Over the past couple of years, I’ve tested a handful of devices with paper-like screens. All offer, more or less, the same set of benefits. A panel that feels like paper to the touch, cuts down on blue light exposure, and — if possible —even eschews the backlight in favor of a screen that reflects light instead of emitting it.
Some of the ideas, especially those from Onyx, have been impressive. But the biggest challenge has been the panel speed. Onyx’s tablets are great, but they often have low refresh rates that dramatically slow down the scrolling speed, even for something as mundane as reading a PDF.
As you jump to the colorful e-ink iterations, ghosting artifacts and poor fidelity leave a jarring impression. There is always some visual caveat. After all, for devices that rely solely on onscreen interactions and serve all that information on a panel, why should it deliver a severely underwhelming experience?
Taiwan-based HannStar, which makes consumer electronic gadgets under the HannSpree brand, has a radical solution in the form of its EcoVision screen tech. It’s a full-color display that comes in both reflective and backlit formats, but most importantly, it’s a 60Hz panel.
For context, the iPhone 16 also serves a screen that reaches a 60Hz refresh rate figure, which means the HannSpree EcoVision Panel is nearly as smooth as the one on Apple’s latest smartphone. What we have for testing here is the HannsNote 2, an Android device that is a glorified one-of-a-kind paper-like reading slate.
What makes the HannsNote 2 so special
Before we dig into the specifics of just how HannSpree cracked the code for a 60Hz “normally scrolling” experience on a paper-like screen without any backlight, let’s briefly go over what a sunlit screen is all about.
Most screens around us produce their own light, either in front-lit or backlit format. They also offer the ability to adjust the brightness output depending on the external light levels and the strain your eyes can take. Think of a Kindle, a regular tablet, or a smartphone screen.
Then there are reflective screens, which lack light-producing hardware inside. Instead, they rely on the ambient light to reflect and show content on the screen. The whole approach is actually a fusion of light absorption and reflection through a layer of pixels, which are illuminated to show images after ambient light is reflected through it.
Theoretically, this approach promises much lower power consumption. Plus, it rids the screen of blue light emission, and the reflective approach is easier on the eyes as well since that’s technically how we see the rest of the world around us.
The Onyx Boox Go is one such example of a reflective screen with a monochrome approach. Then, there is the Daylight Computer DC-1 tablet, which takes a hybrid approach by offering a sunlit and backlit mode for viewing content on the panel. Yet, both devices only provide a black-and-white viewing format.
The technology at play on the HannsNote 2 is the HannStar Argentum Birefringence system, which promises up to 80% lower power consumption than a regular LED-backlit panel. In addition to the color output and higher refresh rate, the update response has been reduced to single-digit millisecond levels.
A truly special tablet display
One of the biggest draws of the HannsNote 2 is the full-color 10-point multitouch panel, which is capable of producing an impressive gamut of 16.7 million colors at 24-bit color depth. The resolution is not exactly eye-popping at 1200 x 1600 pixels spanning across a 3:4 panel, but for reading and watching the occasional video, it gets the job done.
The slate itself is just 4.9mm across and weighs only 350 grams. The build quality is solid, and thanks to the wraparound leather finish on the rear shell and one of the vertical edges, the HannsNote 2 feels more like a vintage leather notebook. You get the usual set of power and volume buttons and a few holes drilled on the rounded edge for audio output.
The EcoVision panel is fantastic, even though its surface feels more like the type of TFT resistive screen that pushed touchscreen phones into the mainstream for the first time. The viewing angle is not too bad either, at 120 degrees. There isn’t much of a color shift to be seen here, just like an average LCD screen.
But as you move the slate, the onscreen content gets dimmer or brighter (read: shows glare) depending on the direction of light beams falling on it. In a nutshell, how many eyes can comfortably read content on the HannsNote 2’s screen, or just how much angular freedom a single person can take, depends entirely on the source of light around. That’s both a good and bad thing.
Under the sun, you won’t have to fiddle with the angle at which you hold the slate. Indoors, you might struggle, as the more overhead artificial light sources there are, the harder it gets to avoid the strong glare artifact on the screen. HannSpree tells Digital Trends that it’s launching paper-like tablets with a front-light feature soon.
Sitting in a coffee shop, I couldn’t avoid those white reflection patches from the lights around me. Moreover, the brighter it is, the more jarring it looks on the HannsNote 2’s screen. If you’re reading something with a dark background (like Batman comics) or watching videos, the ambient glare proves to be quite a nuisance. Also, keep in mind that there is no way to adjust the color intensity (unlike the Onyx Boox tablets) or play with brightness output, so you’re left with no other option but to change the angle at which you are holding the tablet or shift your spot until you find a position that takes the lowest reflection toll on the colors.
I work predominantly on an iPad Pro with a bright OLED screen. I love its colors and sharpness, but the eye fatigue is inescapable. The HannsNote 2’s screen is more gentle on the eyes. After a writing session lasting about four hours in a garden, I didn’t feel any stress in my eyes, which is rare.
