Amazon maintains a strong grip on the e-reader market with its Kindle devices, but that doesn't mean other companies aren't trying to make breakthroughs to challenge the e-commerce giant's dominance. While Kobos are a popular alternative to Kindles, another E Ink device company called Dasung is also striving to gain ground, and it has just teased some new devices that could offer clear advantages over Amazon's Kindles.
While running Android is a major advantage over Amazon's Kindles, providing users full control through customization and apps, I believe the most notable feature is the 50Hz refresh rate. E Ink devices are typically known for their slower refresh rates and sluggish scrolling and animations, which are inherent to the E Ink technology used for their paper-like displays. A 50Hz refresh rate on these new Dasung E Ink devices would be a significant leap forward, making scrolling much smoother and hopefully reducing ghosting as well.
Availability will be the big question
There are still a lot of unknowns about Dasung's new devices
If you haven't heard of Dasung before, it's a Chinese company known for making E Ink monitors and tablets. The company last updated its Not-eReader lineup about three years ago, and its previous models have served as both tablets/e-readers and secondary displays for PCs.
According to IT Home, in addition to being powered by Android and having 50Hz displays, the devices may come with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a 5,600mAh battery. Reportedly, unlike past models in the Not-eReader lineup, these new devices may not support monitor functionality, meaning they will be more focused on being a tablet and e-reader.
Dasung hasn't officially confirmed many other details about its new Not-eReader 078 and 103 Revolutionary Editions yet, and it's currently unclear what the pricing and availability of these devices will be. It's possible these devices could only be released in China and might not get a wider international release, but we simply don't know that yet.
...I'm cautiously optimistic about these new devices from Dasung. The 50Hz refresh rate sounds impressive and could significantly enhance the E Ink experience, but I worry about potential tradeoffs...
Additionally, although the Not-eReader 078 and 103 Revolutionary Editions are said to run Android, it also remains unclear which version they are using. For comparison, other Android-based E Ink devices, such as the Boox Palma 2 Pro, run Android 15. So it's possible they could run a more up-to-date version, which would be better for app compatibility.
Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic about these new devices from Dasung. The 50Hz refresh rate sounds impressive and could significantly enhance the E Ink experience, but I worry about potential tradeoffs like reduced contrast and its impact on battery life. My favorite feature of my Kindle is its long battery life and not having to worry about charging frequently, so I hope Dasung has managed to prevent the battery from draining too quickly because of this. Many details about these devices still need to be confirmed, so it's hard to make any definitive judgments, but pricing will be a key factor in determining if these devices will actually be competitive with Amazon's Kindle lineup.