Boyue T61/T62 / Icarus Illumina E653 review and Onyx T68 comparison

[blue_skies]

My battery seems to be draining much faster then it ought to, and much faster than it was the first day/night that I had it and actually used it quite a bit.

Last night, when I turned the device on, the battery was at 81%. I played recordings for about 1 hour before going to sleep, and only had the light on at the lowest setting for a few minutes, switching to a few different pages.

After finishing playing my recording, the device was supposed to go to sleep but didn't. I ended up having to press the power button to put it to sleep. It was also set to actually shut down completely after 60 minutes, but when I woke up it was still in sleep mode and not shut down.

When I checked the battery in the morning, it was at 65%. That seems like kind of a big drop for about 1 hour of playing a recording.

I notice that the built in music player seems to remain on pause after it finishing playing, rather than turning off completely. I wonder if that is draining the battery and interfering with auto sleep mode and auto shut down. The thing is though... if I am remembering correctly, sleep and shut down worked okay with the previous FW update.
or so, and when I checked the battery it had dropped from 65% down to 57%. While sleeping.

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I clicked "system update" on my T62+, and a new update downloaded this morning... This new update is 2015042209.

That was the one I got the other night after I reset my whole system. I think the update I received the day before that may have been better as far as my device was going to sleep as it was supposed to, and seemed to be using less power. I am really concerned about why my battery is draining so fast even in sleep mode. That's not normal, is it?

At the rate it's draining, I will have to recharge it every couple days even without doing any reading!

Speaking of recharging... what do you use to recharge your T-62?

Also, I would like to remove/uninstall the two Chinese apps. Could someone tell me how to do that?

[delph]

I haven't had a lot of time to play with mine lately, so I'm just now getting around to trying a few things. Brightness Control seems to significantly help with the brightness level. I think it's still a little brighter than I'd prefer, but I'll need to use it some to verify.

There were some folks upthread who had issues with it not powering off. I haven't set the power off on mine, so I couldn't comment on that. Regarding it not sleeping, it might be something to do with that particular music app. Another music app might allow it to sleep? I think that's what caused the big drop in charge.

For recharging, I just use whatever USB charger is closest and most convenient. Usually that's one of the chargers I have conveniently placed for charging my phone. Your Kindle wall plug should be fine.

[diegoocampo]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I clicked "system update" on my T62+, and a new update downloaded this morning. I can't see anything new in the system menus, but the backlight seems a tad less bright at the lowest level. It's still a bit too bright at that lowest level for my tastes, but it may be more doable now. Anyone else with the T62+ can see what you think. This new update is 2015042209. They may have fixed a few bugs as well.

Quick question: Does the update reset/wipe any of your installed apps or configs?

thanks in advance

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by diegoocampo

Quick question: Does the update reset/wipe any of your installed apps or configs?

thanks in advance

It doesn't wipe any installed apps. Even Google Play Store was untouched. I lost root, but I anticipated that. Rooting again was easy enough.

Oh, the update reset one change I had made. When you go to User Defined/Customize the desktop apps, you can change one or more of the icons on the home screen to an app of your choice. I had changed two of these; the update reset them to the default icons. That was the only other change I saw.

[diegoocampo]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

It doesn't wipe any installed apps. Even Google Play Store was untouched. I lost root, but I anticipated that. Rooting again was easy enough.

Oh, the update reset one change I had made. When you go to User Defined/Customize the desktop apps, you can change one or more of the icons on the home screen to an app of your choice. I had changed two of these; the update reset them to the default icons. That was the only other change I saw.

Ok, thanks a lot for the info!

[DarKHawK]

Got my T62+ from China a few days ago.

It is defiantly an upgrade over the Nook Simple Touch.

I got a few problems though:

1- There seems to be a flicker of the backlight at low settings. Although I see many people complaining of the same issue so I think we might need to wait for an update.

2- The battery life is horrible. I used to get weeks out of a single charge on the Nook, I charged yesterday, tested the device for a half an hour, and this morning it's 87%. On the Nook it would have dropped maybe 1-2%. Do I need to disable anything or greenify any app to prolong standby time?

