New Icarus 7.8 inch 300ppi Android e-reader

[nrseife]

Hope it will all work out for you...if not, I am selling my Icarus on ebay.
In excellent condition...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/323352749582

[p38lightning]

Out of idle curiosity, why are you selling yours?

I guess many of us will now await the the next round of 8-10 inch eReaders!

Would love to see one in the neighborhood of my Nook HD+ screen which is 8.9 inches and has always been my favorite screen size from which to read.

[nrseife]

Sure, no problem.
I got a Samsung Tab S3 with s pen for a good price and after using both for a while decided for the latter...
I know these are very different beasts, but did not want to own 2 tablets and made my pick.
I wish there was a tab s3 with eink (but same capable cpu and wacom digitizer)....maybe in a few years and then maybe with color eink....

[p38lightning]

"and then maybe with color eink...."

Wouldn't that be great!

PS To All: Heard back from the Kindle repair person in Oregon and he said that he should be able to repair my Icarus. Now I have to wait to the end of July for Icarus to reopen their vacation doors so I can tell them to return the unit. Cannot understand them not being able to do the same thing I will now do for a quick fix! Meanwhile I am out $40.89 for insured send to Eindhoven!!!

[airbus02]

I purchased nrseife's Icarus gone Boyue and am liking it so far.

The good:
1. I mostly read books borrowed from Overdrive, which means I mostly read via the Kindle Android software. It works well, though not great. I miss an occasional page turn, though that would happen with my Paperwhite too. The 7.8 inch screen really helps as does 300 dpi. The size has the unexpected benefit of making one handed operation possible. I'm quite happy with the Kindle reading experience on the device.

The weight's well distributed, so I can hold it in my left hand only and use my thumb for page turns. The screen's bright enough and white enough. I've had no crashes while reading. So far, that's been about 450 pages.
I'd like night mode, but not having it isn't a dealbreaker for me.
The rubber backing reminds me of the Nook Simple Touch and I'm not thinking "Boy, the Kindle Paperwhite text was easier to read."

2. it does work with my favorite bluetooth keyboard, the Logitech k380. I use Jotter Pad
and WPS Office (kingsoft) both can access Google Drive, but updating to Google Drive is a little complicated. e-ink itself is quite slow though. It's not necessarily a bad thing when writing. It may not be a great thing for note taking.

3. It does work with Google Calendar

4. Pocket, Overdrive (the audiobook part even), Opera Mini, and, sort of suprisingly, Spotify all work fine with the proviso that e-ink simply doesn't do well with rapidly changing content with or without a2 mode.

5. it did crash once. I pulled the charge pin out while typing. It recovered fairly easily. You press the on/off switch and the back button at the same time. Having a frozen screen for several minutes was scary though.

6. I only expected some tablet functions with this. In addition to easier reading in sunlight, e-ink and monochrome can be a lot less distracting for text-intensive functions. Other than being slow, writing on on e-ink screen can be more immersive.

The bad
1. Android 4.22 means limited bluetooth support. My bluetooth receiver and 2 foldable keyboards didn't work. I suspect there may be a workaround, but it's a pain to have to search around for one.
2. More serious for me, I'll have to run an older version of Google Docs. I haven't tried ADB and all that other fun stuff with it yet as I managed to do on a 7" Kindle Fire. If I can do that, I'll probably be happier, because I'll be able to go back and forth from my regular computer/chromebook to the Icarus/Boyue. Google apparently is eliminating support for older version of Android, so 4.42 is likely only a temporary fix, even if someone managed to get 4.42 into the firmware for this.

3. it's really hard to find cases, since off-brand tablet/readers with a 4x3 7.8 inch screen are very unusual.


4. for anything but reading, the battery life is similar to a tablet of the same size. It appears to be good for a day of fairly intense use 8 hours + of mixed reading and more android like functions which inevitably involve lots of screen writes which I suspect use a fair amount of power . If you're doing more than reading, it's not a device you can leave uncharged for a week.

5. The micro usb port doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence, nor does the on/off switch.

Bottom line, it gives me most of what I wanted: a reader that also offers the flexibility of some tablet functions. If it ran a more modern android version, it would be about 95% of the way there. The last 5% may be about something that I'm now very aware of.

