Boyue T61/T62 / Icarus Illumina E653 review and Onyx T68 comparison

[hob]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

I'll bet that this Boyue Shine is also this new mysterious reader that has shown up on the Arta Tech site:https://onyx-boox.com/shop/inkbook-o...id-apps-light/

It's called the inkBook Onyx, but Onyx doesn't make it. It looks suspiciously like the Boyue Shine!!!!

Nah that's Boyue T61D (D = Carta). You can see a T61C (E-Ink Pearl) in the link bellow:

http://www.banggood.com/Boyue-T61-4G...-p-931746.html

The main advantages of T62[C] over T61[C] were the higher battery capacity, audio output, and a larger internal memory (and a better front-light system in the last update T62D). Now the device in the link you posted is obviously a T61 but a modified one which is equipped with an E-Ink Carta panel (like T62D aka T62+) and also 4GB more internal memory which would be 8GB just like the T62 series; but still the battery capacity is smaller than the T62's and there's no audio output just like the previous T61 models.

It's also blue instead of black! and this would most probably be the firmware on it.


Boyue Shine on the other hand seems to be a little bit larger and the physical buttons are all replaced with touch-sensitive ones. The software would probably be and look the same as the T61 and T62 models, tho!

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by hob

Nah that's Boyue T61D (D = Carta). You can see a T61C (E-Ink Pearl) in the link bellow:

http://www.banggood.com/Boyue-T61-4G...-p-931746.html

The main advantages of T62[C] over T61[C] were the higher battery capacity, audio output, and a larger internal memory (and a better front-light system in the last updat T62D). Now the device in the link you posted is obviously a T61 but a modified one which is equipped with an E-Ink Carta panel (like T62D aka T62+) and also 4GB more internal memory which would be 8GB just like the T62 series; but still the battery capacity is smaller than the T62's and there's no audio output just like the previous T61.

It's also blue instead of black


Boyue Shine on the other hand seems to be a little bit larger and the physical buttons are all replaced with touch-sensitive ones. The software would probably be and look the same as the T61 and T62 models, tho!

You may be right. But if Arta Tech is now selling a Boyue-built eReader instead of an Onyx one, it could signal a big change in their business:
http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/0...droid-ereader/

Maybe Arta Tech has gotten frustrated with their Onyx experience?

Edit: I can't find any specs on the Boyue Shine. Can you?

[hob]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

You may be right. But if Arta Tech is now selling a Boyue-built eReader instead of an Onyx one, it could signal a big change in their business:
http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/0...droid-ereader/

Maybe Arta Tech has gotten frustrated with their Onyx experience?

I added a link to Boyue's update server in the middle of the post above that calls this "ArtaTech T61D". By clicking on "Parent Directory" you can see all the models. From:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=245888
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=254042

Originally Posted by downeaster59

Edit: I can't find any specs on the Boyue Shine. Can you?

Nope, there's no information available yet; just a few pictures! They'll probably release the specs in a few days or weeks, or you could email and ask them (either on boyue.com which is in Chinese or on szboeye.com).

[petrovich]

Originally Posted by hob

also the front-light system was significantly improved which puts this device's front-light distribution over the screen between some of the best I've seen

Hmmm... On mine when front-light is on there is a rather irritating dark cloud at the bottom-right corner. It is pretty noticeable at night time.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by hob

I added a link to Boyue's update server in the middle of the post above that calls this "ArtaTech T61D". By clicking on "Parent Directory" you can see all the models. From:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=245888
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=254042



Nope, there's no information available yet; just a few pictures! They'll probably release the specs in a few days or weeks, or you could email and ask them (either on boyue.com which is in Chinese or on szboeye.com).

That definitely solves the Arta Tech puzzle! T61D it is!

I wonder if the Shine will be positioned to be a Kindle Voyage competitor. With no specs, we can't say. Besides, the Voyage has physical buttons (of a sort). We'll see.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by petrovich

There are some sellers there with such prices, yes. However, the one I've bought was this one(from the seller I've recommended):
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/prod...219612168.html

Description(not the header) says it is T62+, and the package was exactly the same as at the link hob posted before:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...62#post3062162

Yes, it will be T62+ instead of Energi Pro+, but in case you don't care about the label, this shouldn't make any diff, should it?

I would prefer T62+. A search on the link you previously posted shows only two T62+ models for $219. I guess that's because this one doesn't show up as the + model, but it does say + in the description.

Thanks.

[hob]

Originally Posted by petrovich

Hmmm... On mine when front-light is on there is a rather irritating dark cloud at the bottom-right corner. It is pretty noticeable at night time.

It's not very noticeable on mine but yeah there's one spot in exactly bottom-right corner that receives a little bit less light than other surface areas on the screen.

This is a "front-light", though! It's emitted by a few LEDs on the bottom of the screen. Actually it's a good thing that they'd tried to concentrate darker spots in corners where they wouldn't be noticed or annoying.

Compared to the previous versions of this device (T61B/C T62B/C) it's obviously improved significantly to the point where it now stands between some of the best front-light distributions that can be seen on E-Ink eReaders! There should be videos on YouTube showing the front-light performance on the previous models (Boyue/Icarus/ES).

