An Android e-ink reader with good battery life?

OneiroDancer · 06-23-2021, 07:19 AM

I'd like to try an android e-ink device to use mainly for reading, so that I can use Moon Reader, a wide set of dictionaries, occasionally download books directly from the reader, play with Calibre companion, read articles and wikipedia... consider it as an experiment, inspired by the fact that I am currently reading a book on my phone, since at first I couldn't put it on my Kobo Clara HD because I was on the go without a PC, and then I was caught by the much better dictionaries I could easily access.

Just to prevent some ranting: of course I know that it wouldn't be a tablet and many apps would be unusable due to refresh rate: I know and I don't care, I am only interested in reading, accessing dictionaries, taking notes, occasionally browsing the web, in short all thing related to text. The main limitation would therefore be battery life, but I would expect that in a device correctly configured and with network connections only turned on when needed it may be not much worse than those of dedicated e-readers. That's the theory, anyway: it remains to see if such devices exists. Do they?

Of course, I would aim for a reasonably recent version of Android, so that I could try recent applications and look forward to a few years of usage before obsolescense. And to a small size, let's say 6 inches of screen size and 7 inches of physical size – like my current Clara HD.

The Onyx Poke 3 looks decent, but I am not sure how good battery life is. The Tolino shine 3 and vision 4 claim a battery life of a few weeks, but I am not sure how difficult they are to customize as I want them, and what effect would that have on battery life.

Given my requirements, can you recommend one of these readers? Do you have others to suggest?

PeterT · 06-23-2021, 08:38 AM

Not a suggestion, just I saw mention of Calibre Companion. Just be aware that its current owner is trying to sell the product to someone else, and has basically abandoned it.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

OneiroDancer · 06-23-2021, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Not a suggestion, just I saw mention of Calibre Companion. Just be aware that its current owner is trying to sell the product to someone else, and has basically abandoned it.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

Oh, pity. Thanks for the info. That was just some experimenting I wanted to do, not a real feature I need, so not a big issue

salamanderjuice · 06-23-2021, 08:43 AM

Tolino runs a very old version of Android. I believe 4.4.2. A lot of apps have moved on and require newer versions of Android.

I get easily a week with my Boox Nova 2 with my usage (7.8" big brother to the Poke 2) I'm pretty lackadaisical about battery as I leave WiFi on all the time when I'm using it and do battery hogging things like read comics streaming over the internet with refreshes over every page. Although I don't use the front light really. You can get better battery life by disabling WiFi, not using Google Play frameworks etc. The dedicated devices from Kobo and the like are probably still more battery efficient but they are slower and less flexible. You won't be charging an Android eInk device as often as an LCD phone or tablet though.

Another device you may wanna take a look at is the Likebook P6. Similar to the Poke 3, little slower but has a microSD card slot.

OneiroDancer · 06-23-2021, 10:46 AM

Thank you @salamanderjuice, so I remove Tolino from my list and give some extra point to the Pokes. I'll add the Likebook P6 to my short list, but the Poke 3 seems more interesting, albeit more expensive.

Renate · 07-03-2021, 09:58 AM

I'm happy with my Poke3 after all the B&N Glows.
I don't know anything about Likebook P6.
SD card would be a plus, but it might affect thickness.
The Poke3 is pretty thin inside.

Edit: Oh, the Likebook P6 is only 16G/1G vs Poke3 32G/2G
Likebook is USB 2.0 vs Poke3 USB3.1 and a Type C connector.
Likebook is quad core vs Poke3 octo core.
Likebook is Android 8 vs Poke3 Android 10

ottischwenk · 07-03-2021, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renate

Likebook P6 is only 16G/1G vs Poke3 32G/2G
Likebook is USB 2.0 vs Poke3 USB3.1 and a Type C connector.
Likebook is quad core vs Poke3 octo core.
Likebook is Android 8 vs Poke3 Android 10

I have both.
When I'm on foot, I take the Poke 3 - I don't need more.
The P6 is my companion when traveling - the 512 GB NTFS SD card in the device is more important to me in this case than the more elegant slim design, 15g less weight, a little more power, two-tone light and Android 10, which is not advantageous at 6 inches.

OneiroDancer · 07-09-2021, 06:07 AM

I ended up buying the Poke3, I have fiddled with it just the minimum for comfortable reading and I'm pretty satisfied. With the power down set, as per default, at 15 minutes, battery usage is really minimal, and the 20 or 30 seconds of startup time are acceptable to me.

Pajamaman · 07-09-2021, 09:37 AM

Make sure you set it to battery saver mode. It freezes apps in the background so they use less juice. You find it by touching the top of screen on the home screen. The option is like a battery icon.

OneiroDancer · 07-16-2021, 04:39 AM

Thank you – but I cannot find the option! On the Home screen (that would be the Library section I get a popup if I clic on the Brightnes and on the Refresh icon, but not on the wifi or on the battery icons. I searched for the option in Settings, but I couldn't find it.

With this option, would I be able to unset the Power off timeout and get a good battery life?

