TCL NxtPaper 11

[Quoth]

It's a real Android tablet with all the normal annoying aspects of Android, though TCL (who always made Alcatel phones and also now 'rent' the Nokia brand) had tried hard

It's genuinely an effort to have an LCD screen suitable for reading.

I'll do a review later*, but with most of the screen enhancing defaults turned off it's very good. In a brightly lit indoors at 25% approx brightness the screen is very like paper with Pocketbook displaying an ordinary novel.

I do find my TVs also give a better picture with all the enhancements turned off. Unlike most Android tablets there are many TV/Monitor like settings. A quick photo of part of my desk looked almost like viewing part of my desk when I set that to the background.

The 10.9″ 223 dpi (approx) NxtPaper 11 is better for mono text PDFs than the 10.3″ 227 dpi Kobo Elipsa in terms of appearance / sharpness and size. Antialiasing is far better when you have 254 shades of grey vs eink 14 greys (excluding black of text and white of background). I'll examine later to see if there is subpixel addressing and if the colour is RGB stripes or a 2 x 2 cell.


I wrote earlier:

Eye strain issues from worst to least

1. Reflections. Cause eye to refocus unconsciously especially if the reflected things are moving. Severe and causes headaches. Caused by shiny screen and worse if things behind you are brightly lit.
2. Glare. Make it challenging to read and can cause headaches or migrane if very bright.
3. Too bright. Often people have a screen too bright indoors. Brightness & contrast settings.
4. Bright light near front of screen, such as laptop on desk at south window. Pull the brinds/curtains or put desk at right angles.
5. Too small print. Exhausting and reduces reading speed, may or may not cause eye-strain or headaches.
6. Poor contrast (early four shade eink). Similar to too small print.
7. Poor print / low resolution. Reduces reading speed
8. Light too blue. Not an issue if not too bright. It may or may not disrupt sleep, the evidence is unclear. May be unpleasant but of brightness, resolution, glare, reflection are OK, it might not create eye-strain

Excessive UV light can damage the eyes, but no display has that. Don't stare at insect traps and wear sunglasses when UV index is high, especially in snow, up a mountain, at sea or on the beach.

More laptops had non-glare screens twenty years ago, but a shiny screen is much cheaper and looks better in the showroom.

Many eink use a PET (polyester/Mylar) top layer that is micro textured to reduce reflections. Phones, tablets, monitors and TVs usually have a glass top layer and that has to be expensively micro-etched (coatings are possible but no use on phones or tablets as they'll rub off). Watches and some phones have sapphire which is much more scratch resistant than glass (only diamond and a couple of other things are harder), but I doubt if sapphire is easily made non-reflective.

Reflections on shiny glass is the biggest cause of eye-strain, followed by glare.

There are subtle advantages in using only ambient light for a screen, but eink loses these if you have to use the front light, which is the same LED lighting as LCD backlights, especially needed for color eink

[* Only arrived this morning.]

[DrChiper]

I can't wait to see your undoubtedly extended usage review.
Tip: try the SmartManager > Hardware diagnosis to see whether the device is fully working.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

I can't wait to see your undoubtedly extended usage review.
Tip: try the SmartManager > Hardware diagnosis to see whether the device is fully working.

It seems fine and I now have Calibre comms via MTP to the SD Card taken from older tablet (256G). I had an initial problem with that even though it's 'Portable Storage' mode.

I did try an epub with pocketbook (just reading, not TTS) and simply for novels the Sage is a better size.

I've tried more PDFs in Xodo and the Kobo Elipsa is now redundant even for proofing PDFs for POD. I'll either sell it or pass it to someone in the family. Even for notes I find the Sage better than the Elipsa.

@DrChiper
Thank You DrChiper for mentioning this fabulous tablet which is a bargain at €200 approx. I'd looked at Fire11, iPad, Samsung with S pen etc. over the last year as the otherwise bargain Lenovo Yoga Tab10 was a bit too limited on resolution and has no digitiser. I'd decided the color eink android note-taking solutions were too expensive and poor.

Looking forward to figuring out how to buy Nebo if the T-Pen is much good. I might even buy pro version of Xodo. Currently I have no payment method for Playstore because of how Google treated my payment method in the past. That might change, as it has for Apple/iOS:
https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/..._dma/?td=rt-3a

Edit:
Ordered Amazon Germany and was shipped from Netherlands, so of course a Europlug styled charger. Not a problem with either an adaptor or even cheating the safety shutter on the UK spec sockets (also used in a few other countries, not just UK and Ireland).

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I had an initial problem with that even though it's 'Portable Storage' mode.

I used for the initial try-out some 128Gb which was idling about, but cannot remember any problems with it. Can you elaborate on those problems?

