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I've been using a second PocketBook Era for a couple of days now and I think I'm going to keep it. The lighting is still uneven, but in the conditions in which I usually read in the evenings I hardly notice the gradient and am not distracted from reading. Contrast is lower than on my PW5, but the fonts are sharp enough for my taste and I don't need to use any method to vary the font weight (nor do I need to on the PW5 and I suspect even less so on the Kobo Libra 2). On the other hand I use KOReader as my default reading program, which does have this option to change font weight and contrast, although I have it set to zero on the PocketBook Era.
I still think it's too heavy to hold comfortably in one hand and I'm not convinced by the position of the keys either, perhaps influenced by my habit of using the InkPad X in landscape mode and using its keys, which are a bit smaller and a bit off the edge of the e-reader.
PBReader is a basic, simple reading programme that does the job. That's all I ask of it. I only use it occasionally for some ePub with Adobe DRM, but no matter how much they improve it, I doubt it will come close to what KOReader offers me, which will continue to be my default reading program. KOReader is integrated into PocketBook's interface and for me it's as if it were its native reading program. And indeed, it works fast and well.
And PocketBook gives me what I want: ease of sending books without using a computer (Dropbox PocketBook, PocketBook Cloud and Send to PocketBook), fine tuning of the lighting, both brightness and colour temperature, a good Library, and the integration of KOReader into your system. I haven't been able to check the battery life yet, but I have read quite a lot with KOReader and in principle it performs reasonably well.
All in all, the PocketBook Era is a very nice, compact, somewhat heavy e-reader with irregular illumination and sufficient contrast. It's not my favourite PocketBook device, but it's attractive enough to enjoy.
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