The shine, and the stumble
Now, what I’ve described above are mostly outlier cases. Look at how legible the EcoVision display is in a coffee shop with various kinds of LEDs and hanging lamps attached to the ceiling. The only nagging issue is the lack of proper contrast, which can be achieved against a white background or a backlit architecture, neither of which is available here.
On the positive side, HannsNote 2’s color display is quite pleasant. It looks the best under natural light, and thanks to the fluidity of a 60Hz panel, the touch interactions don’t feel out of character, especially the zoom and drag gestures. Sketching with a USI stylus was a no-fuss experience without any issues.
I haven’t encountered any make-or-break hurdles integrating it into my workflow. From reading on the train to using it as a secondary reference screen for keeping an eye on social feeds and workplace chats, the HannsNote 2 has proved to be a helpful addition. There are enough pixels for an effortless reading session or picking up decor ideas from Pinterest. Just don’t push it at tasks where you deal with many colors. A perceived shade of jade green on the EcoVision panel turned out quite different when I viewed the same post on the iPad Pro’s OLED screen.
The problem, of course, is the color of the ambient light. For example, if your workspace is heavy on yellow light — or you’re one of those “RGB everywhere” souls — the EcoVision panel can take you for a color reflection ride, and not necessarily in a good way.
HannSpree’s EcoVision panel is claimed to offer a “20:1 ambient contrast ratio (ACR)” toward better visibility in sunlight and with a glare-free approach. For the most part, it’s true. Not seeing reflection artifacts on a screen is a relief. The total absence of shadow artifacts from the previous frame – a problem for every other e-ink screen out there – is a game changer.
It’s a perk that needs to be seen and felt in person. Natural light or otherwise, the smooth paper-like screen on the HannsNote 2 is a joy to use. It feels different to touch and view, yet it also stands out in its own unique way.
What’s not so good about it
This is where you pay the innovation tax. The EcoVision Paper Display ends up sucking a lot more power than an average reflective or backlit e-ink screen, all because of that high refresh rate panel.
My daily usage pattern involved reading in a Brave browser and occasionally checking Gmail and work apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams. The average mileage I got was about 35 to 40 minutes of usage for each quarter of the battery juice.
The most recent analysis of battery drain in the Settings app said that with 75% battery in the tank, the HannsNote 2 would last only about 2 hours and 5 minutes. Those are serious battery anxiety figures. After enabling adaptive battery and power-saving mode (which activates dark mode, delays notifications, and lowers background activity), the mileage won’t increase by any healthy margin.
Even Hannspree notes that the built-in battery is only good enough for 2 to 3 hours of video watching. That’s not entirely unexpected, as the slate only comes equipped with a 2.200 mAh battery, which is half the size of an average smartphone battery.
On the flip side, it’s a small battery and fills up quickly. On a few occasions, I simply reverse-charged it with my phone. Yes, you might not always carry a USB-C cable, and there is no reverse wireless charging convenience available here, so there’s that.
It’s pretty evident that the lion’s share of expenses went into the display tech. The machine is powered by a quad-core Rockchip RK3566 silicon with four Arm Cotex-A55 cores paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. This is not exactly the kind of firepower suited for an Android tablet. A reading device? Well, it’s more than enough. Everything is smooth for reading, video watching, working on a document with a stylus or Bluetooth keyboard, and scrolling the social media feed.
Just don’t burden the slate with a lot of background activity or attempt to run games. Chess and card games? Fair enough. Anything with animations and graphics pizzaz? Don’t do that. You will feel the stutters. Thankfully, no worrisome thermal issues have popped up for me so far.
Who is the HannsNote 2 for?
So, here’s the most important question. Should you get this device? Conversely, who is the target audience? “Tablet or iPad users who want a display with eyecare features. The EcoVision Paper Display offers true 8-bit, non-FRC (frame rate control), flicker-free, anti-glare, and zero blue light features,” HannSpree tells Digital Trends. The company is also eying Kindle and Kobo fans looking for a swanky display upgrade.
The HannsNote 2 currently goes for the equivalent of $350 in Europe. Keep that price tag in the context of what you seek from a tablet. Do you want a no-frills reading device that is easy on the eyes, preferably something like e-ink, and that can take notes while mimicking the feel of paper? If the answer is yes, this tablet will offer you a silky smooth experience, unlike any other eye-friendly paper-like panel. How about you add a few million colors to it and then make it feel as normal as an iPhone’s screen?
Then maybe add the versatility of a full-fledged Android experience that lets you download any app of your choice — reading, streaming, social media, or work chat. That’s even better. Plus, there’s even a front camera, just in case. Overall, I’d say that’s much more than a typical reading tablet can accomplish, along with a few standout exclusives like a “normal” 60Hz screen. That’s essentially the HannsNote 2 for you. It’s a next-gen display tech slapped on a slim slate with the added convenience of Android.
The only caveat is that it needs ambient light to weave its magic. If you’re a garden or cafe reading aficionado, you’ll love this one. For folks who prefer the comfort of their bed or couch to finish a gripping e-book embraced by darkness, well, make sure that the bedside lamp is on.
“Our tablets could serve consumers who want a device specifically for outdoor use,” said HannSpree when asked about the market reality. “Whether this market exists or not remains to be seen.”
To the company’s credit, the tech works.