3- I tried Moon+ Reader, and it's working nicely on the T62+, Although I have two problems with it.
First is the status bar, when I try to flip the page using the touch screen it pops up but when I use the hard keys it disappears. Is there an option to keep the status bar hidden while reading and bring it back when out of the full screen reading? I do not want to disable the status bar altogether.

Second problem is the eink Full screen flush, Moon Reader does not seem to do this flush/refresh at all, is there a hidden option for that.

4- Cool reader used to add settings for the full screen flush or fast refresh in it's settings when using the nook, is there any way to bring those options back?

5- Is there a way to change the default epub application?

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by DarKHawK

Got my T62+ from China a few days ago.

It is defiantly an upgrade over the Nook Simple Touch.

I got a few problems though:

1- There seems to be a flicker of the backlight at low settings. Although I see many people complaining of the same issue so I think we might need to wait for an update.

2- The battery life is horrible. I used to get weeks out of a single charge on the Nook, I charged yesterday, tested the device for a half an hour, and this morning it's 87%. On the Nook it would have dropped maybe 1-2%. Do I need to disable anything or greenify any app to prolong standby time?

3- I tried Moon+ Reader, and it's working nicely on the T62+, Although I have two problems with it.
First is the status bar, when I try to flip the page using the touch screen it pops up but when I use the hard keys it disappears. Is there an option to keep the status bar hidden while reading and bring it back when out of the full screen reading? I do not want to disable the status bar altogether.

Second problem is the eink Full screen flush, Moon Reader does not seem to do this flush/refresh at all, is there a hidden option for that.

4- Cool reader used to add settings for the full screen flush or fast refresh in it's settings when using the nook, is there any way to bring those options back?

5- Is there a way to change the default epub application?

Here's my two cents as a response to your questions:

1) That low-light flicker is fairly common in the T62 line. I have it occasionally on mine. Maybe an update will fix it.

2) Have you rooted your T62+? I found that when I rooted it and then installed a CPU manager app (SetCPU or No-Frills CPU Control seem to work), battery life became much better, pretty close to the NST (which I also had before). Having said that, I find that battery life on the new T62+ isn't quite as good as the previous T62. Something in recent updates, I think. You can also try Greenify after rooting.

3) I don't use Moon Reader much anymore, but you can always do an eInk refresh by clicking the top left button on your T62+.

4) Haven't used Cool Reader.

5) You have two default reader app options. You find them in Settings/User Defined/Set the EPUB book reader. Your choices are Adobe or FB2 reader.

Hope this helps.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by DarKHawK

2- The battery life is horrible. I used to get weeks out of a single charge on the Nook, I charged yesterday, tested the device for a half an hour, and this morning it's 87%. On the Nook it would have dropped maybe 1-2%. Do I need to disable anything or greenify any app to prolong standby time?

I was wondering about this too. I noticed a list of apps that are automatically running in the background, which includes ComicReader and iReader. I was wondering if I should stop those. I don't read comics, so I don't know why that should keep running - unless it has something to do with displaying thumbnails or something non-comic book related. And the iReader - not sure what that is. I was finally able to find a list of apps that does list FBReader (which doesn't show up on the App icon page)... I was thinking maybe iReader is the app that is for the pre-loaded Chinese bookstore.

Has anyone stopped any of the auto-running apps? Any issues?

Speaking of which... can anyone tell me how to uninstall the two pre-loaded Chinese apps? I don't plan to ever use them.

Originally Posted by delph

Regarding it not sleeping, it might be something to do with that particular music app. Another music app might allow it to sleep? I think that's what caused the big drop in charge.

I think the music app is part of the problem, but it still refuses to go to sleep even after a restart when the music app isn't running. I think the latest update may be the culprit.

Originally Posted by delph

For recharging, I just use whatever USB charger is closest and most convenient. Usually that's one of the chargers I have conveniently placed for charging my phone. Your Kindle wall plug should be fine.

