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

[downeaster59]

I have a T62B, but I'm also interested in any comparison between my T62 and the new T62+. I wonder if it's worth an upgrade or not.

[delph]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

That is really good to know. I almost ordered it from Banggood the other day, but I wanted to make sure it would work okay for playing my sleep meditation recordings and then sleep or turn off. I was also a little concerned about it taking six weeks to be delivered, so I'm glad yours made it to you a lot quicker.

My one last concern is that I have only had a Kindle Keyboard, and have never used a smart phone, tablet or Android device. Are all the instructions in Chinese? Is it pretty easy and intuitive to set up and use?

It CAN take longer if something gets hung up in customs. I've not had an order from China take longer than 3 weeks myself.

I actually had a moment of panic when I opened mine, as the screen that shows when the device is off shows some Chinese text. Once I booted it, all of the menus and so on were in English. The default keyboard is Chinese, but the letters were all western. The only parts actually in Chinese were the "special" keys - where I'd normally expect enter, backspace, so on to be. There is a fully English keyboard as well, and you can set it as the default in the settings. The instruction manual loaded on the device is in broken English, though you can probably get help here too.

I'm not a good person to speak to how easy and intuitive it is to set up, as I've been using various android devices for five years now. There's also a difference between basic setup so it'll work, and the extensive fiddling and/or rooting to get things "just so". I think basic setup is easy, though I believe there are still more things to do than with a Kindle. At a bare minimum, you would need to turn on the wifi, and then either sideload your books or load the Kindle app (which requires getting the Google play store on the device or sideloading the app).

[hob]

Originally Posted by sadegh

Thank you for info. Could you please also give your feedback about audio quality on headphone? is it possible to listen to a music with bass!? I really like to use this device also as a mp3 player


I Called energy sistem by phone and asked them about the possibility that they may have new devices with carta technology.the guy I talked with didnt speak english well so I hope he understood my question . The answer is at the end of this year they may have new devices with carta technology .

IF somebody knows spanish and interested to this subjet , it worth a try call energy sistem. they are very friendly and try to explain everything in details.

I just like to have these coparisions , but I didnt find it anywhere, can somebody give me a hint ?
1. Pearl HD vs Carta technology comparision
2. Boyue T62+ vs Boyue T62 comparision

The audio output quality is good and I can hear details clearly in flac files using my audio-technica headphones! I myself use another much smaller device as my portable music player and I don't think I'd be using this device's audio function other than for audio books and text-to-speech and dictionary apps or maybe online radio/podcasts sometimes; but the audio quality is good anyway. The preloaded media player app sucks tho! I prefer something like VLC or other better players.

for the last part:

1. http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...s-e-ink-pearl/

2. These 2 devices use mostly the same hardware inside them. Both have 8GB of internal memory, 512MB of RAM, a dual-core 1GHz CPU, capacitive touchscreen, 3000mAh battery, and so on.

The only things that seem to have been changed in the newer T62+ (T62D) are the screen (E-Ink Carta instead of the older E-Ink Pearl HD @ the same resolution of 1024x758 pixels) and probably the front-light system which is impressively distributed more evenly on the screen than the original T62 or the older T61!

They may have also adjusted/improved some other hardware and software aspects tho; like they probably improved the capacitive touchscreen and the OS' responsiveness and probably adjusted some settings in the OS to use less battery (esp. when you're not using the device, either in sleep mode or while being inactive).

I noticed that the device uses very very little amount of energy while it's inactive (not in sleep mode, just inactive for a long while without going into sleep automatically) with front-light off ofc! Looks like the front-light automatically turns itself off after like 5 or 10 minutes of inactivity but I'm not sure about it.

[hob]

I have not rooted my device yet and have been installing apps through the Good eReader E-Ink App Store app! There are lots of alternatives to Google Play out there like this...

But I'm gonna root it sooner or later to add new software features to it and I'd probably load Google Play on it to install some rare apps that may not be found on alternative stores.

Overall it's a good and powerful device and I've been happy with it.

[delph]

Good point about other app stores! I have so many paid apps through Google that I forget that doesn't impact everyone, and there are other options.

[sadegh]

do you have a link to boyue website where it is specified type of e-ink technology is used in T62+? (which must be "carta")

I just saw in banggood and only in Q&A section about it.

[blue_skies]

Originally Posted by delph

I installed Moon+ Pro and AIReader, and they both handled the fonts correctly.

