cheap portable device for reading text pdf's

[brehon]

Greetings,

I am looking for a cheap portable device for reading pdf's, both indoors and outdoors(albeit indoors more often). Obviously for quality I should go for large e-ink tablets but those do cost alot, hence I am considering alternatives.

Lets start with the fact that I don't know the size needed. Either wide tablet for landscape view or really wide phone. For the reference, currently I am using LG G6 phone(permanently in comfort view) in landscape mode with Moon+ Reader(also got Librera and ReadEra). Screen might seem quite small and indeed it's not easy but I do have some success. Perhaps it's because G6 has rather good 18:9 IPS screen, with HDR10, 1440 x 2880 resoution, 564ppi and 2410Hz PWM which doesn't kick in when brightness is set to be bit over 35%. Outdoor reading is hard, especially in bright sun but I rarely use it this way and phone offers rather high brightness levels to compensate. So the biggest drawback is screen size, it's 5.1 inch wide and I would need it to be wider so I was wondering just on bigger phone with some nice screen.

I've noticed that TCL NxtPaper 40 phones are quite popular lately albeit I don't know if they are worth all the fuss, as it seems they are just using modified matte LCD screens. Some reviews note that they also have low resolution, low ppi, only 150nits and PWM. The special view modes seem to be just marketing hype as any phone can enable most of this stuff in developer options or with custom apps. Apparently it's also using shared memory instead of own RAM. Moreover software seems to be scarry, some proprietary boot-locked Android with unknown amounts of possible unremovable bloatware(sadly LG G6 has similar problem, not only LG software draws lot of power even when idle but also 4G only works with LG OS).

But I must admit, technically I have no idea what to look at when checking for LCD screen for reading, I know reflections and glare are most horrible and TCL seems to be good at mitigating those, but should I care much about screen parameters like brightness levels, ppi, resolution, PWM?

I've also read that there are many new attempts, like RLCD and similar screens but I have no idea how such compare to normal LCD or NxtPaper ones. And what's with availability and prices?

Also, speaking of size and functionality, it could a be full device like android phone/tablet, with apps, calls and web but it could also be specialized device with just basic reading functions and no outside connections(except for a way to copy pdf's). And as I said, it could be tablet size, albeit I would probably prefer something that is wide for landscape(hence I also mention those 21:9 phones).

Even in case of full device, I completely don't care about stuff like cameras, CPU/GPU speeds, stylus or any extra functions beyond pdf reading functionality because the only stuff that I would do beside pdf's would be probably basic phone functions and some minor web browsing.

And when it comes to money, I prefer to spend as little as possible which includes buying outdated/used stuff that works just fine.


On sidenote, I'm also wondering if there's any free android app for reading pdf's that would let me to manually select pdf colors(mainly text and background). There's plenty of such apps for Windows and Linux but I haven't found anything for android yet.

[Quoth]

No, the Nxtpaper40 phone is much better than many phones. But no use for PDFs. Fine in sunlight.

NxtPaper 14 uses more advanced Nxtpaper 3.0 and is 14.25″ 3:2 aspect. Best device ever for PDFs. Cheaper than 10" approx eink and better display than eink with front light on. Only the 6″ to 8″ mono eink when frontlight is off in good ambient is better. Perhaps also the Scribe with front light off, but I don't have it to compare.

I've had two models of 10.3″ eink and various 4.7" to 8" eink models.

For reading reflowable ebooks the PaperWhite 3 isn't bad or Oasis 2 (have/had both), but Kobo 7" mono and 8" mono are best.

Pocketbook is good for epub and PDF on android. Nebo to import/export PDF and annotate on Android, far superior to eink based Nebo on Kobo.

I have the TCL Nxtpaper 40 (phone nxtpaper 2.0), TCL Nxtpaper 11 (nxtpaper 2.0 and approx 16:10 aspect, good for notes) and Nxtpaper 14 (3:2 aspect 14.25″ and Nexpaper 3.0). Some are LCD and some OLED.

The Nxtpaper 10 is older and may only be Nxtpaper 1.0 and isn't very bright. Only read reviews.

