PocketBook InkPad 4 | Eye-Friendly Audio & E-Book Reader | Large 7.8ʺ E-Ink Display | Anti-Scratch Protection | Text-to-Speech Function | Bluetooth® | Built-in Speaker | SMARTlight | IPX8 Waterproof

I am reviewing both Inkpad 4 and Era as we have both in the household currently, and most of these two reviews will be the same for both devices. You can see both next to each other in my photos for anyone hesitating between the two.An excellent device overall.• SCREEN: I have read on the Internet some people complain about the screen quality - perhaps early units were different, but the current ones I would say do NOT have any screen quality problem. I’ve had Kindles, Boox, etc. The screen on the Pocketbook Inkpad 4 and Pocketbook Era are both top-notch. They compare to Kindle Oasis. There is nothing dim or blurry about them. My Boox Nova Air actually IS blurry so I do know what that looks like.• OPERATING SYSTEM: a bit in between the experience on a Kindle and on a Boox device. More abilities than a Kindle (and VERY importantly for me, the ability to use Bluetooth page turning remotes), a slightly more complex OS, but still much simpler than a Boox device (and more limited because it’s not Android). The OS can be a bit sluggish at times! Closer to a Kindle than a Boox in terms of performance. A bit slower than Kindles when using functionalities that Kindles don’t have. Scrolling through the library can be a little slow at times too. It’s not a racing car, but I’m not finding myself minding that much. In fact I find it helps to prevent the mega fast mega scroll mega mindless mode we get sometimes into with our fast modern devices. I stay in slow, ‘remember to breathe’ reading mode when using this device at all times.• READER APP: a very good reader app, however, while it offers great customization for gestures and tap areas, it lacks customization for font, margins and line gaps. Now there is a trick that lets you customize line gaps, it’s not difficult to do but it’s not on the device. It requires manually editing a text file in the device system files. It is completely safe to do, but I wish there just was more options in the reader app. Same thing for font size, bolding levels, and such. You can sideload your own fonts. I am also really sad that it doesn’t track how much time it takes me to finish a book. That’s a feature I really love in Boox’s default reader, and on Kindles to know how long it will take me to get to the next chapter etc.NOTE: if you are a fan of KOreader, you CAN install it on this device very easily, without ‘jailbreak’ or any such heavy tricks. It is very well supported.* STORE: I haven't tried it, but Pocketbook basically lets you sideload whatever you want. Buy from their store or don't, the device doesn't care - so long as the ebooks are drm free (of course your ebooks must NOT have drm's to work anywhere but their intended device). The device does NOT push its store on you at all (there's a home screen thing to see deals or whatever but it's easy to turn it off).• CONNECTIONS: Bluetooth that is actually useful (ie can connect Bluetooth devices such as page turn remotes) as opposed to Amazon’s implementation of it which lets you do basically nothing. USC-C, no problems or complaints there, it works every time I connect to the computer.• BATTERY LIFE: haven’t gone through a full cycle yet, but seems within what the company advertises so far• DESIGN: beautiful devices, slightly more original designs than most e-readers these days. Reminds me of the Kindle Voyage - what an e-reader that was!• BUTTONS: I love that they’re there. They work very well. Obviously, they are better on the Era due to where they are placed, but they are still useful on the Inkpad 3 too.LONG STORY SHORT:Yays: Excellent, high quality. Beautiful, functional ereader. Intuitive OS still with good customization options on navigation and gestures.Gripes: no “how long it takes to read this chapter/book” feature in the default reader app. The slowness at times might be a dealbreaker for you. The reader app could use more margin and line gaps customization options.Still giving it a 5/5 because there are so few choices for a 7.8” ereader and this is overall a really solid one.

Do not hesitate and choose this ebook. I have tried all the major ebook brands (kindle, kobo) and this one is just the best. Very high-quality built, bright screen, excellent format.

Cute physical object, nice and light to hold, but so cumbersome to download files. Outdated technology and extremely slow download and connection speed. Maybe if all you want to do is read books from their library it would be okay but the cons and limitations far outweigh the pros.I thought I would love it but after two hours I still can't get it to receive a manuscript. I'm returning it and getting a kindle.

I bought the Inkpad 4 primarily because I was interested in using the Text to Speech (TTS) function. So far the Inkpad has exceeded my expectations. The TTS is great and turns every book into an audiobook. I find I am able to finish books faster because of the TTS, switching between reading and listening. I like the built-in speaker and also use an external speaker so I can turn up the volume even louder. Additionally, as someone who likes having physical page-turn buttons, I think the buttons on this ereader are a welcome addition although I wish they were a little wider. Overall, I would say I have been enjoying the Inkpad 4 more than my my other ereaders.

This is the best e-book I ever had. Good battery-over month before charging with 20-30 min everyday reading. Fast page turning

USB port would not go into PC Link mode for side loading of content. I have two other Pocketbook e-readers that have this problem 25% of the time. With this new unit the USB port may be entirely broken. The battery was 97% charged at set-up, so I do not know if the USB port could do charging, in which case content could be loaded via WIFI using the Pocketbook cloud. WIFI was working fine. I tried using 2 different charging cords and could not get the dialog to display. Reddit advice indicated a broken port.

I’ve had a kindle paperwhite that I’ve loved since last year but I was looking for a way to get out of the Amazon ecosystem and upload my Calibre library and use KoReader with an e reader. Here are my thoughts:Screen:- Screen Size: don’t like the larger screen, the kindle paperwhite comes in at 6.8” and it turns out a larger screen felt unnecessary, it added too much bulk. The bezels and weight all feel clunky and it doesn’t feel nearly as portable- Screen Warmth: backlight runs very blue. I prefer backlight warmth all the way up on my kindle, and you’ll see in comparison photos that the screen isn’t nearly as warm- Screen ghosting: it’s a lot more prominent and much more noticeable than the kindle. Whatever Amazon did with their eink kindle software they did it perfectly. The pocketbook screen was distracting how much things would ghost everywhere:Software:- I do appreciate PocketBook for clearly putting in work on their UI. I hope they continue improving it. Specifically: OpenDyslexic implementation. It’s hardly usable. It causes the font spacing to be 2x what it should be and aligns all the font with a justify: space between, element, rather than a left aligned text which I’m used to. I couldn’t use the built in reader for this reason. I switched to KoReader which was easy to install.- Easy to remove PocketBook store & endlessly customize the UI, which I really appreciate.Ultimately, this was a no from me.The price, being basically 3x the Paperwhite, it just makes no sense. I’m trying the Kobo Libra Color next, but I do wish I would have considered more 6” readers. I feel like a smaller screen and more portable device would always be better. This was supposed to be the best eink screen (non color) currently, but, I didn’t find it to be anywhere near the performance of the kindle. So, still locked into Amazon for now. The epub to kindle or mobi uploads all perform weird on kindle so my search continues.