[downeaster59]

The front light on my T62+ is quite good. Not 100% flawless, but it is nearly as good as the one on the PaperWhite 2 I had a few months ago. There are a couple of slightly brighter spots near the bottom right, and a couple of slight shadowy areas near those, but you need to look closely to see them. The only problem is that with the newer Boyue firmware, the light is too bright (for me) even at its lowest setting. There are ways to fix that, though.

[hob]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

A search on the link you previously posted shows only two T62+ models for $219. I guess that's because this one doesn't show up as the + model, but it does say + in the description.

This device's price should be about $115 +/-10. Most of the sellers on AliExpress are individuals who're just working as "agents" who'd buy stuff for you from Chinese markets and then post them to you (or they work in a market where this item's being sold; some of them are official representatives of the market they work for).

AFAIK there are no pricing rules on that site and everybody can put whatever price they want on the item they're selling! For this and some other reasons I'd prefer buying from banggood instead of aliexpress if they're selling that particular item. Good thing there's at least a rating system there on aliexpress for members to rate sellers for their service, tho, and the site itself provides info that helps to find more trustworthy sellers.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by hob

This device's price should be about $115 +/-10. Most of the sellers on AliExpress are individuals who're just working as "agents" who'd buy stuff for you from Chinese markets and then post them to you (or they work in a market where this item's being sold; some of them are official representatives of the market they work for).

AFAIK there are no pricing rules on that site and everybody can put whatever price they want on the item they're selling! For this and some other reasons I'd prefer buying from banggood instead of aliexpress if they're selling that particular item. Good thing there's at least a rating system there on aliexpress for members to rate sellers for their service, tho, and the site itself provides info that helps to find more trustworthy sellers.

I prefer banggood as well, but they're out.

[petrovich]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

A search on the link you previously posted shows only two T62+ models for $219.

No, no, this was a link to a particular seller's store. Check two buttons near the search box at the top -- "On AliExpress" and "In this store". Maybe the first one is the default. If you enter T62+ in the box and hit "In this store" button, it will show you several results only from this seller. The price difference between the same models from the same seller is defined by the listing's default shipping option -- from China mail to DHL. Also some of them do include a case, some do not.

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

I guess that's because this one doesn't show up as the + model, but it does say + in the description.

Well, yes -- probably title matches go first in the default-ordered search results. It does list pure T62 listings too though, so the plus is probably just ignored in the query and counts only while sorting the results by relevance. There is a button to sort the results differently, so sort by price from lower to higher makes it.

This lady, the seller, is extremely friendly and polite -- there was some other guy with the same price, but he was plainly rude during communication(I had some questions), so I dropped him. Besides, he didn't include the cover, though I didn't notice it then )

[petrovich]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

The only problem is that with the newer Boyue firmware, the light is too bright (for me) even at its lowest setting. There are ways to fix that, though.

I'm running AlReader adaptation for Boyue by Mike Sinkovsky. There is a way to regulate the brightness by finger sliding along the side border, and actually it has higher resolution than Boye's original scale. I mean, if you choose 1 on the Boyue's light control and then go to AlReader and start to play with the slides, you can make the light darker than it was on 1 initially. There is, I believe, two more grades above zero, though the minimal one is still brighter than the one on NSTGW.

[petrovich]

Originally Posted by hob

This device's price should be about $115 +/-10. Most of the sellers on AliExpress are individuals who're just working as "agents" who'd buy stuff for you from Chinese markets and then post them to you (or they work in a market where this item's being sold; some of them are official representatives of the market they work for).

AFAIK there are no pricing rules on that site and everybody can put whatever price they want on the item they're selling! For this and some other reasons I'd prefer buying from banggood instead of aliexpress if they're selling that particular item. Good thing there's at least a rating system there on aliexpress for members to rate sellers for their service, tho, and the site itself provides info that helps to find more trustworthy sellers.

It was too late for Banggood . And Aliexpress is just another eBay, so it's all just a usual difference between a store and a marketplace.

P.S. I'm sorry, I noticed too late that two sequential messages from the same author do not merge in one automatically. I've tried to unite them all together manually, but couldn't find a way to delete a message.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by petrovich

I'm running AlReader adaptation for Boyue by Mike Sinkovsky. There is a way to regulate the brightness by finger sliding along the side border, and actually it has higher resolution than Boye's original scale. I mean, if you choose 1 on the Boyue's light control and then go to AlReader and start to play with the slides, you can make the light darker than it was on 1 initially. There is, I believe, two more grades above zero, though the minimal one is still brighter than the one on NSTGW.

Thanks. I have that AlReader installed. I have found that the Brightness Control app (which does not require root) pretty much fixes the brightness issue across the board for the Boyue firmware.

Currently, I am running the Onyx Boox C67ML Carta firmware on my T62+. Doing this requires using tools found on the RK3026 E-Readers Kitchen thread and an edit of init.rc (thanks to FOV) to allow the Onyx light control to work on the Boyue hardware. My light control is MUCH better. The lowest setting is truly low. I like Neo Reader for ePubs and pdfs. I'll see how battery life does. I've backed up my former firmware and data, in case I want to go back. So far, I am pleased with the results.

This may be overkill for some, but others may be curious and want to look into it!

[didierm]

Originally Posted by petrovich

It was too late for Banggood . And Aliexpress is just another eBay, so it's all just a usual difference between a store and a marketplace.

Please keep us posted on your buying/delivery experience.

My current eReaderPro+ technical support experience with the European (Spain-based) Energy Sistem is simply abysmal.