PocketBook 614 Plus review with E Ink Carta screen: the most low-cost reader in the market leader line
Hello! The official PocketBook blog most often publishes reviews of the company's flagship readers. Which is logical, since they are a priori more interesting than budget 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- the only e-book in Russia with protection against water. And nevertheless: not everyone can afford to pay more than 10 thousand rubles for a reader. Many of these players, protection, lights and other wifi are not needed from the word "completely." They just need a reader - with a high-quality screen and cheaper. Point. That's about such a model today and will be discussed. Meet: PocketBook 614 Plus for 6 900 rubles. This is the most affordable PocketBook model as of the beginning of the summer of 2017.
To immediately dot all the i, I’ll tell you how and where the PocketBook 614 Plus came from. Back in 2014, PocketBook released the PocketBook 614 model, also known as Basic 2. For two years, it sold over 250 thousand units, that is, it became a real hit. In the fall of 2016, it was replaced by a modificationPocketBook 614 Limited Edition . It was a limited series, with which we decided to celebrate the biennium of sales of the device. PocketBook 614 Limited Edition received a branded cover in the package, and this is where all its differences from the original version of PocketBook 614 end.
PocketBook 614 Limited Edition with Complete Cover
Another thing - PocketBook 614 Plus! PocketBook 614 Plus is a completely different matter. In this model, all key parameters were “pulled up”, and it can be called the “tastiest” budget reader not only in the PocketBook line, but also in the market in general. Let's compare the technical specifications of PocketBook 614 Plus, PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition:
Summing up 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 lighter. Yes, there is no Wi-Fi, which means the ability to wirelessly download books. If you really need this option, you should look at the PocketBook 625 . It costs 1,000 rubles more, that is 7,900 rubles, and it offers all the features of the PocketBook 614 Plus, and just Wi-Fi and a touchscreen as add-ons. However, the ability to save a thousand for many is more important than wireless and the ability to control your fingers on the screen, so PocketBook 614 Plus also has a lot of connoisseurs.
This time I’ll start the story not from the description of the case, as I usually do, but from the screen. Since in this case it is the display that is of key importance. The thing is that now the most affordable PocketBook reader is equipped with the latest generation screen - E Ink Carta. This means that, as a class, there are no compromises like “the reader is budgetary, which means the screen is not the freshest”. PocketBook has generally ceased to produce models with Pearl - even the cheapest model carries the most modern “Card” on board.
The screen on the PocketBook 614 Plus is really excellent - that's a fact. By its properties - contrast of fonts, white background and so on - it is comparable to the flagship displays. 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 curls in fonts are not so clear, and pictorial ladders of pixels are sometimes visible on pictograms. Nothing can be done: the device is really inexpensive. And expecting here 1024 x 768 or 1448 x 1072 (like the same PocketBook 631 Touch HD for 12,400 rubles) would be short-sighted.
But - I repeat again - the screen is still excellent. The picture is good, nice to read. It does not fade in the sun, does not give glare, provides autonomy for up to a month - in general, all the advantages of E Ink have a place to be (more about them in a separate postgeektimes.ru/company/pocketbook/blog/279924 ). It’s hot and very sunny in Odessa now - I just managed to thoroughly test the screen of the new reader for behavior in good weather in the open air. Verdict: excellent. You can read at noon, lying on the beach and without straining your eyes. Well, or sitting on a park bench - who really like it more.
I will not hide: after more expensive touchbooks, returning to button control in the PocketBook 614 Plus was not at first very easy. 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. You can turn the pages through the “navigation” ...
... and these very additional keys (see the white triangle in the photo?).
