PocketBook Era Color is a 7 inch eReader with a Kaleido 3 display and page turn buttons

The PocketBook Era Color is an upcoming eBook reader with a 7 inch E Ink Kaleido 3 color display, a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor, 32GB of storage, and a waterproof design.

Pocketbook hasn’t announced how much the Era Color will cost in the US yet, but the company is showing a 259 Euro list price in Germany, so I expect it will probably sell for around $260 – $280 when it shows up in the PocketBook store on Amazon soon.

The new eReader looks nearly identical to the PocketBook Era, which the company launched nearly two years ago. But the new model has a faster processor, twice as much built-in storage, a bigger battery, and updated software.

The new feature that will be most apparent though, is the updated display. While both models feature 7 inch E Ink displays with a resolution of 1264 x 1680 pixels when displaying black and white content,  the PocketBook Era Color’s Kaleido 3 display has a color filter that also enables support for 4096 colors.

Unfortunately you do have to sacrifice sharpness for color: the Era Color’s screen has a pixel density of 300 pixels per inch for black and white content, but that drops to 150 pixels per inch for color content, which means that you’re effectively looking at a 632 x 840 pixel screen if you’re reading color magazines, comics, documents, or web pages.

PocketBook’s eReader has a front light that shines on the display to make it easier to view in dark or dimly lit environments and a capacitive touch panel for navigation. But there are also physical page turn buttons on the side for folks that would prefer not to tape the screen while reading.

Other features include a G-sensor for automatic screen rotation, a cover sensor that can put the device to sleep when you cover the screen or wake it up when you remove the cover, a 2,500 mAh battery, a USB-C port for charging and data, a mono speaker, and support for dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.4.

The PocketBook Era Color measures 134 x 155 x 8mm (5.3″ x 6.1″ x0.3″) and weighs 235 grams (8.3 ounces) and it’s rated IPX8 for water resistance.

Software features support for 25 eBook, document, image, and audio formats and a text-to-speech function that allows you to listen to content using the built-in speaker, Bluetooth audio, or a wired headphone (if you use a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, since there’s no dedicated headphone jack).

via The eBook Reader