News for E-Ink fans
Comments
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Reimar, you can use the stylus on the Nova Pro to highlight the text. The stylus essentially functions as any other touch would in the mobile version since it is simply running the stock Andriod app. The "swipe to highlight" feature does take some getting use to, though, as I have yet to find a way to make the highlight visible as you swipe. Conversely, the long press to select & drag functions as you would expect with one caviat. That is, I am only seeing the left teardrop indicator (for lack of a better term) to drag after selecting a word, so (when working in L->R text) I usually select the word directly before the one which begins the passage I would like to highlight. This allows me to grab the left tear drop indicator and after dragging it to the right, it selects the passage properly. Sorry if this is not the clearest description, hopefully it suffices.
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I just wanted to drop by and thank Mark and everyone else in this forum. I purchased the Nova Pro over the Mars & the newer, more expensive releases...and I love it. In the end, I went w/the Nova Pro over the mars due to a few reviews/comments that my research turned up, suggesting that the Nova was more smooth and had a more user friendly interface. My main concern was limiting my storage space w/out the option to expand it, but I have not found it to be as limiting as I feared. I house most of my PDFs on OneDrive, download and annotate them as necessary and then upload the marked up version when needed/upon completion. I follow a similar workflow w/Logos downloading books for offline reading purposes. Imo, the one drawback to the Nova Pro is that I feel that the battery doesn't have a great life between charges, but if that's the worst (and only?) gripe then that should offer an idea of how pleased I am w/it.
I have long wished that I could access Logos on my Kindle. I was only able to get a couple dozen of my books converted back in the days when the send to Kindle tool was active and have never been crazy about PDFs-> Kindle. Needless to say, if for no other reason (though other reasons abound), this thread ensures my indebtedness to the Logos forums. With that said, thanks again to all who took the time to provide thoughts, reviews, & answers to questions to those of us who were/are charting new territory. Though I am not as active or prompt as some here, if there are any Nova Pro specific queries, I will do my best to join the ranks.
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If anyone is still following this thread... Onyx has just released the Note 2, and the Max 3, both of which have Android 9.0. One Onyx rep was quoted as saying that an Android 9.0 firmware upgrade would be made available for at least some current Onyx devices.
I suspect that we may also see a new Nova with Android 9.0 in the not too distant future.
I'll wait and see if they will offer my current Nova a 9.0 update!
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Likebook has also announced an update to Android 8 for all devices that shipped with Android 6. I can't wait for it either!
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For whatever it’s worth I bought the Likebook Mars last December and it works awesome with Logos, Microsoft Word, Olivetree, Accordance, Gmail, Excel... I use it for my daily devotions now instead of a paper Bible; it’s a real delight to read on.
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Likebook has also announced an update to Android 8 for all devices that shipped with Android 6. I can't wait for it either!
[Y]
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For whatever it’s worth I bought the Likebook Mars last December and it works awesome with Logos, Microsoft Word, Olivetree, Accordance, Gmail, Excel... I use it for my daily devotions now instead of a paper Bible; it’s a real delight to read on.
I'm in a similar boat to Al - I've had the Mars since late December and it works great. I use it almost exclusively for Verbum and my breviary (a pdf version of the Liturgia Horarum). I've gotten so many more books read in Verbum since acquiring the Mars, and have even found highlighting / taking basic notes to work quite well. Having the Android eInk device has allowed me to get a ton more mileage out of my Verbum library.
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I just wanted to drop by and thank Mark and everyone else in this forum. I purchased the Nova Pro over the Mars & the newer, more expensive releases...and I love it. In the end, I went w/the Nova Pro over the mars due to a few reviews/comments that my research turned up, suggesting that the Nova was more smooth and had a more user friendly interface. My main concern was limiting my storage space w/out the option to expand it, but I have not found it to be as limiting as I feared. I house most of my PDFs on OneDrive, download and annotate them as necessary and then upload the marked up version when needed/upon completion. I follow a similar workflow w/Logos downloading books for offline reading purposes. Imo, the one drawback to the Nova Pro is that I feel that the battery doesn't have a great life between charges, but if that's the worst (and only?) gripe then that should offer an idea of how pleased I am w/it.
I have long wished that I could access Logos on my Kindle. I was only able to get a couple dozen of my books converted back in the days when the send to Kindle tool was active and have never been crazy about PDFs-> Kindle. Needless to say, if for no other reason (though other reasons abound), this thread ensures my indebtedness to the Logos forums. With that said, thanks again to all who took the time to provide thoughts, reviews, & answers to questions to those of us who were/are charting new territory. Though I am not as active or prompt as some here, if there are any Nova Pro specific queries, I will do my best to join the ranks.
Considering the Nova Pro.
I use my existing android tablet for reading mostly, with some note-taking - Evernote.