Thank you Delph. I used my Kindle Keyboard wall plug charger yesterday and it worked much better. For the first time, the green charger indicator light finally turned off when it was charged. It was nice to have the indicator light actually indicate something useful.

[Dai Shan]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

Has anyone stopped any of the auto-running apps? Any issues?

Speaking of which... can anyone tell me how to uninstall the two pre-loaded Chinese apps? I don't plan to ever use them.

You'll have to root your device in order to remove the Chinese apps. I safely removed the following apps:

JD, weibo looking, & Chinese Keyboard apps- no issues after removing.

ComicReader - the trade off here is that you'll loose the ability to easily setup up your own screen saver or standby picture. You can still change it, it just involves more work.

IReader - This is a weird one. The Kindle app and Perfect Viewer refused to worked after I uninstalled this app. So I reinstalled it and froze it instead, the apps worked fine. Head scratcher that one. Other than those two apps not working, I didn't see any other abnormal behavior upon removal.

I just saw this post which has even more services frozen: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=292

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by Dai Shan

You'll have to root your device in order to remove the Chinese apps. I safely removed the following apps:

JD, weibo looking, & Chinese Keyboard apps- no issues after removing.

ComicReader - the trade off here is that you'll loose the ability to easily setup up your own screen saver or standby picture. You can still change it, it just involves more work.

IReader - This is a weird one. The Kindle app and Perfect Viewer refused to worked after I uninstalled this app. So I reinstalled it and froze it instead, the apps worked fine. Head scratcher that one. Other than those two apps not working, I didn't see any other abnormal behavior upon removal.

I just saw this post which has even more services frozen: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=292

Thank you. I think rooting is way too over my head right now to even consider.

When I go to Settings --> Apps --> Running I see ComicReader has 1 process and 1 service and iReader has 1 process and 1 service.

When I click on iReader, it lists both "notifyCenterAIDL" and "NotifyCenter" as services which were "...started by its app. Stopping it may cause the app to fail." And they each have the option to tap "Stop". Is that what I should click to freeze it and not use more of my battery running it? Does that stop the processes that are running too? Or is freezing it something different?

ComicReader has the same type of thing. It lists 1 process and 1 service. The service is "myShutdownService" - "This service was started by its app. Stopping it may cause the app to fail." And then the option to click "Stop".

Below that is listed ComicReader com.silibrary.comicreader 3.2 mb -- Main process in use. This doesn't have any "Stop" button. (Just like the processes under iReader didn't have "Stop" buttons either, just the services.)

I was all ready to click "stop" on the ComicReader service, but the name
"myShutdownService" gave me pause, because I don't want to create more problems shutting down the device. I don't know that it's related in any way to shutting down the device - probably just referring to shutting down the comic reader app - but still, it made me a little nervous since I don't know what I'm doing and don't really know what any of this means. I've kind of lost faith that things mean what I think they mean and that things will do what I think they will with this device... particularly because I have no familiarity with android.

Should I tap the "Stop" buttons on the services listed under those two apps? Is that considered "freezing" them?

Thank you for any clarification you can offer. I'm sorry if these are really stupid questions. I have a hold at the library on a basic android book, and I'm next in line... so hopefully I will have more of a clue in a couple weeks.

[NimS]

hello all!

I too have just received my T62+...

a step up from my nook simple touch but I am having similar issues:
- flickering at low light levels (tho the fact of having a light more than makes up for it)
- the big issue for me is battery life... I've rooted and installed setcpu.. wondering what settings others have used and how they saw to set them! damn white on white

otherwise I'm enjoying its relative speed and clarity of screen.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by NimS

hello all!

I too have just received my T62+...

a step up from my nook simple touch but I am having similar issues:
- flickering at low light levels (tho the fact of having a light more than makes up for it)
- the big issue for me is battery life... I've rooted and installed setcpu.. wondering what settings others have used and how they saw to set them! damn white on white

otherwise I'm enjoying its relative speed and clarity of screen.

Yes, the dreaded white-on-white!

