PocketBook Era Color: Slow And Steady Wins The Race? 7" Color E-Ink eReader REVIEW
Ғылым және технология
Color E-Ink is on the rise and one of its - what I like to call mainstream pioneers - just released another Color E-Ink ereader.
I’m talking about the 7 inch Pocketbook Era Color.
Besides Amazon and Kobo, PocketBook is one of the three mainstream ereader providers in western markets. And what I love about them is that they aren’t shy of trying new things while still providing good accessibility.
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🔗 LINKS
► 10% discount in the EU with coupon allesebook for all PocketBook ereaders on pocketbook.de (affiliate): pocketbook.de/de_de/pocketboo...
► PocketBook Era Color (affiliate): geni.us/vRPMj
► PocketBook InkPad Color 3 (affiliate): geni.us/6EXKly
► PocketBook InkPad 4 Review: • PocketBook InkPad 4 RE...
► PocketBook Era Review: • PocketBook Era REVIEW:...
🎬 CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:24 Design, Specs & Wireless Charging Case
04:08 Color E-Ink Screen
05:40 Disadvantages of Color E-Ink (Kaleido 3)
07:54 Improved User Experience with Color E-Ink
08:46 Frontlight Quality & Ghosting
10:23 Dark Mode
11:02 Modern & Intuitive UI
12:16 Lock-In Practices
13:22 Many Customization Options & Data Privacy
14:30 Library
15:00 Reading eBooks, Text Styling, Dictionaries, Note Taking
16:44 Text-To-Speech (Demo)
17:58 Audiobooks & Music
18:20 PDF-Functions
19:10 PocketBook Store & Battery Life
20:09 Conclusion
🖖WHO AM I
I'm Chalid, and I've been a fan of e-ink technology for a very long time. I've been reviewing e-ink devices since 2010. After more than 100 different e-reader tests for my German website, this channel is dedicated to sharing my experiences with the latest e-readers, other e-paper devices, and sometimes other tech in English as well.
🔗 DISCLAIMER/DISCLOSURE
The tips, tricks and experiences shared are for guidance only; any actions taken based on these are solely at your own risk. Some links in the description contain affiliate links, which means that if you buy something through these links, I will receive a small commission on a purchase at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you so much for supporting the channel.
🔖 TAGS
PocketBook Era, PocketBook Era Color, Pocketbook Era Colour, Pocketbook InkPad Color 3, PocketBook InkPad Color3, Pocketbook Era Color Review, Pocketbook Era Color Hands-On, Pocketbook Era Color Test, PocketBook Era Colour, Pocketbook Color, E-Ink Kaleido, Color E-Ink, Colour E-Ink, Kaleido 3
#ereader #eink #pocketbook #kindle
Пікірлер: 69
Your reviews are the best in youtube among all e-reader reviewers. Nobody explains the frontlight intensities in nits but you did. Please continue with the great work and we want comparisons of Kobo libra colour with era colour
@Bos_roseus
Ай бұрын
Yep that's what i said more or less in some comments before, and i could choose my tablet because of him. So i'm back to support him.
Really enjoyed your explanation on how the color layer works!
Amazon needs to go for a Kindle Oasis color with pen.
@vernabailey3671
2 ай бұрын
And 8 inch. I’d buy it in a heartbeat,
@cdefiesta
Ай бұрын
That would be amazing!
@chocoblin5887
Ай бұрын
oasis has been discontinued i heard
@valeriopastore7310
Ай бұрын
@@chocoblin5887 the current BW model, yes. It would be nice if they decided to give life to an all-new color generation starting with a very appreciated product
Ooo really hoping to see a comparison between the inkpad color, era color, and kobo libra colour. Please!
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Already working on it :)
@arangaran
Ай бұрын
@@ChalidRaqami dont forget to talk about the kindle books, lots of people have them and would like a device like this but without it, its a moot point
thank you for exellent work and usful informations about products
Great review. I'm curious how the upcoming Vision Colour will hold up in terms of battery life.
The angled bezel is a feature of the Kobo Libra and Kindle Oasis since many years.
Colored Kindle Scribe would be instant purchase for me
Another great review! Thank you!
Is Legimi pre-installed like the Era without color? Or do you still have to do it yourself? Is it easy or is it rather difficult to install? Really good video, thanks
I had mine for a few days. As much as I want to like it for its premium look, I returned it. And the screen is actually darker than Kobo Libra Color. When you increase the LED lights, it is very disproportional. There is a lot more light on the right side of the reader compared to the rest of it to the point becomes distracting. It is likely because of the flush screen rather than the hardware defect. Overall, the reading experience is noticeably better on Libra Color. Also, highlight text on PocketBook is an exercise and frustration.
