Onyx Boox Kepler series

[fonix232]

Originally Posted by Hrafn

But does 4.4 make any sense in a product, one of whose main selling points over the Kindle/Kobo competition is its microSD card (which 4.4 would largely nobble)? What Android versions have Rockchips released for the rk30xx/rk31xx?

Alternatively, should we be suggesting that they go no further than 4.2 (the Kepler is currently on 4.0) until Rockchips releases a newer version that handles microSD?

4.4 makes sense as it introduced quite a few changes that includes performance enhancements, and so on. Sure, the extSD write-ability stuff was, well, not thought through properly, HOWEVER. There are quite a few fixes for that, and from the manufacturer point of view, it's as easy to fix as 1-2-3. They can literally choose to integrate the fixes into their upstream code and just roll with it, or completely disable the whole madness 4.4 introduced.

Rockchip released 4.0 through 4.4 for their RK30/31 series, and the RK3188 chipset received an unofficial bump to 5.0/5.1 - however it did not run that fine mainly because of all the proprietary 4.4 libs used.

RK3288 received 5.0 and RK3268 even got Marshmallow as far as I know. However those SoCs are not a good choice for an e-reader, as they are quite power hungry, and are aimed more at the high-end market (set top boxes, etc.).

I'm happy with the choice of Rockchip as they are a quite open platform, especially on the older models (rk30/31/32). However Rockchip's strategy to leave behind each release and only work on the latest series makes me worry.

A better choice would be to use Qcom chipsets, especially the new low-power Wear 2100 model. While our devices might not be wearables, they can certainly use the low-power parts of the chipset, and maybe even the sensors for page turning on tilt/tap.

[Hrafn]

RE fonix232's last post:

I think then the best idea would then be to leave well alone (wrt lobbying on Android versions), but read more carefully early adopter reviews before myself upgrading to 4.4 (or buying a 4.4 reader).

Rockchip vs Wear would appear to be an argument for Onyx Boox's next model, and given how sporadic they are at releasing them, and cryptic about releasing advance information on them, I don't see much chance of influencing that decision process. (AFAIK, they haven't even officially announced the manufacturer of the Kepler's CPU, it is simply listed as Cortex-A9 1GHz.)

Addendum: does the Wear have an onboard EPDC controller? I can remember that issue coming up in discussion of the suitability of various Freescale chips for eReaders, some time back.

[Hrafn]

Here.

One odd thing is that it's copyright 2013.

It lists additional info (on p60) about the three versions:

• Kepler Pro: FSL 6 Cortex-A9 1G Hz; LPDDR2 1G; Android 4.0; 1448x1072
• Kepler: RK 3026 Dual cortex A9, 1.2G; DDR3 512MB; Android 4.2.2; 1448x1072
• Kepler Lite: RK 3026 Dual cortex A9 , 1.2G; DDR3 512MB; Android 4.2.2; 1024x758

(It also confirms that only the Pro has page-turn buttons.)

Addendum: per the Russian retailer site, it would appear that the Pro is the first O-B 6" reader to have a Freescale chip (which previously has only been in the larger readers), possibly because it's the first 6" reader whose chassis (and thus innards) was designed after the introduction of 300ppi screens (all recent 6" eReaders, including the C67 Carta2, have had RK3026 chips).

Full FCC documentation here.

[Hrafn]

Just queried Onyx Boox about their release plans. They said that they've "just released some batches to meet business clients' samples requirements firstly", but "the regular batch will be ready before Oct."

Fingers crossed.

[djb123]

Surprised this thread hasn't been updated as I've had mine a couple of days now.

Got mine from the Netherlands distributor on p4 who emailed me to let me know they had stock on Monday. Overnight delivery to UK.

My first Android e-reader, been waiting for ages as I couldn't get used to no file browser (i.e. folder support) in my Kindle Paperwhite, but wanted 300dpi.

Got the case with it, all very nicely built. Still playing but only downside at the moment is case doesn't wake the device up. Otherwise an all round upgrade.

[khalleron]

Originally Posted by djb123

Surprised this thread hasn't been updated as I've had mine a couple of days now.

Got mine from the Netherlands distributor on p4 who emailed me to let me know they had stock on Monday. Overnight delivery to UK.

My first Android e-reader, been waiting for ages as I couldn't get used to no file browser (i.e. folder support) in my Kindle Paperwhite, but wanted 300dpi.

Got the case with it, all very nicely built. Still playing but only downside at the moment is case doesn't wake the device up. Otherwise an all round upgrade.

Please let us know more as you get to spend some time with it - you seem to be the first on MR to get your hands on one - the Onyx Boox website still has it as 'coming soon.'

I'm particularly interested in battery life, screen quality, and how well the page turn buttons work. Do they work only in the native apps, or can you get them to work with readers like Aldiko and Moon+?

[djb123]

Buttons don't work in Aldiko. Turning the page with the touchscreen has an awful horizontal wipe to the next page. Not something I'd be happy using.

