The Pocketbook InkPad Eo comes to us with a lot of promise. With the likes of Remarkable and Kindle Scribe as premium competitors, and the Onyx Boox series as budget ones, fighting for a spot for the premium position, it was always going to be hard work. Read on to see how it fairs against the competition. Of course, it should be noted that this offers Android OS, as well as the fact that unlike some of the bigger names mentioned above, it brings colour to the mix.
Key Features
- Large and eye-safe E Ink Kaleido™ 3 colour screen.
- Precise stylus and a variety of digital tools for note-taking and drawing.
- AI Text Recognition (OCR) for converting handwritten notes to digital text.
- Quick note sharing via email and Wi-Fi.
- Built-in camera for capturing and annotating photos.
- Android 11 support for third-party apps.
- Support for 17 book and graphic formats (expandable with third party apps)
Display
I guess the first thing to start with is how the display works. It offers a 3 colour display on an e-ink screen. So don’t expect to be able to see something like a usual smartphone or tablet. The display is closer to that of a Garmin watch, who tend to use coloured e-ink screens. By contrast, if you compare it to a standard Kindle or similar device, you will find that the colour you do see adds a lot more than you may imagine, making it quite a nice device to use.
Another thing to mention is that the refresh rate is quite slow. Watching a video is pretty much out. In fact, the refresh rate is so low that if you use the touch screen to type, you will be typing way faster than the text will appear, which can obviously be quite frustrating.
On the other hand, if you are using it to draw, scribble, write, or read, the display is perfectly adequate. This puts it firmly in the e-reading and note taking device category, and not much more.
The colours themselves have bit of washed out look to them, something which seems typical of e-ink displays.
Another thing to mention is ghosting, which is where the last frame is just about visible on the screen when you change. This could be seen when you go through menus, or if you’re reading, your last page is slightly visible when you change things.
Stylus
The device comes with a stylus, which is pretty much neccessary to use it. However, it should be noted that it doesn’t come with a case, or any magnetic or similar ability to attach the stylus to the device, so losing it is bit of a concern.
Now that we have covered that aspect, it should be noted that the stylus itself works quite well. As covered in the note taking capabilities below, it works pretty well. Not quite exactly like a pen or a pencil, but in the same league as your premium stylus competitors out there.
Look and feel
The format of the device is fairly typical of how tablets are, but a wider bezel on the left side means that it is nearly square. It is quite light, which is typical of such devices. If you compare it to something like an iPad of the same size, it is also in the same weight category.
Apart from the wider bezel on the left, which is clearly there to help you hold the device while you are reading or taking notes, the other sides are fairly normal.
Around the device, you have the port for charging, the SD card, as well as the power button.
On the back is a camera, that is a pretty handy tool to use if you want to question screen response.
Note taking capabilities
This is where the device shows its most useful capabilities. The device comes with its own note taking app, though with Android, you can pretty much install whatever app you want.
The app itself comes with a few pens/options, which helps you use it both as a writing device, as well as sketching. You can even go as far as doing colouring or such like.
I found that the edge of the screen can be a bit unpredictable in the note taking app, but otherwise, it is perfectly adequate.
However, this is exactly where the stylus both shines, as well as makes you wish there was an automatic place to store it. Not to bother, as there are case options out there.
UI and Android OS
If anything seriously lets this device down, it is the OS and the UI. Hard for me to tell whether the hardware combination lacks the ability, or whether it is just how the software is, but it basically feels quite clunky. While it does offer Android, it comes with Android 11 and no real promise of an update. It could be argued that while Android opens things up massively, it may have worked better with some particularly well known apps and left at that.
Battery life
It may be the Android OS running in the background, but I found the battery life quite disappointing on this. You expect an E-ink device, which will happily go to sleep after a few minutes of no use, to give you a fair bit of battery life. I was hoping weeks, but you are looking at a standby battery life of a few days at best, and with typical to normal use, it may be as low as a day or two.
More information
More information on the Pocketbook InkPad Eo can be found on their website.
It retails for just under £500, and can be found from various online stores, including Amazon.
Verdict
While this type of device may be the future of note taking and notebooks, the overall experience and UI let it down. The price doesn’t help either, as you can nab yourself quite a lot of more powerful alternatives at the same price. Either way, if e-ink is your jam, it may be worth trying one of these out for a more open experience, allowing you to sync with Android, but at the cost of a smaller battery life.