I wanted to write a post to quickly summarise the differences between e-ink tablets that have a frontlight and those that don’t because this seems to be something that causes a lot of debate amongst the community.
I’ll also discuss my own preference in this regard (which is wholly subjective, but honest).
What is a frontlight?
In essence a frontlight is a series of LEDs that illuminate the screen of an e-reader or e-ink tablet so that it can be viewed clearly in dim and dark environments.
So, if you’re sat on your sofa reading an e-book in the early evening, you will find that as the sun begins to set and the level of light diminishes, it will be more difficult to read the text on the screen. So, you turn the frontlight on, and reading becomes comfortable again.
Similarly, if you like to read in bed with the lights turned off, a frontlight is a necessity.
I should also mention that many (but not all) e-ink tablets that have a frontlight also have a ‘warmlight’, also known as ‘temperature settings’. This means that you can adjust the hue of the frontlight between a bright white/blue colour and a shade of reddish orange. The warmer reddish shade is said to be better for reading at night-time because blue light can make keep you awake.
What is the difference between a frontlight and a backlight?
One of the reasons that you may wish to purchase an e-ink device is because the frontlight can easier on the eyes than conventional backlit LED/LCD screens that are found on most laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Whilst both frontlit e-ink devices and backlit LED/LCD devices illuminate the screen, the technology is different, The upshot is that frontlit devices emit less blue light and may reduce eye strain (although I don’t believe there is enough data from impartial studies to prove this empirically).
This is because backlit displays fire photons from a light source at the back of the screen (through various polarizers/filters) and directly into your eyes.
The light source on frontlit devices is aimed at the screen, so essentially the photons are bouncing off the screen, much like they would for any external light source, such as a lamp.
In essence, frontlit screens are reflective, whilst backlit screens are emissive.
Advantages of a frontlight
The main advantage of having a frontlight on an e-ink device is that you don’t need an external light source, such as a ceiling light, lamp, or sunlight to view the screen.
No matter the external lighting conditions, you can always increase/decrease the brightness of the screen.
You always have a source of light built into the device itself.
Disadvantages of a frontlight
Whilst a frontlight has a definite advantage that will be very important to many people, it is important to be aware of some of the disadvantages.
The first disadvantage is that a frontlight adds another layer to the e-ink tablet’s screen that sits between the surface and the e-ink layer (where text and handwriting is displayed).
The result is that there is a tiny (and for some, almost imperceivable) gap between where the nib of the stylus touches the screen and where the stroke appears. So, it can make your writing and sketching feel ever-so-slightly off-kilter and imprecise, almost as if you are writing marginally beneath the screen rather than on its surface.
Similarly, when reading, the text can appear slightly below the surface of the screen, which can be a little off-putting for some people.
Another disadvantage of a frontlight is that it has to draw power from the battery, so the battery will not last quite so long before it requires a recharge. Although this is only around an additional 1-2% of battery per hour whilst the frontlight is being used, it can quickly add up over time – 10hrs of use would drain around 10-20% of battery.
Summary and my personal preference
In summary, e-ink tablets with a frontlight have a great advantage over those without in that they carry their own light source and so can be used comfortably in many different environments with variable external light conditions.
E-ink tablets without frontlights have a slightly more precise writing/sketching experience and slightly longer battery life.
However, I think it is important to note that just because an e-ink tablet has a frontlight, it does not mean that the writing experience will be terrible. The distance between the surface of the screen and where the strokes are made is very very small, and if you’ve not used a non-frontlit e-ink tablet before, you would probably struggle to notice it. The ‘gap‘ does exist but unless you have a particular attention to detail, it would probably not affect your experience too much.
Having said that, my personal preference (having used several frontlit and non-frontlit tablets over many years) is to use an e-ink tablet without a frontlight as my daily driver.
This is because I do notice the ‘gap‘, which is probably a result of me using both types of tablet and having that experiential comparison in the forefront of my mind.
But there is also an additional subjective disadvantage to frontlit screens that is perhaps personal to my specific situation and which I will attempt to explain…
When I first started using e-ink tablets, it was to replace my paper-based notebooks, and I wanted it to be as close to a paper-like experience as possible. Essentially, an endless supply of paper that sits on my desk and can be used for taking notes and organising them. I feel that when you add a frontlight into this mix, the e-ink tablet becomes more of a computer than a notebook; more digital than analogue. And this just doesn’t feel right to me – call it instinct, gut feeling, or whatever, it just puts a dampener the experience for me (highly subjective, I know, but I did promise to give my personal perspective).
Add to this fact that I would only really ever use my paper-based notebooks when there was enough ambient light in the environment (and if there wasn’t, I’d just turn a light on). Note-taking simply isn’t something that I particularly enjoy or find practical in the dark (even with a frontlight).
So, I’ve never felt like I am losing anything by not having a frontlight but I do have the advantages of a slightly more precise writing experience, text that appears to be on the surface of the screen (rather than a bit below it) and slightly better battery life.
SIDENOTE: I should mention that I do read e-books in bed at night (in the dark) on a fairly regular basis, but I do not use an e-ink writing tablet for this.
Instead, I use a frontlit e-reader (without writing capabilities) – for a long time this was the Kindle Paperwhite, but I’ve recently switched to the Boox Go Color 7.
I find this more convenient because it is smaller, lighter, and more comfortable to hold than most e-ink tablets.
Having said all this, I can acknowledge that for many people (perhaps even most people), the benefits of having a frontlight will far outweigh the disadvantages. For example, if lighting conditions around you change whilst you are working, it is much easier to crank up the brightness of the screen from the device itself rather than get up from your chair and turn a light on. Some people enjoy note-taking in bed in the dark, and others may regularly wake up in the middle of the night with a great new idea and want to write it down as quickly as possibly.
But for someone like me who has no real need for an e-ink tablet that illuminates itself, the advantages of a non-frontlit device are more important.
Recommended E-Ink Tablets Without Frontlights
My current top picks for e-ink tablets without a frontlight are:
Recommended E-Ink Tablets With Frontlights
My current top picks for e-ink tablets with a frontlight are:
About the author
Dan Dutton is passionate about E-ink writing tablets, which bring together the pleasure of writing on paper with the power of digital technology. When he bought his first tablet, he realised that there wasn't a lot of unbiased information available for people that were considering buying an E-ink tablet, and so he built eWritable.