Poke4 Lite

[Renate]

There's a new one, the Poke4 Lite.
TLDR: 6", 212 DPI, quad processor, 16GB/2GB
Available in black or white.

https://shop.boox.com/products/poke4lite

OTOH, it's the same dimensions as the Poke3 and they have new covers. These are the ones with the plastic "cradle" and the front flap.
I might pick up the new gray one, it looks nicer that the flat gray plastic one that I have.

[batman52]

I have it. I like it for doing what it promises (android eink device), but I am a bit deceived also.

- the storage capacity is annoyingly small (8Gb) for an android device. Per se it would not be a big issue for a device mainly dedicated to reading, but updates require > 3Gb of free space that force me to clean local cache and uninstall applications when updating.
- the battery duration is OK for reading, but as soon as I turn on WiFi and/or BT drops rather quickly (I do not think it would last 2 days even with the device in sleep). By comparison my ipad mini that is 10 years old can still survive 1 week in sleep mode with WiFi on
- the UI is slow, and sluggish: I stopped reading the morning news on this because it's too frustrating. Also external links on email often crash the browser.
- for some reason that I cannot rationally explain the fonts on my kindle keyboard 3G (~10years old) that the poke4 is replacing look slightly nicer.
- despite showing the location item, it does not seem to include GPS: i was hoping I could use to brose maps offline when travelling, but no.

I still advise overall, as I think having android is a big plus against an entry kindle or kobo, but be aware of those shortcomings!

[Renate]

It is disappointing that GPS is not an option. All these Qualcomm SoC have it built in but apparently they never put in an antenna. It's also a bit crazy that the chips have everything built in for cellular but it's not used.

Originally Posted by batman52

... updates require > 3Gb of free space ...

Wow, that's insane. I though the 1.5 GB updates on the Poke3 were bad enough.

Even though I have enough room, I do an update using a flash drive in recovery.
OTOH, it looks like the Poke3 has almost been abandoned.
For a while they were updating 3-4 times a year.
There hasn't been an update since 2022-11-25.
I still think the Poke3 is better than the Poke5 (or Poke4).

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Renate

Wow, that's insane. I though the 1.5 GB updates on the Poke3 were bad enough.

[...]

I still think the Poke3 is better than the Poke5 (or Poke4).

Yeah, I have the same problem on my Nova 3 with updates. I had to remove some apps just to be able to install it. And my e-book library is just 4 GB... The Onyx system is bloated beyond any sense and reason.

And it is annoying that most of their recent products sub 10" just seem to be downgrades: the Leaf 2 uses a worse CPU, the Poke 5, too. The Nova Air line has a screen that's worse for reading, a smaller battery and no home button. (Also no SD card slot for no reason.)

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by kandwo

most of their recent products sub 10" just seem to be downgrades: the Leaf 2 uses a worse CPU, the Poke 5, too.

I have both, but can't see any difference in performance

[Renate]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

I have both, but can't see any difference in performance

You're probably right, although going from octo to quad isn't a move that impresses.

What I would most like to see is a major improvement in B&W electronic paper.
With eInk patents expiring we may see some more action.
Although, to be fair, I don't scroll that much and turning pages isn't too bad.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Renate

although going from octo to quad isn't a move that impresses.

If you can get the same thing cheaper or easier, why not?

[Renate]

Well, if you really want to get confused go to https://onyxboox.com/
They have seven 6" models on offer.

Da Vinci      212 DPI 8 GB Android 4.4 $180
Faust 5       212 DPI 16 GB
Volta 4       "                        $190
Poke 4 Lite   "                        $140
Darwin 9      300 DPI 16 GB            $200
Livingstone 2 "                        $200
Poke 5        300 DPI 32 GB            $180

I'm not addicted to the absolute latest version of Android and couldn't tell you what the difference is between Android 10 and Android 11, but I'm not paying $180 for an Android 4.4 device!

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

I have both, but can't see any difference in performance

Between the Leaf 2 and Poke 5? Or the two Pokes, 3 and 5?

Because the Leaf 2 is significantly slower than other earlier models like my Nova 3.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by kandwo

Between the Leaf 2 and Poke 5? Or the two Pokes, 3 and 5?

Between Poke 3/5 Leaf 1/2 - same performance, different processors.
Poke 2 and Nova 2 are significantly faster - different storage concept.