Icarus Illumina 2

At a Glance

The Icarus Illumina (2015) with E-Ink Carta display is the updated version of the popular Android eReader, designed primarily for users who want to combine maximum flexibility with the comfortable reading experience of a dedicated E-Ink device. On the outside, little has changed compared to its predecessor: the solidly built, matte black casing with page-turn buttons on both sides of the display still leaves a high-quality impression and, weighing in at 199 g, sits comfortably in the solid mid-range. What’s new is the doubled internal storage of 8 GB (with 5.55 GB available), which can be expanded via microSD card by up to 32 GB. About 1 GB is available for app installations, and additional apps can still be installed either through an alternative store or manually as APK files.

The 6-inch E-Ink Carta panel (1024 × 758 px, 212 ppi) offers a brighter background and noticeably better contrast compared to the previous Pearl display. The front lighting has also been significantly improved: color blotches have disappeared, the illumination is more even, and thanks to a remarkably high maximum brightness of 375 cd/m², it works well even in very bright environments. The only drawback is the rather high minimum brightness (6.72 cd/m²), which could disturb sensitive eyes in completely dark rooms. For reading, the Illumina scores with numerous customization options for font, font size, line spacing, and margins, as well as the ability to install your own fonts. Thanks to the dual-core CPU and 512 MB RAM, PDFs open smoothly and can be edited with features like margin cropping, contrast enhancement, and text reflow—even though a dedicated column mode is missing.

Its biggest strength continues to be the open Android system (version 4.2.2), which makes it possible to use a wide variety of reading apps, library services like Skoobe, or PDF tools. If you wish, you can even root the reader and customize it extensively. Everyday use is made easier by the dedicated refresh button for quickly eliminating ghosting effects, as well as the page-turn buttons, which work natively in certain apps.

The Illumina’s weaknesses mainly show in its battery life, which is shorter compared to many competitors, as well as some standard apps like the dictionary and note-taking functions, which are rather limited in their appeal. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most flexible eReaders on the market and arguably offers the best Android experience on a dedicated reading device. For modding enthusiasts and individualists, it’s an especially interesting model that stands out from the competition with its adaptability and versatility.

Icarus Illumina 2: Full Review

With the Icarus Illumina, the Dutch company caused quite a stir a few months ago, because this eBook reader offers an openly expandable Android operating system that even works seamlessly with Skoobe’s all-you-can-read subscription. Of course, many other apps work too, and overall the user interface has been very well adapted to the needs of a monochrome E Ink screen. Just the thing for tinkerers and individualists who want a personalized reading experience.

As with PocketBook, the E Ink Pearl era is now coming to a rather abrupt end at Icarus (or the manufacturer Boyue) as well. The Illumina was recently switched to E Ink Carta, just like the Touch Lux 3. The new device is sold under the same name and model number (E653).

So we’re taking another look at the device to see how the Carta-equipped Illumina performs.

Unboxing, build quality & features

The Icarus Illumina is sold in the same packaging as the Pearl predecessor. Not only is the design identical, but the entire labeling, including the technical specs that list the eReader with an E Ink Pearl display, is the same. There is one small difference, though: the 2015 model has a sticker indicating that the internal storage has been doubled. Instead of 4 GB, the Illumina now has 8 GB of storage.

Nothing appears to have changed on the eBook reader itself either: the 2015 Illumina sits in the same housing as the old model, which means the updated device leaves the same very good tactile impression. Nothing rattles, wobbles, or creaks—everything feels solid. The matte-black case is excellently built.

A dying breed: the Icarus Illumina still has page-turn buttons beside the screen

There are still six buttons on the front in total: two page-turn buttons on each side of the display, plus a refresh button on the left and a back button on the right of the screen. The dimensions remain unchanged at 168x118x9 mm. At a measured 199 grams, the Icarus Illumina isn’t heavy, but it tends to land in the upper mid-range. The trend in the 6-inch segment is now heading toward the 180-gram mark.

Of the 8 GB of total storage, 5.55 GB are available—basically more than enough even for extensive eBook libraries. If that’s still not enough, you can add a microSD card and expand by up to 32 GB, giving you space for several tens of thousands of eBooks on average. That should be sufficient even if you’ve built up a huge library with thousands of free eBooks.

A total of 0.98 GB is available for app installations, with 792 MB free out of the box. That should be more than enough for most users. If needed, you can also move apps (partially) to the remaining storage to free up space.

As with the predecessor, you can freely install Android apps here too. New: an alternative app store

Wireless networking (Wi‑Fi) is of course on board again, so you can access the internet with the excellent mobile Android browser. You do have to forego the Google Play Store, but Icarus offers an alternative app store that lets you install apps without registering or logging in—very handy. Unsurprisingly, the selection is smaller than Google’s. If you can’t find an app, you can still install it manually by downloading the APK file yourself and copying it to the device. You can also use app stores from Amazon or F-Droid.

