- PocketBook has launched the InkPad One
- It is an e-reader powered by Linux, stylus support, and a large 10.3-inch screen.
- It’s not widely available yet, but that could change
Kindle and Kobo may be the main e-reader brands, but there are all sorts of interesting alternatives emerging, one of which is PocketBook, which has just launched a new device called InkPad One.
This is a 10.3-inch e-reader with a grayscale E Ink Mobius display that has 226 pixels per inch. It has a front light that adapts to the environment, a 3,700 mAh battery that promises up to two months of life, 32 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM and a 1.8 GHz quad-core chipset. It is also thin and light, at 5.15 mm thick and 400 g.
Interestingly, it runs Linux instead of Android or a proprietary operating system, so you’re not limited to a specific ecosystem and supports 21 book formats, including AZW, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and many more.
Additionally, it includes access to a Libby-powered app for borrowing books from libraries and, in the UK, offers “the world’s most comprehensive English-language digital e-book library, with easy-to-use LCP DRM-protected content from 4.5 million e-books and 90,000 audiobooks.”
It also supports stylus input (and comes with a stylus), making it a less blocky alternative to the Kindle Scribe.
It also has broadly comparable specs to the Kindle Scribe, including a similarly sized screen and a slightly thinner and lighter build, although its screen has a slightly lower resolution.
Not yet widely available
Still, if you don’t want to get caught up in Amazon’s ecosystem, or get stuck in a possibly even more limited ecosystem like that of the reMarkable Paper Pro, then the PocketBook InkPad One could be a tempting option.
We’d suggest caution, though, as we only gave the company’s InkPad Eo a two-star review, noting that it was expensive and clunky, even though that tablet was based on Android 11, not Linux.
If you like the sound of the InkPad One, you may have to wait a bit, as it’s only available in Germany at the moment, but the company has revealed that it will be coming to the US and UK, priced at $360 and around £270 respectively.
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