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PocketBook Color – is it any good?
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PocketBook Color – is it any good?

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October 29, 2021
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PocketBook is a brand that has been producing e-book readers for a long time, it is often a good alternative to Amazon products that make you watch ads on their devices in lower budgets. PocketBook Color is, as the name says, a reader with an additional color e-ink screen. Is it worth being interested in this type of solution?

Specs and Box contents

The reader comes to us in a minimalist, small box with the graphics of the device on the front. In the case of content, apart from the reader itself, we get a microUSB cable and a microUSB adapter – Jack 3.5mm and paperwork. The manufacturer has not added any cover that would definitely be useful.

The screen has a diagonal of 6 inches, inside there is a dual-core processor (2x1GHz), 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, expandable with a memory card. The connector that allows communication with the computer is microUSB.

Design

PocketBook Color is definitely a compact, small and light device. Virtually the entire ebook reader is made of good quality plastic. Even under the force of greater pressure, nothing bends or creaks. It should be noted that this plastic has a matte finish but easily collects fingerprints – especially the black panel. It should also be noted that this plastic also scratches easily. As standard, the PocketBook does not give up on physical keys. There are five of them in total. Four to control the system: home button, forward back to scroll, and to call up the top panel. On the lower frame there is also a button to wake the screen, a microUSB connector and a microSD memory card slot.

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Screen and battery

The display is by far the most important element of an e-book reader due to the fact that we consume content using it. In the case of the PocketBook Color it is really good, due to the fact that the device has actually two 6-inch E Ink screens working at a resolution of 1072 x 1448 pixels, which gives us a result of 300 ppi. Under the color one there is a classic for e-paper screen. The screen is known to have the ability to backlight and adjust the automatic brightness to the current light in the room, this option even works well. The displayed image is quite clear, you can see individual grains due to the technology in which it is made. I must point out that when changing the content displayed on the screen, especially when navigating through the system, the display changes strangely and inverts colors in a pulsating manner, the screen probably refreshes the displayed content several times.

The battery used in the device has a capacity of 1900 mAh. An e-book reader generally does not need a capacious cell due to undemanding components. Such a size contained in the PocketBook Color should easily withstand 2 weeks on a single charge. During the testing period, I used about ⅓ of the battery with WiFi and Bluetooth always on. The battery is discharged in the case of a maximum of 10W because it is supported by microUSB.

Software

The operation of the system is probably the biggest problem when using the PocketBook. The device is really average in terms of performance. The reader gets a lot of lags or a slightly more complicated operation is difficult for it to process. Navigating the system itself is not the most pleasant one either. It is a matter of habit, the longer you use the device, the less irritated you are, but it is a device for reading books and not a gaming smartphone with an incredibly efficient processor. The system is above all simple and clear. You can easily call up the most needed functions, connect to a WiFi network or to an external Bluetooth device. In the case of handling pdfs, a good step towards convenience is certainly the ability to read content vertically and horizontally. In addition to reading and listening to audiobooks, it is possible to play music, browse the Internet, play in a coloring book for children, play sudoku or chess solitaire. Therefore, there are many additional options, they can be useful when we do not read books.

Connectivity

In terms of connectivity, the tested reader has all the most necessary communication modules. WiFi is most importantly present – we can easily download the necessary PDF or audiobook from the Internet. Bluetooth is only used to connect headphones or an external wireless speaker. All in all, it works well and I have no objections.

Summary

PocketBook Color is definitely an ebook reader for enthusiasts of reading electronic books who need color, and like as well to listen to audiobooks or browse comics. If you read mostly books with plain text then the device is probably not right for you.

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