI)

I installed Google Maps, along with DJI Go 4. No problems connecting to my Mavic 2 Pro with the original DJI cable (it fits the USB-C recess just fine in the Tripltek).

The display gets VERY bright. The display has both the Size option and Font options set to Large from the factory. The colors are good, the sound is decent.

It has everything installed to act like a phone once a Sim card is inserted. Since I am not going to be using it as a drone-dedicated device I just cleaned up the home screen and moved them off it. One thing to note is the fugly "search" bar at the top. I was able to remove the search app and disable the way that bar looks, but you still are stuck with a big rectangle that says "Search" that is a non-moveable fixture on the home screen.

I personally did not allow for the built-in browsing app to have access to everything on the tablet (no idea whose app and can't verify it is safe) so I just downloaded Chrome and set that as the default browser.

As far as GPS ability, it has GPS Fox pre-installed and I used it outside to verify it does receive a bunch of satellites, but inside the house I ran B4UFLY and it couldn't get a location lock, so I will try it once more outside before I criticize its GPS ability.

It is definitely a sturdy build and has some heft to it, as you would expect for a durable piece of technology.

Now for the moment everyone is waiting for, how well does it fit in the tablet brackets...

Phantom 4: Locks in place tight without any worries about falling out. The edges grip the tablet as the thickness is about 13/16" for the tablet, but it seems secure on the Phantom 4 stock controller.

Mavic Air/2 Pro/Zoom/etc: Using a tablet adapter such as the RCGeeks on amazon it is fine. Only spring loaded, but fine. It will not fit the DJI Mavic 2 tablet adapter bracket as it is just a bit too small height-wise to be gripped by the bracket. I am sure you could shim in some foam or rubber and get it to grab it, but I would consider that a modification.

I will add that the hand-strap they include pre-attached does a great job of providing insurance in case the tablet falls out of the "grip" of your chosen adapter.

Ultimately, there are 4 pre-existing holes on the back along with 2 holes where the "docking port" is (btw, there is no docking port underneath the plug, just like there is no DC-in port under the flap on the Pro model, but the rest of the ports are all in-place and functional, as well as the buttons). So someone could build a mount for the tablet that would bolt to all 6 holes and securely hold the tablet while allowing you to use Crystalsky mounts. Doing that would allow this to be a drop-in replacement for any Crystalsky application.

I may do a "burn-in" test tomorrow where I will put the screen on max brightness and run it with some video being displayed continuously until the battery dies. That way I can tell how hot it will get in outdoor usage. As it is, it was not hardly warm at all during my testing today.

 

[Mavikhan]

Well, I got in the Tripltek Pro today...

First impressions, it is a solidly built, rugged tablet.

Standard Android 9, latest security updates for it (Nov 2020), plain vanilla.

I had to select hidden network under advance WiFi options for it to connect to my network. It is a 2.4Ghz radio with good reception. (I do have Unifi products for APs/Infrastructure in the house here, so Wifi is usually never an issue, FYI)

I installed Google Maps, along with DJI Go 4. No problems connecting to my Mavic 2 Pro with the original DJI cable (it fits the USB-C recess just fine in the Tripltek).

The display gets VERY bright. The display has both the Size option and Font options set to Large from the factory. The colors are good, the sound is decent.

It has everything installed to act like a phone once a Sim card is inserted. Since I am not going to be using it as a drone-dedicated device I just cleaned up the home screen and moved them off it. One thing to note is the fugly "search" bar at the top. I was able to remove the search app and disable the way that bar looks, but you still are stuck with a big rectangle that says "Search" that is a non-moveable fixture on the home screen.

I personally did not allow for the built-in browsing app to have access to everything on the tablet (no idea whose app and can't verify it is safe) so I just downloaded Chrome and set that as the default browser.

As far as GPS ability, it has GPS Fox pre-installed and I used it outside to verify it does receive a bunch of satellites, but inside the house I ran B4UFLY and it couldn't get a location lock, so I will try it once more outside before I criticize its GPS ability.

It is definitely a sturdy build and has some heft to it, as you would expect for a durable piece of technology.

Now for the moment everyone is waiting for, how well does it fit in the tablet brackets...

Phantom 4: Locks in place tight without any worries about falling out. The edges grip the tablet as the thickness is about 13/16" for the tablet, but it seems secure on the Phantom 4 stock controller.

Mavic Air/2 Pro/Zoom/etc: Using a tablet adapter such as the RCGeeks on amazon it is fine. Only spring loaded, but fine. It will not fit the DJI Mavic 2 tablet adapter bracket as it is just a bit too small height-wise to be gripped by the bracket. I am sure you could shim in some foam or rubber and get it to grab it, but I would consider that a modification.

I will add that the hand-strap they include pre-attached does a great job of providing insurance in case the tablet falls out of the "grip" of your chosen adapter.

