Best Device to run Koreader?

[mergen3107]

Onyx Boox Kon-Tiki 2 is very good on its Android 10. With 2-3 hours of reading a day in KOReader I get to charge it once in two weeks. I could squeeze out more if I used AlreaderX, but it has much fewer features compared to KOReader.

This is just Onyx Boox Nova 3, but without Wacom layer so it doesn't support pen writing.

AFAIK, Nova 2 is also good because those use Qualcomm processor, whereas older ones (Nova 1, Nova Pro, Note 1) used Rockchip which is worse in battery life.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by mergen3107

Onyx Boox Kon-Tiki 2 is very good on its Android 10. With 2-3 hours of reading a day in KOReader I get to charge it once in two weeks. I could squeeze out more if I used AlreaderX, but it has much less features compared to KOReader.

This is just Onyx Boox Nova 3, but without Wacom layer so it doesn't support pen writing.

AFAIK, Nova 2 is also good because those use Qualcomm processor, whereas older ones (Nova 1, Nova Pro, Note 1) used Rockchip which is worse in battery life.

Have you found a way to configure the rate of total refresh for Koreader on your Kon-Tiki 2?

The only thing keeping me from using it as my main reader on my Nova 3 is the impossibility of having a full refresh on every page turn. Sadly, this worked through the Boox settings in earlier firmware, but after the 3.x fw the settings no longer work.

[pazos]

Originally Posted by kandwo

Have you found a way to configure the rate of total refresh for Koreader on your Kon-Tiki 2?

The only thing keeping me from using it as my main reader on my Nova 3 is the impossibility of having a full refresh on every page turn. Sadly, this worked through the Boox settings in earlier firmware, but after the 3.x fw the settings no longer work.

Follow steps in https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/8482 and provide info. Hopefully it is fixable. They probably just changed a couple of strings of device ids.

There's also a new driver contributed a few months ago that should behave fine on devices where the previous driver lacks the permissions to schedule an epd update.

[mergen3107]

@kandwo,

Yes, on earlier FW there is no problem with refresh, I can’t set it to any number of pages in KOReader, as well as invoke it manually but a gesture. However, currently I don’t really need refreshes during reading, I can read around 100 pages without noticing much of ghosting. Ghosting is there, but doesn’t bother me and distract from reading, at least no more than a full refresh would.

On KT2 there is now a new FW based on 3.2, bit I haven’t tried it.

[rhsanborn]

Does anyone have confirmation that we're safe with serial number up to and including week 27 of year 2? I have a week 27 and would love to confirm it's 5.14.2 before I break it open. I did a few searches and couldn't find a definitive thread.

[rhsanborn]

Sorry, please disregard my previous post. I got confused and posted this against the wrong thread.

[JSWolf]

If you are thinking of getting a PW5 to run KOReader, forget it. I bought a PW5 early December, 2022 and it comes with 5.15.1 which cannot be jailbroken.

[mergen3107]

Anything from week 27 and up is bad for JB

[rhsanborn]

FWIW, that's exactly what I was looking to do. I took the plunge and had a week 27 (2-27-4) Kindle at a local Target. It came with 5.14.2. It's not sitting on my desk freshly jailbroken. Looks like I dodged a bullet.

[Alan_S]

I have seen this Tolino Vision 6 reader, and I wonder, are they able to run koreader?

[NiLuJe]

As far as Tolinos are concerned, just get the matching Kobo (Libra 2 here?) instead, you'd just be adding an extra layer of pain (i.e., Android) on very nearly identical hardware.

(Usual caveats about the Libra 2 board apply in this specific case, but I'd *still* get it over an Android monstrosity, which should tell you something...).

EDIT: Mmkay, the Vision 6 is an oddity in the usual lineup in that it does *not* (yet?) have a matching Kobo (it's essentially a Sage with the Elipsa's RAM in a Libra 2 shell, which, not gonna lie, sounds really good on paper ;p). So, in this specific case, the hardware is *significantly* superior to the closest match, being the Libra 2. But at that point, I'd still just get a Sage, because Android is pain.

EDIT²: And the actual answer to your question is currently "not entirely" anyway.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by Alan_S

I have seen this Tolino Vision 6 reader, and I wonder, are they able to run koreader?

KOReader is currently running without control over screen refresh and colour temperature adjustment.

[Alan_S]

So, in a way, it could be used, and I would need to install android version of koreader? Good to know...

[Alan_S]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

But at that point, I'd still just get a Sage, because Android is pain.

Can you tell me more, why android is such a PITA? Is it in general, or only from koreader perspective?

If only screen refresh aren't supported, and color temperature, it's something I can really live without. And they look much cheaper, at least here where I live.

But, if it's something really problematic, then I'd skip it.

[NiLuJe]

eInk and Android don't really mix, that's all. Doing it right requires total control, something that is impeded, by design, by a framework like Android, which is designed with pretty much the opposite mindset and goals.

As such, you get an extra layer (or two, or three...) of suckage in the middle killing latency in the vain hope of making most things "mostly" work, instead of the highly specialized and tailored workflow driving eInk properly requires.

(Many of the subtle driver issues I have with this very SoC on Kobo devices can be laid entirely at the feet of the OEM's Android hackery implemented at the display driver level).