There's probably a difference between an e-ink reader that runs android and an e-ink tablet that's been optimized for that purpose with apps written to address some of the differences that an e-ink screen presents. Sadly, I suspect there aren't many people who want an e-ink tablet. Android tablets are sort of disappearing and most of the people who use them primarily consume media or play games. E-ink itself is primarily for text and with the rise of voice prompted devices in the ultra-portable realm, I suspect demand for an E-ink tablet is just not going to merit much development.

[p38lightning]

Icarus RMA follow-up.

I am somewhat speechless. Now they are holding my unit "hostage" even though it was sent to them in good faith via their own RMA system. The way it is written, I cannot even determine whether the charge for inspection and return shipping actually includes the return shipping charge! What a fiasco and this is a company that I would certainly not deal with again. For those of you who have made the Boyue software switch, be careful with your USB port. If it does break, there is a way to repair it here in the USA and not encounter what I have.

"Thank you for your email.

When software of thirth parties is installed, the warranty will immediately will expire.
It is not compatible with our devices/ chips installed.

When you have been able to install new software, your usb port was not broken. Because you have to use the port to connect your device to a pc.

We can return your device, when you pay for the shippingcosts and inspection costs which are € 22.50 excl shippingcosts."

[robilarocn]

Originally Posted by airbus02

I purchased nrseife's Icarus gone Boyue and am liking it so far.

The good:
1. I mostly read books borrowed from Overdrive, which means I mostly read via the Kindle Android software. It works well, though not great. I miss an occasional page turn, though that would happen with my Paperwhite too. The 7.8 inch screen really helps as does 300 dpi. The size has the unexpected benefit of making one handed operation possible. I'm quite happy with the Kindle reading experience on the device.

The weight's well distributed, so I can hold it in my left hand only and use my thumb for page turns. The screen's bright enough and white enough. I've had no crashes while reading. So far, that's been about 450 pages.
I'd like night mode, but not having it isn't a dealbreaker for me.
The rubber backing reminds me of the Nook Simple Touch and I'm not thinking "Boy, the Kindle Paperwhite text was easier to read."

2. it does work with my favorite bluetooth keyboard, the Logitech k380. I use Jotter Pad
and WPS Office (kingsoft) both can access Google Drive, but updating to Google Drive is a little complicated. e-ink itself is quite slow though. It's not necessarily a bad thing when writing. It may not be a great thing for note taking.

3. It does work with Google Calendar

4. Pocket, Overdrive (the audiobook part even), Opera Mini, and, sort of suprisingly, Spotify all work fine with the proviso that e-ink simply doesn't do well with rapidly changing content with or without a2 mode.

5. it did crash once. I pulled the charge pin out while typing. It recovered fairly easily. You press the on/off switch and the back button at the same time. Having a frozen screen for several minutes was scary though.

6. I only expected some tablet functions with this. In addition to easier reading in sunlight, e-ink and monochrome can be a lot less distracting for text-intensive functions. Other than being slow, writing on on e-ink screen can be more immersive.

The bad
1. Android 4.22 means limited bluetooth support. My bluetooth receiver and 2 foldable keyboards didn't work. I suspect there may be a workaround, but it's a pain to have to search around for one.
2. More serious for me, I'll have to run an older version of Google Docs. I haven't tried ADB and all that other fun stuff with it yet as I managed to do on a 7" Kindle Fire. If I can do that, I'll probably be happier, because I'll be able to go back and forth from my regular computer/chromebook to the Icarus/Boyue. Google apparently is eliminating support for older version of Android, so 4.42 is likely only a temporary fix, even if someone managed to get 4.42 into the firmware for this.

3. it's really hard to find cases, since off-brand tablet/readers with a 4x3 7.8 inch screen are very unusual.


4. for anything but reading, the battery life is similar to a tablet of the same size. It appears to be good for a day of fairly intense use 8 hours + of mixed reading and more android like functions which inevitably involve lots of screen writes which I suspect use a fair amount of power . If you're doing more than reading, it's not a device you can leave uncharged for a week.

5. The micro usb port doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence, nor does the on/off switch.

Bottom line, it gives me most of what I wanted: a reader that also offers the flexibility of some tablet functions. If it ran a more modern android version, it would be about 95% of the way there. The last 5% may be about something that I'm now very aware of.

There's probably a difference between an e-ink reader that runs android and an e-ink tablet that's been optimized for that purpose with apps written to address some of the differences that an e-ink screen presents. Sadly, I suspect there aren't many people who want an e-ink tablet. Android tablets are sort of disappearing and most of the people who use them primarily consume media or play games. E-ink itself is primarily for text and with the rise of voice prompted devices in the ultra-portable realm, I suspect demand for an E-ink tablet is just not going to merit much development.