What can I say: the control is quite logical, most of the 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 the rather old non-touch PocketBook 613 Basic New. There he is:
Sometimes I take it from my grandfather to write a portion of fresh books. And in return I give my sensory reader - for those couple of days, while I have a copy of it. So one day he called me in the evening in shock: they say that all the letters on the PocketBook 631 Touch HD screen became small, I don’t know what to do, horror! It turns out that he simply reduced their multi-touch. By chance. I could not explain to him by telephone how to return the size comfortable for the grandfather to letters, I could not. On his non-touch PocketBook 613 Basic New, such problems have never occurred. So young people are touch readers, but the conservative older generation is something like PocketBook 614 Plus.
The design remains the same, that is, the PocketBook 614 Plus differs little from the PocketBook 614. But there are a couple of little things that stand out from the old model.
The first - the back panel is now made not 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 it was possible to reduce the weight of the device - from 188 to 170 g. On the one hand, a trifle, on the other - not at all a trifle: if you hold the reader in a bent hand for an hour, two or three, then you begin to feel every extra gram . In general, the easier the pokebook is, the better.
On the back of the PocketBook 614 there is a convenient palm rest
The second difference from the previous model is the color of the navigation button. For PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition, it was acid-green, which, perhaps, didn’t correspond to the calm exterior of the devices. Now, the white version of PocketBook 614 Plus has a copper button, while 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 assembly (you don’t expect anything else from the market leader). And the fact that the MicroUSB port, MicroSD slot and power button are at the bottom:
I will not tire of repeating that as many as 18 supported formats of books and documents are one of the main “striking forces” of the PocketBook brand in the reader market. Whatever book you download on the Internet, it will open on a pocketbook without any problems. Again I remember my grandfather - a former sailor: he loves to read the binder of technical magazines of his youth (and this is the 50s of the 20th century, for a minute), and they are available on the Internet only in DJVU. Which Kindle will open them? But no! And PocketBook opens. And the old grandfather PocketBook 613 Basic New, and the new PocketBook 614 Plus I tested. FB2 and other DOC any PocketBook reader also "chews" without any problems.
The settings for the text are full - from fonts to hyphens. The text can be changed as you like, the most ardent perfectionists, I think, will be able to choose the settings convenient for them.
There are four dictionaries. You can call them from the main menu, and select words while reading text. Then the screen will immediately display the translation. It is very convenient for those who learn the language by reading the literature in the original.
The main working screen looks like this. Above is a list of added books (they can only be downloaded via USB, since Wi-Fi, I recall, is missing). Below are four icons for accessing functions. All of them are configured, as, by the way, are the hardware buttons on the “face” of the reader. You can select functions for short and long presses, which is convenient.
The application menu is typical for modern devices - it is a matrix of icons. There are games, a calendar, a calculator - in general, a typical Pocketbook set.
I’ll add here that a 1,300 mAh battery provides over a month of battery life. You can go on vacation without charge, in short. Well, one more thing: the memory in the PocketBook 614 Plus is already 8 GB, and 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. The cable ...
... waste paper ...
... and this box:
What should be emphasized separately, even BOLD to highlight - the warranty period. PocketBook provides two years of warranty by default. And if you buy a reader in the company’s online store, then a whole three years of brand warranty. The status of a market leader (while PocketBook has a 70% share in Russia) and confidence in the high quality of the devices it makes, it is possible to present such pleasant bonuses to customers. Let me remind you that all other manufacturers have a miserable one year. Meanwhile, the reader is not a smartphone, it is not bought for a year or two, but, as a rule, for two or three years. So the greater the guarantee for the reader, the better.
PocketBook turned out to be such a direct reader, that is, a device without unnecessary husks, but perfectly fulfilling its main task - displaying books. Because: a) he has a first-class screen of the latest generation E Ink Carta and b) the model traditionally for all pocketbooks supports a huge number of book formats. And all this is 6 900 rubles. Yes, and with a two - or even with an extended three-year warranty. More for a good reader may not be necessary. Enough of these items.
Who can recommend the PocketBook 614 Plus? Those who do not want to buy an expensive reader. In this case, for 6,900 rubles, they will receive everything necessary for a comfortable safe reading. Also, this model can be advised to parents looking for a reader 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 you can not be afraid for eyesight - readers do not plant their eyes, as the screens of all kinds of smartphones and tablets do there.