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
That's true - the Libra Colour has both the slightly lighter screen without the frontlight and also the frontlight gets noticeably brighter. Also note taking especially with having the option to use a pen, is better on the Libra. However I wouldn't say that the frontlight is that much better on the Libra Colour compared to the Era Color. Both have brightness gradients - at least my devices I have here (both bought regularly). But there's typically a bit of variance with that from device to device.
I love the look of this device from the way that fit and finish appears. For the money it seems a much less practical device in the U.S. than the Kobo Libra Colour which has Dropbox, Google Drive, Libby all on device for easy download of books. The Kobo also has stylus support. I do Iike the look of the Pocketbook better though.
@luc7976
Ай бұрын
You could just use an USB connection or use web browser so not sure real dealbreaker. It seems Pocketbook has more customization and better pdf reader options (plus DRM library support I believe but not sure). But not super familiar with Kobo apps.
how do you read kindle books in pocket books now with the new drm in amazon books??
Thank you for this review. Do you habe the Pocketbook Inkpad Color 2? Would it be possible to make a video where you compare the color screen? I guess it is interesting to see how much better the color screen is now with the kaleidoink3 display.
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Yes, I have it here as well and was actually working on a review but then the InkPad Color 3 came out and I didn't finish it. The colors look pretty much the same and the InkPad Color 3 actually has the advantage of the screen not being as dark as on the Era Color 3 or InkPad Color 3. But because the colored subpixels are larger (100 ppi vs. 150 ppi) and the subpixel-matrix is structured differently, the InkPad Color 2 looks a bit grainier. So it really depends on what you want to achieve. If it's just colors the difference isn't really noteworthy. But screen clarity is better on the newer Kaleido screens.
Even though not in the market for color ereaders (don't read much color stuff so not yet). Which one will you suggest - kindle paperwhite, kobo libra 2 or pocketbook era b&w? Will be mostly sideloading books, but being able to send from phone is kind of important. Page turn buttons are bonus and chose pocketbook for that, but lighting reviews about pocketbook is what making me worry. So I'm confused now 😓 also battery life is important with light on as I mostly read at night
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
If you intend to use the frontlight throughout the day, the Libra 2 got the best one and I still get that WOW-effect when using it. Definitely one of the best, most even frontlights I've seen in the last 15 years. Just remember there's a bit of variance, so if you get one that isn't great, you might want to return it. The Kindle Paperwhite also has a great frontlight, but is missing the buttons and no epub-support makes this a worse choice for sideloading imho. The Era B&W is great if you don't use the frontlight all the time and typically dial it down. I like the software the most, simply because it's more open. And the built-in speaker for audiobooks is also a nice plus. Personally, I'd pick the Libra 2 with the profile you're describing and set up Dropbox on my phone and the device. It's not officially supported, but can be enabled with a bit of tinkering, see here: www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358903 If you don't want to tinker with the device, the Pocketbook Era is a solid choice and definitely one of the best in that segment.
Wouls love to see a review for the daylightcomputer
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Thanks, that indeed looks very interesting. Will put it on my list :)
@rigaleb
Ай бұрын
@@ChalidRaqami It has a high refresh rate because it is a slightly different technology than e-ink. It's just the beginning, they'll get to color one day. But for now looks very promising.
What's the difference between Era and Inkpad Color? I wonder which one to choose
is it possible to highlight text in PDFs and export those highlights on the PocketBook Era Color?
Hi, thank you for this review, I really enjoyed it! I would like to buy a coloured e-reader (or tablet) for reading scientific papers, so PDFs mostly. Do you think this would be a good device for that purpose? Or perhaps the Kobo libra colour? Again, thank you for the great content.
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
The PocketBook Era Color is definitely better for scientific papers and PDFs in general, simply because it has better PDF-modes. Especially the columns mode is great for that purpose. The Kobo Libra Colour, however, is better when it comes to note taking if you get the Kobo Pen as well. Personally I'd get the Era Color with mostly PDF-use.
I'm not sure where my comment went but technically speaking you can expand the storage via OTG which I feel is a reasonable compromise and it's surprising you didn't comment on it considering they do mention OTG on the product page of the Era Color.
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Thanks for bringing that up - you make a fair point. Yes, the Era Color supports OTG, which somewhat compensates for the lack of a card slot. I didn't mention it because I generally try to focus on the most critical talking points, and OTG seems less commonly used and might need further explanation to most people. I didn't mention a few other interesting features like Send to PocketBook, Dropbox, PocketBook Cloud, and KOReader/Coolreader for similar reasons. Discussing these additional features would extend the review, adding another 5 to 10 minutes. This type of long in-depth 30+ minutes reviews Voja from MyDeepGuide already covers the best way possible. So I try to stick to a shorter, more condensed in-depth format, which means I need to cut a thing or two that aren't as important to the overall assessment of the device. But that's obviously always a balancing act and if I don't mention features that you feel would have been important to be included, I'm always happy to get a comment about it!
