China’s Reinkstone has launched a 10.1-inch color e-paper tablet that runs on Android 11, which offers the kind of reading and doodling experience of the excellent Remarkable 2, but with the added draw of color.
After using the PocketBook InkPad Color recently, trying to read comics or magazines on a grayscale e-reader just looks… wrong. That said, though electronic ink and paper technology has come on leaps and bounds in a relatively short development time, color e-readers and tablets don’t offer anywhere near the vivid colors of digital devices or old-school print. Still, Reinkstone reckons that its R1 “has the highest color display among all color e-paper devices.”
Of course, the InkPad Color’s 7.8-inch display is dwarfed by the 10.1-inch R1, but users should still benefit from less long-haul eye fatigue than those who choose to consume literature on digital devices like smartphones and tablets.
Reinkstone’s e-paper tablet sports the latest DES (Display Electronic Slurry) technology “that is completely different from the existing micro cup structure and micro capsule structure of older e-paper readers. This structure forms a layer of a cofferdam on the surface of the TFT which makes the microstructure invisible from the front side and reduces the number of layers.”
The result is reported to be a high definition, high resolution vertical notebook-like e-paper display that adds up to 2,232 x 1,680 resolution for 140 color pixels-per-inch, or 280 PPI in grayscale.
The R1 is 0.68 in (6.8 mm) thick, weighs in at (425 g), and is built using aluminum alloy. Inside there’s a 1.8-GHz quad-core processor supported by 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, and a 4,500-mAh battery for 100 days on standby or 300 hours in use. It comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and as this is an Android 11, loading in favorite apps shouldn’t be a problem.
There’s built-in front lighting for reading and writing outside of daylight hours, and support for multiple ebook and document formats, including ePUB, TXT, HTML, PDF, MOBI and RTF. Two 0.8-W speakers and two noise-canceling microphones cater for audiobooks and text-to-speech, as well as recording meetings or lectures. And a stylus with 4,096 pressure levels can be had, which includes a built-in eraser function.
“At Reinkstone, we respect the past while looking optimistically toward the future,” said the company. “Our team is dedicated to creating a device that combines the power of a tablet along with a premium true color e-reader experience, eye protection, and comfort for users. The R1 simply lets you do more than other e-readers. It streamlines your day, adds the power of Android apps and boosts productivity.”
The R1 is currently the subject of a Kickstarter funding campaign, and has already met its target with 29 days to go. Pledges start at US$379 (as of writing), and if all goes to plan, shipping is estimated for November.
Reinkstone goes big on color with 10-inch e-paper Android tablet [New Atlas]