PocketBook 740: Performance Test of the First Dual-Core Pocketbook
Hello! A couple of weeks ago a detailed review of the company's latest flagship reader, PocketBook 740, was published in the official PocketBook blog on Geektimes.ru. Just in case, let me remind you that this is the top model in 2018, which, among other things, differs from its predecessors by the screen (and at the moment it is the best E Ink screen I've ever seen), with a new compact design (the smallest large reader on the market is 7 , 8-inch model, comparable in size to 6-inch), support for PocketBook Cloud cloud service ( review ) and a new dual-core processor.
As you probably already understood from the title of this post, in it I will thoroughly test PocketBook 740 for the speed of work. Developers from PocketBook at the time of the announcement of the reader talked about an increase of about 40% compared with previous models. So let's see - whether they greatly exaggerated.
Arm a stopwatch - and go!
It is worth noting that at the very end of February a firmware update was released for PocketBook 740. It focuses precisely on improving performance. That is, if it used to be just fast, now we are promised another tangible increase in the speed of work. Of course, I immediately installed this update and tested it with the latest firmware version.
')
I will compare the PocketBook 740 with the PocketBook 626 Plus, which I personally own. This is a typical 6-inch reader of the previous generation. If the PocketBook 740 has a dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM, then the PocketBook 626 Plus has only one core with the same frequency - 1 GHz - and 256 MB of RAM. For the order, I summarized all the characteristics of these two devices in the table:
Well, let's see - who will put someone on the shoulder blades. On the side of PocketBook 740 - new hardware, on the side of PocketBook 626 Plus - a noticeably lower screen resolution and firmware flushed over the years (PocketBook 626 Plus now costs 9,900 rubles, sold from 2015 and survived five software updates).
Test number of times. I started testing PocketBook 740 since the firmware update. The update weighing 220 MB was established in about 2 minutes. For comparison: when I bought the PocketBook 626 Plus in November 2017 and turned it on for the first time, the reader also offered to upgrade; The firmware weighed about 200 MB, and it took about 10 minutes to install. It is clear that in these firmware there could be completely different fixes, and their type in theory could affect the installation speed. Nevertheless, the fivefold difference (2 minutes at 740 versus 10 minutes at 626 Plus) hints that the 740th reader is noticeably faster.
Test number two. Then I decided to open some large PDF file on both readers. Chose the book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar in Russian translation. But for starters, I downloaded this book to PocketBook 740 and PocketBook 626 Plus via USB using a single port on the body of the laptop and the same cord. The results are as follows: PocketBook 626 Plus gave a speed of 1.7 Mb / s, and PocketBook 740 - 18.7 Mb / s. That is, the new reader here was about ten times faster than the old one. (Here and below: I conducted each test three times and took an average value - I consider writing the best numbers wrong.)
Test number three. Actually opening the file Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar in PDF of 107 MB. PocketBook 740 showed the first page of the book in 3 seconds, and PocketBook 626 Plus - in 8 seconds. Thus, the new product is about three times faster when opening “heavy” PDF. Plus, they scroll on the PocketBook 740 noticeably smoother, without jerks.
Test number four. I suspect that far from all will open huge PDFs on the reader, the majority of users will limit themselves to books of other formats - the same FB2, for example. Therefore, I in turn opened the complete work on Sherlock Holmes in FB2.ZIP with a volume of 1.5 MB on the readers. The difference was less impressive: PocketBook 740 handled in 2 seconds, PocketBook 626 Plus - in 4. That is, the first model is twice as fast. Which, however, is also very noticeable.
Test number five. Next, I tested the speed of the inclusion of readers with the opening of the book - all the same Sherlock Holmes. PocketBook 740 loads and displays text in 6 seconds, while PocketBook 626 Plus spends 13 seconds on this operation. The difference is more than double.
Text number six. For the order I decided to test the browser by opening Geektimes.ru in it. I’ll draw your attention to the fact that the speed in this case depends not only on the Wi-Fi connection, but also on the software and hardware too. For example, here is a test of iPhone SE and iPhone 7 , where they open the same site at completely different speeds.
Pocketbooks also coped with the task in different ways: PocketBook 740 loaded the Geektimes.ru homepage in 6 seconds, PocketBook 626 Plus - in 11 seconds.
Bonus track: battery test. This test is in no way connected with performance, it concerns the battery life. PocketBook says that thanks to various software and hardware optimizations, the new flagship PocketBook 740 allows you to flip 15,000 pages on one charge, while the 6-inch models of the previous generation, the same PocketBook 626 Plus, are only 8,000. Test with 15 or 8 Thousands of pages are unrealistic, so I read 300 pages on one model and 300 pages on another, setting the fonts so that the same amount of text was placed on one page, and setting the backlight brightness to the same level.
