Review PocketBook 614 Plus with E Ink Carta screen: the most budget reader in the lineup of the market leader
Hello! The official PocketBook blog often publishes reviews of the company's flagship readers. Which is logical, since they are a priori more interesting than low-end models. For example, PocketBook 631 Touch HD today is almost the only reader on the market with sound and music capabilities, and PocketBook 641 Aqua 2 is the only water-protected e-book in Russia. And yet: not everyone can afford to pay for the reader more than 10 thousand rubles. To many, all these players, protections, lights, and other wifa are not needed from the word "absolutely." They just need a reader - with a high-quality screen and cheaper. Point. That's about this model today and will be discussed. Meet PocketBook 614 Plus for 6,900 rubles. This is the most affordable PocketBook model at the beginning of the summer of 2017.
In order to immediately dot the i, I’ll tell you how and from where PocketBook 614 Plus appeared. Back in 2014, PocketBook released the PocketBook 614 model, also known as Basic 2. In two years, it has sold 250,000 copies, that is, it has become a real hit. In the fall of 2016, it was replaced by a modification of the PocketBook 614 Limited Edition . It was a limited edition, with which they decided to celebrate the biennium of sales of the device. PocketBook 614 Limited Edition received a branded cover in the package, and that's where all its differences from the original version of PocketBook 614 come to an end.
PocketBook 614 Limited Edition with complete cover
')
Another thing - PocketBook 614 Plus! PocketBook 614 Plus is another matter. In this model, "pulled up" all the key parameters, and it can be called the "most delicious" budget reader, not only in the PocketBook line, but also on the market in general. Let's compare the technical characteristics of PocketBook 614 Plus, PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition:
Summarizing the data presented in the table, we can say this: PocketBook 614 Plus improved the screen, added memory, made the case more pleasant to the touch and easier. Yes, there is no Wi-Fi, and therefore the possibility of wireless downloading books. If you urgently need this option, you should look at PocketBook 625 . It costs 1,000 rubles more expensive, that is, 7,900 rubles, and offers all the features of PocketBook 614 Plus, and as an add-on, it's just Wi-Fi and a touchscreen. However, the ability to save a thousand for many is more important than wireless communication and the ability to control your fingers across the screen, so that PocketBook 614 Plus has a lot of connoisseurs.
This time I will begin the story not with the description of the corps, as I usually do, but from the screen. Since in this case the display is the key. The thing is that now the most affordable reader PocketBook is equipped with the latest generation screen - E Ink Carta. This means that there are no compromises as a class, like “the budget reader, and therefore the screen is not the freshest”. PocketBook has already ceased to release models with Pearl in general - even the cheapest model carries the most modern "Card" on board.
The screen of the PocketBook 614 Plus is really great - it is a fact. According to its properties - the font contrast, the whiteness of the background and so on - it is comparable with the display flagships. For example, the same PocketBook 631 Touch HD. Although the resolution of the PocketBook 614 Plus, of course, is basic: 800 x 600 pixels. Therefore, small whorls on the fonts are not so clear, and on the icons, ladders of pixels are sometimes visible. Nothing can be done: the device is really inexpensive. And it would be short-sighted to expect 1024 x 768 or 1448 x 1072 here (as in the same PocketBook 631 Touch HD for 12,400 rubles).
But - I repeat once again - the screen is still excellent. The picture is good, nice to read. It does not fade in the sun, does not give a glare, provides autonomy for up to a month - in general, all the advantages of E Ink take place (more about them in a separate post geektimes.ru/company/pocketbook/blog/279924 ). It is hot and very sunny in Odessa now - I just managed to thoroughly test the screen of the new reading room for behavior in good weather outdoors. Verdict: great. You can read at noon, lying on the beach and without straining your eyes. Well, or sitting on a park bench - who really likes it.
I will not hide: after the more expensive touchscreen poketbooks, it was not very easy at first to return to the button control in the PocketBook 614 Plus. But after a couple of days I got used to it somehow.
It is proposed to control the model using the four-position navigation button, the key in the center of the “ring” of this navigation button, as well as two additional keys on the left and right. Pages can be browsed and "navigation" ...
... and these very additional keys (see the white triangle in the photo?).
What can I say: management is quite logical, most functions are available in a couple of clicks. It seems to me that for some users - children, the elderly - the lack of a touch screen can even be considered an advantage. I will specifically describe my situation. I have an 80-year-old grandfather, a former sailor. He uses a rather old non-touch model of PocketBook 613 Basic New. Here he is:
Sometimes I take it from my grandfather to record a portion of fresh books. And in return, I give my sensory reader - for those couple of days while I have his copy. So once he called me in the evening in shock: they say that all the letters on the screen of the PocketBook 631 Touch HD became small, I don’t know what to do, horror! It turns out that he simply reduced them by multitouch. By chance. I couldn’t explain to him on the phone how to get the letters comfortable for his grandfather’s size. On his non-touch PocketBook 613 Basic New, such problems never arose. So young people are touch-sensitive readers, but to the conservative older generation something like the PocketBook 614 Plus.
