Welcome to another Good e-Reader comparison video. Today, we take a look at the two of the latest generation Onyx Boox products – the Nova 2 and Poke 2. These two devices are quite different from each other. The Nova 2 has a WACOM screen and comes with a stylus, you can make notes, edit PDF files or just draw. The screen is larger than the Poke 2, which is basically just a six inch ebook reader.
The Nova 2 features a 7.8 inch E INK Carta HD capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1872×1505 with 300 PPI. The screen is completely flush with the bezel and is made of glass. There is a WACOM active digitizer layer on the screen, for stylus interactions and the accompanied stylus has 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity. You will be able to read in the dark via the front-lit display system with white LED lights that are on the bottom of the bezel and project light upwards. This sort of lighting system is ideal, because the light does not shine in your eyes, making it easier to read. There is also a series of AMBER LED lights that can be employed to warm up the screen, this is ideal if you are reading at night.
The real power of the Nova 2 is underneath the hood. It is their most powerful 7.8 inch device they have ever released. It has a Qualcomm octa-core 2 GHZ Cortex A53 processor and not some cheap one, Qualcomm is really good, the only other Onyx devices that employ this processor is the Note 2 and Max3. The Nova 2 also has a whopping 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It is powered by a respectable 3150mAh battery, has Bluetooth 4.1 and USB-C with OTG. What is OTG? It basically allows you to plugin accessories into the USB port and they will just work, with no drivers necessary. This includes keyboards, mice, foot pedals, USB expansion slots and the like. There is also a microphone on the bottom of the screen, but no speakers. If you want to listen to audio, you will have to pair up a wireless speaker or wireless headphones. This device retails for $339 from the Good e-Reader Store.
The Poke 2 features a six inch E INK Carta HD Display with a resolution of 1072×1448 with 300 PPI. Unlike the Poke Pro, this device features a fluish screen and bezel design, the screen is made of glass. It also has a front-lit display and an adjustable color temperature system that provides a candlelight effect. This is the same type of lighting system that all of the flagship e-readers employ. It allows you to not only read in low-light conditions, but the bright white screen can be tempered with various degrees of amber.
Underneath the hood is an Octa-core 2.0 GHZ processor, 32GB of storage and 2 GB of RAM. It is powered by a 1,500 mAh battery. One of the only downsides of this device is the lack of a USB-C port, instead it is employing a Micro USB port with OTG. What is OTG? It basically allows you to plugin accessories into the USB port and they will just work, with no drivers necessary. This includes keyboards, mice, foot pedals, USB expansion slots and the like. It also has WIFI 2.4 and 5HZ for blazeningly quick internet speed and also Bluetooth 4.1 for wireless accessories and a microphone for things like Discord chat or Skype Messaging. Sadly, it does not have speakers or a 3.5mm headphone jack, these added features would have drove up the cost. The Poke 2 retails for $189 from the Good e-Reader Store.
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.