Well, do not forget about the elderly. The simpler the better. Fancy touch readers for them is not the best option. But something like an inexpensive and simple 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.
To immediately dot all the i, I’ll tell you how and where the PocketBook 614 Plus came from. Back in 2014, PocketBook released the PocketBook 614 model, also known as Basic 2. For two years, it sold over 250 thousand units, that is, it became a real hit. In the fall of 2016, it was replaced by a modificationPocketBook 614 Limited Edition . It was a limited series, with which we decided to celebrate the biennium of sales of the device. PocketBook 614 Limited Edition received a branded cover in the package, and this is where all its differences from the original version of PocketBook 614 end.
PocketBook 614 Limited Edition with Complete Cover
Another thing - PocketBook 614 Plus! PocketBook 614 Plus is a completely different matter. In this model, all key parameters were “pulled up”, and it can be called the “tastiest” budget reader not only in the PocketBook line, but also in the market in general. Let's compare the technical specifications of PocketBook 614 Plus, PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition:
Summing up 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 lighter. Yes, there is no Wi-Fi, which means the ability to wirelessly download books. If you really need this option, you should look at the PocketBook 625 . It costs 1,000 rubles more, that is 7,900 rubles, and it offers all the features of the PocketBook 614 Plus, and just Wi-Fi and a touchscreen as add-ons. However, the ability to save a thousand for many is more important than wireless and the ability to control your fingers on the screen, so PocketBook 614 Plus also has a lot of connoisseurs.
Screen
This time I’ll start the story not from the description of the case, as I usually do, but from the screen. Since in this case it is the display that is of key importance. The thing is that now the most affordable PocketBook reader is equipped with the latest generation screen - E Ink Carta. This means that, as a class, there are no compromises like “the reader is budgetary, which means the screen is not the freshest”. PocketBook has generally ceased to produce models with Pearl - even the cheapest model carries the most modern “Card” on board.
The screen on the PocketBook 614 Plus is really excellent - that's a fact. By its properties - contrast of fonts, white background and so on - it is comparable to the flagship displays. 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 curls in fonts are not so clear, and pictorial ladders of pixels are sometimes visible on pictograms. Nothing can be done: the device is really inexpensive. And expecting here 1024 x 768 or 1448 x 1072 (like the same PocketBook 631 Touch HD for 12,400 rubles) would be short-sighted.
But - I repeat again - the screen is still excellent. The picture is good, nice to read. It does not fade in the sun, does not give glare, provides autonomy for up to a month - in general, all the advantages of E Ink have a place to be (more about them in a separate postgeektimes.ru/company/pocketbook/blog/279924 ). It’s hot and very sunny in Odessa now - I just managed to thoroughly test the screen of the new reader for behavior in good weather in the open air. Verdict: excellent. You can read at noon, lying on the beach and without straining your eyes. Well, or sitting on a park bench - who really like it more.
Ergonomics
I will not hide: after more expensive touchbooks, returning to button control in the PocketBook 614 Plus was not at first very easy. 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. You can turn the pages through the “navigation” ...
... and these very additional keys (see the white triangle in the photo?).
What can I say: the control is quite logical, most of the 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 the rather old non-touch PocketBook 613 Basic New. There he is:
Sometimes I take it from my grandfather to write a portion of fresh books. And in return I give my sensory reader - for those couple of days, while I have a copy of it. So one day he called me in the evening in shock: they say that all the letters on the PocketBook 631 Touch HD screen became small, I don’t know what to do, horror! It turns out that he simply reduced their multi-touch. By chance. I could not explain to him by telephone how to return the size comfortable for the grandfather to letters, I could not. On his non-touch PocketBook 613 Basic New, such problems have never occurred. So young people are touch readers, but the conservative older generation is something like PocketBook 614 Plus.