Tablets are definitely on the decline. I had to go through AliExpress to China to get my hands on a Huawei Mediapad X2 (the best 7" tablet ever released) which I use for reading purposes.

I've been very interested in an E-ink tablet that combines the best of both worlds for reading but so far what I have read makes them seem pretty underwhelming.

for me, the differences between my Kobo Aura One (32GB) and my new 7" tablet are pretty obvious. The Kobo can be used in sunlight and has a great battery (although the Huawei has a huge battery for a 7" device and is good for easily 2 days).

The tablet however is vastly faster and lets me use Moon reader Pro. I carry my entire library with me on my device (and its vast) as I travel frequently. As such storage is needed as is a fast device that can index and let me browse at will.

Also, the Kobo is not great for reading series metadata, something that Moon Reader in Android is great for.

[airbus02]

very sorry to hear about your horrible experience with Icarus. There might be some recourse through the Dutch government. Have you looked into that?

[airbus02]

I suspect E-ink Carta can't be made to draw fast enough to be a full-on tablet substitute. While the firmware and software probably could be improved and it would certainly help to be able to run a newer version of bluetooth, my guess is that the speed of e-ink itself is going to be the bottleneck.

So far, it's fast enough for me to write with and I do like being able to type in sunlight. It's marginal, at best, for web surfing.

Personally, I find that the monochrome screen helps me focus. I'm using jotter pad synched to the google cloud. The one hitch is that jotter pad works best with txt files and google docs wants to save things in its own format. Should I do something in google docs to a document, I then have to download it as a txt file and put it back into the folder. It's certainly bearable, but it's far from seamless.

Bottom line, I still carry around a tablet. I use the e-reader's tablet functions mostly when outdoors or when it's my one device. They still come in handy though.

[p38lightning]

"Airbus02": Thanks for the support!

The truly galling issue (along with their awful and inconsistent communications) is that I told them at the outset that I had altered the software and why I did it along with it having no impact on the USB port at the time of my initial RMA request. That was the time for them to tell me that due to the software change I would be liable for any and all charges for inspection, repair, return shipping, etc. I could then have made a fully informed decision as to proceed with them or not. That was not done and here I am with no unit and effectively having to pay "ransom" for its retrieval.

If I hear nothing further via their email system by 8/7 , I intend to send a snail mail letter to their Manager of Business Development (Inna Melnyk) along with a summation of the email contents and request her direct intervention.

At this juncture, I would be willing to split the legitimate costs of return "shipping and handling" if it was a legitimate figure that did not encompass trying to charge me for the so called "inspection".

[airbus02]

https://amsterdam-mamas.nl/articles/...ts-netherlands

Don't know if this helps or if you've seen it already. My suggestion, assuming you meet the requirements, is to start cc ing your correspondence with Icarus to the Dutch consumer rights authority. Your communications from Icarus almost sound like they're writing you back from some Amsterdam coffee house.

[p38lightning]

According to what I looked up, the size of the company is 8-10 people so you may not be far off! Photo of their "headquarters" is a nice looking, modern building but you are clueless as to how much space they occupy.

[bubnikv]

I am spending around 2x 45 minutes in public transport. The old kindle keyboard works for me, and I am a happy user of the great five filters chrome plugin to deliver web pages to my kindle over the air for offline reading, but now I would like to run Coursera courses and PDF documents as well. An 8 inch tablet is about right for that, but I quite object the glare of a touch screen glass. The Icarus XL HD may fit the bill, but I wonder about its touch screen. Is the eink display covered by a glass touch screen? If so, how bad is the glare? How are the other eink touch devices in regard to glare? How is the accuracy of the touch screen? I have a chuwi hi8 air tablet with a particularly bad touch screen sensitivity and accuracy, so I have a fingers-on experience of how bad a touch screen could be for Android experience.

[airbus02]

I can't tell if it's glass or plastic, but glare's not an issue for me. The touch screen's not especially sensitive. It's reasonably accurate, but not perfect probably mostly due to the occasional lack of sensitivity.
I notice it most when I'm using Google Calendar which has fairly narrow buttons/tabs for putting in times and notes. Some of it could also be me, I have trouble typing accurately on the keyboard of my iphone.

[p38lightning]

To All,

My Icarus experience is a prime example of the old, old adage of "Caveat Emptor"!

