PocketBook launches 7.8-inch e-reader with new color E Ink screen

E-reader company PocketBook has announced and released the InkPad Color, a 7.8-inch device that uses E Ink’s latest color technology. PocketBook tells The Verge that it’s the first device with a new Kaleido panel to be available in the US and Europe.

According to the company, the new version of Kaleido has a different color filter pattern that offers better contrast and color saturation than the first Kaleido, which is itself pretty new technology. PocketBook also says that the screen refresh rate has been improved in software.

The specs of the new Kaleido panel are otherwise similar to the previous generation, with 300-dpi resolution for monochrome content and 100 dpi when displaying colors. The overall screen resolution has been increased to 1404 x 1872, owing to its larger physical size. The InkPad Color weighs 225g and is 8mm thick, so it should still be pretty portable.

A few months ago I reviewed the PocketBook Color, which was one of the first Kaleido e-readers on the market anywhere in the world. I was generally impressed with the screen technology, but found the 6-inch panel too small to be practical for use cases like magazines and comic books. A larger, improved display could make the InkPad Color a much more useful device — hopefully we can see for ourselves soon.

The InkPad Color is already available on Newegg and Amazon for $329.