I’m thinking about getting a new e-reader - primarily for readlang (and to leave the amazon/kindle-cosmos). Going through the last thread, these were the recommendations I could find:
Boox NoteAir3C
Boox Go Color 7
Boox Palma
Supernote Nomad
Since I only need black and white, won’t take any notes etc., I’m not sure if these are the right picks for me.
To get to my question:
Has anyone tried out another e-reader that works well with readlang? (Otherwise I might just get the boox go color.)
I have the Boox Go Color 7 and it’s OK, but not great. The color comes with some compromises in terms of contrast and refresh rate I think, so if you don’t care about that there might be better options. Then again I haven’t tried the others so can’t offer more help.
Hi Steve, I was looking at getting a Boox device as well, and was wondering if the physical buttons on the Go 7 (or Page) can actually be used for page turns in Readlang? I know they can be configured to function differently within apps but with Readlang being browser-based I figured it might not be an option, which would make the buttons feel a bit like dead weight on those models.
FWIW, I tried out Readlang on a display model of a pretty low-end spec reader in a store yesterday and was really impressed with how useable it was. It was a local brand not available in the US/Europe, but was a 6-inch B&W model with only a quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. Still, it was clear to read, even for the translations, page turns and translations/explanations were quick enough, and selecting multiple words/phrases at once (swiping finger) was pretty seamless. It cemented my decision to get a device for primarily reading with Readlang, and confirmed that B&W is totally fine for Readlang as well (and sounds almost like it might even be a little better).
I was hoping the buttons on the Boox Go Color 7 could be made to work for page turns too. I tried but unfortunately I didn’t manage to detect these button presses from the Readlang web-app.
A Kindle Scribe and the newer Paperwhite definitely work with Readlang using the webbrowser. Google sign-in didn’t work, however, so I had to change my log in to just password/email and it worked fine.
There’s two little hicups though: sometimes the kindle will refresh the whole page out of nowhere, and also you can’t drag and select multiple words. You have to click on each one individually.
I just bought a Boox Go 7 Gen II (non-color), quite happy with it.
When the buttons are set up to “Page-turning” for the app (in my case Chrome), they emit regular JS key events (keyCode 33 and 34, which is PageUp and PageDown). Should be the same for yours then @Steve (I just used Javascript Key Event Tester for testing it).
This is at least the case for version 4.x of their OS, since mine shipped with 4.0.
Since you already have the listeners for the arrow keys set up, should be easy to add those as well, but not sure if other e-readers also use PageUp/Down.
I would really appreciate it, but either way, love the platform as it is
With readlang, everything works the way you’d expect it to work, since in the end it’s just an android device (although other brands such as kindle devices apparently really push the kindle store and I think (?) it’s harder to install apps on those)
I suppose other boox models shouldn’t have any issues with readlang either. Just the physical buttons currently don’t work. The explain feature, since you asked in another thread, works just fine for me
I went for the non-color one (despite the price difference being very very small) because many users report that the color one (Go 7 Color, specifically) has a very dark display compared to the black-white one (Go 7 Gen II in my case)
Keep in mind that e-readers are often glorified for low battery usage, but if you use a web-based app such as readlang, that also makes a bunch of server requests (translations etc), your battery charge will last approximately the same as for phones (or maybe twice or three times as long - not sure. just don’t expect it to only need a charge every few weeks with readlang)
If you use it a lot when not at home, you’ll probably also hotspot from your phone which will also drain your phone’s battery more quickly, so keep that in mind.
If you get one, just play around with the e-ink settings (refresh modes etc), I’m quite happy with mine + readlang so far. If something behaves weirdly you can always install other browsers, different android launchers etc
I bought a Boox Go 7 with the explicit purpose of using it for Readlang.
Very impressed with the device, the eink option from readlang improves readability, very fast and responsive, including page turns.
It would be great to be able to map the page turn buttons to be able to hold comfortably in one hand without having to touch the screen for anything but word and phrase lookup.
The main disadvantage for me of the Boox Go 7 was at the same time its advantage: the ample screen size. I want to carry my reader everywhere I go and the Go 7 is simply too large for that.
Now I have added a Boox Palma 2 to the collection. Its form factor matching the size of a Samsung Galaxy s24+ allows it to be easily carried in my jacket and pant´s pockets. However, the page turns on the Palma 2 for some reason seem to be a bit slower than on the Go 7, just enough to make them irritating. I find myself asking for a page turn before finishing the last sentence as if I were playing the piano! lol. An advantage of the Palma 2 over the Go 7 is when doing practice blitzes, the smaller size of the screen is an advantage here.
At any rate, I highly recommend the Boox devices. You can turn them into language learning laboratories with full android access to youtube, podcasts, custom dictionaries, anki, google apps, foreign language newpaper apps, etc. When you don´t have internet access you can continue with the same epubs as in readlang using the included ebook reader. The new version of the Palma will give to the same access to your cellular network as your smartphone (but is in color which is not necessarily an advantage for reading literature)
Thanks very much for letting me know! I should have tried this earlier! I’ve just implemented this so you can now turn the pages in Readlang with the buttons on the Boox e-ink tablets (or with PageUp and PageDown buttons).
