Android 9.0 upgrade status?

[Crowriver]

Both Kobo and Pocketbook ereaders support Adobe DRM, so they are a little more versatile than suggested above.

Really the main reason to go with Android is the ability to run third party apps. The Boox devices are much more than ereaders, but they are perfectly usable only as such too.

[Crowriver]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Not quite, so the Poke Pro didn't get the latest update, with which you can boot into a function other than the library.

Not according to the Boox support web site...

[Crowriver]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Yeah, that's true. They update FW, but not OS. I don't think the Android 6 devices will get FW v.3. Onyx drop older devices pretty fast. Shame because the A6 devices are more than capable to run the newer FW.

We shall see.

The Max 2 got updates from 1.8.3 all the way to 2.3.1, across a span of two years. The Max 2 Pro came out later, with better hardware specs, and started with firmware 2.1.2. So if this trajectory is any guide, maybe the Max 2 Pro and other "Pro" devices will go up to firmware 3.0? But as with some other updates, maybe the functionality may lack one or two features that newer devices benefit from.

Personally I would be very happy with updated NeoReader and Notes apps with the new features such as layers, new brushes, Powerpoint support, page management, etc. Also would be nice to get the e-ink optimised browser. Any additional features from firmware 3.0 would be a nice bonus, but maybe not likely without an Android upgrade.

[franzli]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

I don't know, so I can only give my opinion: because it was thought that it would bring improvements.

But the fact is: I have Poke Pro (a Boox Android 6 device) and Poke 2 (a Boox Android 9 device).

The performance of both devices is the same, although the Poke 2 has a much more powerful hardware.

This means that the operating system of the Poke 2 on the hardware of the Poke Pro would result in a significant deterioration in performance.

Keeping such a promise would not be a good idea.

How did you measure the relative performance of both devices?

[Crowriver]

Some glimmer of hope on the Boox web site:

"For other BOOX models, we will release their V3.0 firmware changelogs as soon as they’re ready."

https://www.boox.com/2020/09/21/boox...-and-note-air/

I am content with my Boox devices as they are. However I wouldn't mind getting some of the new features from the new firmware.....we can but wait and see how they roll this out. I can imagine the Android 9 devices will be first. Then maybe the "Pro" Android 6 devices. This was the pattern with the 2.3.1 update.

[Question Mark]

Am hoping that when they do eventually roll the FW update out to older devices like the Note Pro that it will be easier to zoom in on PDFs and navigate them while zoomed in.

The Note Pro is more than capable of functioning in this way as it I can do this when using third party apps such as Moon+ Reader Pro.

Unfortunately, I can't use the stylus to annotate the PDFs when viewing them in a third party app. That's why it would be really nice if Onyx were to improve the zoom function in their NeoReader app.

Am cautiously optimistic that the new 3.0 FW will eventually be rolled out to the Android 6.0 devices. Just hope it is sooner rather than later.

I sincerely doubt that they will ever update the Android OS version or the older devices and don't care all that much so long as they keep updating the FW, fixing bugs and bringing improved functionality.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Crowriver

Not according to the Boox support web site...

It doesn't work on my Poke Pro.
It has the build number: 2020-05-06_21-20_2_3_8aeba24

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by franzli

How did you measure the relative performance of both devices?

By performing the same actions on both devices at the same time and comparing on-screen activities.

[franzli]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

By performing the same actions on both devices at the same time and comparing on-screen activities.

Ok, but that probably doesn't give you the precision needed to empirically support your claim that, if I understood correctly, the older devices are slower and the new Android versions require more resources and since they're both the same speed the older devices wouldn't be capable of running the newer Android versions (with acceptable performance).
You seem to be making two assumptions that you have not shown to be true (yet):
1) The older devices (e.g. Onyx Boox Note) have a slower SoC than the newer ones (eg Note 2). While this may be true, we don't know by how much. One would have to look up the specific Soc used - Onyx just say it's a quad core vs an octa core, but that doesn't tell us much about their respective performance. Indeed, the quad core on the old Note had consistently higher Geekbench scores than the octa-core Boyue Likebook Mars (which recently got an Android update). I wasn't able to run a direct comparison between Note and Note 2 because the current version of Geekbench 4 doesn't seem to complete benchmarks anymore on the older Note. (I was able to run Geekbench on it in 2018, so this might be an indication of possible software deprecation - admittedly in this particular case not a serious issue of functionality).
2) You assume that Android 8 would require more system resources to run at the same performance level as Android 6. While at first glance it seems like an appealing idea (new software - new features - new requirements), I have no idea if that is the case because apart from new features there are also potentially new optimisations that may or may not make a difference for a particular device.

You're observations of performing the same actions and considering then to perform (about) the same is fair enough for concluding that both devices are adequately usable, but it doesn't tell us anything about their respective capability in terms of technical performance and their ability to run newer Android versions.
For what it's worth, your observation on certain tasks might be limited by i/o speed, i.e. the storage, so if both SOCs are fast enough to deal with the maximum speed of the storage, you'd get a ceiling effect independently of any other differences in speed between the SOCs.
The only way to make qualified statements about SoC performance being a limiting factor to an Android update would be to compare the same (or at least very similarly specced) device running both versions.

This ended up a bit long, I mainly just wanted to make the methodological point here.

Anyway, I suspect that either Rockchip simply isn't offering adequate support (drivers etc) for porting Android 8 or 9 onto the older devices or Onyx decided it would be to much effort to do so. In either case (and independently of whether or not one needs the updated Android version), it is quite a deceptive strategy to first claim that there would be an update and then just let the issue slide into oblivion. One would assume that at that point they had in some form evaluated the feasibility of porting - and if it turns out they hit a wall, then at the very least they should correct their original statement.

[ottischwenk]

I cannot compare devices from Android 6 with Android 8 - I have no device relationship.
But only Boox Poke Pro (Android 6) against the successor Boox Poke 2 (Android 9).
And such an Android update was supposedly promised.
But the fact is that the Android 6 devices have been updated to the software of the 9 series.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I had a funny experience like this the other day. I installed a keyboard app, and I couldn't see the buttons to press to allow keyboard access permissions. So I just hit the screen randomly, hoping to find the invisible button, and somehow I ended up with the Onyx keyboard rather than the default Android keyboard. I didn't even know there was a separate Onyx keyboard. I don't know how to change it back, and I don't know how to access keyboard / input settings.

In Settings, navigate to Languages. Under Keyboard and Input Methods, you should be able to see all of your installed keyboards.

Tap on the space just below the "Keyboard and Input Methods" heading which says, "Current Input Methods" and which should say the name of the one you are currently using (in my case Gboard).

You should then get a pop-up box which will allow you to select any of the other keyboards which you have installed.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

In Settings, navigate to Languages. Under Keyboard and Input Methods, you should be able to see all of your installed keyboards.

Tap on the space just below the "Keyboard and Input Methods" heading which says, "Current Input Methods" and which should say the name of the one you are currently using (in my case Gboard).

You should then get a pop-up box which will allow you to select any of the other keyboards which you have installed.

Thanks. That's useful.

[Pajamaman]

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