Tag: ereader

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TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus features a glare-free NXTPAPER 4.0 display by Brad Linder (liliputing.com)

The TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus is a tablet with an 11.5 inch display featuring a 120 Hz refresh rate and up to 550 nits brightness. It’s also the first tablet to feature TCL’s NXTPAPER 4.0 display technology, which the company says offers a more paper-like viewing experience than ever thanks to hardware and software improvements. NXTPAPER […]

The screen on the TCL NXTPAPER tablets is intriguing to me. [See Liliputing report] Intriguing enough for me to spend $200 on an Android tablet by a Chinese TV manufacturer that “is also baking … AI features into the tablet”? No. I do not even let my 2019 TCL TV talk to the internet, much less a tablet which would depend on updates. (This more or less also summarizes my thoughts on the BOOX line of e-ink devices.) But it would be neat to have this sort of screen on a Linux-friendly device (or even LineageOS-friendly if the project ever adds some of the NXTPAPER tablets to its list of supported devices). I suppose I would consider a cheap one if I could get some of the Google/AI cruft off the homescreen and use it as an e-reader without turning on wi-fi. For now, I will stick with my Pocketbooks for my e-reader needs (my Kindle Paperwhite does make a few rare appearances.)

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Link Love: A Very Papery Day (and Ereader Questions) by an author (The Well Apportioned Desk)
For the last few months, I’ve been trying to decide if I should buy a new ereader and, if so, which brand I should purchase. I have been researching options from Kindle, Kobo, Onyx Boox and a few others. My goal is to read books and I check ebooks out from our library so I really want Libby support. ... I could really use some recommendations. I’m leaning away from Kindle (for the most part) but I haven’t ruled it out.

I subscribe to The Well Apportioned Desk in my feed reader. Site creator Ana Reinert is looking for e-reader recommendations. She wants an e-reader that allows her to “read books” and “libby support” for checking out books from her library. She would also prefer a non-Kindle option, although that is not a requirement. I personally have a PocketBook Color (seen here), PocketBook Inkpad Color (first model, seen here), and a 2018 Kindle Paperwhite (discussed here). I like the Pocketbooks. Pocketbook’s native Linux-based OS is unobtrusive and it is very easy to install KoReader for a much better reading and library-management experience (KoReader is noticeably snappier than the default reading app). I do not use PocketBook’s store at, instead using it for DRM-free books (I use Calibre on my PC to send books to my PocketBook). However, I have tested its built-in Adobe DRM functionality and found that it works as expected for DRM-protected books from the Kobo sore. As a bonus, Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included guide has a positive assessment of Pocketbook devices. Readers should note I have not tried an Android-based PocketBook, so I have no opinion of those. I have no take on Libby functionality since I have never checked out library ebooks (moreover, I was only aware of Overdrive). If PocketBook does not check the library box, I would see if Kobo, which, like Pocketbook, supports KoReader, is a viable option (assuming arguendo that Kobo is preferred over Kindle). Since Ms. Reinert mentioned Onyx Book, I will note that I would stay away from that one due to its tendency to phone home and GPL violations, but I would be interested in Onyx Book if something like LineageOS were available for it.