PocketBook has released a new basic model called the PocketBook Basic Lux 4, and it’s available to order on Amazon for $109 with free shipping.
The Basic Lux 4 has a 6-inch E Ink screen with 212 ppi, and it has a frontlight but without adjustable color temperature. It has 8GB of storage space and there’s a microSD card slot for expansion. It also has a USB-C port and WiFi for connectivity.
Like most PocketBook models, the Basic Lux 4 has physical page-turn buttons that are located below the screen. It supports a number of common ebook formats, including ebooks with Adobe DRM, and it also supports Dropbox for wirelessly transferring files. The weight of the device is listed at 155 grams.
I’m having a hard time figuring out how the Basic Lux 4 is different than the previous Basic Lux 3. At first glance it doesn’t really look like anything has changed, other than switching from a microUSB port to a USB-C port. The middle button also looks like it’s slightly different, but it’s hard to tell from the pictures.
PocketBook still hasn’t officially announced the Basic Lux 4 yet, even though it’s available to purchase, so maybe some more details will be revealed in the press release.
This is the third new ereader that PocketBook has released this year, along with the InkPad 4 and the InkPad Color 2, both with 7.8-inch screens.
It’s good to see another inexpensive 6-inch ereader hit the market in the $100 range. It doesn’t have as high of a resolution screen as the basic Kindle, but it has a microSD card slot and physical buttons, unlike the Kindle, so it has some unique features of its own. Most ereaders don’t have page buttons or a memory card slot these days so at least PocketBook is still providing those options for people that want them.
There is a touch screen in Basic Lux 4 and lack of misroSD slot.
Wow, I can’t believe the Basic Lux 3 doesn’t have a touchscreen in this day and age (and PB fails to mention that fact anywhere in the description or on their website). It’s probably been over a decade since I last had an ereader without a touchscreen. I knew Pocketbook was kind of old school and slow to change but that blows my mind.
It looks like the Basic Lux 4 has a microSD card slot in the picture and it says it in the title and description at Amazon so I think the odds are pretty good it does have one. At any rate I’m going to buy one to review. It looks pretty nice for the price. I like having page buttons and I like how it doesn’t have a flush screen.
Yes, You are right. There is a microSD slot in Basic Lux 4. That was my mistake.
Well, they had Basic Lux for people who didn’t want touch and Touch Lux for the rest. I’m more confused about the fact that now both these readers will be almost idencital. The only difference is that Touch has warm light…
I was kind of confused by the similarities between the new Basic Lux and the Touch Lux as well, and there’s only a $20 price difference, but maybe they’re going to release an updated Touch Lux soon too.
They definitely need to. It at least needs to get USB-C. But that still wouldn’t be such a difference, so I’m interested in how they’re gonna differentiate these two models. Especialy with Touch HD still in the game (which definitely needs update too)… I guess they might cancel the Touch Lux model completely and just have Basic Lux without warm light and with lower PPI as basic model and new version of Touch HD with warm light and 300 PPI… But that’s just me guessing 🙂
I would think that the low ppi of 212 would also be out of date. At least the big players now use 300 ppi on their 6″ models.
PPI isn’t really a great metric for E Ink screens. Some of the worst screens I’ve seen have had 300 ppi. The fact that it has an indented screen might boost the contrast in some respects, depending on the touchscreen and frontlight layers. The Kobo Nia and Nook Glowlight 4e have 212 ppi screens as well so it’s not the only one.
I think the Basic Lux 4 has a touchscreen, but doesn’t have the Smartlight feature included in Basic Lux 3. Also, they both use Micro USB for charging, not USB-C. You can look at the specs from the Pocketbook website in Switzerland. It’s essentially the same e-reader, just adding one feature and minus another feature, then increasing the price of the product.
https://pocketbook.ch/en-ch/catalog/basic/pocketbook-basic-lux-4-ch
https://pocketbook.ch/en-ch/catalog/basic/pocketbook-basic-lux-3-ch
I think you’re right. The listing at Amazon says USB-C but the picture clearly shows the older version. Pocketbook is making some really weird choices lately. I can’t believe they cheaped out on the USB port and the frontlight and the screen resolution. They’re basically re-releasing an ereader from 10 years ago.