Ultimately, there are 4 pre-existing holes on the back along with 2 holes where the "docking port" is (btw, there is no docking port underneath the plug, just like there is no DC-in port under the flap on the Pro model, but the rest of the ports are all in-place and functional, as well as the buttons). So someone could build a mount for the tablet that would bolt to all 6 holes and securely hold the tablet while allowing you to use Crystalsky mounts. Doing that would allow this to be a drop-in replacement for any Crystalsky application.

I may do a "burn-in" test tomorrow where I will put the screen on max brightness and run it with some video being displayed continuously until the battery dies. That way I can tell how hot it will get in outdoor usage. As it is, it was not hardly warm at all during my testing today.

Thank you for this report. It is very helpful and I appreciate the time you took to help us out.

 

[Brian Fist]

Quick follow-up...

All issues have been resolved in the latest firmware that was provided.

 

[Mavikhan]

Quick follow-up...

Turns out that the location issues I had were because you need to enable location privileges to the Google Play services. After that I get locations in maps and in B4UFLY.

Now, here is the issue that doesn't make sense...

I can install Google Maps, it runs just fine, but when you restart the tablet it 8s not installed anymore.

I mean it is not in apps, not on the device. It reinstalls fast since the apk is already downloaded, but I can't figure out why it would spontaneously uninstall on shutdown/restart.

I also noticed that under Google play store it states that the device is not Play Protect certified.

I downloaded the latest Google Play Store and installed it, but it did not change anything.

@robwas started a 5 page thread on mavicpilots.com discussing this exact problem. The thread was closed by mods and then unfortunately deleted. Maybe you should contact @robwas on the mavic forum because he has been working hard on this problem for several days.

 

[Brian Fist]

The whole issue seems to revolve around a faulty firmware release, one that has been rectified.

 

[Mavikhan]

The whole issue seems to revolve around the fact that the device is NOT certified.

There are hacks you can do to install a new fingerprint to make it look like a certified device, but as it stands, it is not certified.

Now, will that affect using the device for drones, who knows. DJI Go 4 runs fine on it, as well as the Parrot FreeFlight6 app. Even the DJI Tello app runs fine. So for drone usage, will it be an issue?

If the drone manufacturers start requiring certified devices (as I can see they would do for military/rescue operations such as the Parrot Anafi USA), then it most certainly would not be able to be used in those applications the way it sits.

Now if you wanted to use the device for general use, there are plenty of apps that require a certified device, which it is not.

The proper fix would involve the device being certified and a certified firmware update being supplied.

@TRIPLTEK is an approved vendor on the Mavic forum (mavicpilots.com). Perhaps you should ask them for assistance.

 

[Brian Fist]

@TRIPLTEK is an approved vendor on the Mavic forum (mavicpilots.com). Perhaps you should ask them for assistance.

Oh, I have an account there as I own Mavics as well.

I have been in contact with Tripltek and they provided a fixed firmware the same day I talked to them. They do their own firmware revisioning so they are actual engineers that are fully supporting a platform they designed and specified.

 

[Mavikhan]

Oh, I have an account there as I own Mavics as well.

I will ask, but I expect ZERO assistance. Redoing a firmware and being Google Certified is far outside a resellers scope, especially on an imported and self-branded item, considering it says it all in their manual when they state you have to spoof the device certification in the manual if you hard reset it, yourself. (spoof is the term used to represent yourself as a developer working on a custom rom to register the Google Services Framework ID that gets regenerated every time you do a hard reset on the device).

That functionality exists for developers, not end-user devices. If a device is certified it has a fingerprint that is recognized and validated by Google and none of this nonsense is necessary. I have a reasonable understanding of how Android devices work, as I have worked on custom ROMs in the past (such as Lineage and Cyanogenmods for the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 to get Android 5.1.1 on it to run DJI Go 4 back in 2017).

Honestly, for most integrators and vertical market users of these devices, it really isn't an issue. But to market it as a full Android 9 device for "general use" it is not that kind of device. There are limitations imposed on non-certified devices as they are not considered "secure". Again for drone flying it is probably just fine. I mean, honestly, how much security is necessary for flight info. As long as the apps run and run well, no-blood no-foul. At least it is a plain-vanilla Google image that doesn't seem to restrict apps (outside of apps that require Google Certified devices).

But, again, don't expect 100% data a security as if you bought a Google Certified device such as a Samsung, LG, Xiaomi, etc...

I am waiting for a full sunny day to be able to do my own "functionality" testing in the sun to see if it is *REALLY* bright enough.

Ok, there's a lot to unpack here. I've never operated any Android device so I had read this post several times.

 

[Brian Fist]

Well, we had some decent sun today, so I went out and compared three of my brightest devices:

- LG V20 that is now a dedicated drone backup device (bad main microphone). It has a anti-glare screen protector applied.