Like others, I installed Greenify and a CPU manager after rooting (though I didn't use SetCPU, just because there was another one I'd used extensively before).

I am not familiar with Android and Apps in general. Is it necessary to root the T62 in order to install the Apps mentioned above? Can I get them from the GoodReader Eink App Store App? Would I just use WiFi to download apps from the GoodReader store app?

Could I also just download an Android app to my notebook PC and then use the USB cable to transfer it to the T62?

I apologize if these are stupid questions. Like I mentioned, I have never used a tablet or Android device so I am totally unfamiliar with Apps in general.

Originally Posted by delph

There is a fully English keyboard as well, and you can set it as the default in the settings. The instruction manual loaded on the device is in broken English, though you can probably get help here too.

...I think basic setup is easy, though I believe there are still more things to do than with a Kindle. At a bare minimum, you would need to turn on the wifi, and then either sideload your books or load the Kindle app (which requires getting the Google play store on the device or sideloading the app).

Thank you, that is good to know. Does the T62 work with a typical folder structure? I use Calibre on my PC. Is there some way to use it (or a special Android version) to organize my books on this eReader?

How is music organized? Nested folders?

I would ideally like to separate my music MP3s and my anti-insomnia mediation recordings into two separate folders, and then further organize those folders into subfolders. Would that work?

Like I mentioned before, I would have each night time meditation recording in its own separate folder so that, hopefully, I can click on it to play... and when it's finished it will just go idle and not play any of the other files. (So it doesn't keep playing all night.) That is how my old media player worked.

Can anyone confirm that audio files can be set up like this?

Also, would anyone be willing to put a single mp3 in a folder and see if the built-in audio player will play it and then go idle? I would really love to know if that will work the way I have been anticipating.

Originally Posted by hob

I have not rooted my device yet and have been installing apps through the Good eReader E-Ink App Store app! There are lots of alternatives to Google Play out there like this...

Overall it's a good and powerful device and I've been happy with it.

Thanks for mentioning this. If I get the T62, I doubt I will root it any time soon... so hopefully I can get whatever basic apps I need from this source.

Thanks again to everyone here for being so helpful.


Oops, I meant to ask about covers for this device. I really would prefer a cover that has a built in stand. I couldn't find any that specifically mention the T62. I am wondering if this Kindle cover will fit okay. http://www.amazon.com/Paperwhite-Fol...K7RVPH5E4JJQ1E

It looks like it probably wouldn't cover any of the buttons, and I'm hoping it is flexible enough to fit. Does anyone have a Kindle to compare the size of the T62?

[hob]

Originally Posted by sadegh

do you have a link to boyue website where it is specified type of e-ink technology is used in T62+? (which must be "carta")

I just saw in banggood and only in Q&A section about it.

Their main website (boyue.com) is in Chinese but they confirmed this in an email I sent to their sales department: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=112

After that, I and some other people asked banggood.com to contact the manufacturer and confirm if these T62+'s they're selling are using E-Ink Carta. At first they didn't know themselves but after asking the main seller in China and the manufacturer, they did confirm that the device is using Carta panels and this has been the upgrade compared to the T62.

As far as I remember, their sellers on some online Chinese-language stores are also mentioning this in their device specs sections.


The screen quality (contrast and text sharpness, etc) and the background color (more creamy) all indicate that this is E-Ink Carta. Amazon, Kobo, Onyx, Boyue, they all buy their E-Ink panels directly from E-Ink Corp., it's not like anybody has the legal rights to manufacture their own E-Ink panels!*

* ofc there exist other electronic paper screen techs but the ones called "E-Ink" are all patented and made by E-Ink Corp. themselves. As far as I know, the manufacturers of eReader can only adjust things like "refresh-rate", battery consumption and such; so there's not much difference between E-Ink panels of the same E-Ink production family on different devices. Resolution and refresh-rate may differ, but the panel is the same; for example the E-Ink panel on this device is similar to the one on Kindle Paperwhite 2 in probably every aspect (They're both E-Ink Carta @ 1024x758 pixels or 212dpi)!

[sadegh]

Originally Posted by hob

Their main website (boyue.com) is in Chinese but they confirmed this in an email I sent to their sales department: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=112

After that, I and some other people asked banggood.com to contact the manufacturer and confirm if these T62+'s they're selling are using E-Ink Carta. At first they didn't know themselves but after asking the main seller in China and the manufacturer, they did confirm that the device is using Carta panels and this has been the upgrade compared to the T62.

