News for E-Ink fans
Comments
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Chris Lane said:Mark Nolette said:
I’ll try manually and experiment next time. If it works, you will have saved me a lot of effort!
Any luck with this update method, Mark?
Thanks for asking! I meant to share this news on this forum, but haven't yet. When the last Mars update was available, I let it download and install automatically, without thinking. And it worked - even with adoptable storage enabled.
Boyue must have fixed the bug that kept updates from properly installing automatically. I'll take it!
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Thanks for all of your responses and help, Mark. I am, indeed, debating between the Mars & Nova now. After a bit of research, I figured I would share where my thought process is at in case it is beneficial to anyone else deciding between these two devices.
According to one of your other posts, you state that the Nova seems to run a bit smoother (except within the app store); this seems to confirm what I have seen in other places. It seems that the Nova might have four higher speed processors while the Mars has eight lower speed processors. I am only tech-ie enough to partially understand this jargon, so, if anyone else who could confirm, correct, or shed more light on the implications of the two processors, it would be much appreciated. This video shows the benchmark #s for both: https://youtu.be/KMIJjnQTzFM (just skip to the end of the video to see the results), and it seems that the Nova might, in fact, be faster/smoother according to these #s. While the Nova does seem smoother in this side by side comparison (https://youtu.be/somVi24ZgME)–especially in scrolling–it did not seem faster at all times & in all respects.
Mark, IF you have the time to take a peak at the latter vido, does the comparison between the two generally reflect your usage of Logos on the two devices?
At this point, it seems that my decision is coming down to user experience vs the ability to load my library & have them on hand at all times (e.g. when traveling overseas) for research & reading. From what I have seen, the Nova seems to have a bit better user experience between screen size and general smoothness (I’m not a fan of choppy scrolling when trying to read) while the Likebook wins in the convenience category for sheer (potential) storage space.
Thanks again for all of the help, Mark & company!
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Jan Krohn said:
No idea how to take screenshots without the required buttons, but I took a photo.
There are several free apps, like Screenshot Touch, that allow you to take screenshots on the Mars.
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Awesome, great to hear! Thanks for the update!
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Chris Lane said:
Thanks for all of your responses and help, Mark. I am, indeed, debating between the Mars & Nova now. After a bit of research, I figured I would share where my thought process is at in case it is beneficial to anyone else deciding between these two devices.
According to one of your other posts, you state that the Nova seems to run a bit smoother (except within the app store); this seems to confirm what I have seen in other places. It seems that the Nova might have four higher speed processors while the Mars has eight lower speed processors. I am only tech-ie enough to partially understand this jargon, so, if anyone else who could confirm, correct, or shed more light on the implications of the two processors, it would be much appreciated. This video shows the benchmark #s for both: https://youtu.be/KMIJjnQTzFM (just skip to the end of the video to see the results), and it seems that the Nova might, in fact, be faster/smoother according to these #s. While the Nova does seem smoother in this side by side comparison (https://youtu.be/somVi24ZgME)–especially in scrolling–it did not seem faster at all times & in all respects.
Mark, IF you have the time to take a peak at the latter vido, does the comparison between the two generally reflect your usage of Logos on the two devices?
At this point, it seems that my decision is coming down to user experience vs the ability to load my library & have them on hand at all times (e.g. when traveling overseas) for research & reading. From what I have seen, the Nova seems to have a bit better user experience between screen size and general smoothness (I’m not a fan of choppy scrolling when trying to read) while the Likebook wins in the convenience category for sheer (potential) storage space.
Thanks again for all of the help, Mark & company!
Hi, Chris,
That video comes pretty close to my experience. Logos/Verbum loads a little faster on my Nova, and app functions are slightly smoother/quicker. Not a huge difference, but enough to notice. I like the range of light warm/cold on the Nova slightly better than the Mars as well. The Mars has the advantage of more potential internal storage (using a microSD card and adoptable storage).
As for benchmarks, here is a thread in MobileRead where AnTuTu results for both devices are given. The Mars is near the bottom of the first page; the Nova near the top of the second. Disclaimer: downeaster59 is moi.
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That’s a super helpful thread. Thanks, Mark!
I think I might actually be leaning towards he Nova now!
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Chris Lane said:
That’s a super helpful thread. Thanks, Mark!
I think I might actually be leaning towards he Nova now!
If you explore further in MobileRead, you will find threads dedicated to each of the two devices. Nova in Onyx Boox, Mars in Android Devices.