Reading apps: Logos, Aldiko, Google Books, Kindle, etc.
Random app: Kittens
A few questions:
How do you find sideloading apks on this device? Is the google play store required for this?
I hear that the Nova excels in contrast/light adjustment, making normal apps written for LCD screens impressively viewable. Thoughts?
Any more news on the Android 9 update?
Thanks,
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I have the Nova, not the Pro version. The main difference is that the 'plain' Nova does not have a stylus.
Play Store is not required to sideload apks. Be aware that if you sideload a paid apk, sometimes it won't load if it can't connect with Play Store and "phone home"! You'll need to enable "Install from Unknown Sources" as you would for any Android tablet. Sideloading works fine.
The Nova/Nova Pro excel in contrast/light adjustment. Logos has never looked better on an E-Ink device. It looks like Logos was designed for E-Ink. There are various optimization settings you can adjust to make it even more to your liking. You can also adjust Animation Filter to make pages of resources turn more smoothly. I also like how easy it is to blend "warm" and "cool" light to get the ideal light for my comfort. That said, there will always be apps that will not look as good on E-Ink. But the Nova does a great job at it.
I haven't seen any news on the Android 9 update. Reps from Onyx have said that the Nova series would get Android 9. But no date has been announced.
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Superb. If I purchase it, I'll report back with my experience.
Thanks!
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I have recently sold my Nova and purchased the Onyx Boox Nova 2. It runs Android 9.0 (Pie), so it should be future-proof as regards Logos compatibility for quite a while. It is an E-Ink device with a 7.8 inch display, 32 gb of internal storage (no SD card slot), and 3 gb of RAM. I was very pleased with my previous Nova. The Nova 2 builds upon the Nova and enhances it in a number of ways. Performance is slightly better overall, and the last one was already good. Battery life also seems a bit better. It is available from Amazon or direct from Onyx.
Logos/Verbum can be optimized to look and work even better on this device by accessing the Optimization menu. Page-turning in Logos/Verbum is good, with only a slight delay. WiFi connectivity seems improved.
Its native NeoReader is a good eReader app, compatible with quite a few formats. It's also quite good with pdfs. Other apps, like MoonReader and Librera Pro, look good and work well
If E-Ink plays nicely with your eyes, you might want to consider this device to use for the Logos/Verbum Android app. It's also a good eReader overall.
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I did go ahead with the Nova Pro and have used it for about 3 months now. As for my experience:
- Great screen for reading --- e-ink is so much better than led and amoled options
- Ability to load your own apps gets all of your books on (the above) screen you want to read
- Note-taking app built-in, but using Evernote or another app is even better
- Even if your app is not optimised for e-ink, the system's app-level adjustments of contrast, refresh, etc. can make up the difference
- It does not do video or games well --- a bonus to keep reading the main thing- battery life not exceptional. Wifi and bluetooth are best left off.
- don't plan on doing more than one thing (ie. updating apps AND reading) at a time. Painful.
- after doing updates, it's good to do a reboot to get everything snappy again, but YMMV.I'm half waiting for the promised Android 9 update, but if it results in a slower user experience, I'm not sure if I'd take it.
The Nova 2 with 3gb of RAM sounds great. And the Android 9 FW looks decent as well. Appreciate that report, Mark.
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My experience is very much like yours. For my purposes - using Logos resources, reading eBooks, Instapaper, and similar apps - the Nova works very well. E-Ink is also friendlier to my eyes than LED or AMOLED displays.
I would not recommend using an e-Ink device for videos or games. Some videos will work passably well, and some games that are not demanding on a device's resources may work. Beyond that, beware... ; )
Battery life is probably similar to LED Android tablets. I usually read with WiFi left off. The Nova 2 seems to have better battery life. I haven't measured it objectively yet, but it appears to be more efficient.
My number one reason for having the Nova 2 is Logos/Verbum. If I simply wanted to read ebooks, a Kindle or Nook or Kobo would do nicely.
If someone needed a larger display, the Boox Note 2 would provide a smilier experience with a 10.3 inch display. I find that too large for reading comfortably for a longer sitting. I used to have a 6 inch device. Now I find that 7.8 inches is the sweet spot for me. Large enough to handle the few pdfs I read, and small enough to be comfortable.
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I have the Likebook Mars. An update has been available for almost the last month and I haven’t been able to get it to install. I have hit install when prompted that the update is ready and have given it up to an hour to do so without any success.
Anyone else have the same problem? Anyone else been able to install the update?
Thank you for your help.
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I also have the Likebook Mars; it’s a little bit fussy, but the only thing I’ll say about updates is to make sure that your Internet speed is fast; the Likebook is slow, so if you also have a slow Internet connection it may time out.
