E-readers with e-paper displays are amazing when it comes to readability and battery life. Problem is, they have very low refresh rates, making them difficult to use with anything that requires frequent screen updates, whether it be games, video, or an app with plenty of moving elements. Can the Hannspree HannsNote2 finally change that? A new e-reader, the device doesn’t use those standard E-Ink displays commonly employed by other products in the category. Instead, it’s equipped with Hannspree’s own proprietary display, which shares more things in common with traditional LCD screens compared to modern paper-like E-Ink panels. The Hannspree HannsNote2 uses a 10-inch version of the outfit’s ecoVision Paper Display, an 8-bit display panel with a 24-bit color depth. That means, it’s able to display up to 16.7 million colors, a big leap over the 4,069 colors you’ll typically find in other color e-readers

. It’s also got 1600 x 1200 resolution (200 PPI), a 5ms response time, and a 60Hz refresh rate, making this viable for use with applications that would otherwise be unusable on an E-Ink panel. Seriously, that would put in on part with standard LCD Panels, allowing you to use the screen to watch videos, play games, and do anything you’d normally do on a regular tablet. How does it differ from regular LCDs? Well, the screen uses no backlighting, so it relies on ambient lighting for readability, employing a tech called Argentum Birefringence (whatever that may be). That means, you either need to be outdoors during daylight or indoors with the lights on in order to use it, as they also didn’t integrate any front lighting like modern e-readers usually do. The Hannspree HannsNote2’s e-paper panel supports 10-point multi-touch, so it should behave much like any modern tablet, all while coming with a paper-like texture for use as a note-taking tablet using a compatible USI 2.0 stylus. Because of the lack of any lighting elements, it uses up less power than LCDs, although it does still use more power than E-Ink because of the high refresh rate. In fact, the built-in 2200 mAh battery only holds enough charge to keep it running for 4.5 hours of continuous reading and just 2.5 hours for watching video. Yep… it’s a battery hog, which kind of limits the usability a whole lot.

Why not pack it with a bigger battery? Well, the outfit decided to make it as slim as possible. As such, the darn thing measures just 4.9mm thick and weighs 350g, so it’s very portable. It runs Android 13, so you should be able to run standard tablet apps from Google Play on it, with a number of apps preloaded for e-reader use. Other features include 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (hopefully, there’s an SD card slot somewhere to extend that), a front-facing 2MP webcam, built-in mic, USB OTG support (for use with keyboards and other peripherals), built-in wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), and a SIM card slot. The Hannspree HannsNote2 is now available in parts of Europe and Asia, priced at €329 (around $360+).

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