PocketBook 626 Plus while reading the specified amount of text consumed 5% of the battery charge, and PocketBook 740 - only 2%. A simple calculation shows that in the case of an old PocketBook 626 Plus, a full battery would theoretically be enough for 6,000 pages, and in the case of the flagship PocketBook 740, for the very 15,000. Clearly, this is all very conditional, and in the first case , for example, 7,000, and in the second - 13,000. Or 5,000 and 16,000. But the indisputable fact is that there is a tangible increase in the PocketBook 740. And he, this growth, about two-fold. 15,000 pages is about two months of active reading, and such a lengthy autonomy is truly a record among all readers of any manufacturer represented on our market.
Test results in the form of a table
Here, perhaps, I will add that in some of the “disciplines” readers have proved themselves to be exactly the same. For example, in opening games (1 second in both cases), in opening photos (1-2 seconds depending on the weight of the file), in exit from sleep mode (1 second), and so on. In the post, I described only those situations where the difference in performance between the PocketBook 626 Plus and PocketBook 740 is clearly visible.
As output
Well, it can be stated that the developers even downplayed their achievements. In most tests, it’s not about 40%, but at least a twofold increase in performance in the case of the PocketBook 740. Probably, PocketBook decided to play it out: in some cases that I didn’t fix, the new reader can be only 40% faster than the old one. And therefore they indicated precisely this figure, so to speak, modestly.
In general, the new dual-core platform has definitely gone for PocketBook 740. It's nice to use the reader, there are no micro-delays (a fraction of a second) that occur in the same PocketBook 626 Plus. The speed of its operation can be compared ... for example, with smartphones of the previous generation - the year of commercials 2016. For the reader, this is a very compliment.
Let me remind you that the PocketBook 740 costs 14,900 rubles. At the moment, this is a unique offer on the e-book market. First, because for such money another reader with similar characteristics you simply do not buy. Secondly, because any other reader with a large (8 ") screen will be at least 3,000 rubles more expensive, and in terms of a set of modern functions and quality of the screen will be inferior to a new product from PocketBook, Finally, I note that this is the first PocketBook model, Russian version of which is cheaper than European.
The list of key features of PocketBook 740 is as follows:
- completely new design;
- A new concept of "small big" reader;
- dual-core processor and a radical increase in the speed of work;
- 7.8-inch screen with very high resolution, and at the moment it is the best E Ink-display that I personally have seen;
- cloud service PocketBook Cloud;
- twice as long autonomy as any other reader of any manufacturer - up to two months;
- adjustment of color temperature (the second poketbook with this option after PocketBook 631 Plus );
- warranty for 2 years or even 3 years, if you buy directly on the manufacturer's website - pocketbook.ru.
A full review of the PocketBook 740 can be found in this post .
I am pleased to hear constructive criticism and answer questions in the comments.
As you probably already understood from the title of this post, in it I will thoroughly test PocketBook 740 for the speed of work. Developers from PocketBook at the time of the announcement of the reader talked about an increase of about 40% compared with previous models. So let's see - whether they greatly exaggerated.
Arm a stopwatch - and go!
It is worth noting that at the very end of February a firmware update was released for PocketBook 740. It focuses precisely on improving performance. That is, if it used to be just fast, now we are promised another tangible increase in the speed of work. Of course, I immediately installed this update and tested it with the latest firmware version.
')
I will compare the PocketBook 740 with the PocketBook 626 Plus, which I personally own. This is a typical 6-inch reader of the previous generation. If the PocketBook 740 has a dual-core processor and 1 GB of RAM, then the PocketBook 626 Plus has only one core with the same frequency - 1 GHz - and 256 MB of RAM. For the order, I summarized all the characteristics of these two devices in the table:
Well, let's see - who will put someone on the shoulder blades. On the side of PocketBook 740 - new hardware, on the side of PocketBook 626 Plus - a noticeably lower screen resolution and firmware flushed over the years (PocketBook 626 Plus now costs 9,900 rubles, sold from 2015 and survived five software updates).
Test number of times. I started testing PocketBook 740 since the firmware update. The update weighing 220 MB was established in about 2 minutes. For comparison: when I bought the PocketBook 626 Plus in November 2017 and turned it on for the first time, the reader also offered to upgrade; The firmware weighed about 200 MB, and it took about 10 minutes to install. It is clear that in these firmware there could be completely different fixes, and their type in theory could affect the installation speed. Nevertheless, the fivefold difference (2 minutes at 740 versus 10 minutes at 626 Plus) hints that the 740th reader is noticeably faster.
Test number two. Then I decided to open some large PDF file on both readers. Chose the book Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar in Russian translation. But for starters, I downloaded this book to PocketBook 740 and PocketBook 626 Plus via USB using a single port on the body of the laptop and the same cord. The results are as follows: PocketBook 626 Plus gave a speed of 1.7 Mb / s, and PocketBook 740 - 18.7 Mb / s. That is, the new reader here was about ten times faster than the old one. (Here and below: I conducted each test three times and took an average value - I consider writing the best numbers wrong.)