The design has remained the same, that is, PocketBook 614 Plus is not very different from PocketBook 614. But there are a couple of small things that favorably distinguish the new reader from the old model.
The first is that the back panel is now not made of hard plastic, but of soft-touch. That is, it is rubberized, and due to this, it “sticks” well to the fingers. Perhaps it was thanks to the change of material that the weight of the device was reduced - from 188 to 170 g. On the one hand, a trifle, on the other - not a trifle: if you hold the reader in a bent hand for an hour or two or three, then you start to feel every extra gram . In general, the easier the pokebook, the better.
On the back of the PocketBook 614 there is a comfortable finger rest.
The second difference from the previous model is the color of the navigation button. In PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition, it was acid green, which may not have been very consistent with the calm exterior of devices. Now the white version of the PocketBook 614 Plus has a copper button, the black one has a gray one.
Actually, there is practically nothing more to say about the case. Well, except to mention a very neat build (you don’t expect anything else from the market leader). And the fact that the microUSB port, microSD slot and the power button are at the bottom:
I’m not tired of repeating that as many as 18 supported formats of books and documents are one of the main “shock forces” of the PocketBook brand in the reader market. No matter what book you download on the Internet, it will open on the packagebook without any problems. Again I remember my grandfather, a former sailor: he loves to read the files of technical journals of his youth (and this is the 50s of the XX century, for a minute), and they are on the Internet only in DJVU. Which Kindle will open them? And no! A PocketBook opens. And my grandfather's old PocketBook 613 Basic New, and the new PocketBook 614 Plus that I tested. FB2 and other DOCs any PocketBook reader also chews without any problems.
Text settings are full - from fonts to hyphenation. The text can be changed as you like, the most ardent perfectionists, I think, will be able to choose the most convenient settings for them.
Four dictionaries are there. You can also call them from the main menu and select words while reading the text. After that, the translation will immediately appear on the screen. Very convenient for those who learn the language, reading the literature in the original.
The main working screen looks like this. Above is a list of added books (they can only be uploaded via USB, since I recall that there is no Wi-Fi). Below are four icons for accessing functions. All of them are configured, as, by the way, and the hardware buttons on the reader's “face”. You can select functions for short and long clicks, which is convenient.
The application menu is typical of modern devices - it is a matrix of icons. There are games, a calendar, a calculator - in general, a typical poketbuk set.
Here I will also add that a 1,300 mAh battery provides more than a month of battery life. On vacation, you can go without charging, in short. Well, one more thing: the memory in PocketBook 614 Plus is already 8 GB, not 4, like its predecessors. Consequently, books can be stored twice as much - about 5-7 thousand units. Not a bad library! And if 8 GB is not enough (of which about 7 are available), there is a slot for MicroSD.
Everything is very simple here. Cable…
... waste paper ...
... and here's a box:
What should be separately emphasized, even the FAT is highlighted - the warranty period. PocketBook by default gives two years warranty. And if you buy a reader in the company's online store, then a full three years brand warranty. The status of the market leader (and the PocketBook’s share in Russia is 70%) and the confidence in the high quality of the devices produced gives the opportunity to present such pleasant bonuses to customers. Let me remind you that all other manufacturers - a miserable one year. Meanwhile, the reader is not a smartphone, it’s not bought for a year or two, but, as a rule, for two or three years. So the more there is a guarantee for the reader - the better.
PocketBook turned out to be such a direct reader-reader, that is, a device without too much husk, but perfectly performing its main task - displaying books. Because: a) he has a first-class screen of the latest generation of E Ink Carta and b) the model, traditionally for all poketbooks, supports a huge number of book formats. And all this is 6 900 rubles. Yes, and with a two-or even extended three-year warranty. More for a good reading device may not be necessary. Enough of these items.
Who can I recommend PocketBook 614 Plus? Those who do not want to buy an expensive reader. In this case, for 6,900 rubles, they will receive everything they need for a comfortable, safe reading. Also, this model can be advised to parents looking for a reading room for the student. Inexpensive, without the Internet (will not sit in social networks), convenient. In general, children today should be taught to read with the help of readers - this is still a gadget, a fashionable thing, and the chances of success are much higher than in the case of ordinary paper books. Perceived by children as something boring. Yes, and for the vision you can not be afraid - readers do not plant eyes, as do the screens of all sorts of smartphones, tablets.