- Samsung Galaxy S9+ as my main phone I use everyday. It is also configured as a backup drone device.

- Tripltek Pro tablet.

Now all three were set to auto-adjust brightness (required on the LG V20 and Samsung Galaxy S9+ so that they may adjust to "max brightness", since if you do it manually it will only be at a lower "max" that be sustained long-term, as the true "max" on both are only useable for a short period of time before it scales back to the sustainable "max") and compared for a good 10 minutes on both DJI Go 4 as well as FreeFlight6 (Parrot Anafi drone software).

Now, I will say all three are useable outside. The two phones while in "boosted max" brightness were just fine. the LG V20 coming in dead-last, but still useable. The Galaxy S9+ also lost out to the Tripltek, but only slightly. But as they settled back to sustainable "max" brightness they were definitely dimmer than the Tripltek tablet brightness. The LG V20 was noticeably dimmer and the Galaxy S9+ was somewhat dimmer, but dimmer non-the-less.

I will note that the of all three of the devices the "sharpest" display was the Galaxy S9+. Like razor sharp. The LG V20 was next in line and pretty good, but it is obvious that the anti-glare screen protector afforded for a bit of "haziness" and softening of edges on the display. Not so bad because it is just as high-res as the Galaxy S9+, but noticeable, non-the-less.

The Tripltek in comparison was VERY soft. Now, I understand that it is a 1280x720 display, but the anti-glare screen protector on it made it almost bordering on blurry because of the sharp contrast of white text on top of a black background (or with black text on a white background) with the brightness maxed out through an anti-glare screen protector. But, even with the brightness brought down on the tablet to minimum you still have quite a bit of the "softening" affect. I do believe that can only be attributed to the transparency of the anti-glare screen protector pre-applied to the Tripltek as it is shipped.

Now, does this "softening" become a deal-breaker? For drone usage, where you are looking for a bright display visible in direct sunlight, probably not. But, for those of use used to "razor sharp" displays, it will be something of a disappointment, since it is basically something we are not used to in this age of "super hi-res" and sharp displays. I will also like to note that when looking at the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (the only display without a anti-glare protector) I found it to be only mildly annoying with reflections when I was faced toward the sun and my face was lit-up and causing a noticeable reflection against the glossy screen. The other two did not have that affect. On the flip side, when the sun was behind me and at the angle to reflect the sun from the glossy display into my eyes, there was mild blindness as I moved it from that angle of reflection, where-as the anti-glare protected displays just basically became unreadable until I moved them out of that angle and was able to readjust quicker to viewing the display once more.

Next I tried all three displays both with and without polarized sunglasses. In this case the polarized sunglasses did not inhibit or dampen the ability to see any of the displays, but it had a greater affect on the displays with the anti-glare protectors than the unprotected one. If anything it just allowed for a bit more contrast at the right angles and at the wrong angles it tended to dampen the contrast only slightly, basically proving out that if you intend to wear polarizing sun-glasses you might be better off not using anti-glare screen protectors at all. I do believe that answers the reason why Crystalsky displays, as well as Phantom 4 Pro+ built-in displays and DJIs Smart Controller all have glossy screens without anti-glare screen protectors. They allow razor-sharp displays with no aberrations from wearing polarized sun glasses. They just require the user to be mindful of reflections (which polarized sunglasses afford a LOT of protection from compared to not wearing polarized sunglasses).

Ultimately, for my use, I do believe using no anti-glare screen protector and polarized sunglasses it s a better fit than utilizing an anti-glare protector and no sunglasses at worse, or with polarized sunglasses at best. But, that is the beauty of them shipping the Tripltek with the anti-glare protector already installed, each end-user can decide for themselves. If you don't want the screen protector, just peel it off. On the flip side it would be nice if they included an additional screen protector or two in the box, so you could decide for yourself and switch back to an anti-glare screen protector if you find you really don't like it without one (especially seeing as how they are custom-fit for the device from the factory with obviously no aftermarket availability for it, and without any sort of even remote possibility of an aftermarket offering).

I will finish by saying that the one major feature the Tripltek had over the two phones was the fact that it was not a "to the edge of the device" display. That afforded for easier access to pull down Android settings from the top, easier access to corner menus, and in general overall ease of use of the device. The curved edges of the Galaxy S9+ were the worst in that regard and the LG V20 only marginally better because of the larger areas above and below the screen and the screen being inset from the side edges by a small margin. Also the extra screen real-estate size was a big plus, as well as the overall simplicity of the device left for a more "dedicated" experience (inadvertently hitting some other pulldown menu options on the Galaxy S9+ was a fumble I needed to recover from as well as a unexpected system pop-up from the LG V20 that required me to get it off screen to get back to the drone display both proved that a stripping of phone devices of un-needed functionality is almost required to provide for the best overall "experience" of using any device with any of the drones, where-as for a "backup" device it varies from mildly annoying, to downright infuriating). I would never recommended anyone using their primary phone to use with their drone. Not unless you can be disciplined enough to put it into airplane mode and remember to turn off all other notifications and background apps. A dedicated device in all cases provides for the best overall experience with the least likely hood of distractions and problems resulting from the display side of the experience.