The Nxtpaper 50 seems less reliable for Mobile than Nxtpaper 40 in reviews, but both only good for real reflowable ebooks, music, audio books and my Nxtpaper 40 works fine as a phone.

The Nxtpaper 14 is also only tablet I ever had totally decent for webpages. The Pro isn't worth the extra money as it's features are only needed for gaming.

Nxtpaper 11 is better than eink 10.3″ Elipsa and reMarkable for PDFs, but nothing like as good as the Nxtpaper 14 for PDFs.

The Nxtpaper 11 takes micro SD card. The Nxtpaper 14 doesn't but has 256 G flash

The Nxtpaper 40 (phone, no use for PDFs) has 3.5mm jack & BT, microSD and dual SIM. So ideal pocket solution for all regular phone/android/music/real ebook/audio book.

You can get a Nxtpaper 40 AND Nxtpaper 14 for less than price of an iPhone or high ende larger eink.

But for reading novels at home you can't beat an 8″ Kobo Sage.

All three of my Nxtpaper models are fine in direct sunlight. Auto light outdoors and 14% to 19% manual indoors. Set sRGB and adjust theme and colour balance. The default theme tints bright grey and white!

Edit:
And the booby prize for most useless PDF reader sold as a PDF reader goes to 9.7″ Kindle DX and DXG. I have the DXG. A 6" PW3 is far better!

[brehon]

Thanks

I've noticed that there's TCL NxtPaper 4.0 to be released soon, and also that there are some RLCD devices. Should I care about those?

Also speaking of TCL NxtPaper screens I wonder how are they different from other tables/phones with matte screens or even matte screen covers for glossy screens(like hydrogel). I know they do have blue light filters built-in but wouldn't enabling "comfort view"(or how it's called) or changing color profiles through third-party software give similar effect?

[Quoth]

RLCD is old and poor. Often poor contrast and shiny screens.

Blue light is an overstated issue. Shiny / Reflective screens is the biggest issue. On a top Apple there is now a matte option for an insulting to intelligence approx $200 more.

Some LCD (and indeed eink front lights) use cheap white LEDs (there is no true white LED, they use Blue/Violet/UV with phosphors, especially yellow) and these often have a magenta or blue cast.

A big issue is that people often have the brightness too high indoors. It's the content rather than light colour that has the biggest influence on holding off sleep.

The only aftermarket matte I ever saw working was black mesh or spray on for relatively low resolution CRTs.

[brehon]

Hey

Nxtpaper 14 looks like an awesome device, albeit when comparing to other devices price is quite high. Anyway I've put Nxtpaper 11, 14 and upcoming 11 Plus on my watchlist. I've also noticed that there is Nxtpaper 11 gen1 and gen2, those have bit different specs, and while I can't find details, it seems that the resolution, aspect ratio and brightness are not the same, 5:3 2000:1200 500nits vs 16:10 1920:1200 400nits. Not sure which to get if I would be opting for those...
https://www.tcl.com/us/en/products/m...r-11-dark-grey
https://www.tcl.com/global/en/tablets/tcl-tab-11-gen-2

I am also wondering about getting used Sony DPT-S1/DPT-RT1/Linfinity device as those are 13.3" eink readers and go for $200-300 on EBay. How would those compare against Nxtpaper 11 or 14?



Second thing that boggles me is actual screen size that I need for pdfs. A4 paper sheet is essentially around 14.32" diagonally, meaning that even on 13.3" screens it would be most likely reduced. On the other hand 10.3" devices in landscape mode are pretty much of A5 sheet size which is folded A4 sheet. I can read my pdfs in landscape mode displaying just part of page and scrolling down(this is how I read them on LG G6 564ppi phone), so I guess it wouldn't be a problem. Note, the stuff I read are mainly boring bussines documents which are very hard to resize or reflow, hence I prefer to maintain their aspect ratio.