As far as I remember, their sellers on some online Chinese-language stores are also mentioning this in their device specs sections.


The screen quality (contrast and text sharpness, etc) and the background color (more creamy) all indicate that this is E-Ink Carta. Amazon, Kobo, Onyx, Boyue, they all buy their E-Ink panels directly from E-Ink Corp., it's not like anybody has the legal rights to manufacture their own E-Ink panels!*

* ofc there exist other electronic paper screen techs but the ones called "E-Ink" are all patented and made by E-Ink Corp. themselves. As far as I know, the manufacturers of eReader can only adjust things like "refresh-rate", battery consumption and such; so there's not much difference between E-Ink panels of the same E-Ink production family on different devices. Resolution and refresh-rate may differ, but the panel is the same; for example the E-Ink panel on this device is similar to the one on Kindle Paperwhite 2 in probably every aspect (They're both E-Ink Carta @ 1024x758 pixels or 212dpi)!

yes I know all this stuff, but at the end it is strange why official website doesnt have any info and it is just written in banggood comments about "carta"

also in www.eink.com I dont see this device

also I didnt find any video with comparing T62+ with ither devices to highlight the differences ....

AFAIK other companies that have the same devices (icarus and energy sistem) didnt launch "carta" devices

In comparision of price, T62+ is almost have the same price respecting Energy sistem pro , however this upgrade should increase the price (like kindle pw2 compare to voyage). isnt it strange?

is it written on the box of T62+ that the eink is carta?

[sadegh]

one more fact :
compare the picture of box here(last picture in gallary) and here(buttom of the page)

they are identical ! first one is T62+ and second one is T62


Edit : I suggest any of T62+ holders to take a foto similar to this one and upload it to shows the difference of devices

Edit 2: another resource for T62+ box , it is the same : http://xfpiggy.lofter.com/post/3f6d81_5d162bf

[hob]

Originally Posted by sadegh

yes I know all this stuff, but at the end it is strange why official website doesnt have any info and it is just written in banggood comments about "carta"

also in www.eink.com I dont see this device

also I didnt find any video with comparing T62+ with ither devices to highlight the differences ....

AFAIK other companies that have the same devices (icarus and energy sistem) didnt launch "carta" devices

In comparision of price, T62+ is almost have the same price respecting Energy sistem pro , however this upgrade should increase the price (like kindle pw2 compare to voyage). isnt it strange?

is it written on the box of T62+ that the eink is carta?

I don't think there'd be any reason for them to lie about this! After all the company Boeye themselves were the ones who said for the first time that the Boyue T62+ has E-Ink Carta on it. I did email and ask them what have been the changes in this new model (T62+) and they said that the panel is upgraded to E-Ink Carta. Later we asked BangGood.com to confirm this news.

I don't think this had been such a big and expensive change to cause the price on the device to go up dramatically! E-Ink is probably gonna stop producing the older Pearl [HD] panels sooner or later (or at least reduce the size of the production line for these older models)! Also I think this device is meant to compete with Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2 which has nearly the same price tag and the same size/resolution (but ofc this device's hardware is more powerful than any Kindle!).


The Icarus Illumina E563 was Boyue T61 (4GB of memory, 2000mAh battery, mSD, no audio output). The Energy Sistem eReader Pro is Boyue T62 (T62C, 8GB of memory, 3000mAh battery, mSD, audio output). The price difference between the older T61 and the newer T62 was like $10 when they released the T62 IIRC! It's China after all and production costs are low; that's why everybody builds their production lines in China and other similar countries because of the cheaper labor...

The newer model Boyue T62+ was released in China this month (March 2015) and there's been only 1 review on it so far which was made by the Good eReader website.

These two reviews may be good for comparing the T62[B/C] with the T62+ (T62D):

This one by Nathan on The eBook Reader was made based on the original Energy Sistem eReader Pro (which would be Boyue T62[C]) that he received late January 2015: http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/energy-ereader-pro.html

This recent one by Good eReader was based on Boyue T62 device that they bought from BangGood.com in March 2015 and from the looks of it (the buttons, the logo, and the packaging), it is the newer design of T62+ and also in the video review you can see "T62D" under the settings menu of the device: http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...-reader-review


click to enlarge


P.S.: Not all the devices that use E-Ink panels on them are listed on their website. E-Ink just makes the panels and sells them to numerous customers all over the world!

