Older E-Readers were better than new ones as they didn't have all the light diffusing layers and capacitive touch layers. E-Ink Pearl was the clearest I have ever used and was like the letters were printed on the surface, but everything now is Carta and those all have the extra layers which diffuses clarity and needs the light to counter even though they are higher resolution. They can look good in the store or with the light on and fonts right, but are never as clear with lights off. Sadly like most tech they are chasing bling and "features" at the expense of the core experience. It would not surprise me at all if the race for "cool" undermines the comfort of the reflective basis with PWM/dithering/whatever. It's also ridiculous that they charge 200-300 dollars for many models of this single purpose old tech device.

    KM thank you. It does seem both T1 and T3 are not using android. I am keen to try Sony DPT- CP1 10.3 inch or Sony DPT- PR1 13.3 inch which have andoid so might have the same onyx issue

        Riva

        Beware the DPT-R1 isn't really meant for reading books...rather notetaking and PDFs. Some of those huge niche devices have bad e-book reading/management experiences due to software not being optimized for that task. They also mostly have horrid battery life. I'd read lots of reviews...especially since that device is something like 6-800 whatever currency.

            hpst thanks. That's why i tried onyx as i hoped it will solve the problem of small display in amazon oasis. In fact, all onyx features are perfect except the strain issue. Before i post here, i thought onyx cheated in ink display and maybe sony quality like amazon but seems andoid can be a cause. I would not mind the cost if it has zero eye strain.

                Riva I was only speculating about Android. It could be other things like anti-reflective coatings or fonts or whatever. If you can try other Android based e-readers to test it I would do that before assuming its dithering.

                    hpst
                    I will try another one with Android and post my experience.

                        2 months later

                        Does anyone have any recommendations of an e-reader to buy? Are there any that allow the downloading of apps that you've used successfully?

                          Kobo Libra H20 seems ok, played with it in the store today. Light, good ergo. You can control the brightness and the color warmth.

                          6 months later

                          laur5446 hpst Riva

                          As being rink the only screen I can look at, I am a very experienced user. I use Onyx eReaders since some years and never had a problem with eyestrain, and they have had android, which saved my life. But recently I bought a eink phone with android 9, and this makes me dizzy even with the light turned off, so its possible the problem is with android 9.

                          My older onyx had android 4 and 4.4, and the one I am using right now have android 6 (8" of screen). I really want to test the newer models with android 9 but I am afraid it can appear dizzynes with that android version.

                          If Onyx keeps its word of upgrading my actual eReader to android 9 we will have a very valuable information about eyestrain related to android version

                          So for now, I can say android 4, 6 and 7 (the one in my eink phone) on an eReader are a solution for me

                                  NotAlone

                                  I have a Kobo and it's fine. Also afraid to try new Android based. Which phone did you buy? The Hisense A5? There is depressing little news on it now as all the posts and threads have died entirely.

                                      vaz
                                      Hisense A2 pro has android 7 (no frontlight)
                                      Hisense A5 has android 9 (with frontlight)
                                      Hisense A6 has android 8 (with frontlight)

                                      For me, Hisense A2 pro is the phone which has saved my life, as I can use it without any problem. Hisense A5 it gives me eyestrain with or without light, and maybe itˋs worse with light on. I am not sure but I am not going to test again. I would like to buy and test the Hisense A6, but 360€ for a phone maybe I canˋt use itˋs not my idea at the moment

                                        5 months later

                                        I've tried many different e-readers and none have worked for me. They've all either given me eye strain or made me feel sort of strange/foggy after reading on them for only a short while. Reading on paper on the other hand has always been a relaxing and even energizing experience for me. Sad because I definitely love the idea of an e-reader, but I think I'm just going to stop experimenting with them and go back to paper. The biggest disappointment was my Dasung Paperlike, which I thought I would be able to use for programming, but that's another dream I've had to give up on...

                                          khartoom I also noticed that if I use an eink device late at night, I find it almost impossible to go to sleep afterwards. Even lcd screens don't do this with me, even though it's now common knowledge that blue light can disrupt sleep... leads me to conclude that there's just something very unnatural about e-ink, but maybe just me.

                                            13 days later

                                            khartoom Which androids had the devices you tried? Any android 6 o 7?

                                            As I said here, I only can use android 6 or 7. On the time of my last post in this thread I didn't tested android 8. Now I did and didnt work for me, but for a "just in case" it is something about the brand firmware building I ordered another android 8 phone from another brand to test again. The already android 8 tested phone is Hisense A6L (frontlight turned off) , and the up coming is the Yotaphone 3.

                                            Will update the info here when arrived.

                                              13 days later

                                              I earlier posted here, that I had eye strain with latest Amazon Oasis both with light on and off. I am currently using Nook Simple Touch Glowlight (2012 or 2013 edition) and it does not cause eye strain. Before it I used first edition Nook and everything was also good.
                                              I will need to replace my Nook soon as it is old and touch screen does not function properly, but I simply don’t know which device to buy. Earlier this month I bought All new Kindle 2019 (10th edition), but it also caused eye strain like Oasis, so I returned it. Maybe the problem is with new e-ink screens, as the older devices worked for me fine.

                                              • JTL replied to this.

                                                fox320 I bought All new Kindle 2019 (10th edition), but it also caused eye strain like Oasis, so I returned it. Maybe the problem is with new e-ink screens, as the older devices worked for me fine.

                                                Unless somethings changed since the older Paperwhite I'm pretty sure Kindles with the light have it "always on" (except very dim) even at "0" brightness.

                                                  6 days later

                                                  there's lots of dithering going on in the new readers. for reading i stick to a non-paperwhite kindle. for tablets, you just have to avoid the fast refresh settings & keep the backlight off. I like my likebook

                                                  2 months later

                                                  Anyone who use Onyx Nova 2 or 3 please report


                                                  2 months later

                                                  khartoom I am planning to buy a paperlike hd, mainly for coding; could you explain more in detail what wasn’t working with that device? Thanks!

                                                      dev