Below is a copy of my final communication with Icarus. The original sent directly to Eindhoven is being refused at the address and the "company" will not pick it up despite repeated notices to do so. The last delivery attempt was on 8/29. My guess is that the copy sent to their CEO at his Florida address (where it was delivered) was read by him and he then told Eindhoven not to accept delivery of the original and/or ignore it. Suffice it to say that I will no longer deal with this company for any reason. Due to fees involved, I have chosen not to work through the Dutch equivalent of the "BBB" for a solution. Thanks to those of you who have been helpful in this matter. If you see Icarus advertising a "factory refurbished" Illumina, it is probably mine! Meanwhile, I have resurrected my fully converted and rooted Nook HD+ and will use it in conjunction with the ereader Prestigio app as my primary reader. I have always thought that the 8.9 inch screen size was the real "sweet spot" for me! Will continue to see what 8 inch readers appear over the next few months before making any additional expenditures at this point. Thanks again for all of your support through this expensive nightmare.

August 7, 2018
Inna Melnyk
Manager, Business Development
Distri Read B. V./Icarus Reader
Waldeck Pyrmontstraat 1A
5652 AD Eindhoven
Netherlands

Inna,

I have attached the pertinent information regarding my issue with Icarus regarding the return of my reader sent under RMA004000 that was issued to me on June 21.

In summation the issue is that the unit will not be returned to me unless I pay a stated charge for “Inspection” that led to the conclusion that it could not be repaired. In addition, I am expected to also pay a return shipping charge that has never been disclosed.

At the time I requested the RMA, I clearly stated that I had changed your updated software to a version of the parent Boyue software upon which you version is derived. I did this to fix an issue of the unit freezing while reading that your software update did not correct. This software change had no negative impact on the operation of the unit. Several months after having done this, the USB port “physically” failed and the unit could no longer charge or connect with my PC. This “physical” failure was in no way related to the software alteration.

I have been totally forthcoming regarding the software change throughout all of my frustrating communication with Icarus. I was told that what I did was “illegal”, that all warranty obligation was voided by my software change, that the unit could not be physically repaired, that I could purchase a new unit for 100 Euros (no shipping charge disclosed) and that if I wanted to get my unit back I would have to pay an “Inspection” charge of over 20 Euros and pay an undisclosed shipping charge.

If your “Support” group that issued the original RMA which knew all of the pertinent information about my unit from the start had done its job correctly, I should have been clearly told that since I had altered the software I would be accountable for any and all charges incurred if I sent the unit. Had I received that pertinent information at the time of the RMA request, I could have made an informed decision as to pursue that avenue or not. That information was not forthcoming and I dealt with Icarus in a completely honest and forthright manner until the inconsistent, laggardly communications and obstinate replies raised their ugly head(s).

To finally resolve this nightmare and textbook example of how a company should not handle its customer service and support issues, I have one final resolution to request. If you will furnish me with a reasonable return shipping charge that in no way includes the “Inspection” fee or any other spurious charges, I will be willing to pay half of it via Pay Pal. I have already expended just under 41.00 dollars (US) in sending the unit insured to you! I simply want my unit returned to me intact and without further delay.

I have done nothing wrong or that can be remotely construed as underhanded in dealing with Icarus from the start of this process and, unfortunately, I cannot state the same in terms of how my situation has been treated and repeatedly ignored.

I am requesting you intercession to finally resolve this in a way that has a minimal financial impact on Icarus and minimizes any further inconvenience for me regarding the rapid return of my unit.

I will be sending a copy of this to your CEO, Angel Ancin at a Florida/USA address I have obtained for him as an ”FYI”.

Thank you in advance for any and all assistance in ending this very bad experience with Icarus Support and Customer Service that need not have taken place had pertinent and timely information been provided.

Please feel free to use either of my email addresses furnished below to facilitate your response to me. I used both at times throughout this process and referenced the RMA number frequently.

10/27/2018 Final update on this fiasco!

Just returned from a two week travel through the Hudson River Valley and New England. Waiting for me in my mailbox was the returned and unopened envelope that I had sent the above in. There had been at least five attempts to deliver or have the recipient pick up, all of which were refused!!! I think my semi-paranoid theory of the CEO getting his copy in Florida before this one arrived in Holland led to the refusal.

What a disgraceful way to do business and so totally unnecessary with a cooperative and willing to compromise customer!!!

Still using my fully Android Nook HD+/eReader Prestigio software in its stead and quite pleased with the experience.

Wishing you all the best with this company in its checkered future!!!