The Boyue Likebook Muses was discontinued a few months ago and was one of their successful e-readers. It was replaced by the Likebook Alita, which has a higher price tag, due to the glass based screen. One of the big advantages of the Muses is that it does not have a glass layer, so writing feels more natural on the e-paper screen. Good e-Reader now has a few dozen Muses back in stock on the Good e-Reader Store and the devices have been discounted from $300 to $239, making the 7.8 inch display one of the best values out there.
The Likebook Muses originally came out in April 2019 and is still very relevant. It features a 7.8 inch E Ink Carta touchscreen display with a resolution of 1782×1448 and 300 PPI. It also has a WACOM layer and comes with a stylus. In order to take notes effectively Boyue has incorporated the same note taking software that the Likebook Mimas employs.
The Muses has a front-lit display with 17 LED lights, the vast majority of them are white and the rest are orange to give a candlelight effect. Many e-readers that have a color temperature system have two different sliders, one for each. The Boyue has one slider that controls the luminosity of the white LED lights and if you hit the moon button you can control the brightness of the candlelight effect. I like this condensed approach. It provides maximum control over the illmonsity levels and is easy to figure out for new users.
Underneath the hood is a Rockchip RK3368 8 core 1.5 GHZ processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. This model does not have expandable storage and does not have an SD card. Many e-reader brands have abandoned expandable storage. This is also the 3rd e-reader ever made with an octa-core processor. It also has support for Bluetooth and WIFi. It is powered by a respectable 3100mAh battery.
Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment in digital publishing and the Muses can read all popular formats. You can plugin a pair of analog headphones into the 3.5mm headphone jack or attach a wireless pair or even a portable speaker. There are two speakers on the back of the device, positioned on the lower edge.
The Likebook Muses comes with a free screen protector and a case. The Likebook Mars is also on sale, the normal price is $269 and has been discounted to $199. The Likebook Alita has also been discounted, regular price is $539 and is now $469.00.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
