Right here is an e-reader that takes us again to when the e-reader business was nonetheless at its formative stage, and we had units such because the Entourage Edge with twin LCDs. We just lately had units just like the GVIDO with twin 13.3-inch e-paper shows or the Lenovo C930. Virtually a decade down the road, right here comes the OKPad, which additionally impresses with its dual-screen structure. Nevertheless, the twist is that the OKPad has an LCD on the highest and an E-Ink show on the backside. That makes for an fascinating setup, as you’ll be able to have an LCD laptop computer or a pill on one hand and an e-reader on the opposite. That makes us marvel how good the machine is as an e-reader or a laptop computer/pill. Let’s discover that out.
Fashion and Construct
To start with, the OKPad impresses me with its construct high quality and strong really feel. The machine isn’t too huge because it has an 8.9-inch LCD that the OKPad comes with and a 7.8-inch e-paper show. Nevertheless, at round 800 grams, it’s removed from being as useful and moveable because the makers would really like us to consider it’s.
It comes with two strong hinges that maintain the 2 shows collectively whereas nonetheless being versatile sufficient to permit 360-degree rotation of the shows. That approach, the 2 shows may be positioned in tent mode or pushed again to make use of both show as a pill.
The OKPad is crafted out of aluminum, which, as already said, exudes a way of solidity. On the left are standing indicator lights, a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microphone. On the opposite facet are the facility button and the quantity rocker button. There’s additionally a pair of audio system accessible, one on both facet.
The LCD Show
Open the machine, and you’ve got the LCD show on the highest and the e-paper show on the backside. On the precise of the e-paper show lies a digicam, an indicator gentle, and a mic, whereas on the left lies the Again and the Residence buttons. The bezel across the e-paper show has kind of a material really feel to it, which is sweet to the touch.
The LCD facet, too, comes with a digicam on the highest bezel, as you’ll have on any standard laptop computer. Additionally, the highest show is kind of like several conventional Android pill, although the tragedy is that it runs Android 10. That’s as a result of it primarily is an previous Android pill, and the utmost Android model it may possibly assist is Android 10.
In any other case, the pill has an analogous really feel to any conventional Android pill. Swipe down from the highest, and there are a bunch of shortcut buttons, akin to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Battery Saver, and so forth. The standard set of apps is obtainable, too, together with the whole suite of Google apps. The Play Retailer can also be included, so you’ll be able to at all times use the wanted app.
The OKPad’s distinctive function is the INK App Setting. This allows you to select which apps you’d like to make use of with the e-paper portion beneath. You possibly can at all times drag and drop the apps to arrange the app structure display screen. Nevertheless, the LCD portion doesn’t assist stylus operation, which applies to solely the e-paper show beneath.
The e-Paper Show
The very first thing that must be said is that the e-reader is a Nova 2 machine. The e-paper show measures 7.8 inches, which isn’t precisely small however seems comparatively puny because of the double bezel structure. One other side of the e-reader portion is that it lacks a consumer interface. There are simply three Home windows issues current: on the highest left lies the calendar, and on the backside lies the checklist of apps. One-half of the show is devoted to the My NoteList app. The home windows can’t be moved or resized.
The e-paper show permits you to take advantage of the bundled stylus. You possibly can draw, scribble, jot down notes, or do no matter you want. The stylus has a standard tip and an eraser on the again. Nevertheless, whereas the stylus comes with a graphite composite tip, two extra suggestions are made from plastic.
Writing expertise is cheap, if not the most effective. The pen lacks stress sensitivity, which limits the scope of its utilization to some extent. You should use the note-taking app with which the machine comes pre-installed. You possibly can select the road width whereas there are the Undo, Redo, and Add Web page choices. Beneath Extra are the Clear Web page, Add Notes, and Delete Notes choices.
Thus far, so good, however a notable drawback with the e-paper show is the shiny layer on prime, which makes the floor reflective. This hinders readability considerably because the show turns into usable solely when seen at a selected angle. Utilizing a matte layer on prime would have helped, however that might additionally imply including extra layers. The identical applies to the LCD, the place the reflective nature could make the contents much less seen.
Word-taking Expertise
It’s akin to writing on glass and gives a slippery really feel. Those that want a extra pure writing really feel just like writing on actual paper are going to be disillusioned. There’s additionally no possibility to decide on totally different pen sorts. Perhaps we can have that through a software program replace someday sooner or later. In any other case, the pen is very responsive, which applies to the eraser.
OKPad as an e-Reader
Simply push the LCD again, and the machine transforms into an e-reader, albeit a heavy one. Studying whereas holding it with one hand is like working your arms and fingers. It’s greater than twice as heavy as e-note units, sometimes weighing round 300 grams.
It additionally isn’t the newest e-paper show – learn E Ink Carta 1300 – that you’ve on the OKPad. Nonetheless, the studying expertise is par for the course. Be it e-books or manga, you’ll love studying on the OKPad. A pleasant factor concerning the manga is that the speech bubbles increase in dimension whenever you faucet on them. This makes the texts extra readable, in contrast to the zoom function that makes the complete show zoom in.
Nevertheless, the machine’s lack of a glow gentle function is a extreme downside that dents its enchantment as an e-reader. The dearth of velocity modes additional limits the machine’s e-reader credentials and makes it a lot much less versatile than it will have in any other case been.
Conclusion
The OKPAD is constructed gorgeously with high-quality supplies and is tooled flawlessly, using a high-tension clam shell twin hinge design. The highest display screen is pulled from a fairly vanilla pill, and the underside makes use of a Nova 2 display screen. No Carta 1300 show right here, sadly
This implies the machine is basically a hodgepodge of leftover components glued along with among the greatest bezels we’ve ever seen. The highest pill is pulled from the underside of the bin, so it’s maxed out at Android 10 and can’t be up to date.
The underside display screen has no particular person working system and may solely do two issues: run an app independently or take notes through Wacom. There’s no Wacom layer on the highest display screen, both. Just one utility makes use of twin screens, and that’s the app chooser. The app chooser permits you to select what purposes are despatched to the underside display screen. That’s all.
In the long run, they missed the mark by a mile. There’s an general lack of synergy between the highest and backside screens. No purposes benefit from dual-screen use instances, and it actually does simply really feel such as you’re utilizing two particular person units concurrently.
OkPad
$199.99
Execs
- Beautiful with top quality supplies
- Two units for the worth of 1
- WACOM
- Audio system
Cons
- Completely zero dual-screen purposes
- Previous pill and previous e-reader display screen
- Inventory Pen is horrible
- Solely Helps Android 10
With a eager curiosity in tech, I make it a degree to maintain myself up to date on the newest developments in expertise and devices. That features smartphones or pill units however stretches to even AI and self-driven vehicles, the latter being my newest fad. In addition to writing, I like watching movies, studying, listening to music, or experimenting with totally different recipes. The movement image is one other side that pursuits me so much, and I am going to probably make a movie someday sooner or later.