When you go into SetCPU, you see a page that shows you the current settings and the current CPU speed. There should be a black bar on the bottom. Touch the left half of the black bar, and a list of available governors pops up. Touch the right half, and a list of available schedulers pops up.

The setting SetCPU recommends is interactive governor and cfq scheduler. If you want the longest possible battery life, you can choose the powersave governor, but that keeps your device at the low CPU speed setting all the time. I found that the default settings work well for me, but a good compromise that leans more to longer battery life without giving up much performance is conservative governor and noop scheduler.

Long after I installed SetCPU, I discovered No-Frills CPU Control, which does not have the white-on-white issue and is free. (Wish I'd known about that before.)

Flickering at low light levels seems like a chronic Boyue problem. In the latest updates, Boyue seems to have tried to "fix" the issue by increasing the light intensity at the lowest level!

Other ways to add a bit of battery life: try Greenify. It helps some people. You can also try freezing a few unneeded system apps. There are posts here and there from other folks who are experimenting with this.

According to my Battery app, I have been on battery power for 15 hours and have 75% battery left. I'm not convinced that this is 100% accurate, but I believe that my battery life is pretty close to that of my old NST.

It's a matter of finding the blend of settings that works best for the apps you have. These are what helped me.

[blue_skies]

I am frustrated with the battery life too. I charged my device fully, and only had it turned on for a few minutes while I was looking at the running apps information yesterday. In a day and a half, while it was sleeping, the battery drained 20%! That's kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

I don't think the music app is the cause - it's not listed under running apps, and I hadn't turned it on at all before it lost 20% while sleeping.

Can I use Greenify or something like that even if I don't root my device?

ETA - This article says Greenify can be used on unrooted phones, but you have to push a button to hibernate running apps - http://lifehacker.com/greenify-the-a...roo-1500227178

My other problem is that the device still doesn't go to sleep or shut-down automatically as it's supposed to. It seems like the latest firmware update may have caused that issue. I manually shut it down this morning since it lost quite a bit more charge over night.

Originally Posted by blue_skies

When I go to Settings --> Apps --> Running I see ComicReader has 1 process and 1 service and iReader has 1 process and 1 service.

When I click on iReader, it lists both "notifyCenterAIDL" and "NotifyCenter" as services which were "...started by its app. Stopping it may cause the app to fail." And they each have the option to tap "Stop". Is that what I should click to freeze it and not use more of my battery running it? Does that stop the processes that are running too? Or is freezing it something different?

ComicReader has the same type of thing. It lists 1 process and 1 service. The service is "myShutdownService" - "This service was started by its app. Stopping it may cause the app to fail." And then the option to click "Stop".

Below that is listed ComicReader com.silibrary.comicreader 3.2 mb -- Main process in use. This doesn't have any "Stop" button. (Just like the processes under iReader didn't have "Stop" buttons either, just the services.)

I was all ready to click "stop" on the ComicReader service, but the name
"myShutdownService" gave me pause, because I don't want to create more problems shutting down the device. I don't know that it's related in any way to shutting down the device - probably just referring to shutting down the comic reader app - but still, it made me a little nervous since I don't know what I'm doing and don't really know what any of this means. I've kind of lost faith that things mean what I think they mean and that things will do what I think they will with this device... particularly because I have no familiarity with android.

Should I tap the "Stop" buttons on the services listed under those two apps? Is that considered "freezing" them?

I guess I was worrying over nothing. I stopped those processes last night and it didn't seem to cause any problems. iReader turned itself back on though. I think when I read for a few minutes before going to sleep, even though I was using FBReader.

[nhedgehog]

Don't put many hopes into apps that will save energy. I tested several things on my rooted Energy Pro. If suspended and undisturbed, the battery lasts only for 5 day. So I set it to switch off after one hour undisturbed.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by nhedgehog

Don't put many hopes into apps that will save energy. I tested several things on my rooted Energy Pro. If suspended and undisturbed, the battery lasts only for 5 day. So I set it to switch off after one hour undisturbed.

Thanks for the feedback on Greenify. I have my T62 set to shut down after an hour, but it doesn't. I'm not sure what's preventing it.