Buttons work fine in Moon+. App works well.

Had issues getting play store to work (logged in fine but every time I tried to download an app it said I needed to login, which I already was) so sideloaded es file explorer which auto updated and now works fine.

Had a couple of issues digging down into settings menus and then not being able to get out (no back or close buttons), had to power off to get back to homescreen.

Brightness has 10 levels but 1st is plenty bright enough.

Read about a couple of hours over last two nights and power down to 90% from 1st charge, but I did transfer 4gb of files over wireless over that period too.

[Hrafn]

djb123, a few questions on the Kepler Pro:

• How does the build quality feel?
• How does the contrast compare to the Paperwhite (which model PW, incidentally)?
• Is the case the same as the C67ML uses (more pics at the bottom here)? If it's a new case, could you provide pictures (AFAIK, none have surfaced as yet)?
• How comfortable are the buttons' position (near the top of the reader) for page-turning?
• How even is the frontlight? What colour tone does it have?
• Does it come with FBReader?
• The Kepler manual states "Transfer data by third-party sync apps between PC and
  the device via WiFi;" -- what "third-party sync app" are you using, and how well does it work (I use SyncMe to sync comics to my tablet)?

[djb123]

Build quality is pretty premium. Back is one piece except for a plastic piece at bottom where the ports are. Good quality though the metal back has a bit more texture than say, htc one. Screen is flush and smooth, slight lip at edge where screen fits into body.

Contrast is excellent compared to my original PW. There is menu for contrast settings and something called A2 mode that I've not played with yet. Don't know if all Onyx' have this.

Case looks same as the one you provided a link to.

Buttons are about an inch from top, whole thing is a few mm smaller than PW on all axes. Can't really comment on the position as screen tapping is still in my muscle memory. The buttons do have a slight 'click' noise when used.

Frontlight looks entirely even to me, slightly more blue-white than the Kindle.

Comes with FBreader and Oreader (plus onyx scribbler and some utilities) in applications, but when holding down on some files to get the 'open with' menu onyx neo reader is also an option.

Haven't used any sync apps. I keep a number of epubs/pdfs/comic files on a NAS box and used es to copy them over to the internal memory.

Not tried using an sd card yet.

Just been messing in settings menu:
android is listed as v. 4.0.4 (kernel 3.0.35) this means nothing to me, it may to one of you.
device has Bluetooth, not sure how I'd use this.

[Hrafn]

I think A2 is a fast-but-imperfect screen update mode suitable for more interactive use. Most (all?) recent O-B models have it.

Doing a quick comparison of K-Pro vs C67 dimensions, I rather suspect that the case will be a slight rework due to the fact that the K-Pro is slightly smaller. Probably visually 'identical' but incompatible (but only an issue if some mixup gives somebody the wrong one for their particular model).

The most obvious use for Bluetooth would be for headphones (as there isn't a headphone jack).

[yacoob]

So happy to see that it's out. Now, tell us more!

- Is there Google Play store on the device? If there's some kind of store, can you upgrade the bundled fbreader to a newer version? Some android readers had problems in that area.

[Hrafn]

Originally Posted by yacoob

- Is there Google Play store on the device? If there's some kind of store, can you upgrade the bundled fbreader to a newer version? Some android readers had problems in that area.

Answered here:

Originally Posted by djb123

Had issues getting play store to work (logged in fine but every time I tried to download an app it said I needed to login, which I already was) so sideloaded es file explorer which auto updated and now works fine.

[Phogg]

If I remember correctly, I had similar problems with the Playstore when I first got my I86HDML. I had forgotten to respond to an e-mail sent out when I registered the device. Responding to the e-mail fixed the issue.

[djb123]

Phogg - pretty sure that was the issue I had, issue was started once I'd confirmed the email the rebooted the device.

Re FBreader - not used this much as I've hit a snag. App opens full screen and there seems to be no way back to the home page. Also if you go into the (FBr) settings there's no way to back out, app seems to assume there's a back hardware/software button which isn't available as it opens fullscreen. Needs a reboot to get back to homepage.

Hrafn - never even thought about Bluetooth headphones, weird as I have 'most of the gadgets'. Anyone know a good media player for e-ink and I'll try it with the Bluetooth input on my amp?

[Hrafn]

djb123: have you tried any of the software-back-button apps? Alternately, have you tried asking Onyx (sales@onyx-international.com), or the Netherlands distributor, how they expect users to emulate the back button on a device lacking the physical button? (I've read through the Kepler manual, and can't remember finding anything on the topic.)

Incidentally, the Android CDD (for 4.0) states the following:

7.2.3. Navigation keys

The Home, Menu and Back functions are essential to the Android navigation
paradigm. Device implementations MUST make these functions available to the user
at all times when running applications. These functions MAY be implemented via
dedicated physical buttons (such as mechanical or capacitive touch buttons), or MAY
be implemented using dedicated software keys, gestures, touch panel, etc. Android
4.0 supports both implementations.