Following the launch of its first e-note last year, PocketBook has now added a color E Ink model. The 10.3-inch Eo is built around Kaleido 3 technology, and sports a built-in camera, octa-core processing and dual speakers.
Unlike most e-readers, e-notes boast a tablet-sized display that's easy on the eyes and ships with a pen stylus input for productivity applications. Some, like the Eo, also come with a camera – "allowing users to effortlessly capture photos and add handwritten comments or sketches to them." PocketBook also says that the e-note could help users generate unique memes or help with interior/landscape design.
The Kaleido 3 touch display has a color depth of 4,096 and a resolution of 930 x 1,240 pixels at 150 ppi – which won't challenge the sharpness and vivid colors of regular tablets, but should be easier on the eyes over long-haul sessions – and 1,860 x 2,480 grayscale at 300 ppi. It's fully readable in bright sunlight, and comes packing LED front lighting that can be tweaked for brightness and color temp.
Under the hood is a 2.3-GHz octa-core processor for the promise of snappy performance, which is supported by 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage (plus microSD expansion). The e-note runs Android 11, which is by no means the latest flavor of Google's mobile OS but should be sufficient for purpose, and there's support for 17 book, document and graphic formats out of the box.
Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi are onboard, with the latter allowing access to PocketBook Cloud storage, a send-by-email service, and a Wi-Fi file sharing feature. Rounding out the key specs are a quad microphone array and dual speakers for recording ideas and playing audiobooks and music, and a 4,000-mAh battery that's topped up via the USB-C port. PocketBook doesn't specify up time between charges, but the low-power draw of E Ink display technology should see you spending extended periods away from a wall outlet.
The PocketBook Eo is listed as "coming soon" on the company's website, though appears to be already on sale in Germany for €569 (which converts to around US$600, though we've no word on a confirmed US release).
Product page: PocketBook Eo
