Pocketbook InkPad 4 Review: one of the best new e-reader of 2023

The Pocketbook InkPad 4 is Pocketbook's new large-format e-reader with a 7.8-inch screen. It's a "top-of-the-range" e-reader, with a beautiful screen and advanced features for demanding ebook lovers.

It is the replacement of the Inkpad 3.

This e-reader comes after more than 4 years of good and loyal service for the Inkpad 3, a e-reader that has been a great success thanks to its beautiful 7.8-inch e-ink screen and its text-to-speech function that make it a very comfortable reading device.

But, we must admit that technology has evolved and it was time for Pocketbook to bring something new and fresh to this model.

This is a in depth review of the Pocketbook InkPad 4 ereader.

Note: I bought this e-reader to carry out this test of the Pocketbook InkPad 4.

Pocketbook InkPad 4 packaging and presentation

The Pocketook InkPad 4 arrives in an attractive cardboard box that protects the machine well. In addition to the e-reader, you'll find a quick-start guide and a USB-C cable for connecting the e-reader to a computer or mains adapter for charging.

Once the e-reader has been removed from its protective plastic, you can switch it on and observe its design.

This is a top-of-the-range e-reader. The plastics used are of good quality, and the InkPad 4 is very pleasant to hold. The edge is designed in a beautiful silver-colored material. I'm not sure whether it's plastic or metal, but the effect is very good and the material is very hard.

Pocketbook has totally redesigned the reader with a new case design that still offers buttons under the screen. These buttons allow a faster navigation to return to the library and to turn the pages.

The screen has been updated and now offers a better contrast and a refresh rate 20% higher than the previous generation. It is an E Ink Carta screen of 1404 x 1872 pixels (300 PPP - pixels per inch) that displays 1200 levels of gray!

The screen is tactile with a lighting that allows you to adjust the color temperature to limit eye fatigue and the harmful effects of blue light on your eyes.

A sensor automatically orients the display to switch to landscape or portrait mode. There's also a more current USB-C port for fast charging and better reliability.

Pocketbook has not skimped on the reading of audio books since the Inkpad 4 reader is equipped with a small speaker and a Bluetooth connection to connect speakers or wireless headphones.

We still have the text-to-speech function that allows you to transform an ebook into an audio book with an integrated software. A feature that will be very appreciated by people who have a visual disability (see the full article on this topic here).

The quick-start guide is easy to follow and gets the machine up and running. Once the machine is up and running, you'll find a complete digital user manual for the e-reader in the library.

7.8-inch screen, touchscreen and Smartlight illumination

Unsurprisingly, the 7.8" diagonal screen is the main attraction of this Pocketbook InkPad 4 e-reader.

The comfort provided by this screen is the main reason for choosing this e-reader.

This InkPad 4 incorporates the very best in black and white electronic ink, with an E Ink Carta 1200 1404 x 1872 pixel 300 PPP screen.

The screen resolution is therefore excellent, enabling characters to be displayed very precisely for optimum comfort and visual rendering.

When reading an ebook, it's impossible to distinguish the pixels, and thanks to this E Ink screen, you get a rendering very close to a paper print.

The screen is touch-sensitive - allowing menu navigation and page turning - and features Smartlight lighting.

The light intensity can be adjusted, and there's also a function for adjusting the color temperature.

Adjusting the color temperature adds a yellow/orange tint to the lighting to limit the harmful effects of blue light.

In practice, it's mainly a question of adding to reading comfort in poor lighting conditions (at night, in poorly lit areas - such as public transport).

With its large screen, beautiful resolution and lighting, the Pocketbook InkPad 4 makes reading a pleasure.

If you like long reading sessions and plunging into a novel for hours on end, you're in for a treat!

Wifi, USB, storage on Pocketbook InkPad 4

If you already have a collection of EPUB format ebooks on your computer, the e-reader perfectly supports this file format (and many others).

What's more, the Pocketbook InkPad 4 is fully compatible with Calibre software. So it's easy to load books onto your e-reader and start reading in just a few minutes.

The e-reader comes with 32 GB of storage, allowing you to store thousands of ebooks or a few hundred mangas.

The e-reader has no micro-SD expansion port.

Finally, it has the capacity to connect a Bluetooth audio device and a small speaker. We'll come back to this later, when we talk about this e-reader's audio capabilities.

Wifi is used to connect the ereader on Internet.

InkPad 4: ebook reading

The Pocketbook InkPad 4 is compatible with a wide range of formats. You can also download digital books from your local library. For this review, I mainly used EPUB files and PDF files.

The display of the ebooks is very good. Even if it takes a few seconds to open an ebook, the pages are then displayed very quickly.

The e-reader offers numerous options for customizing the display: font size, fonts, margins, orientation (with a gyroscope if you want to switch automatically from portrait to landscape mode), line spacing and so on.

There's also a dark/night mode that displays white characters on a black page. This is a feature I really appreciate for reading at night, as I find it more restful for the eyes.

Unsurprisingly, the review of this Pocketbook InkPad 4 reveals an excellent e-reader for reading in the best possible comfort.

In terms of differences with the competition, all that's missing is more comprehensive statistical options to make it a perfect experience.

Fortunately, you can display the pages remaining to be read in the chapter, which I think is a good way of knowing when to stop a reading session.

When you're reading a book, you can select a word to access a menu that offers several things:

• Access the dictionary for the definition of a word
• Underline
• Add a note (small text in the form of a comment)
• Do a Google search
• Use a pencil (and an eraser) to leave a little freehand drawing on the book

Pocketbook InkPad 4 software

The software that powers this Pocketbook InkPad 4 is very complete.