 

[Brian Fist]

One final thing I may add is that in regards to long-term use, there is absoloutly no comparison, as the Tripltek battery showed only little battery usage after an hour and a half of max brightness, where-as the two phones both took a serious hit of over 25-30% battery life in the same time period.

I also noticed no major heating of the Tripltek during this time in use. I will try to utilize some CPU/GPU intensive apps (suggestions for that kind of torture test would be welcome) here in a few days to see if the TriplTek Pro will heat up at all.

 

[Mavikhan]

Ultimately, for my use, I do believe using no anti-glare screen protector and polarized sunglasses it s a better fit than utilizing an anti-glare protector and no sunglasses at worse, or with polarized sunglasses at best. But, that is the beauty of them shipping the Tripltek with the anti-glare protector already installed, each end-user can decide for themselves. If you don't want the screen protector, just peel it off. On the flip side it would be nice if they included an additional screen protector or two in the box, so you could decide for yourself and switch back to an anti-glare screen protector if you find you really don't like it without one (especially seeing as how they are custom-fit for the device from the factory with obviously no aftermarket availability for it, and without any sort of even remote possibility of an aftermarket offering).

Your review is very insightful and the best that I have seen yet. Thank you. ?

 

[Brian Fist]

UPDATE:

I ended up corresponding with Tripltek today and they offered me a firmware update to resolve some issues.

Per their update page only a limited number of Pro 8gb units were shipped with the faulty firmware and all new tablets being delivered already have the firmware installed.

The update went fine, the tablet was cleared and reset, but I can happily report the majority of the issues I had are gone. Those include:

- Maps would spontaneously uninstall upon rebooting the tablet.
- Location services required manual intervention to get it to work for apps (had to activate location services for Google Play services)
- Minor issues with a app or two for some keyboard input (most noticeably for FreeFlight6 which is the Parrot Anafi flight app)

All of those issues were resolved with this firmware update and the tablet booted just fine, I entered in my WiFi SSID/password (I use a hidden network), I rebooted, it updated the Google Play Store, I went in and retrieved the Framework ID, went to the Google page and entered it for authorization. I rebooted the tablet one more time (booting/rebooting is darn near instantaneous compared to most tablets) and I was able to install all the apps I needed, everything worked right off as you would expect them. No glitches, no location issues.

B4UFLY showed my location right away and that I was clear to fly, Google Maps acted in like, and when I rebooted the tablet, Maps stayed persistent.

All is good.

I also did hear that a major tablet mount manufacturer is working on custom mounts for the Tripltek, so we should have plenty of mounting options here shortly.

To say I am jazzed to see formal mounting solutions is an understatement. I can only hope a "Crystalsky" compatible bracket is one of them.

 

[Mavikhan]

UPDATE:

I ended up corresponding with Tripltek today and they offered me a firmware update to resolve some issues.

Per their update page only a limited number of Pro 8gb units were shipped with the faulty firmware and all new tablets being delivered already have the firmware installed.

I am searching the TRIPLTEK website and I cannot find the update page about the Pro 8gb units with the faulty firmware. Can you send me that link? Thanks!

 

[DoomMeister]

I am searching the TRIPLTEK website and I cannot find the update page about the Pro 8gb units with the faulty firmware. Can you send me that link? Thanks!

Get with @TRIPLTEK in a conversation in this forum or in MavicPilots. It may not be on the website as of yet. They were still working on it.

 

[Brian Fist]

Another follow-up...

I finally got around to putting a SIM card in to get cellular service on the Tripltek Pro 8gb.

I can happily report it fully provisioned automatically, I got a few messages about auto configuration, which I allowed it to do for both and it immediately had data service and phone service.

No configuration issues, it originally connected as a 3G device, but shortly there-after it went to 4G-LTE service.

I use Ting, which is a T-Mobile MVNO and it configured as a T-Mobile account and even choose the Ting data connection automatically. Totally painless and great speeds. More than enough for drone usage.

You must note that unless you have a bluetooth headset you need to choose "speaker" output manually when making/receiving calls, as there is no speaker for the "ear" aspect of the phone. The built-in microphone works great, loud and clear on the receiving end and as a speakerphone it is excellent.

I will pick up a new Ting SIM card today and add another line to my plan (it is only $6/mo and the data is shared amongst everyone in the plan) as it is worth the extra $6/mo to have it available while out and flying.