I’m working on getting the review posted for the Energy eReader Pro, which is a rebranded Boyue T62, a 6-inch E Ink ebook reader that runs open Android 4.2 and can install Android applications.
The Energy eReader Pro has a lot of other good things going for it too: It has a 1024 x 758 resolution Pearl HD display, a capacitive touchscreen, frontlight, dual core processor, microSD card slot, and real page turning buttons.
Like most Android-powered ebook readers, much of the initial setup isn’t explained anywhere. You’re basically left on your own to figure out how everything works with the confusing Android software.
I’m very familiar with Android because I’ve been working with and reviewing Android tablets and ereaders ever since they first came out, but even I have trouble figuring things out sometimes, and the way the software is setup on the Energy eReader Pro it’s one of the more confounding devices I’ve tested.
To make things a little easier for others, I’ve made a list of some getting started tips and setup tricks for the Energy eReader Pro.
Google Play Setup
One of the confusing things about the Energy eReader Pro is that it isn’t advertised as coming with Google Play, and when you go to the app drawer there is no icon for Google Play, so one would assume the device doesn’t have it.
Apparently the trick to get the Google Play app to appear is to sign in to your Google account using one of the pre-installed Google apps, Drive or Gmail. Then after a few minutes the Google Play app will magically appear in the app drawer and then you can use it to install apps from the Play Store—at least that’s how it worked for me. I thought I would have to root the device to get Google Play but since it showed up on its own I won’t have to deal with that.
Enable Page Buttons for 3rd Party Apps
The Energy eReader Pro has a set of page buttons on each side of the screen for forward and back, but by default the buttons don’t work with most third party reading apps such as Kindle and Google.
To make the page buttons work with reading apps, go to device settings > user settings > toggle volume keys setting to open. For some apps that’s enough to do the trick, but with most you’ll have to go into the settings menu for each individual app and select to enable page turns with the volume buttons.
With the Kindle app, the volume button setting is accessible by going to the Kindle app’s homescreen, tapping the home icon on the top left, then scrolling down and selecting settings.
With Play Books, you just have to open the regular settings menu from within a book to get the option to use volume keys to turn pages.
Unfortunately a lot of Android apps, such as the web browser, Feedly, and Comixology don’t have that option in settings so there is no way to make use of the page buttons for turning pages or scrolling.
Custom Homescreen Apps
You can change the apps that appear on the device’s homescreen, all except the “Apps” link.
Go to device settings > user settings > customize the desktop apps. You can choose from any of the apps you have installed.
Screen Refresh Rate
Oddly the preinstalled reading apps (Adobe Reader and FBReader) don’t show any option to set full page refresh frequency.
However, you can setup how often you want full refresh for these two apps from device settings > user settings > fullscreen flush times. It can be set from 1-9.
Change Default ePub Reader
Onyx’s Android ereaders let you choose what app to use to open ebooks from the homescreen when long-pressing on a title, but that doesn’t work with this device.
You can change the default reading app for ePubs in device settings > user settings. However, it only works with the two preinstalled apps, Adobe Reader and FBReader. For third party apps such as Moon+ Reader, you have to open the app to access your ebooks and they have to be placed in the app’s specific folder.
Faux MicroSD Card
Don’t be fooled by the filler piece in the microSD card slot. It looks exactly like a real microSD card and even has gold lines painted on the back that look like contacts, but it’s not real. It had me fooled at first and I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t work. 🙂
Hi Nathan,do please write an overall review on large screen ereaders.
I have asked it here,but you can manage to write a review in here.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255904
There really is no comparisons to be made with 9.7″ E Ink ereaders. Almost all those devices on that list are outdated or are no longer being made. Aside from Sony’s 13.3″ PDF Reader, the Onyx Boox M96 is really the only option for a large-screen E Ink device. At least it’s a good one.
Ok,thanks..What about Hanvon E930?Worth to consider?Presumably,Icarus Excel and Pocketbook 912 are outdated.Is that true?I’ve heard that Icarus Excel is rebrand device of Onyx Boox M92.
