Pocketbook Inkpad Color 2 Review

In the evolving landscape of e-readers, one brand that continues to make strides is Pocketbook. Their latest offering, the Pocketbook Inkpad Color 2, showcases a significant evolution from its predecessor, aiming to create an enhanced reading experience with superior colour display technology.

Design and Build

The Pocketbook Inkpad Color 2 retains the traditional elegance and simplicity of the brand’s designs. Its sleek gray exterior presents a professional aesthetic, maintaining a minimalist and modern look. With dimensions of 189.5mm x 134mm x 7.95mm, it strikes an optimal balance between comfortably large screen size and portability. Weighing slightly more than its predecessor at 267g, the device remains comfortable to hold, ensuring a user-friendly reading experience.

Like the previous model, the Inkpad Color 2 does not offer waterproofing. While not a deal-breaker, the lack of this feature does stand out, especially for those who enjoy reading near water or in the bath.

Screen and Display

The primary selling point of the Inkpad Color 2 remains its 7.8″ colour screen, upholding Pocketbook’s commitment to revolutionizing the colour e-reading experience. This device’s 300ppi resolution ensures the clarity of text and vibrant image display, making it ideal for colourful content such as comics, graphic novels, and children’s books. However, unlike the Pocketbook Era models, the Inkpad Color 2 does not feature a flush screen.

A considerable enhancement from the previous model is the addition of a warm light option, addressing one of the most notable drawbacks of its predecessor. This feature allows users to adjust the light’s colour temperature, minimizing eye strain during extended reading sessions or in dimly lit environments. Despite this advancement, the Inkpad Color 2 still lacks an auto-brightness feature, requiring manual adjustments based on the surrounding light conditions.

Performance and Usability

Running on PocketbookOS, the Inkpad Color 2 provides an easy-to-use and streamlined interface. While it might lack the app diversity offered by Android-based systems, it offers an optimized e-reading experience, focusing on performance and reliability.

The device comes with an upgraded storage capacity of 32GB, doubling that of its predecessor. However, unlike the previous model, it does not include a Micro-SD slot for additional storage. While this may be a drawback for some users, the provided internal storage should suffice for a large library of ebooks.

The Pocketbook Inkpad Color 2 retains its predecessor’s extensive file format compatibility, including EPUB, PDF, AZW, MOBI, DJVU, and many more. This comprehensive support offers users the flexibility to source content from various places. Coupled with the device’s Text-to-Speech feature, users can enjoy a diverse range of content in different forms.

The device features a touchscreen interface for easy navigation, and like its predecessor, also offers physical page-turn buttons, catering to different user preferences. Another retained feature is auto-rotation, which is often lacking in many e-readers, allowing for a more flexible reading experience.

Connectivity and Battery

The Inkpad Color 2 comes with Bluetooth connectivity, enabling the use of wireless headphones or speakers for enjoying audiobooks or the Text-to-Speech function. In a step up from the previous model, this device includes built-in speakers, providing greater convenience for users who frequently use these audio features.

However, similar to most e-readers, the Inkpad Color 2 does not offer wireless charging, which could have been a valuable addition given its premium position in the market.

Conclusion

Overall, the Pocketbook Inkpad Color 2 represents a significant step forward for colour e-readers. Its impressive colour display, warm light option, and expanded storage capacity create a compelling package for those looking to experience colour e-reading at its finest.

However, like any product, it has room for improvement. The lack of waterproofing, auto-brightness, and wireless charging are notable areas where advancements could be made. Additionally, the omission of the Micro-SD slot could be a drawback for some users, especially those with extensive e-book libraries or a preference for expanded storage.

Despite these points, the Inkpad Color 2 offers a premium e-reading experience, and the enhancements over its predecessor make it a worthwhile consideration for any e-reading enthusiast or professional seeking a colour e-reader. Its commitment to improving colour e-reading technology further cement Pocketbook’s position in the e-reader market and paves the way for future advancements in this area.

Check out our fully searchable e-reader comparison table here.

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