[otnt]

I thought folk might be interested in my results trying out a Boox Max2 with MobileSheets.  Firstly the app works perfectly, as expected, usual excellent product.  The eInk display customisations work well.  My only issues have been with the eInk technology itself.  The Book Max2 is an excellent piece of technology - incredibly light and slim, and feels solid nontheless (light presumably because the display tech doesn't require glass).  It worked as designed with great battery life.  So, fundamentally, my gripes are with the state of the art with eInk displays this size:

- You can't get back-lit displays this large, so its only front lit (like the early eReaders).  This means it can be difficult to view under certain lighting conditions (e.g. if its dim in the room).  I tried clip-on front lights, but its hard to get a uniform illumination with such a big display (the front lights are designed for "normal" eReaders);
- Page turn is quick, but certainly not as instant as on a normal Android tablet.  There is still a noticeable lag from clicking the foot pedal to the new page refreshing and appearing - just too much to not have to think about it.  Perhaps I'd get used to this in time;
- The on/off button on this device is on the bottom - and very slightly raised.  This means that when I have it on e.g. a Piano, the flat bottom of the music stand is sufficient to push the button and either put it to sleep or re-boot it.  I have to raise it on a couple of small rubbers to stop this happening.  It would be fine (and the viewing angle is actually better) if you could use it upside down - but I haven't discovered how to let the screen rotate;
- It's grey scale, not colour - this means if you've been annotating your MobileSheets songs, or adding links, they all show up in faint grey - and e.g. if you used "bright yellow" marker, this shows up as quite light grey.  Of course this is adjustable - but means you might not find it easy to see them if you simply import your database from a normal android device.

I read rumours that there's a Max3 in the works --- although no specs or dates are available.  Adding back-light to the display would have been enough to convince me to keep it - I could overcome or get used to my other gripes  


--Andrew

Great to hear about MS on EInk. Thank you!
Just to clarify - are you using MobileSheets optimised for E-Ink devices from FastSpring store or version from Google Play Store?

Apart from battery life what I really like on Eink devices is that they have plastic flexible displays with no glass. Which means lightweight, thin and rugged device. I've seen too many broken glass screens.

EInk readers cannot use back-lighting. Light cannot shine through the EInk layer. They rather use "side" light.
In case of these smaller "side-lit" displays the glass layer is necessary. Which means more weight and more fragile.

Apparently Sony's Digital Paper DPT-RP1 has brighter screen compared to Onyx Max2. Sony's overall hardware quality is much better and very often is discounted to $599 on Amazon.
For example (both being 13.3" size) Sony's weight is only 12.3 oz (349 g) compared to 19,4 oz (550 g) of Max2. I think Max2 is still overpriced for what you get.
Sony's Digital Paper DPT-RP1 has no Android from the factory. There is a guide how to root/hack DPT-RP1 and enable Android on XDA forum but Bluetooth good functionality is not confirmed yet.
I also read rumours there's 3rd Gen Sony Digital Paper in the works. I don't give much hope that Sony would enable Android but at least they could sort out the tragic Bluetooth situation.
Sony was so dumb that they disabled Bluetooth keyboard/page turning possibility and used Bluetooth only for file transfer.

Silicone bumper case or TPU border would solve the on/off button problem. I would just cut the hole for on/off button.
Or you can force the device into diferent orientation with one of the many third-party screen rotation apps on the Play store.

For a good few years EInk is making (and selling) colour displays but is not able to deliver their faster refresh rates.