06-23-2021, 07:19 AM	#1
OneiroDancer Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 2148536 Join Date: Jul 2015 Device: Onyx Poke 3, Kobo Clara HD	An Android e-ink reader with good battery life? I'd like to try an android e-ink device to use mainly for reading, so that I can use Moon Reader, a wide set of dictionaries, occasionally download books directly from the reader, play with Calibre companion, read articles and wikipedia... consider it as an experiment, inspired by the fact that I am currently reading a book on my phone, since at first I couldn't put it on my Kobo Clara HD because I was on the go without a PC, and then I was caught by the much better dictionaries I could easily access. Just to prevent some ranting: of course I know that it wouldn't be a tablet and many apps would be unusable due to refresh rate: I know and I don't care, I am only interested in reading, accessing dictionaries, taking notes, occasionally browsing the web, in short all thing related to text. The main limitation would therefore be battery life, but I would expect that in a device correctly configured and with network connections only turned on when needed it may be not much worse than those of dedicated e-readers. That's the theory, anyway: it remains to see if such devices exists. Do they? Of course, I would aim for a reasonably recent version of Android, so that I could try recent applications and look forward to a few years of usage before obsolescense. And to a small size, let's say 6 inches of screen size and 7 inches of physical size – like my current Clara HD. The Onyx Poke 3 looks decent, but I am not sure how good battery life is. The Tolino shine 3 and vision 4 claim a battery life of a few weeks, but I am not sure how difficult they are to customize as I want them, and what effect would that have on battery life. Given my requirements, can you recommend one of these readers? Do you have others to suggest? Last edited by OneiroDancer; 06-23-2021 at 08:42 AM.

07-03-2021, 09:58 AM	#6
Renate Wizard Posts: 2,318 Karma: 9999999 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Nook NST, Glow2, 3, 4, '21, Kobo Aura2, Poke3, Poke5	I'm happy with my Poke3 after all the B&N Glows. I don't know anything about Likebook P6. SD card would be a plus, but it might affect thickness. The Poke3 is pretty thin inside. Edit: Oh, the Likebook P6 is only 16G/1G vs Poke3 32G/2G Likebook is USB 2.0 vs Poke3 USB3.1 and a Type C connector. Likebook is quad core vs Poke3 octo core. Likebook is Android 8 vs Poke3 Android 10 Last edited by Renate; 07-03-2021 at 10:12 AM.

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06-23-2021, 08:38 AM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,168 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Not a suggestion, just I saw mention of Calibre Companion. Just be aware that its current owner is trying to sell the product to someone else, and has basically abandoned it. Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

06-23-2021, 08:43 AM	#4
salamanderjuice Guru Posts: 727 Karma: 10215666 Join Date: Jul 2017 Device: Boox Nova 2	Tolino runs a very old version of Android. I believe 4.4.2. A lot of apps have moved on and require newer versions of Android. I get easily a week with my Boox Nova 2 with my usage (7.8" big brother to the Poke 2) I'm pretty lackadaisical about battery as I leave WiFi on all the time when I'm using it and do battery hogging things like read comics streaming over the internet with refreshes over every page. Although I don't use the front light really. You can get better battery life by disabling WiFi, not using Google Play frameworks etc. The dedicated devices from Kobo and the like are probably still more battery efficient but they are slower and less flexible. You won't be charging an Android eInk device as often as an LCD phone or tablet though. Another device you may wanna take a look at is the Likebook P6. Similar to the Poke 3, little slower but has a microSD card slot.

06-23-2021, 10:46 AM	#5
OneiroDancer Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 2148536 Join Date: Jul 2015 Device: Onyx Poke 3, Kobo Clara HD	Thank you @salamanderjuice, so I remove Tolino from my list and give some extra point to the Pokes. I'll add the Likebook P6 to my short list, but the Poke 3 seems more interesting, albeit more expensive.

07-09-2021, 06:07 AM	#8
OneiroDancer Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 2148536 Join Date: Jul 2015 Device: Onyx Poke 3, Kobo Clara HD	I ended up buying the Poke3, I have fiddled with it just the minimum for comfortable reading and I'm pretty satisfied. With the power down set, as per default, at 15 minutes, battery usage is really minimal, and the 20 or 30 seconds of startup time are acceptable to me.

07-09-2021, 09:37 AM	#9
Pajamaman Wizard Posts: 2,827 Karma: 10700629 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Canada Device: Onyx Nova	Make sure you set it to battery saver mode. It freezes apps in the background so they use less juice. You find it by touching the top of screen on the home screen. The option is like a battery icon.

07-16-2021, 04:39 AM	#10
OneiroDancer Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 2148536 Join Date: Jul 2015 Device: Onyx Poke 3, Kobo Clara HD	Thank you – but I cannot find the option! On the Home screen (that would be the Library section I get a popup if I clic on the Brightnes and on the Refresh icon, but not on the wifi or on the battery icons. I searched for the option in Settings, but I couldn't find it. With this option, would I be able to unset the Power off timeout and get a good battery life?

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