Housing
The design remains the same, that is, the PocketBook 614 Plus differs little from the PocketBook 614. But there are a couple of little things that stand out from the old model.
The first - the back panel is now made not 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 it was possible to reduce the weight of the device - from 188 to 170 g. On the one hand, a trifle, on the other - not at all a trifle: if you hold the reader in a bent hand for an hour, two or three, then you begin to feel every extra gram . In general, the easier the pokebook is, the better.
On the back of the PocketBook 614 there is a convenient palm rest
The second difference from the previous model is the color of the navigation button. For PocketBook 614 and PocketBook 614 Limited Edition, it was acid-green, which, perhaps, didn’t correspond to the calm exterior of the devices. Now, the white version of PocketBook 614 Plus has a copper button, while 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 assembly (you don’t expect anything else from the market leader). And the fact that the MicroUSB port, MicroSD slot and power button are at the bottom:
In work
I will not tire of repeating that as many as 18 supported formats of books and documents are one of the main “striking forces” of the PocketBook brand in the reader market. Whatever book you download on the Internet, it will open on a pocketbook without any problems. Again I remember my grandfather - a former sailor: he loves to read the binder of technical magazines of his youth (and this is the 50s of the 20th century, for a minute), and they are available on the Internet only in DJVU. Which Kindle will open them? But no! And PocketBook opens. And the old grandfather PocketBook 613 Basic New, and the new PocketBook 614 Plus I tested. FB2 and other DOC any PocketBook reader also "chews" without any problems.
The settings for the text are full - from fonts to hyphens. The text can be changed as you like, the most ardent perfectionists, I think, will be able to choose the settings convenient for them.
There are four dictionaries. You can call them from the main menu, and select words while reading text. Then the screen will immediately display the translation. It is very convenient for those who learn the language by reading the literature in the original.
The main working screen looks like this. Above is a list of added books (they can only be downloaded via USB, since Wi-Fi, I recall, is missing). Below are four icons for accessing functions. All of them are configured, as, by the way, are the hardware buttons on the “face” of the reader. You can select functions for short and long presses, which is convenient.
The application menu is typical for modern devices - it is a matrix of icons. There are games, a calendar, a calculator - in general, a typical Pocketbook set.
I’ll add here that a 1,300 mAh battery provides over a month of battery life. You can go on vacation without charge, in short. Well, one more thing: the memory in the PocketBook 614 Plus is already 8 GB, and 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. The cable ...
... waste paper ...
... and this box:
What should be emphasized separately, even BOLD to highlight - the warranty period. PocketBook provides two years of warranty by default. And if you buy a reader in the company’s online store, then a whole three years of brand warranty. The status of a market leader (while PocketBook has a 70% share in Russia) and confidence in the high quality of the devices it makes, it is possible to present such pleasant bonuses to customers. Let me remind you that all other manufacturers have a miserable one year. Meanwhile, the reader is not a smartphone, it is not bought for a year or two, but, as a rule, for two or three years. So the greater the guarantee for the reader, the better.
Total
PocketBook turned out to be such a direct reader, that is, a device without unnecessary husks, but perfectly fulfilling its main task - displaying books. Because: a) he has a first-class screen of the latest generation E Ink Carta and b) the model traditionally for all pocketbooks supports a huge number of book formats. And all this is 6 900 rubles. Yes, and with a two - or even with an extended three-year warranty. More for a good reader may not be necessary. Enough of these items.
Who can recommend the PocketBook 614 Plus? Those who do not want to buy an expensive reader. In this case, for 6,900 rubles, they will receive everything necessary for a comfortable safe reading. Also, this model can be advised to parents looking for a reader 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 you can not be afraid for eyesight - readers do not plant their eyes, as the screens of all kinds of smartphones and tablets do there.
Well, do not forget about the elderly. The simpler the better. Fancy touch readers for them is not the best option. But something like an inexpensive and simple 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.