Originally Posted by Quoth

I did try an epub with pocketbook (just reading, not TTS) and simply for novels the Sage is a better size.

Yes, I'm using PocketBook as well. Did meant to try some other app but didn't do it as it just works for me. Anyhow, I read epubs mostly on my kobo.

Originally Posted by Quoth

@DrChiper
Thank You DrChiper for mentioning this fabulous tablet which is a bargain at €200 approx. I'd looked at Fire11, iPad, Samsung with S pen etc. over the last year as the otherwise bargain Lenovo Yoga Tab10 was a bit too limited on resolution and has no digitiser. I'd decided the color eink android note-taking solutions were too expensive and poor.

You're welcome. And I too found the color eInk devices nowadays available way too expensive and just not "good" enough to justify.

Originally Posted by Quoth

Looking forward to figuring out how to buy Nebo if the T-Pen is much good. I might even buy pro version of Xodo.

Myself, I won't using the stylus much for anything other than fun. But you never know what the future might bring.

Originally Posted by Quoth

Ordered Amazon Germany and was shipped from Netherlands, so of course a Europlug styled charger. Not a problem with either an adaptor or even cheating the safety shutter on the UK spec sockets (also used in a few other countries, not just UK and Ireland).

Be safe concerning power-supplies. Never meddle with safety, they are there for a reason, you know

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

Be safe concerning power-supplies. Never meddle with safety, they are there for a reason, you know

Europlugs and larger Shuko plugs are common here as are the adaptors for both. Allegedly our electricity is 220V, though more like 230. The UK is mostly 240 to 245V. Siemens did the Shannon Scheme in 1920s and, unlike UK, some rural places have the German plug sockets.

I never leave chargers plugged in when not in use or overnight or when out.

I used to design SMPSUs! I don't trust them.

Supposedly the local supermarket sells Playstore gift cards, though I don't remember seeing them.


It's annoying when Amazon sometimes ships USA 2-blade PSUs with their own products here. They can't be safely used even with an adaptor on 220V even though the PSU body claims 90 to 250V.

[DrChiper]

In order to harmonize the voltages used in various countries, it was decided in Europe (in CENELEC context) in 1988 to gradually increase the voltage to 230 volts until 2004. This was a compromise between continental 220V and British 240V. Now you know ...

[Quoth]

I think they only changed the allowed tolerances and most voltages are unchanged. And now the UK is pretending they aren't in Europe since they left the EU!
The 220V to 230V is only a 4.5% increase and 230 to 220 I think only a 4.3% decrease.

220 to 240V is 9.1%, and I think 240 to 220V is -8.3%. The UK also pretended to be on 220V, but I think at -10% to +2% (240 + 2% = 245V).

Excuse me If I've made a mistake. There is a document somewhere.

Obviously really 220V tungsten or halogen lamps are the most stressed by running on 245V as that would nearly halve the life. However the 220V filament lamps might be really higherr voltage. Car '12V' filament lamps are really 14V, radio 6.3V pilot lamps might be really 7V, but a 6V battery torch might have a 4.5V filament lamp for higher efficiency as the battery ages from about 6.4V new to the 3.6V end point (4x Zinc Carbon F cells in a 996 spring top pack).

[DrChiper]

Measuring is knowing: I measured at my power-outlet a whopping 237 Volts AC, so they really have increased the voltage over here. As I'm living not far from a major powerplant that may account for the 7 Volts extra

[Quoth]

Or 17V.
Only tungsten (lights or valves) or Halogen lamps will care.

[Quoth]

Still waiting for gift card to get Mywrite Nebo for the NxtPaper11.

There was sunshine today! So I took the tablet outside and at 100% brightness an ebook as a two page spread is perfectly readable in direct sunlight. Obviously when it's overcast or if you are in the shade you need to turn the brightness down.

Indoors with daylight a setting of 25% is plenty and at night 9% is quite bright with a bedside lamp.

Pocketbook easily allows a two page spread for an ebook (tablet landscape), but PDFS are better managed by Xodo, which has pen annotation in the free edition now. Either portrait for typical PDFs or Landscape tablet with two page spread for PDFs intended for POD of mass market paperbacks.

It's certainly fine and no eyestrain for ebooks, PDFs or comics (colour or mono).

The screen is of course polarised so with the 'real' DSLR the image can be perfect, greyed out, or blank! Depends on camera/lens angle. I'll try again with the safety polarising filter removed from the Tamron 18-200mm lens.

I'd still prefer the Libra (2) or Sage for an ordinary ebook novel, but it beats the Elipsa and reMarkable for larger page size content even that's just mono. My previous Lenovo Yoga Tab10 doesn't come close for quality.

