PocketBook Era, my experience with this 7-inch e-reader with built-in speaker

I have an unhealthy passion for electronic book readers, so much so that I recently destroyed one to see how they work inside, which helped me make a video (it’s at this link) where I showed you what electronic ink is like and how it is capable of display the information.

PocketBook is one of the main brands in this sector, and now I have been testing its new release for a few days, the PocketBook Era, a 7-inch reader that has a built-in speaker to listen to the text-to-speech transformation.

Before explaining my experience, I will tell you the characteristics of this new reader.

Features of the PocketBook Era

In the video above, the official PocketBook, you can see its appearance and main features.

We talk about one 7 inch screen E Ink Carta 1200, with a resolution of 1264 x 1680 and 300 DPI, protected against scratches, resistant to water (IPX8) and SMARTlight function to adapt it to each environment.

It has a built-in speaker, and we can also connect Bluetooth headphones, being compatible with audiobooks of all kinds, since it accepts 6 audio formats.

The text to speech function It is striking, since we can ask it to read any book or document that we have stored, with the option to choose between several voices in several languages ​​(26 languages ​​available, with a male or female voice). You can listen to the result in this tiktok that I published a few hours ago.

It has a different layout than the readers I’m used to. It is more square, fits well in the hand, and can be used with the side buttons easily. Here you have it on video.

It is possible to use it both horizontally and vertically, something I am not used to in this sector either.

It is available in two versions, Stardust Silver with 16 GB and Sunset Copper with 64 GB of memory, in its Amazon store and other physical and online stores in Spain.

Personal experience

I have noticed an increase in contrast with respect to previous models, and a better response time of the touch screen, a variable that is key in e-book readers.

The SMARTlight function has surprised me. It is a front light that adjusts the brightness and color temperature of the screen, so that it is easy to read from anywhere, regardless of the surrounding light.

I really liked the design, I like to have a large e-reader for certain types of books, one in color, for comics and children’s books, and another small and portable one like the PocketBook Era.

It is an e-reader that fits perfectly in the hand, and it is not scary to take it to the beach, it is resistant, with a screen that resists scratches and falls. It can even be read in the pool, since it promises to resist 60 minutes at a depth of two meters.

The Pocketbook Store

One of the points that PocketBook still hadn’t solved well, the book store, is already beginning to take shape. While Kindle has its Amazon store, and Kobo has its Fnac store, PocketBook now has its own store, being able to choose its language to start browsing your books, synchronized by Pocketbook Cloud.

Each book shows its miniature and its price, and on the main page, we have the recommendations and news.

From the menu you can easily activate the desired language.

Cloud synchronization in PocketBook

Other classic PocketBook ways to obtain books are to receive them by email to a single account for each device, or to save them in services such as Dropbox.

In the applications section you can see the existing services, so that we can configure them as soon as we enter.

Once done, we can send our books by email, for example, and synchronize in the Pocketbook Era at any time, to receive the desired book.

Autonomy and usability of the PocketBook Era

Its battery is 1700 mAh, which guarantees up to a month of active reading without the need to recharge. That’s true of many ebook readers, and it’s something I’m often thankful for. Being able to take my entire library on vacation in my pocket, without the need to charge daily, is priceless (well, yes, in this case about 200 euros).

I can charge with USB-C (the charger does not come in the box, only the cable, since any mobile charger can be used).

As for the side buttons, once you get used to it, there is no going back.

With the upper one we turn off and on, then we have two to go forward and backward, and finally one to return home. That avoids touching the screen a lot, although we can also do it, of course.

The configuration menu is very complete, so we can spend hours so that the reader does exactly what we want at all times, including the screen that I want to see as soon as I turn on the device.

In the main menu we can change the language, time, WiFi and other options such as firmware update and more.

Of course, we can change the size of the letter, the margins and the distance between lines.

PocketBook ReadRate

I also liked the new ReadRate function, a function that allows you to indicate if I am reading the book or not, the opinion I have about it… a kind of database that could be used to make recommendations and show other people the most popular with its user base.

The dictionary mode can also be activated, ideal for seeing the meaning of other words from other languages, which makes the reader a good ally for learning languages.

Games

It is clear that if I want to play I end up going to my mobile or tablet, but it is always good to know that in an emergency I can play Sudoku or chess, games that require a lot of concentration looking at the screen, so my eyes will appreciate it being in ink electronics.

Final thoughts on the PocketBook Era

For an e-reader fanatic like me, it’s a good buy. It’s portable, lightweight, stylish… and the text-to-audio function is perfect for not disturbing someone sleeping next door. I would like, however, that the store continues to grow much more, that we can find the best-sellers easily, helping to prevent users from resorting to epub download pages in order to load the content device.

For a student it is ideal, since it allows you to fill the device with PDFs and annotate things as you read, all thanks to the built-in notes function.

The back of this PocketBook Era, as I showed in the video, is from another world, it relaxes just by touching it, and that is something that is appreciated in a device designed to be held in your hands several hours a day, especially now on vacation .