Well, the elderly should not be forgotten. The simpler the better for them. Heaped touch readers for them - not the best option. But something like an inexpensive and unpretentious PocketBook 614 Plus - just right. It is possible that on his birthday in August, my grandfather-sailor will receive this particular model as a gift.
In order to immediately dot the i, I’ll tell you how and from where PocketBook 614 Plus appeared. Back in 2014, PocketBook released the PocketBook 614 model, also known as Basic 2. In two years, it has sold 250,000 copies, that is, it has become a real hit. In the fall of 2016, it was replaced by a modification of the PocketBook 614 Limited Edition . It was a limited edition, with which they decided to celebrate the biennium of sales of the device. PocketBook 614 Limited Edition received a branded cover in the package, and that's where all its differences from the original version of PocketBook 614 come to an end.
PocketBook 614 Limited Edition with complete cover
')
Another thing - PocketBook 614 Plus! PocketBook 614 Plus is another matter. In this model, "pulled up" all the key parameters, and it can be called the "most delicious" budget reader, not only in the PocketBook line, but also on the market in general. Let's compare the technical characteristics of PocketBook 614 Plus, PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition:
Summarizing the data presented in the table, we can say this: PocketBook 614 Plus improved the screen, added memory, made the case more pleasant to the touch and easier. Yes, there is no Wi-Fi, and therefore the possibility of wireless downloading books. If you urgently need this option, you should look at PocketBook 625 . It costs 1,000 rubles more expensive, that is, 7,900 rubles, and offers all the features of PocketBook 614 Plus, and as an add-on, it's just Wi-Fi and a touchscreen. However, the ability to save a thousand for many is more important than wireless communication and the ability to control your fingers across the screen, so that PocketBook 614 Plus has a lot of connoisseurs.
Screen
This time I will begin the story not with the description of the corps, as I usually do, but from the screen. Since in this case the display is the key. The thing is that now the most affordable reader PocketBook is equipped with the latest generation screen - E Ink Carta. This means that there are no compromises as a class, like “the budget reader, and therefore the screen is not the freshest”. PocketBook has already ceased to release models with Pearl in general - even the cheapest model carries the most modern "Card" on board.
The screen of the PocketBook 614 Plus is really great - it is a fact. According to its properties - the font contrast, the whiteness of the background and so on - it is comparable with the display flagships. For example, the same PocketBook 631 Touch HD. Although the resolution of the PocketBook 614 Plus, of course, is basic: 800 x 600 pixels. Therefore, small whorls on the fonts are not so clear, and on the icons, ladders of pixels are sometimes visible. Nothing can be done: the device is really inexpensive. And it would be short-sighted to expect 1024 x 768 or 1448 x 1072 here (as in the same PocketBook 631 Touch HD for 12,400 rubles).
But - I repeat once again - the screen is still excellent. The picture is good, nice to read. It does not fade in the sun, does not give a glare, provides autonomy for up to a month - in general, all the advantages of E Ink take place (more about them in a separate post geektimes.ru/company/pocketbook/blog/279924 ). It is hot and very sunny in Odessa now - I just managed to thoroughly test the screen of the new reading room for behavior in good weather outdoors. Verdict: great. You can read at noon, lying on the beach and without straining your eyes. Well, or sitting on a park bench - who really likes it.
Ergonomics
I will not hide: after the more expensive touchscreen poketbooks, it was not very easy at first to return to the button control in the PocketBook 614 Plus. But after a couple of days I got used to it somehow.
It is proposed to control the model using the four-position navigation button, the key in the center of the “ring” of this navigation button, as well as two additional keys on the left and right. Pages can be browsed and "navigation" ...
... and these very additional keys (see the white triangle in the photo?).
What can I say: management is quite logical, most functions are available in a couple of clicks. It seems to me that for some users - children, the elderly - the lack of a touch screen can even be considered an advantage. I will specifically describe my situation. I have an 80-year-old grandfather, a former sailor. He uses a rather old non-touch model of PocketBook 613 Basic New. Here he is:
Sometimes I take it from my grandfather to record a portion of fresh books. And in return, I give my sensory reader - for those couple of days while I have his copy. So once he called me in the evening in shock: they say that all the letters on the screen of the PocketBook 631 Touch HD became small, I don’t know what to do, horror! It turns out that he simply reduced them by multitouch. By chance. I couldn’t explain to him on the phone how to get the letters comfortable for his grandfather’s size. On his non-touch PocketBook 613 Basic New, such problems never arose. So young people are touch-sensitive readers, but to the conservative older generation something like the PocketBook 614 Plus.