If you're already familiar with Pocketbook e-readers, you'll be on familiar ground, since things have been pretty stable over the last few years.

There are still a large number of options on the reader, including :

• ebook reading
• Audiobook playback
• The bookshop for buying and downloading books
• Settings :
  • Wifi
  • Bluetooth
  • Accounts and synchronization: user accounts can be created if the reader is shared
  • InkPad 4 customization: lighting settings, gyroscope, key programming, reading mode gestures, start-up logos (to display the book cover in standby mode), start-up action settings (home, book in progress), screen refresh.
• Applications :
  • News: to synchronize RSS feeds
  • Calculator
  • Dictionary
  • Photo gallery
  • Calendar (and clock)
  • MP3-compatible audio player
  • Internet browser (very simple and basic)
  • A small notepad
  • Scribble: a small drawing program
  • Solitaire: the famous video card game
  • Sudoku
  • Chess

There's no doubt that this e-reader offers a wide range of customization options.

While this may seem like a lot for some novice users, you should know that you can simply use the e-reader as soon as you buy it, without having to worry about all its available functions.

Pocketbook InkPad 4: a good manga reader?

There's no doubt that the 7.8-inch screen makes manga very interesting to read.

Being used to reading manga on a Kobo Libra 2 and its 7-inch screen, I didn't think the difference would be so great.

But this InkPad 4 is very interesting for manga, and when you push the lighting a little, you get very good contrast and reading comfort.

The only drawback is the absence of color, which can be a problem for covers and for the few color illustrations found in some manga. But the reading experience is convincing enough for a good time with a Japanese comic.

There are also a few options for customizing page display and adjusting brightness and contrast.

Pocketbook InkPad 4: comics and PDFs

While the reader is perfectly capable of reading PDF documents, the absence of color doesn't make reading comic books particularly pleasant.

However, I found that reading comics was quite decent. Nevertheless, I prefer to use my Pocketbook Color, which has a smaller 6-inch screen.

As far as PDF documents are concerned, the reading experience will depend on a lot of parameters: color, illustration, font size, etc.

On simple text-only documents, this works very well. But on busier pages, the experience is less convincing.

It's important to note that this is also the case for all 6" to 8" e-readers. So it's not a fault of the Pocketbook InkPad 4, but a feature of e-readers of this size in general.

Audiobook playback and text-to-speech

The Pocketbook InkPad 4 e-reader has audio functionality.

It therefore offers two interesting options:

• Audiobook playback
• Text-to-speech

Unlike its predecessor, the InkPad 4 features a small loudspeaker, enabling these functions to be enjoyed directly without the need for additional hardware.

A Bluetooth option is also available for connecting headphones or a speaker. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to connect my speaker to the reader (I don't yet know why).

Audiobook playback is possible from MP3 files you may already have.

The playback function works without a hitch, and the sound is quite decent despite the small speaker. There are no superfluous functions, and it's easy to listen to audiobooks from your e-reader.

Text-to-speech is a feature that lets you listen to classic ebooks in audio, with the help of software that reads the text.

Here again, the function is accessed directly via the loudspeaker. If the text is read in a rather robotic way, it's curious to see how quickly you get used to it.

Pocketbook InkPad 4 technical specifications

Here are the Pocketbook InkPad 4's full technical specifications:

• Carta 1200 screen 1404 x 1872 pixels, 300 PPP
• Lighting with color temperature control
• 1ghz dual core processor (which seems on paper faster than the previous generation)
• 1GB of RAM memory
• 32 GB of storage
• Bluetooth
• Speaker
• Dimensions: 190mm x 134mm x 8mm
• Weight 265 grams (rather light for this large size)
• Audio compatibility: MP3, OGG, M4A
• Compatibility with ebook formats: AZW, EPUB, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CBR, CBZ, HTML, PDF, RTF and RXT (compatible with Adobe DRM)

Pocketbook InkPad 4 review: a very good e-reader!

There's no doubt that the Pocketbook InkPad 4 is an excellent e-reader.

The reading experience is really very good and the e-reader is comfortable. The e-reader is waterproof, making it resistant to water and dust, and the functionalities are numerous and useful (audiobooks, text-to-speech, MP3 support).

Nevertheless, this InkPad 4 has a few peculiarities worth bearing in mind.

Firstly, given its size, it's a little heavier than other e-readers. This didn't bother me, but it's worth pointing it out.

Finally, this is not an affordable e-reader. With a price tag of over 200$, it's destined for demanding readers who want the best possible comfort when reading ebooks. And for that, it's truly excellent.

It's time to move on to the pros and cons of this Pocketbook InkPad 4 to conclude this review.

Pros:

• Beautiful, comfortable screen
• Numerous options
• Audio book playback and text-to-speech
• Waterproof (IPX8)
• Comprehensive software supporting many ebook formats

Cons:

• Weight
• Price
• Incomplete reading statistics

If it's not the perfect e-reader, this Pocketbook InkPad 4 is without doubt one of the best available on the market, and if you're a serious reader, you should check it out and enjoy your ebooks with great comfort.

Final rating: 4.5/5

eReader : Pocketbook Inkpad 4

	Pocketbook Inkpad 4
Image
Screen size	7.8"
Resolution	1404 x 1872 pixels
Color	No
Backlight	Yes
Waterproof	Yes
Storage	32 GB
Pen / Stylus	No
SD card	No
Ebook formats	AZW, EPUB, DOC, DOCX, FB2, CBR, CBZ, HTML, PDF, RTF, RXT (compatible with Adobe DRM), MP3, OGG, M4A
Blue light filter	Yes
Other	Speaker, Bluetooth
Review	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Link (where to buy?)	Check the price on amazon.com - Official website