More maybe next week. Perhaps some 20M pix Canon DSLR stills and HD Video.

Battery life seems good. I think about 9.5 hrs and 46% battery/cell now. That is at 12% brightness about half time and 25% the other half.

[Quoth]

Because it's Android 13 you can turn on handwriting on the Gboard.
https://support.google.com/gboard/an...57941120975-EU

I used to use AnySoft Keyboard on a small screen or The Hacker's Keyboard on big screens, but if you have a screen lock with PIN or Password (only password is worthwhile, swipe and face have issues) you can only use gboard because the others won't work after a reboot until you unlock.

The English UK gboard has a very inaccessible / so I added French too. Also the ¬ ! " £ $ % ^ & * ( ) are not on hold number down, but only on shift. Holding the number gives superscript or fractions. The - and + are on h and j, with _ and = on f and r. What ejit designed the layout?

With the T-Pen, press top button to wake and pick thinnest extra thin strokes in keyboard settings. It can work (awkwardly) with a finger or €2 dumb phone stylus, but the T-Pen is much better.

It downloads the support and then works off line. English UK and French now installed. Both French & English cope with Irish accented names, but French better.

I seem to have about 23% brightness most of the time by room lighting, but lower when reading in bed with bedside light angled away and down.

Now have Libby (comics, magazines & newspapers) and Bolinda Borrowbox (ebooks and audiobooks) with the local County library working, which is free to all residents. No non-resident option. One set of online content for all branches.

At 38% battery now

EDIT
Don't forget to go to Gboard Privacy settings and turn off all the slurping settings.

[Quoth]

I discovered on GBoard there is a PC Layout at the end of the keyboard layouts. It has the - and = at the end of the number row and the ¬ ! " £ $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + are above the numbers, `and - =. The / appears. The accented letters are not hinted, but do appear on a longer press.

The `key stupidly is not a dead key. It's ONLY use is for à è ì ò ù etc, though you type them and á é í ó ú by a longer press. It is not an opening single quote.

Strangely the vertical size settings on Android 8.1 are missing and the touch keys (thus keyboard) are a bit tall.

EDIT:
Still convinced this is good for PDFs, colour comics, manga etc and only a bit poorer than 300 dpi mono eink.
I have now got an actual budget (= typical screen that's not HiDPI/Retina) 10″ tablet in exchange for my Lenovo Yoga Tab for comparitive photos next week. It's a juno10 with Android 8.1 Go edition so I put Nova as the launcher (the default Launcher/Shell on TCL NxtPaper 11 isn't too bad).
Unless you like reading two-up pages on a stand, the 6″ to 8″ 300 dpi mono eink such Kindle PW3, Oasis (2 or 3) Kobo Libra, Libra 2, Forma or Sage is still better for novels.

The 10.1″ Lenovo Yoga Tab was decent running time due to 10,000 mAH cell(s). But the TCL Nxtpaper 11 (10.9″ actual) is better even though an 8000 mAH cell/pack.

The active screen strangely has rounded corners which is a bit mad. You don't notice when reading. Later I'll see what video is like. The screen is 1.667:1 and the common 16:9 is 1.778:1 which really only TV Widescreen. Cinema WS can be 1.6 to 2.7 and old SD TV is 1.333:1 but the 1920 x 1200 of some monitors is 1.6:1, so the 2000 x 1200 is unusual.

[Quoth]

There is a magnet sensor somewhere, because the tablet sleeps and wakes when set on top of the Elipsa in its closed cover.

The T-Pen magnetically clips on the back at a particular location, which isn't actually usable.

Its charge level seems to dropping slower after 3rd charge. This is common.

One family member visiting today exclaimed, "What on earth display technology is that?"
He was incredulous that it was LCD.
Another claimed (when he first saw it off) that it was by the people that designed the pop groups spaceship in Adams' HHGTTG. "Does it light up black with black buttons and black text?"
They peered at background, text page and video and declared impressively invisible backlighting artefacts.

[DrChiper]

Originally Posted by Quoth

There is a magnet sensor somewhere, because the tablet sleeps and wakes when set on top of the Elipsa in its closed cover.

It is located about 4 cm from the right corner of the bezel containing the front-camera's.
A double tap on the screen also wakes it up.

Originally Posted by Quoth

The T-Pen magnetically clips on the back at a particular location, which isn't actually usable.

Holding the Nxtpaper in landscape mode, you can attach the stylus on the back right and left (or in portrait mode on back top and bottom). However the left (or top) location is not very usable due to the camera island.

Originally Posted by Quoth

Its charge level seems to dropping slower after 3rd charge. This is common.

Could be. I never fully drained and recharged so far.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DrChiper

Could be. I never fully drained and recharged so far.

I only ran it down to about 40%