Test number three. Actually opening the file Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar in PDF of 107 MB. PocketBook 740 showed the first page of the book in 3 seconds, and PocketBook 626 Plus - in 8 seconds. Thus, the new product is about three times faster when opening “heavy” PDF. Plus, they scroll on the PocketBook 740 noticeably smoother, without jerks.
Test number four. I suspect that far from all will open huge PDFs on the reader, the majority of users will limit themselves to books of other formats - the same FB2, for example. Therefore, I in turn opened the complete work on Sherlock Holmes in FB2.ZIP with a volume of 1.5 MB on the readers. The difference was less impressive: PocketBook 740 handled in 2 seconds, PocketBook 626 Plus - in 4. That is, the first model is twice as fast. Which, however, is also very noticeable.
Test number five. Next, I tested the speed of the inclusion of readers with the opening of the book - all the same Sherlock Holmes. PocketBook 740 loads and displays text in 6 seconds, while PocketBook 626 Plus spends 13 seconds on this operation. The difference is more than double.
Text number six. For the order I decided to test the browser by opening Geektimes.ru in it. I’ll draw your attention to the fact that the speed in this case depends not only on the Wi-Fi connection, but also on the software and hardware too. For example, here is a test of iPhone SE and iPhone 7 , where they open the same site at completely different speeds.
Pocketbooks also coped with the task in different ways: PocketBook 740 loaded the Geektimes.ru homepage in 6 seconds, PocketBook 626 Plus - in 11 seconds.
Bonus track: battery test. This test is in no way connected with performance, it concerns the battery life. PocketBook says that thanks to various software and hardware optimizations, the new flagship PocketBook 740 allows you to flip 15,000 pages on one charge, while the 6-inch models of the previous generation, the same PocketBook 626 Plus, are only 8,000. Test with 15 or 8 Thousands of pages are unrealistic, so I read 300 pages on one model and 300 pages on another, setting the fonts so that the same amount of text was placed on one page, and setting the backlight brightness to the same level.
PocketBook 626 Plus while reading the specified amount of text consumed 5% of the battery charge, and PocketBook 740 - only 2%. A simple calculation shows that in the case of an old PocketBook 626 Plus, a full battery would theoretically be enough for 6,000 pages, and in the case of the flagship PocketBook 740, for the very 15,000. Clearly, this is all very conditional, and in the first case , for example, 7,000, and in the second - 13,000. Or 5,000 and 16,000. But the indisputable fact is that there is a tangible increase in the PocketBook 740. And he, this growth, about two-fold. 15,000 pages is about two months of active reading, and such a lengthy autonomy is truly a record among all readers of any manufacturer represented on our market.
Test results in the form of a table
Here, perhaps, I will add that in some of the “disciplines” readers have proved themselves to be exactly the same. For example, in opening games (1 second in both cases), in opening photos (1-2 seconds depending on the weight of the file), in exit from sleep mode (1 second), and so on. In the post, I described only those situations where the difference in performance between the PocketBook 626 Plus and PocketBook 740 is clearly visible.
As output
Well, it can be stated that the developers even downplayed their achievements. In most tests, it’s not about 40%, but at least a twofold increase in performance in the case of the PocketBook 740. Probably, PocketBook decided to play it out: in some cases that I didn’t fix, the new reader can be only 40% faster than the old one. And therefore they indicated precisely this figure, so to speak, modestly.
In general, the new dual-core platform has definitely gone for PocketBook 740. It's nice to use the reader, there are no micro-delays (a fraction of a second) that occur in the same PocketBook 626 Plus. The speed of its operation can be compared ... for example, with smartphones of the previous generation - the year of commercials 2016. For the reader, this is a very compliment.
Let me remind you that the PocketBook 740 costs 14,900 rubles. At the moment, this is a unique offer on the e-book market. First, because for such money another reader with similar characteristics you simply do not buy. Secondly, because any other reader with a large (8 ") screen will be at least 3,000 rubles more expensive, and in terms of a set of modern functions and quality of the screen will be inferior to a new product from PocketBook, Finally, I note that this is the first PocketBook model, Russian version of which is cheaper than European.
The list of key features of PocketBook 740 is as follows:
- completely new design;
- A new concept of "small big" reader;
- dual-core processor and a radical increase in the speed of work;
- 7.8-inch screen with very high resolution, and at the moment it is the best E Ink-display that I personally have seen;
- cloud service PocketBook Cloud;
- twice as long autonomy as any other reader of any manufacturer - up to two months;
- adjustment of color temperature (the second poketbook with this option after PocketBook 631 Plus );
- warranty for 2 years or even 3 years, if you buy directly on the manufacturer's website - pocketbook.ru.
A full review of the PocketBook 740 can be found in this post .
I am pleased to hear constructive criticism and answer questions in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/410923/
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