Finally, one last thing I am considering is just getting some old laptop2in1/tablet/etc. device which could be rooted so I could install some Windows/Linux/LineageOS/PostmarketOS etc. type of OS. Of course I would only get some basic LCD screen but given the price and possible software support it's still very tempting to do so. But as there are thousands of devices available, I would need to know which of them had good screens, probably with high brightness/contrast support and no PWM issues.

[brehon]

Please ignore the comment about TCL Nxtpaper 11 gen1 vs gen2, I didn't even notice that gen2 ain't even Nxtpaper, my bad.

TCL naming is bit confusing, they released TCL Nxtpaper 12 Pro, TCL Nxtpaper 10 and are planning to release TCL Nxtpaper 11 Plus.

[Quoth]

Sony DPT-S1/DPT-RT1 are same HW as some Fujitsu models. I looked at the Sony DPT range and it is awful to communicate with and other HW shortcomings.
A reMarkable is a 10.3" copy of the same idea and I gave mine away, my Elipsa was far better.
But I got a Sage after the Elipsa and much easier to hold (8") and more pixels because a 300 dpi vs 227 dpi screen. I also stopped using the Elipsa not long after getting the Sage and then gave it away too. I don't miss either of my 10.3" eink models. I think pointless.

The Amazon Scribe is 10"+ and 300 dpi, but Amazon expect you to use their server, not direct PDFs, though it can sideload them. I considered it, but the more users here wrote, the less I wanted it.

TCL is confusing and so are their Nxtpaper models. There is a far more expensive Pro version of the Nxtpaper 3.0 based Nxtpaper 14. The main difference is gaming support / faster refresh. There is zero advantage to it for PDFs or Web browsing. That 14.25" on 3:2 aspect makes a huge difference compared to 10"+ or the largest 13"+ size Sony/Fujitsu eink. The earlier S/H Sony DPT & Fujitsu are quite low resolution. Most or all have no front light. Some 10"+ eink have no front light.
I almost never use the front light on my eink, but if I'm out somewhere then that place might need the front light.

Avoid TCL Nxtpaper 1.0 devices if you want outdoors. They are about 1/2 brightness or less.
The model numbers also don't always relate to inches and aspect ratios vary dramatically. The Nxtpaper 11 is approximately 16:10 (Nxtpaper 2.0) and good for notes. A pro version will simply be more CPU or refresh or pen included or something at the same poor 16:10 (for PDFs). The Nxtpaper 14 is HUGELY better for PDFs (3:2 14.25" vs 16:10 10.9") than the Nxtpaper 11. Certainly the Nxtpaper 14 pro is expensive and really only adds faster refresh and aimed at gamers!
Also some models are OLED and some LCD.

On NxtPaper 40 (Nxtpaper 2.0) and NxtPaper 50, the 4 & 5 indicate 4G and 5G, otherwise similar. Reviews suggest the NxtPaper 50 is not as good a phone, but that could be flaky 5G service, which is only of value on a racetrack, sports ground or an auditorium; 5G is rubbish for urban or rural coverage due to wavebands used. my Nxtpaper 40 is fine.

[brehon]

Speaking of their naming, I've also noticed that Nxtpaper 12 Pro has been released by other company under name XP Magic Drawing Pad.

There's just one more thing that I am considering, which is external portable monitor connected to phone. This might sound bit crazy but those monitors are cheap and come in quite large sizes, some with nice matte screens. There are models that have internal batteries, can be held like tablets and even have touch functionality. And there are also wireless technologies that allow to cast picture between devices. Obviously they are less portable and come with many drawbacks but I still wonder would it be reasonable to go this way.

[Quoth]

Wireless Casting is usually poor. Oddly I have an ancient Android 4.x Sony-Ericsson that has an HDMI port built in. I think only TV HD, which is only useful for larger PDFs in Portrait mode. Keyboard & Mouse work via microUSB to USB-A socket adaptor and hub.


A very few phones and tablets have USB-C (Alt DP mode) that works to HDMI. More common on ChromeBooks and Laptops. Both my Lenovo laptop and Samsung ChromeBook can do 4K (UHD) via the USB-C port in Alt DP. I have a portable QHD panel that uses either 5V USB + HDMI (used on Raspberry Pi4b), or a single USB-C cable to Lenovo laptop and Samsung ChromeBook. Curiously if the PSU is connected to the screen's 2nd USB-C video port the Chromebook charges instead of powering screen, and the video still works.