Housing
The design has remained the same, that is, PocketBook 614 Plus is not very different from PocketBook 614. But there are a couple of small things that favorably distinguish the new reader from the old model.
The first is that the back panel is now not made of hard plastic, but of soft-touch. That is, it is rubberized, and due to this, it “sticks” well to the fingers. Perhaps it was thanks to the change of material that the weight of the device was reduced - from 188 to 170 g. On the one hand, a trifle, on the other - not a trifle: if you hold the reader in a bent hand for an hour or two or three, then you start to feel every extra gram . In general, the easier the pokebook, the better.
On the back of the PocketBook 614 there is a comfortable finger rest.
The second difference from the previous model is the color of the navigation button. In PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition, it was acid green, which may not have been very consistent with the calm exterior of devices. Now the white version of the PocketBook 614 Plus has a copper button, the black one has a gray one.
Actually, there is practically nothing more to say about the case. Well, except to mention a very neat build (you don’t expect anything else from the market leader). And the fact that the microUSB port, microSD slot and the power button are at the bottom:
In work
I’m not tired of repeating that as many as 18 supported formats of books and documents are one of the main “shock forces” of the PocketBook brand in the reader market. No matter what book you download on the Internet, it will open on the packagebook without any problems. Again I remember my grandfather, a former sailor: he loves to read the files of technical journals of his youth (and this is the 50s of the XX century, for a minute), and they are on the Internet only in DJVU. Which Kindle will open them? And no! A PocketBook opens. And my grandfather's old PocketBook 613 Basic New, and the new PocketBook 614 Plus that I tested. FB2 and other DOCs any PocketBook reader also chews without any problems.
Text settings are full - from fonts to hyphenation. The text can be changed as you like, the most ardent perfectionists, I think, will be able to choose the most convenient settings for them.
Four dictionaries are there. You can also call them from the main menu and select words while reading the text. After that, the translation will immediately appear on the screen. Very convenient for those who learn the language, reading the literature in the original.
The main working screen looks like this. Above is a list of added books (they can only be uploaded via USB, since I recall that there is no Wi-Fi). Below are four icons for accessing functions. All of them are configured, as, by the way, and the hardware buttons on the reader's “face”. You can select functions for short and long clicks, which is convenient.
The application menu is typical of modern devices - it is a matrix of icons. There are games, a calendar, a calculator - in general, a typical poketbuk set.
Here I will also add that a 1,300 mAh battery provides more than a month of battery life. On vacation, you can go without charging, in short. Well, one more thing: the memory in PocketBook 614 Plus is already 8 GB, not 4, like its predecessors. Consequently, books can be stored twice as much - about 5-7 thousand units. Not a bad library! And if 8 GB is not enough (of which about 7 are available), there is a slot for MicroSD.
Equipment
Everything is very simple here. Cable…
... waste paper ...
... and here's a box:
What should be separately emphasized, even the FAT is highlighted - the warranty period. PocketBook by default gives two years warranty. And if you buy a reader in the company's online store, then a full three years brand warranty. The status of the market leader (and the PocketBook’s share in Russia is 70%) and the confidence in the high quality of the devices produced gives the opportunity to present such pleasant bonuses to customers. Let me remind you that all other manufacturers - a miserable one year. Meanwhile, the reader is not a smartphone, it’s not bought for a year or two, but, as a rule, for two or three years. So the more there is a guarantee for the reader - the better.
Total
PocketBook turned out to be such a direct reader-reader, that is, a device without too much husk, but perfectly performing its main task - displaying books. Because: a) he has a first-class screen of the latest generation of E Ink Carta and b) the model, traditionally for all poketbooks, supports a huge number of book formats. And all this is 6 900 rubles. Yes, and with a two-or even extended three-year warranty. More for a good reading device may not be necessary. Enough of these items.
Who can I recommend PocketBook 614 Plus? Those who do not want to buy an expensive reader. In this case, for 6,900 rubles, they will receive everything they need for a comfortable, safe reading. Also, this model can be advised to parents looking for a reading room for the student. Inexpensive, without the Internet (will not sit in social networks), convenient. In general, children today should be taught to read with the help of readers - this is still a gadget, a fashionable thing, and the chances of success are much higher than in the case of ordinary paper books. Perceived by children as something boring. Yes, and for the vision you can not be afraid - readers do not plant eyes, as do the screens of all sorts of smartphones, tablets.
Well, the elderly should not be forgotten. The simpler the better for them. Heaped touch readers for them - not the best option. But something like an inexpensive and unpretentious PocketBook 614 Plus - just right. It is possible that on his birthday in August, my grandfather-sailor will receive this particular model as a gift.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/373553/
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