Energy Sistem, a Spanish tech brand has been developing e-readers for the last four years. The company has just released a new range of e-Readers that will appeal to varied demographic of users. The Energy Energy Reader PRO is the high end model and will likely have the most traction.
The Energy Reader PRO features a six inch e-Ink Pearl HD display with a resolution of 1024×758 pixels. It has a touchscreen, which makes it easy to click and navigate around the UI or just simply flip the pages in your favorite e-Book. It also incorporates a front-lit screen that allows users to read in the dark.
Underneath the hood is a ARM Cortex A9 1.0Ghz dual core processor and 8 GB of internal memory. It also has the option to expand the memory up to 64GB with a SD/SDHC card.
There are physical page turn buttons on the left and right hand side of the e-reader. This will appeal to people who like the tectonic feel of physical buttons or often hold their reader in one hand while commuting and exclusively using the touchscreen does not make practical sense. Flipping pages is quick and robust, but there is a noticeable flickering of the e-ink page, due to the older screen tech the PRO is employing.
The one hardware feature I really like is the inclusion of audio. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack, but no external speakers. Unlike anything issued by Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Kobo you can actually listen to music or audiobooks with the Energy Sistem PRO. The audiobook quality is fair, it really depends on what kind of headphones you are using.
Software
The Energy Sistem PRO is running Google Android 4.0 and will be upgraded to 4.4 in the near future. The fact that it runs Android is likely the biggest selling point. It allows users to basically install any Android app that they want. This is important because there is no integrated bookstore on the reader, so if you want to get new content you need apps.
There is no dedicated app store bundled on the PRO, but Gmail and Dropbox come installed. Users will have to download the app store of their choice, such as Amazon, 1Mobile or Good e-Reader. This will open up a new world of content so you can buy books from any major retailer and even install your favorite comic book, manga or PDF reading apps.
Wrap Up
This e-reader is a solid investment. The stock e-reading app allows for a ton of customization features to change the font size or even change the font type altogether. There are 500 free e-books in around 7 different languages, so no matter where you live you can start e-reading right away. Hardware wise, there is enough internal memory that you don’t need to buy an SD card right away.
I think this e-reader will appeal to the mid to advanced user that wants a heavily customizable e-reader and doesn’t want to spend an arm and an leg. Android allows a heavy amount of flexibility to deal with the e-book ecosystem of your choice, but also ups the versatility.
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.