Mobiscribe Wave as a reader?

[Vrondi]

Hello, everyone,

I've been using my first-gen Kobo Aura H2O for years, now. I'm intrigued by the idea of note-taking features and other expanded features on some newer devices, but I want to keep the waterproof quality (so no Onyx Tabs for me) and I still want a great screen for reading black and white text.

The new Mobiscribe Wave devices look like some great bang-for-the-buck on paper, but there's far less user info out there online about them (and a lot of it is in Chinese). I've watched the My Deep Guide videos on the Black and White model, and I've read enough to know the color screens may be lacking compared to black and white e-ink for reading text.

Has anyone used a Mobiscribe Wave black and white model, who could give a comparison of the clarity/contrast compared to a Kobo Aura H2O or even to other common e-ink device models?

I have no way to compare devices in person before ordering them, so any feedback would be useful.

Thanks in advance.

[Quoth]

If you like the original H2O (I had one) and want notes, then an 8″ Kobo Sage is good. Better than the Elipsa for notes. Better screen than Kindle PW3 or PW4 or Kindle Oasis 2nd gen.
I did have KoReader on the Elipsa for a while, but not needed now.

I have a 6.8″ Android eInk (Mobiwave is Android) and it's only advantage is able to run Library / subscription apps. Even with KOreader, it's poorer than PW3 and much poorer than Sage to read ebooks on.

I'd never heard of Mobiwave so I looked it up. It uses the Wacom EMR pen (as does Kindle Scribe and reMarkable). I prefer the Surface /MS compatible Kobo pen. I had a reMarkable and gave it away. Also gave away the Oasis.

If you are mostly reading bought and PD ebooks, then the Sage is better than Android (it does allow KOReader, but not needed) and allows Overdive based libraries. If the Android on Mobiscribe Wave allows non-playstore APK then KOReader will install. Also if you mostly read subscription and non-ACSM library and Playstore works then the Mobiscribe Wave might suit better as you can install the proprietary Android app for the service.

EDIT
Also all Android use MTP. It's slow and tricky compared to USB Mass Storage (Kindle and Kobo). I've many Android apps and devices and none work as well with Calibre as Nook, Kindle, Sony (not DPT models) or Kobo. The Kobo is best and Sony (only eReaders and all long gone) 2nd best for Calibre.

[Vrondi]

Qouth: Thank you for your reply! Lots of interesting bits of info there. I hadn't thought of potential Calibre issues with an Android device at all, so that's food for thought. I read majority side-loaded stuff, but I had naively assumed Calibre would work with everything.

With the Sage, I've been concerned about battery life and being locked into only the proprietary notes app. But, I do love Kobo for the reading experience. I have used (and already own) both Wacom EMR and N-Trig/MS pens. I prefer Wacom a bit, but I know I can live with either one.

The Mobiscribe Wave runs Android 12, and it does side loading out of the box, with Play Store activation possible. I know I would be able to install Koreader from the F-Droid store or by side loading.

I truly wish there were a physical "e-reader superstore" where I could go look at the various physical screens in person, to compare them.

[Quoth]

The Kobo notes export well as text, docx, png, html or pdf depending on content and if basic or advanced. They use Nebo. The Nebo app on the iPad is similar, but some Kobo features are only in paid version. I don't have an Android with a digitizer, so don't know what Android Nebo is like.

We have four Sages here in the family and another on order. Battery life is OK, especially with frontlight, WiFi and BT off. Android eink for same capacity cell is much worse than generic Linux. Certainly the Libra 2 has better battery life, but is slower and smaller screen. It unusually does work with the pen, but only in the Sketch pad app.

Only twice since 2006 have I seen eink in a shop. Late 2006 was a Sony and maybe 2019 or 2017 Tesco had the Paperwhite 3 for a short while. Never ever have I seen them in a shop.
I have compared original H2O, original Libra, Kindles (DXG, K3, PW3 & PW4) and Sony PR350 side by side with front light off (doesn't absolutely turn off on PW3) in daylight without sun and room lights. The original H20 by a slight margin was whitest (no capacitive touch). The Libra was whiter and sharper than PW3. The Pw4 was less sharp and less white than PW3. The PRS350, DXG and KK3 about similar on whiteness and less good. Also KK3 is 167 and DXG only 150 dpi, and obvious. As the PRS350 is same 800x600 as KK3 or older Basics it looks sharper than them because it's only 5″. You needed a fussy font to see that the H2O was less resolution than the 300 dpi Libra, Pw3 or PW4.

It's hard to see any difference in quality between Libra, Libra2 and Sage. The Oasis gen 2 same 300 dpi, but seemed not as white or sharp.
Again you need a small fussy font to notice that the Elipsa is actually a little less sharp (lower DPI) than original H2O, which is less sharp than Sage/libra2 /libra. Though it has less dots than a Sage, the 10.3″ does let you view PDFs for proofing better. If you have sharp eyes the Sage might be better for PDFs! I bought the DXG for PDFs and it was a total failure. I'd passed on the PW1, far better for ebooks, so later got a PW3, and then replaced it with better Original H2O, though it's lower resolution. I bought a reMarkable for PDFs. The only worse ereader is the DXG. Only 6G storage, only network transfer on USB via browser, no text recognition, no native epub. I gave it away.

[Quoth]

I've had reMarkable, Android eink, iRiver, Nook, Kindle, Sony, Y-Ben and Kobo. All revisions and ages of Kobo have been the best reading experience. The Sony PRS350 and PRS-T2 2nd best, and Kindle PW1 and later 3rd best, but Kindle UI has got worse.
The Touch rev C was the only Kobo I had with a poor screen (ghosting).
One young family member has Kobo Nia and another a S/H Sony PRS-T2 with a 32G card simply because they were cheap.

I've about 10 years reading (mix PD and some bought) on the TBR pile, so haven't been using the Android eink for the local library. We project that with typical ebooks the 32G Libra 2 or 32G Sage can accommodate about 18,000 novels. The Libra 2 maybe more as I've a load of notebooks on the Sage.

[Vrondi]

Quoth: Thank you for taking the time for these replies! There's a lot to digest here, and I appreciate the answers.