If you think the new Kindle Voyage is too overpriced or it doesn’t have the features you’re looking for in an ebook reader, there’s another new Android-powered ereader now available on Amazon called the Boyue T62.
Last month while reviewing the Icarus Illumina HD, it turned out that it was actually a rebranded Boyue T61. The Boyue T62 is very similar to the T61. The software is virtually identical between two, but the T62 has a slightly different design and it comes with some hardware upgrades over the T61.
The Boyue T62 comes with twice the internal storage space as the T61 (8GB vs 4GB), it adds audio support via a headphone jack, and the battery is 50% larger—a key upgrade given the below average battery life on the Illumina HD.
Other hardware features for the Boyue T62 include a 6-inch E Ink Pearl display with a resolution of 1024 x 758. It has a 2-point capacitive touchscreen, adjustable frontlight, Wi-Fi, page buttons on both sides of the screen, a dual-core 1Ghz processor, 8GB of built-in storage space, 512MB of DDR3 RAM, and there’s a microSD card slot for cards up to 32GB.
The software is based on Android 4.2.2. Like the T61 and Illumina HD, the software is open and a number of Android apps can be installed, but the device doesn’t come with Google Play to install apps like some other Android-powered ereaders, including the Boox M96 and Boox T68.
Apps have to be sideloaded on the Boyue T62 with the default software. But like the T61, the T62 can be rooted. Once rooted you can install the Google Play Store and Google apps. For those interested, here’s the guide at MobileRead with directions on how to root and install Google Play on the Boyue T61 & T62.
An ereader like the Boyue T62 is never going to be anywhere near as refined as something like the Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Voyage, but it’s a lot more advanced and capable with the open Android software.
It’s good to see alternative options for ereaders like the T62 turning up on trusted websites like Amazon. But the problem is the price is quite a bit higher than elsewhere. Right now the Boyue T62 is listed on Amazon.com for $169, plus $3.99 for shipping. Compared to the non-ad Kindle Voyage at $219 that may not sound too bad. Meanwhile the T62 is available from Banggood.com for $117 with free shipping to the United States. The big difference is Banggood is based out of China, and that makes returning a defective or unwanted item a very costly venture, unlike Amazon where returning things and getting your money back is super easy.
This is on sell through the Amazon Marketplace. I emailed the reseller to see what the return policy is. This is their response:
5 Day Buyer Guarantee – If your item is received in a condition other than described, contact us within 5 days of receiving the product for an immediate solution. Return and replace or get a full refund.
Product Warranty – If you encounter quality issues within the warranty period you will be covered. Every product has a specific warranty period. If it is not stated in the product listing, contact us.
3 Day Return To Us – For whatever reason if you are unsatisfied with your order within 3 days you can return it to us in new condition for a refund minus the shipping charges.
Please be aware that this item is Shipped from China.
I don’t know, I’ve never encountered any weird stipulations like that when buying on Amazon before, even through marketplace sellers. Under returns on the seller’s page it directs to Amazon’s standard return policy page, which is the usual 30 days. Plus I’m not seeing anything about shipping from China. It’s showing standard 3-5 business days right now…
It would seem to me that regardless of whatever the seller blathers on about in that regard, that if there were a problem and it fell outside of that seller’s fairly overly “I want to make sure I don’t have to give you any money back” “guarantee” that Amazon wuold have your back with their “AtoZ Guarantee.”
Amazon has taken good care of me many times over the years when a seller would act particularly daft such as with what you’d received from that seller. Although, I would suggest that you make sure with Amazon ahead of time “just in case” (even though I never have checked with Amazon about such matters ahead of a purchase since they plaster that “AtoZ Guarantee” everywhere on the site.
I bought this from Banggood in late September. It took 6 weeks to arrive (in Europe) and there was no tracking information updates between shipment and arrival.
The reader is quite nice – fast and responsive, but the firmware (last official one – July 2014) still has issues with power consumption as well as other quirks. 3. party apps do not work all that well wrt. e-Ink refresh (the screen gets progressively more ghosted until you manually refresh) and e-Ink mode, like on Alreader, does not work. The build quality is so-so – the screen is not fastened properly in the upper left corner on my unit.
This is my 4. ebook reader (two Kindles and the Onyx 92 preceded it) and I have tried a number of others and it seems that Amazon is the only vendor with a solid firmware base. The 92 was a bit of a lemon in that the firmware never really matured and was too demanding given the hardware. The jury (at least on my part) is still out wrt. the T62. There seem to be a number of unofficial firmware upgrade images available, but I think I’ll wait for the next official one.