MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - small (5") e-reader rec?

kacir · 05-03-2020, 04:41 PM

Ever since I have retired my PocketBook 360° I have been looking for a front-lit 5" e-ink reader.
No such device exists at the moment. At least I haven't seen one and I follow discussions such as this one ;-) .
The most recent 5" e-ink reader I saw with my own eyes was Kobo mini in 2012.
There was also Sony PRS-350.
None of those were front-lit.

The devices I am going to discuss further are not readers but phones that can be used as readers.

I have purchased an obsolete Onyx Midia InkPhone with 4.3 inch e-ink screen. Great form-factor, botched hardware and poor software. That was quite a long time ago. They were sold for a few weeks and after that they were pulled from the market

I have also purchased Yotaphone 2. The e-ink display is not front-lit, but the phone has also a fantastic amoled screen on the other side of the phone, so you can use that when you need lit screen, or when you want to use a file manager that doesn't work well on an e-ink. Or watch a movie, or use a general-purpose Android app not optimized for e-ink. Great, great device. It is a shame that the company folded and Yotaphone 3 wasn't a success (I am not sure they are manufactured anymore). Mind you, Yotaphone 3 is missing some features than version 2 has. At one moment a Chinese company purchased Russian Yotaphone brand and dumped a bunch of Yotaphone 2 devices on the market for a fraction of price. That was when I got it. There was no way I was going to pay the original 800Euro price.
You can still purchase Yotaphone 3 from some e-shops.

The only current device[s] that I am aware of are Hisense A5 and related models.

05-03-2020, 04:41 PM	#29
kacir Wizard Posts: 3,463 Karma: 10684861 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20	Ever since I have retired my PocketBook 360° I have been looking for a front-lit 5" e-ink reader. No such device exists at the moment. At least I haven't seen one and I follow discussions such as this one ;-) . The most recent 5" e-ink reader I saw with my own eyes was Kobo mini in 2012. There was also Sony PRS-350. None of those were front-lit. The devices I am going to discuss further are not readers but phones that can be used as readers. I have purchased an obsolete Onyx Midia InkPhone with 4.3 inch e-ink screen. Great form-factor, botched hardware and poor software. That was quite a long time ago. They were sold for a few weeks and after that they were pulled from the market I have also purchased Yotaphone 2. The e-ink display is not front-lit, but the phone has also a fantastic amoled screen on the other side of the phone, so you can use that when you need lit screen, or when you want to use a file manager that doesn't work well on an e-ink. Or watch a movie, or use a general-purpose Android app not optimized for e-ink. Great, great device. It is a shame that the company folded and Yotaphone 3 wasn't a success (I am not sure they are manufactured anymore). Mind you, Yotaphone 3 is missing some features than version 2 has. At one moment a Chinese company purchased Russian Yotaphone brand and dumped a bunch of Yotaphone 2 devices on the market for a fraction of price. That was when I got it. There was no way I was going to pay the original 800Euro price. You can still purchase Yotaphone 3 from some e-shops. The only current device[s] that I am aware of are Hisense A5 and related models.