iReader Neo 2 e-reader is now available
The iReader Neo 2 might be the best e-reader in the world. It utilizes the latest generation E INK technology, Carta 1300. This provides a massive 35% increase in overall performance vs the previous generation. This means if you thought the 11th generation Kindle Paperwhite was fast, this trounces it. It even supports English, so there is a massive market for it. It retails for $239.99 from the Good e-Reader Store and comes in black or white.
The iReader Neo 2 features a 6-inch E INK Carta 1300 black and white e-paper panel. It has a resolution of 1072×1448 with 300 PPI. It features a recessed bezel design, providing a superior reading experience. Most e-readers on the market have a glass layer protecting the screen. However, I believe an exposed e-paper is better because you can read outside and get zero glare from the sun. Text looks beautiful thanks to the 236 grayscale levels, while the Kindle only has 16 levels. The Neo 2 has a front-lit display and colour temperature system, thanks to the warm and excellent lighting.
Underneath the hood is a quad-core 2.0 GHz processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Dual microphones will allow you to conduct audio dictation, and there is a built-in speaker to listen to audiobooks, music or podcasts; there is even Bluetooth 5.0. There is a USBC port for charging and transferring documents, and it is powered by a 1700 mAh battery.
The iReader Neo 2 runs Android 11 as the operating system but doesn’t have an app store. I have heard that you can sideload in apps on this model, but you couldn’t on the first gen Neo. The main UI is at the bottom and has links to the library, store, and settings menu. I like that they don’t bog you down with many extra UI elements. The main home screen has a few sections; the top is reserved for books you have sideloaded or purchased from the store. Shortcuts take you to your bookshelf, images, fonts, files and a dictionary. I like how you can sideload your fonts by simply using your computer’s file manager and copying them over to the e-reader into the fonts directory. The standard fonts that are bundled on it are not very good. The audio player is outstanding since it supports all your favourite formats, such as MP3, M4A, AAC and FLAC. I would not load many audiobooks since only 32 GB of storage exists.
You purchase the iReader Neo 2 mainly to read ebooks. Luckily, there is support for a wide array of formats. TXT, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, AZW3, DJVU, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, and XLSX.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