A Nxtpaper 14 is only a bit more expensive than a decent non-glare monitor and FAR better for reading. Ironically, as it's not needed, it's the only thing that Wireless Screen Casts perfectly to our 55" 4K HDR TV.

I read on my 1600 x 1200 XP laptop from 2002 till about 2013 (then got a Kindle). The Kindle DXG, reMarkable and Elipsa all failures to replace PC for larger PDFs unsuitable for 8" Sage. The NxtPaper 11 was first decent solution, but the NxtPaper 14 is the first portable device in 40+ years of reading on screens to manage everything. The 8" Kobo Sage, if ambient light allows for no frontlight, is still the winner for small PDFs and all reflowable "true" ebooks.

[brehon]

I see... I've checked and not only my phone does not support the "proper" cable screencast mode but also "miracast" doesn't want to work between my devidces. Perhaps I could work around it with "scrcpy" program but given other possible issues I doubt I will ever try.


I am still unsure what to get, point is Nxtpaper 14 costs around EUR480 here which isn't that cheap and I have no idea would it suit me or not. I'm bit afraid it might be too big and heavy and this will hamper mobility and how sharp the text is. For example can I hold it with just one hand when reading? The upside is definitely the fact that it's capable of displaying whole A4 page in portrait mode, but I might not need such luxury, as I am used to reading cropped PDF's in landscape on widescreen monitors.

Sparking of which, I've got 23" 1920x1080 as my main desktop screen but it's TFT and I don't like it for reading lenghty PDF's(oddly I have no issues when reading stuff on websites, but maybe it's because each page has different layout and color scheme so it's not as exhausting, not to mention I can zoom in and out and change font config as much as I want). I've been also trying to read on my laptop(ThinkPad x200s), 12" screen with 1440x900 resolution, it's not that bad but given I am running Linux there I have very big issues with PDF fonts(again, system and websites look fine), especially commonly used serifs like Times New Roman. I've heard that it's common issue with certain Linux distributions and the only real way of fixing it would be getting monitor with very high PPI. Oddly PDF text looks best on my phone, 5.8" 2880x1440 IPS LCD because it's very sharp(this includes serif fonts) except due screen size it's very small and hence not usable for lenghty sessions. The one odd thing is that I prefer reading green text on dark background(P39 phosphor style) on each device albeit I am switching between color modes quite often.

Because of that and the fact that Nxtpaper 11 is around EUR180 here I have it as my current priority. If I measure properly, Nxtpaper 11 screen size allows of viewing cropped A4 PDFs in lanscape mode without any need of resizing - please, correct me if I'm wrong because it's very important aspect. Moreover I would like to know how is the text sharpness, Nxtpaper 11 has around 207ppi which is good but not excellent and it also does a have matte screen that probably adds more distortion. I've been browsing web searching for answers, but sadly these days reviews are useles, so for example I've never seen any direct comparison to normal 11" glossy tablet with similar ppi. Finally, Nxtpaper 11 has apparently 500nits brightness but I don't know if it's distributed properly and how does it work in direct sunlight. I guess it should be enough with matte screen and portability but I want to double check on that.

[brehon]

I'm also wondering does TCL Nxtpaper 11 have Sim Card slot and it's possible to use it as a phone. Seems that there are two versions, one has more ram and official LTE support:

https://www.tcl.com/au/en/tablets/tcl-nxtpaper-11
https://www.tcl.com/au/en/tablets/tcl-nxtpaper-11-lte

Point is, on their official website in "specifications/in the box" both list "SIM pin" available which is confusing.

[Quoth]

Never seen the LTE version of Nxtpaper 11 or 14. The much older NxtPaper 10 which is only Nxtpaper 1.0 seems to have 2G/3G/4G & SIM by default. I'd not bother with it.

It's pointless if you have a phone that can be a WiFi hotspot as it's an extra phone service cost (contract or pre-pay).