@luc7976
Ай бұрын
@@ChalidRaqami OTG storage seems more edge case even with smallest USB stick you can find, so I think perfectly fine to omit that in basic review...
For battary life(4 Times Energy consumption !!!)und grayness, i would buy black White device.
Can the charge covers' front flap flip back completely while reading? I always use my ereader with covers this way and if it can't,the charge cover will be a desk breaker.
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Yes, you can flip it to the backside while reading (but not while charging). Not sure if I can describe this accurately, but here it goes: If you check out the design of the case, you see that the part that covers the grip area and buttons is foldable as well. Flipping the cover to the back, I also flip that smaller part for a more comfortable grip. Because otherwise the outer edge of it will always feel like it's in the way a bit imho.
How about reading outside? Isn't a screen too dark?
I've looked into these devices that use this color display and while it's really interesting, I'm quite sure that if I buy one now, next generation will leave this one worthless. I'll stick to my b/w reader for now. The color ones also make the text in b/w less sharp so for me it's a deal breaker.
Thanks for your thorough review. Does the pocketbook support overdrive/libby in the US? Also, at least to me the pocketbook era color next to either of the Kobo colours makes them look like old 1980’s gear? The pocketbook looks more modern and inline with the tech look of 2024. The kindle Oasis was ahead of its peers in 2019 with the way it was built. I have an Oasis and I believe the design of the pocketbook is what I like and if it supports overdrive/libby this is my pick.
@ChalidRaqami
11 күн бұрын
I can't say for sure, since I can't test it, but the PocketBook browser allows to download files and PocketBook has Adobe DRM and LCP DRM support, so I suspect it will work. But best if you check directly with PocketBook on that one.
@mden2490
11 күн бұрын
@@ChalidRaqami thanks so much for your reply. I ultimately went with the Boox Go color 7.
Hi there… what to chose? Era color or Libra colour?
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
I'll soon publish a direct comparison between the two :)
Can you use Bluetooth remote for changing pages when mounted in a stand?
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Yes, that's possible. You need to pair the ereader and the remote, than go to the device's settings -> personalize -> key mapping -> epub/pdf and can just add the buttons you'd like to use.
11:00 Does the Pocketbook Era have the same software as shown in this clip? It looks like a great UI
@prerna1608
Ай бұрын
It looks the same to me. Only then with less colors obviously ;)
@Rebecca.G
Ай бұрын
@@prerna1608 Thanks!
When's kindle gonna bring a color e-ink? 😭
Live long and prosper.🖖
Kobo libra colour has better saturation/contrast than boox tab mini c in 1 comparison (just like mini c compared to larger ultra). Surprised that the smaller era color doesn't show same improvement over the larger ink pad color.
@luc7976
Ай бұрын
Thinking about it, this has an extra flush protective layer compared to inkpad color 3 and libra colour which would explain why contrast takes a little hit.
Bist du aus Österreich / Bayern? Tolles Video :)
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
Danke - Österreich ;)
32 gigs of non-expandable internal storage is disappointing for an e-reader for which one of the primary use cases is reading comics.
damn no sd card slot
Bought this and have regrets - too dark, will try to do a cashback
Do we actually need a color E-reader?
@eyhtwozed2606
Ай бұрын
Yes for reading comics.
@luc7976
Ай бұрын
Anything with color illustrations. magazines/articles/manuals/comics. If you don't read any color content then sure you better off with b/w e-reader.
Im gonna be honest here. All these current Color E-Ink Displays are not doing it for me. The colors are to dim witch takes away alot from reading comic books and the like. I feel like the current gen is for beta testing. Future releases will give us alot more saturated color displays.
@ChalidRaqami
Ай бұрын
I felt this way about previous Kaleido generation, but changed my mind when I first saw a Kaleido 3 screen and think it's actually a fair compromise. But it's still a compromise and I hope I made the downsides clear enough in my review for everyone to get a clear picture. Personally I'm happy to use Kaleido 3 and switching back to a black and white ereader/tablet can feel a bit outdated now.
we need 8" or color is useless
@mrc-rrn
Ай бұрын
Pocketbook Inkpad Color 3?
I prefer the new Kobo Libra Color with E Ink Carta 1300 Kaleido 3 with Kobo Stylus 2