Pocketbook is adding a new 7″ ereader to their product line called the Pocketbook Era Lite. It’s getting released later this month (May 2026), and it comes with Pocketbook’s new Libby App pre-installed for borrowing ebooks from public libraries.
They claim the Era Lite has a premium design with an “affordable price”, although they haven’t said what that price will be just yet. The 1st gen Pocketbook Era that came out in 2022 is currently selling for $249 on Pocketbook’s Amazon Store, and the Era Color is selling for $269, so I’d expect the Era Lite to fall in the $220 range.
The Pocketbook Era Lite features a 7-inch E Ink Carta 1300 screen with 300 ppi. It appears to have an indented screen in the pictures, but it’s hard to tell for sure. I hope it does because I didn’t like how the flush layer made the screen look cloudy and faded on the 1st gen Era, but otherwise the design was really nice.
I’m not sure what’s supposed to be “Lite” about this new model. Most of the specs are the same as the first gen Era, except this new version lacks a speaker (audio is via Bluetooth or a USB audio adapter, which, apparently, is included) and it has a lower water resistance rating (IPX4 instead of IPX8). It is a bit lighter at 204.5 grams compared to 228 grams, but the dimensions listed are exactly the same at 134.3 × 155 × 7.8 mm.
Like the 1st gen Era, it has a dual-core CPU with 16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. It has a rotation sensor and a cover sensor, with a USB-C port and a 1700 mAh battery. It also has a frontlight with adjustable color temperature.
The Pocketbook Era Lite runs Pocketbook’s Linux-based software, not Android like some models. It supports Adobe and LCP DRM, along with 25 common ebook and audio formats.
As noted above, it comes with Pocketbook’s new Libby App for borrowing ebooks directly on the device. It’ll be interesting to see how that compares to Kobo’s library implementation, which is rather clunky with having to borrow through their store and only being able to use one library card at a time. It’s also funny because the Era Lite is basically the fictional Kobo Libra BW that people have been waiting for Kobo to release for the past 2 years. I’m looking forward to trying it out.
I am a Kobo fan, but, not carrying a BW Libra makes no sense.
The Libby app is available on all PocketBook e-readers running firmware version 6.10.xxxx. The Verse Pro, for example, also has it.
The most interesting feature of the Era Lite is its Carta 1300 display (and its lower price; in Europe, it is available at the same price as the Verse Pro during its launch campaign).
And indeed, it doesn’t have a flat screen.
I hope you’ll buy one and compare it with the Libra 2’s screen. The first Era was a bit blurry.
But probably this a type of 7 inch Carta 1300 screen we haven’t seen before as I’d guess this one has no support for stylus input.
I do plan on buying one to review, but I no longer have a Libra 2 to compare it with. I’d assume the current Paperwhite uses a 7″ Carta 1300 screen, but Amazon never specifies screen generations so who really knows.
I have it for 2 days now and the contrast is so much better than the older Era! Really, except the IPX8 (which I don’t need) there is no disadvantage in my opinion and it is cheaper, too. I can absolutely recommend the Era Lite. The light is also the best and most even frontlight I’ve seen on any ereader so far (compared to Boox Go7, Paperwhite 12, Kobo Clara BW, Libra Colour and the older Pocketbook Era and Inkpad).
Pocketbook’s firmware is the absolute best for a dedicated linux device, especially for reliably & quickly sideloading books (by the thousands) but also for other usability features like extensive tap zones & PDF features usually found only on Android e-reader apps.
All of that gets ignored by reviewers — including this site — and that’s a shame because most users have no idea how good these devices really are.
That being said, the designs of their recent ereaders are trending to smaller (and smaller) storage with the original Copper (64GB) Era being discontinued while the aging Base Verse is the only linux-based device (PB or any other brand) offering expandable storage. This is not a good trend, for me.
The biggest problem is that I’ve discovered that I prefer smaller-sized readers — especially the phone-sized — & neither PB nor any of the other linux-based devices give me that choice.
OTOH, Chinese Android e-Ink devices offer everything that I’m looking for: A variety of form-factors, page-turn buttons, vast amounts of storage and — with my e-reader app of choice Moon Reader Pro — every reading bell & whistle that a user could ever need.
So, Pocketbook, I’m done with you. Same for you, Kobo, Nook & Kindle. While I once appreciated your simplicity vs Android, you’ve all become too inept, No thanks.
Lite -> no page turn buttons huh
Their site says, “Era Lite inherits the series’ award-winning design and signature side control buttons for intuitive, one-handed use.”
Zoom in on the picture and the buttons are clearly on the right. I too thought this Lite version would not have them like the Verse Lite. Lite in this case means this Era doesn’t have a speaker is lower water resistance and because of those two things it is in fact slightly lighter than the previous Eras.
On Kindle Paperwhite, Airplane Mode can be used to keep reading Libby books beyond the due dates. I wonder if this works with the PocketBook x Libby App, if you disable the Wi-Fi?