Yeah, the Excel was an M92. Icarus also has a newer Excel that’s a rebranded M96. The 912 was released way back in like 2011, and I haven’t heard anything about it in years. As far as I know the Hanvon E930 is only available in China. From the one review I saw on it it didn’t sound very promising. It can’t install apps so you’re stuck with whatever Chinese reading app is on there, some of the preinstalled apps are in Chinese only, there’s no web browser, and the software doesn’t sound like it has much going for it. My biggest concern is the text looks a lot lighter and more washed out than the M96. It’s hard to tell from pictures online, though. But the capacitive touchscreen and added light layer probably aren’t doing the E Ink screen any favors.
I see,thanks..if Icarus has a newer Excel that’s a rebranded M96, will be any difference to choose between it and Onyx Boox M96?
My other question is that how to know which Icarus is rebrand M92 and rebrand M96?The official Icarus website doesn’t seem to be helpful in that regard!
The Excel has the same hardware but the software might be a little more watered down. I’m not sure if it has Google Play; the Icarus Illumina that I reviewed last August didn’t. It’s easy to tell the M96 variation because it runs Android and the M92 runs Linux.
Well,thanks so much.Regarding google play on Icarus,I’ve found this:
“As mentioned several times, the Icarus Excel allows direct access to Google’s App Store. You log in with a Google account and can install Reader eBook on the desired apps with just a few clicks. So just does the otherwise only on the smartphone or tablet. There’s simply nothing basically. Thanks to Google framework also work well with other Google apps like GMail or Google Calendar.”
This comes from google translation of this website:
http://allesebook.de/testbericht/test-icarus-excel-2014-onyx-boox-m96-56860/3/
Nathan I can use Kobo app inside this e-reader and read books that I bought in Kobo? And Kindle App? Thanks.
The Kindle app works as good as it does on any E Ink device, which isn’t great because the app isn’t designed for E Ink, but the Kobo app from Google Play is basically unusable. And that’s Kobo fault. I don’t know what their problem is but they insist on automatically installing the old crappy version of their Android app from Google Play instead of the newer version that’s ten times better. I sideloaded the newer version and it does work pretty well, the page buttons work and page transitions are smooth, but margins are huge and there’s no way to adjust them. The device also supports Adobe DRM so Kobo’s books can be read using the default app, but having to download books individually from Kobo and jump through Adobe’s hoops isn’t very convenient.
Hi Nathan. could you explain How to open book i bought in Kobo in the default app? I’m trying but something doesn’t work for me.
thanks
Have you entered your Adobe ID in settings?
Good information. Thanks 🙂
Does anybody have any information about the battery run-time?HD display costs more energy that a kindle amazon?
Battery life isn’t bad for an Android ereader, probably about 2 weeks typical use. Kindles definitely have a slight edge over any Android-powered ereader in terms of battery life because the Android OS is a lot more active and demanding.
I wonder if you could coonect an keyboard to this reader to do wordprocessing? Like a bluetoth or usb keyboard.
Afraid not by any regular means, maybe with some hacking. No Bluetooth or USB OTG support.
I am about to get a rooted one, would there be any hack to get USB OTG to work with a keyboard? It worked out of the box on my Samsung Galaxy S3, so why would it not work on this e-reader? They are both running Android 4.x
As far as I know the Android version doesn’t matter in regards to USB OTG, it’s a hardware and drivers thing. There might be a way to enable it with a rooted device but I don’t have any idea how.
Oh I stand semi corrected.The standard lo
Just ordered mine the Pro HD sadly thry stopped doing the Pro + with audio.
Is there any benefit of rooting it?
There’s always some benefit of rooting to somebody somewhere. But if you have to ask then you’re probably not one of those somebodys, at least not until you find something the system is restricting you from achieving—then you’ll know if you want to root it or not. 🙂 Most people are happy if just comes with Google Play to install apps, so for them there’s no reason to root.