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Mark Nolette said:
If you explore further in MobileRead, you will find threads dedicated to each of the two devices. Nova in Onyx Boox, Mars in Android Devices.
Good to know, thanks!
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Here's my review of Logos 8 on the Likebook Mars: https://youtu.be/YTyz5YVbR6w
Here's my general review of the Likebook Mars: https://youtu.be/PL32KPVCfVI
And here's my review with Accordance: https://youtu.be/geSKL4e0mkY
Logos 8 is amazing. The Likebook Mars is too. Neither is designed for the other but they are friendly enough that I'll be using them together, but only at home when nobody is watching. Logos 8 on Android is so slow it's embarrassing. It relies on the cloud for everything. I'll be using Accordance as my on the go Bible app (even on my phone!) Until Logos 8 facilitates easy on-device storage for my entire library. Here's hoping. For now, this is a deal breaker. I'll be using Accordance on my phone and tablet and head back in time to the Desktop PC for Logos 8.
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Has anyone be able to get audible working on the likebook mars?
It comes with the capability to install the audible app but when I try to do that I can’t get past the screen that says to hit next in order to download the needed materials.
Thanks for the help.
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Jesse Blevins said:
Has anyone be able to get audible working on the likebook mars?
It comes with the capability to install the audible app but when I try to do that I can’t get past the screen that says to hit next in order to download the needed materials.
Thanks for the help.
I found out. He have to go into the app settings and grant permission for drive access.
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I had the same problem and found the same solution, but after I sign in my library doesn’t show; does yours?
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The new e-ink devices that Onyz announced at CES this week -- particularly the 4GB RAM/64GB storage model -- appear to have specs that could possibly make me buy one.
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That's really interesting, Bill! Onyx had said that the Nova Pro would not have a frontlight. Nice that they changed their mind. And they also said - when the Note first came out - that getting a frontlight on such a device was very difficult. Glad they figured it out!
I'm expecting the Note Pro to cost around $600 US. Maybe a bit more, as the current Note is around $540.
There is an alternative that will be available soon: the Boyue Likebook Mimas. It's a 10.3 inch display, with a frontlight and Android 6.0. It will be cheaper than the Note Pro. You will "note" that it has only 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. But... it has a microSD card slot, and Android 6.0 allows for adoptable storage. Pop in a 128 GB microSD card, convert it to internal storage, and you've got room for resources. It may be that the Note Pro will perform a little better overall, but the Mimas may be worth a look.
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Hello, just wanted to share: I purchased an Onyx Boox Note from Amazon for $449 and it works great with Microsoft's Remote Desktop App and Logos running on the computer. The downside is that you can only do this at home (unless you have a static public IP and you expose port 3389 to the Internet -> dangerous). The other down downside is this may drain the battery rather quickly. I haven't used it enough to provide any useful statistics, but I can let you know later on if someone is interested. Cheers.
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Thank you!!
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Has anyone purchased the Onyx Nova Pro or the Onyx Note Pro and is using it with the Logos app?
I'm interested in hearing what the user experience is like as I'm considering making the purchase.
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chewbacca said:
Has anyone purchased the Onyx Nova Pro or the Onyx Note Pro and is using it with the Logos app?
I'm interested in hearing what the user experience is like as I'm considering making the purchase.
I have the Nova, but not the Pro version. (The only difference is that the Pro allows you to use a stylus for writing on the device.) I have run Logos (or Verbum) on several e-Ink devices. The Nova has been my most satisfying experience thus far. Several factors. The size of the screen seems ideal. The adjustable warm/cold frontlight is a great feature. Performance is better than most e-Ink devices. But what puts the Nova over the top is the optimization menu you can access by long-pressing the Logos or Verbum app icon. You can adjust contrast and background in order to enhance readability. You can adjust "animation timeout" to make page-turning in the Logos app quicker and smoother. There are other features you can optimize as well to enhance your reading/viewing experience.
I can highly recommend the Nova or Nova Pro.
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Mark, thanks for your review. Can you use the stylus to highlight text in the Logos app?Mark Nolette said:I can highly recommend the Nova or Nova Pro.
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Reimar Vetne said:
Mark, thanks for your review. Can you use the stylus to highlight text in the Logos app?Mark Nolette said:I can highly recommend the Nova or Nova Pro.
Sorry, but as I said, I don't have the Pro version, so no stylus capability!
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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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Jan Krohn said:
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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Al Dobko said:
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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Chris Lane said:
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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Mark Nolette said:
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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NK said:
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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Daniel M said:
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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Daniel M said:
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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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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Jan Krohn said:
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