The device is still powered by a dual-core Rockchip processor clocked at up to 1 GHz, which delivers more than enough performance for everyday use. The 512 MB of RAM is also generous. However, battery life remains an issue: while a past update reportedly improved it, in this new test it again stands out for draining comparatively quickly.

Display & lighting

As mentioned at the outset, the main reason for revisiting the Icarus Illumina is the display technology in use. Instead of E Ink Pearl, the device now uses E Ink Carta.

The screen size remains 6 inches, as does the resolution of 1024×758 pixels. That yields a pixel density of 212 ppi, which—as usual—is more than sufficient for normal reading. Real differences compared to higher-resolution devices (Kobo Glo HD, Kindle Voyage, etc.) are basically only noticeable at a glance with small UI elements or particularly small font sizes.

The new Illumina’s E Ink Carta display proves to be a noticeable improvement over the old model, both visually and in our standardized measurements. Primarily, this shows up as a visibly lighter background, which makes reading more pleasant and inviting. The comparison image below shows the difference between the Pearl and Carta models in good ambient light.

The Icarus Illumina with E Ink Carta display (right) clearly has the better screen—even with good lighting (as shown here), the difference from the old Pearl model (left) is easy to see.

Note: To make the differences between the models even clearer, the measurement procedure was adjusted again and a different light source was used. The figures below were newly determined and are not directly comparable with older numbers (from earlier tests). This is a practical measurement, not the maximum contrast ratio.

Contrast ratio without lighting (higher is better)

• Kobo Aura H2O 8.98
• Kindle Voyage 8.48
• Bookeen Muse Frontlight 8.25
• Kindle Paperwhite 2 8.0
• Kobo Glo HD 7.99
• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Carta) 7.65
• Tolino Vision 2 7.48
• PocketBook Touch Lux 3 7.45
• PocketBook Ultra 7.27
• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Pearl) 7.07
• Tolino Vision 1 6.96
• PocketBook Touch Lux 2 6.47

That puts the eBook reader on par with the Carta-based competition.

The lighting has also been improved and looks completely different: the color blotch issue has disappeared entirely, suggesting that either there’s now better final QC on the LEDs used (i.e., the color temperature is better matched), or a different light guide film is in use (or both).

The new Illumina (right) is spared the color blotch issue

There is a slight vertical brightness gradient, but you’ll find that on renowned competitors as well, and it’s far less distracting than color blotches.

The contrast ratio also improves with the light on, thanks in part this time to the extremely high maximum brightness (see below).

Contrast ratio X:1, at full brightness (higher is better)

• Bookeen Muse Frontlight 10.78
• Kindle Voyage 10.5
• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Carta) 10.2
• Kobo Aura H2O 10.0
• PocketBook Touch Lux 3 9.54
• PocketBook Touch Lux 2 9.4
• Kobo Glo HD 9.21
• Kindle Paperwhite 2 9.0
• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Pearl) 7.4
• Tolino Vision 2 7.4
• Tolino Vision 1 6.5
• PocketBook Ultra 4.9

This excellent contrast value with lighting is achieved through a combination of a good light guide film and very high maximum brightness—much like the Bookeen Muse Frontlight.

The highest brightness level reaches an incredible 375 cd/m². That’s an enormously high, almost absurd figure. Many mid-range tablets achieve such a value, but among eBook readers it’s a real exception.

In practice, that means you can noticeably brighten the background even in well-lit rooms. However, the screen can get so bright that it occasionally dazzles. Fortunately, you can adjust the brightness in 24 steps, so you can tune the display’s intensity to your needs.

While the new model has been better than its predecessor in every respect so far, there is one downside here. The E Ink Pearl model had a minimum brightness of just 0.7 cd/m², which was clearly advantageous in completely dark rooms (to avoid glare), but the new Illumina can only be dialed down to at least 6.72 cd/m². The Illumina shares this downside with the Bookeen model. This is a drawback for light-sensitive users.

Maximum screen brightness in cd/m² (higher is better)

• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Carta) 375
• Kindle Voyage 122
• Kobo Glo 121
• Kobo Aura 112
• Kobo Aura H2O 99
• PocketBook Touch Lux 2 96
• Kindle Paperwhite 2 91
• PocketBook Sense 70
• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Pearl) 60
• Tolino Vision 2 53
• Tolino Shine 41
• PocketBook Ultra 40

Minimum screen brightness in cd/m² (lower is better)

• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Carta) 6.72
• Kobo Glo 4
• Tolino Shine 2.4
• PocketBook Sense 2.4
• Tolino Vision 2 2.2
• PocketBook Ultra 2
• Kobo Aura H2O 1.2
• Kobo Aura 1.2
• PocketBook Touch Lux 2 1.1
• Icarus Illumina 2015 (Pearl) 0.7
• Kindle Voyage 0.2
• Kindle Paperwhite (2013) 0.2

Interim verdict: The new Illumina shows clear improvements overall, with the contrast ratio and lighting quality making a noticeable leap forward. A drawback is the high minimum brightness of the light—the predecessor did better here.

