This Android tablet’s unique display looks and feels like E-Ink but is an LCD panel

Till in the present day, I had heard about show applied sciences like E-Ink, coloured E-Ink, LCD, AMOLED, and numerous LED-y variations. However an LCD show that emulates the paper-like really feel and a lot of the advantages of E-Ink with out the abysmal refresh fee of E-Ink? I had by no means seen that.

However now I’ve. I needed to troll the halls of IFA and enterprise to IFA Subsequent, the corridor the place cool expertise from the long run (or smaller startups) lives, to seek out myself at HANNspree’s sales space. And to say I used to be impressed could be an understatement. Their Android tablets had been, by far, essentially the most superior factor I noticed at IFA, and I believe they deserved larger publicity than being tucked away in a corridor the place no Android journalist ever ventures.

So, let me paint you a full image of this ecoVISION Paper Show, because it’s referred to as, first earlier than speaking concerning the tablets it’s on. The panel has that acquainted backlight-free, matte, and barely boring feeling of E-Ink with a paper-like reflective coating on high. On the average-lit IFA present flooring, it was simple to see and skim, although I had to take a look at it straight on; any angle enormously diminished the show’s visibility.

This panel actually got here to life, although, after we took it outside. That’s the place its ambient mild reflective nature shines. It was rather more legible and far brighter, even when checked out from an angle. I didn’t get to check it in a brilliant darkish setting, however HANNspree has two totally different pill fashions: one with no backlight in any respect and one with some LED lights baked in which you can flip off fully at 0% brightness or flip as much as full brightness (50 nits). The impact is similar to turning on the lights on a Kindle: minimal in respectable ambient mild, however I wager it’ll be extra spectacular at nighttime.

Due to the panel’s reflective and non-backlit nature, it’s flicker-free with decreased blue mild and thus decreased eye fatigue. Plus, the panel actually reduces power consumption, too. The corporate claims 80% much less power in comparison with a standard LCD panel, so that ought to assist the tablets final for much longer than regular LCD or AMOLED panels. We’re not speaking about E-Ink-levels of multi-week battery life, however a number of days must be attainable.

The most effective half, although? Oh, that common 60Hz LCD refresh fee! No E-Ink ghosting, no seen redraws of the show, nothing. I performed movies, I scrolled, I swiped, I opened apps, I closed apps. All the things labored like on a standard LCD panel, which that is. The response fee is 5ms; I didn’t really feel any lag when utilizing contact, gestures, or a stylus.

And the colours, though a bit light, are nonetheless miles forward of what coloured E-Ink shows can do. Even Gallery 3, which is essentially the most vibrant coloured E-Ink expertise I’ve seen, isn’t nearly as good as this 24-bit colour depth LCD panel. To not point out that Gallery 3 is sort of costly and tops at an eye-watering 3Hz refresh fee.

The ecoVISION Paper Show is definitely so distinctive that the corporate had it on pc screens and signage too. It appears even higher on a big 23.8-inch monitor and a 28-inch mounted signal.

Going again to the tablets, they’re actual finances Android tablets. There’s a 7.8-inch and a 10-inch mannequin and each of them run Android 14 with a full Google Play GMS certification (so that you don’t must sideload the Play Retailer or Google apps). Each tablets have MediaTek processors, 5MP entrance cam, 4GB of RAM (yikes), Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5, USB-C, and assist USI 2.0 styluses.

The smaller pill has a 768×1024 decision show, 3,000mAh battery, 8MP rear cam, and 64GB of storage (double yikes), whereas the bigger one goes as much as a 1200×1600 decision show, 4,000mAh battery and 128GB of storage however drops to a 5MP rear digicam.

There’s no actual worth or availability simply but, however I used to be informed to count on these in the direction of the tip of the yr or early subsequent yr, and they need to come to Amazon once they do.

Look, I do know that the majority of us received’t find yourself shopping for these tablets from HANNspree, however I believe the expertise must be lauded for what it’s and for all the advantages it brings. To me, primarily based on my 20 or so minutes with these tablets, their show looks as if the proper mixture between a colour LCD and a reflective low-power E-Ink, with the fewest compromises doable. I’d change my thoughts after utilizing one for an extended time period, however for now, all I’ve to go on is this primary impression.

After all, you wouldn’t get this type of show if you wish to watch motion pictures and YouTube continuous — Samsung’s vivid AMOLED shows are significantly better there. As an alternative, consider this as an E-Ink pill competitor; so, when you largely care about studying (books, articles, coloured mangas or comics), learning coloured PDF textbooks and annotating them, or utilizing productiveness apps, all with little eye fatigue, wonderful outside visibility, and restricted energy consumption, then this ecoVISION Paper Show is a really robust contender for these use circumstances.

And when you occur to open a YouTube video in any case that, you may nonetheless watch it with out wanting to interrupt the pill into one million items due to the foolish gradual refresh fee.