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If someone needed a larger display, the Boox Note 2 would provide a smilier experience with a 10.3 inch display. I find that too large for reading comfortably for a longer sitting. I used to have a 6 inch device. Now I find that 7.8 inches is the sweet spot for me. Large enough to handle the few pdfs I read, and small enough to be comfortable.
I agree with you there. The form factor is excellent. I used to be 7" fan, but using an 8" tablet has moved me off my original game. I'm ok with that.
It sounds like the update firmware challenges are a common issue to both devices. I found that on slow internet my firmware updates would time out as well. It had some sort of packet management, so it would pick up where it left off though. Handy.
Likebook Mars running Android 8?? How's your experience been?
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Likebook Mars running Android 8?? How's your experience been?
It's not yet released. I haven't seen another official announcement, but many things are delayed because of Covid. Shenzhen, where they manufacture, was in partial lockdown. So let's give them another month. Anyway, I'm holding my breath for the update.
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Hi Mark, I bought one of the first Onyx Boox devices quite a few years ago (T68 if I remember correctly). I liked it, but found it too unstable to work with it in the end, so I sold it after a couple of months. I have been looking at the Nova 2 in recent days, could you tell me a bit more about your experience? Is it a stable device? No regular crashes etc. On the T68 I often had to press buttons 2 or 3 times as well to get it to respond. Is all that gone in the Nova 2?
Would you consider it a "mature" device, no more "teething problems". Any advice is welcome! Thanks in advance!
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Hi Mark, I bought one of the first Onyx Boox devices quite a few years ago (T68 if I remember correctly). I liked it, but found it too unstable to work with it in the end, so I sold it after a couple of months. I have been looking at the Nova 2 in recent days, could you tell me a bit more about your experience? Is it a stable device? No regular crashes etc. On the T68 I often had to press buttons 2 or 3 times as well to get it to respond. Is all that gone in the Nova 2?
Would you consider it a "mature" device, no more "teething problems". Any advice is welcome! Thanks in advance!
Onyx has come a long way since the days of the infamous T68. (I had one, too.) The chances of getting a lemon are much less. Besides that, Onyx has improved their hardware and software greatly since then.
The Nova 2 is a "mature" device, in my experience. The firmware handles third party apps that were not designed for E-Ink (such as Logos or the Kindle app) much better than before. The Nova has options to optimize the look and performence of any app still further if, for example, page turns are not as quick or smooth as you would like. You can choose how often the display refreshes itself to keep any ghosting to a minimum. It makes Logos look like it was designed for E-Ink.
Since the Nova 2 has Android 9, it's future-proofed for a long time as regards compatibility with Logos.
The Nova 2's native reader app can handle many different formats, and handles pdfs quite well. You can always install your favorite Android reader apps as well.
The lighting is quite even. You can adjust not only its brightness, but set your preferred blend of "warm" and "cold" light.
Having said all that, be aware that E-Ink technology is inherently slower than LED and so you may still see slight delays in response occasionally. But those delays are much fewer and much briefer than before. The optimization settings help here as well.
Hope this helps!
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That definitely helps Mark! Very good to hear their products have improved so much. I didn't think I would dare buy one of their devices again, but based on what I've seen online and your response, I've decided to go for it again. Very much looking forward to get it. Thanks so much for your quick response!
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That definitely helps Mark! Very good to hear their products have improved so much. I didn't think I would dare buy one of their devices again, but based on what I've seen online and your response, I've decided to go for it again. Very much looking forward to get it. Thanks so much for your quick response!
I also upvote. I'm using a Nova Pro. Android 6. It is very usable. Such an improvement over reading on a conventional tablet. Going with the version "2" series gets you Android 9 out of the box and an improvement in hardware. For me, having 3-4 GB of RAM instead of the 2 GB that mine came with would significantly improve usability.
Come on in, the water's fine.
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PS - The Nova 2 has 3 GB of RAM!
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Thanks. I knew there was improvement there, but forgot how much.
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Come on in, the water's fine.
[:D] Thanks for the encouragement NK, I'm going to jump in again. [;)]
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Very interested in your experience. Keep us posted. I'm a little jealous I didn't wait 6 months, but given the value I've had since purchase, no regrets.
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Are there any videos of someone using Logos on one of these devices?
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Here's one of me using Logos on my Likebook Mars
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Attention Mars users:
The Android 8.1 update has arrived, and needs to be installed manually.
https://www.facebook.com/BoyueLikebook/posts/2787619344801982
Works like a charm. I'm very happy about the update.
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Attention Mars users:
The Android 8.1 update has arrived, and needs to be installed manually.
https://www.facebook.com/BoyueLikebook/posts/2787619344801982
Works like a charm. I'm very happy about the update.
Jan - Thank you for the heads up. I've been eager for this to arrive.
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https://youtu.be/YTyz5YVbR6w