If you want a read any PDF, as good as it gets, then the NxtPaper 14 is best (not the pro) @ 14.25" & 3:2 aspect and a 1/3 of the price of some phones. No SD card slot, but plenty of storage.

I also have the NxtPaper 11, because the 14 wasn't available, but at 16:10 Aspect and with micro SD card slot it's far better shape and weight for notes.

Nebo for notes is best and can import/export PDFs (annotate freehand or convert to PC text layer that can later copy/paste to any text editor) and export notebooks in docx (edit) or pdf (useless to edit or convert).

The SD card and Dual SIMs on the NxtPaper 40 phone is a single tray. The Nxtpaper 11 also uses a "pin hole" for eject (a paper clip if you lose the tool) and the tray is similar with the two SIM card locations solid.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by brehon

I am still unsure what to get, point is Nxtpaper 14 costs around EUR480 here which isn't that cheap and I have no idea would it suit me or not. I'm bit afraid it might be too big and heavy and this will hamper mobility and how sharp the text is. For example can I hold it with just one hand when reading? The upside is definitely the fact that it's capable of displaying whole A4 page in portrait mode, but I might not need such luxury, as I am used to reading cropped PDF's in landscape on widescreen monitors.

ANY 10" or larger is only one hand for a while. Even the 9.7" Kindle DXG. The 14 isn't noticeably heaver to hold than my Lenovo Tab 10 with round bit and stand. Have you looked at price of a similar spec & size of Apple or Samsung with a super shiny screen? It's only what people paid in 1950 for a basic AM radio! Allowing for inflation.

Originally Posted by brehon

Sparking of which, I've got 23" 1920x1080 as my main desktop screen but it's TFT and I don't like it for reading lenghty PDF's

My 23" is a non glare 4K HDR LG and so nice no-one sells it now. Great for PDFs, but not at all portable!


I have the Nxtpaper 11 (Nxtpaper 2.0) and the Nxtpaper 14 (Nxtpaper). The upgrade was massive in screen quality and ability to read PDFs and Web Browser. The 3:2 vs 16:10 is great and the screen is better.

I'd still read novels on th 8" Sage, as it is light enough for one hand for hours. No 9.7" or larger is.

[brehon]

Yeah, I only need PDF reading functionality, everything else is optional - but being able to swap SIM card just to travel around with single device is definitely appealing. From what I've managed to find on google, Nxtpaper 11 LTE is available in Australia and China at ~10% price premium.

When you're viewing PDFs with Nxtpaper 14, are you using portrait or landscape mode? Did you ever try viewing PDFs on Nxtpaper 11 using landscape?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by brehon

When you're viewing PDFs with Nxtpaper 14, are you using portrait or landscape mode? Did you ever try viewing PDFs on Nxtpaper 11 using landscape?

If I'm reading a PDF for POD of a paperback or a scanned novel I'd use Pocketbook on Landscape on Nxtpaper 14 (3:2 aspect). Many other PDF viewers have the start page on the wrong side and then anything across two pages doesn't work.
If I'm reading datasheets, regular old magazines, big textbooks, Letter or A4 PDFs etc then I read in portrait.

The Nxtpaper 11 is approximately 16:10 aspect, so only landscape PDFs (such as hypothetical Peanuts/Charlie Brown landscape aspect book), not two pages up, work in landscape. Most has to be read in portrait and though 10.9", because of aspect, many old magazines (multi-column and small margin) are barely readable. A PDF for POD of of small paperback (aka Mass Market or Pocket book 107 x 178 mm) two pages up is just readable on Nxtpaper 11, with a lot of excess space at the side. It's perfect on the Nxtpaper 14 as it's 14.25" AND less rectangular (3:2 aspect).

So, the Nxtpaper 11 only suits landscape original in landscape, not two page view like an open book.


Carrying a phone isn't much bother. Also two phone accounts soon eats difference in price. Swapping a SIM is not very practical as loads of Android Messaging apps want to re-initialise and lose history. Viber, Skype, Signal, Telegram etc.