Do you need to have the frontlight on when using the Nova color 3?

Surprisingly I've had difficulty confirming this. I understand that because of the additional layer, the black and white portion is fuzzier and bluer. However I'd like to confirm if the device can be used with no front-light on i.e. just another source of light as with a physical book and if the colors can be seen with that. Or if you need to have the front light on for the device to work
Thanks