Reading & usability

Compared to our first test of last year’s model, the Icarus Illumina’s software has only seen minor adjustments. The most important is the alternative app store that comes preinstalled. The Android version is again 4.2.2, so otherwise almost everything remains the same—which is not a disadvantage.

Initial setup is just as straightforward as with the predecessor: switch it on and you’re ready to go. The home screen is clean and tidy—initially, however, in English. A quick visit to the settings fixes that so the interface is shown in German as well.

Clean, uncluttered home screen

The top half of the screen shows the last books you were reading, with the four most recently added files below that. At the bottom edge are four shortcuts: Books, Apps, Settings, and Browser. If you want, you can change three of these shortcuts.

Library and reading

You can authorize Adobe DRM either directly on the device or via PC as usual.

The library uses the existing directory structure of the file system

The library offers several view modes and sorting options, as well as a search function. It uses the file system’s directory structure, so you can copy your existing folders from your PC and continue using them without hassle. The edit mode lets you make some adjustments directly on the device, though the ability to create new folders is still missing. For that, you either need to go via PC or use an alternative Android app.

Text customization is extensive and works quickly and reliably. In addition to stepwise font size adjustments, you can change the font, line spacing (12 steps, from 0.8 to 1.9) and margins (12 steps, 0 to 55 pixels). The pinch-to-zoom gesture is also available for changing font size. You can install your own fonts as well.

Good text customization options

Highlights, notes & dictionary

Notes, highlights, and bookmarks are on board again. Selection works as usual via a context menu after you’ve tapped and held on a word briefly or dragged your finger across a text section.

You can create bookmarks via the reading menu, and they’re then collected in the bookmarks overview.

You can also access the dictionary function via the context menu mentioned; by default the StarDict app is used. The display seems to work better than on the predecessor, so the correct search results from the many preinstalled dictionaries are now actually shown.

The dictionary opens in the middle of the screen. A remaining downside is the relatively long delay before the definition is displayed. As always, it’s also worth noting that free dictionary apps naturally can’t match the quality of editorially produced and maintained offerings like Duden & co.

PDF viewing

The Icarus Illumina’s PDF rendering is among the better ones in the 6-inch eReader segment. That’s primarily thanks to the fast dual-core CPU and sufficiently large RAM, so you can open and navigate even very large files relatively smoothly.

For PDFs you also get several handy navigation and display options, including pinch-to-zoom, contrast enhancement, text reflow, and margin cropping.

Unfortunately, there are still no dedicated paging modes (e.g., column mode) to move the viewport step by step. Instead, you always have to pan the excerpt when zoomed in.

Installing Android apps freely

The Illumina’s biggest plus, without a doubt, is its app expandability. Thanks to Android 4.2.2, you can install almost all modern Android applications. Of course, there are the usual E Ink-related limitations (not all apps work well on a slow black-and-white display), but overall app functionality is very good. You still have to do without Gmail and other Google apps due to the missing Google framework.

With root access, you can also customize the device very extensively—even more than free apps already allow. You can replace the preinstalled eBook app with other programs and make all sorts of changes elsewhere. That means the shortcomings of the stock reading app, PDF viewer, or library don’t weigh too heavily.

Also handy: in some apps the device’s page-turn buttons work perfectly (e.g., Skoobe – see video report). Alternatively, you can map the page-turn buttons to volume controls. The Illumina doesn’t have audio, but some apps allow paging via the volume keys. This is a clever way for Icarus to sidestep potential incompatibilities.

In testing, the current model ran absolutely flawlessly with no crashes. That’s how it should be.

Conclusion

As with its predecessor, the updated Icarus Illumina impresses with its well-adapted Android interface and the ability to freely install apps. That’s undoubtedly the device’s greatest strength, since it lets you use virtually all well-known reading apps and even all-you-can-read subscriptions (like Skoobe) without issue.

The dedicated refresh button next to the screen is especially helpful, since only a fraction of available Android apps are optimized for E Ink displays. With this button, you can clear ghosting quickly and easily at a single press.

The updated Illumina’s E Ink Carta display also convinces and sits in the solid mid-range. The excellent contrast ratio with the light on adds to the very good impression and ensures the eBook reader is easily readable in (almost) any lighting situation. A downside is the high base brightness of the front light, which could be a problem for light-sensitive users in dark rooms.

The new Icarus Illumina also does well for lighting quality, scoring with relatively even light distribution—this time without any color blotches.

The Icarus Illumina is still a good device and probably the best Android implementation on an eReader. There are still a few weaknesses to iron out, though.

With the new model, Icarus again offers a good reading device—currently the best open Android eBook reader. That’s not really surprising, since aside from the display, not much has changed compared to its predecessor.

In any case, modding fans and individualists should take a closer look at the Illumina, as it remains the best and most modern Android implementation on a dedicated reading device. In the end, the Icarus Illumina earns a good final grade of 1.8.

Icarus Illumina 2: Technical Specifications

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