Also as far as I understand, the brand name "Boyue" is a Chinese brand to be sold in China. Like many other Chinese manufacturers, they make devices for companies outside China and put the buyer's brand on the device (like Icarus and Energy Sistem). Sellers on websites like BangGood and AliExpress are mostly not representatives of the manufacturers; these websites are just like "agents" who buy stuff from Chinese markets inside China for you and send them to you!

[hob]

Originally Posted by sadegh

one more fact :
compare the picture of box here(last picture in gallary) and here(buttom of the page)

they are identical ! first one is T62+ and second one is T62


Edit : I suggest any of T62+ holders to take a foto similar to this one and upload it to shows the difference of devices

Edit 2: another resource for T62+ box , it is the same : http://xfpiggy.lofter.com/post/3f6d81_5d162bf

The device's name is T62 with model number T62D. The Chinese sellers seem to have chosen the name "T62+" to make the impression that this device is a newer model.

The packaging and the looks of the device have changed in the new model and became sorta of better quality/looks! The last link and its pictures are the ones I mentioned in the previous page of this thread!

As I said, you can contact the manufacturer on sales@szboeye.com and ask them whatever you wanna know about this device! Share their answers to your emails with us too if you want.

[hob]

Comparison between Boyue T62[+] (T62D) and Energy Sistem eReader Pro (T62C)

Boyue T62 vs Energy Sistem Pro Glowlight Test


Boyue T62 vs Energy Sistem Pro



The improvement in the front-light between these 2 seem to be more visible and noticeable than the panel. It's sometimes not easy to distinguish Pearl HD and Carta and the companies don't mention these details much on the product packaging!

Mine's color/contrast/quality looks like the Kindle PPW2 not the whitish Pearl ones so I assume it's Carta as the company says!


Comparison between T62D and Icarus Illumina E563 (T61)
Boyue T62 vs Icarus Illumina HD 2

[sadegh]

thanks @hob I think now everything is clear.(except the fact that if big improvement from T62C to T62+ is e-ink technology, why there is no indication on its box)

one more misunderstanding that caused by a comment in youtube by Goodereader (however I dont find it now): There is no difference in CPUs,all of them are dual cores (ARM Cortex A9 1.0Ghz dual core).

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by blue_skies

I am not familiar with Android and Apps in general. Is it necessary to root the T62 in order to install the Apps mentioned above? Can I get them from the GoodReader Eink App Store App? Would I just use WiFi to download apps from the GoodReader store app?

Could I also just download an Android app to my notebook PC and then use the USB cable to transfer it to the T62?

I apologize if these are stupid questions. Like I mentioned, I have never used a tablet or Android device so I am totally unfamiliar with Apps in general.




Thank you, that is good to know. Does the T62 work with a typical folder structure? I use Calibre on my PC. Is there some way to use it (or a special Android version) to organize my books on this eReader?

How is music organized? Nested folders?

I would ideally like to separate my music MP3s and my anti-insomnia mediation recordings into two separate folders, and then further organize those folders into subfolders. Would that work?

Like I mentioned before, I would have each night time meditation recording in its own separate folder so that, hopefully, I can click on it to play... and when it's finished it will just go idle and not play any of the other files. (So it doesn't keep playing all night.) That is how my old media player worked.

Can anyone confirm that audio files can be set up like this?

Also, would anyone be willing to put a single mp3 in a folder and see if the built-in audio player will play it and then go idle? I would really love to know if that will work the way I have been anticipating.




Thanks for mentioning this. If I get the T62, I doubt I will root it any time soon... so hopefully I can get whatever basic apps I need from this source.

Thanks again to everyone here for being so helpful.


Oops, I meant to ask about covers for this device. I really would prefer a cover that has a built in stand. I couldn't find any that specifically mention the T62. I am wondering if this Kindle cover will fit okay. http://www.amazon.com/Paperwhite-Fol...K7RVPH5E4JJQ1E

It looks like it probably wouldn't cover any of the buttons, and I'm hoping it is flexible enough to fit. Does anyone have a Kindle to compare the size of the T62?

If you use Calibre, I suggest getting the Calibre Companion android app. You can get it from the Amazon app store, and there is a demo version you can try first. There is a forum here for it and it's dev is one of Calibre's devs. You don't need to root to use the Amazon app store, but you do need to allow installation of apps from unknown sources in the settings on the T62.