Onyx has released a new 6-inch ebook reader called the Poke5. They never released the regular Poke4 internationally, just the watered-down Poke4 Lite, so this is the first 6-inch 300 ppi ereader that Onyx has released internationally since the Poke3 in 2020.
Frankly, there appears to be very little “new” with the Poke5; the specs are pretty much the same as the Poke3. If anything it looks like a slight downgrade because they changed from an 8-core CPU to a quad-core CPU, and the overall weight of the device has jumped up to 160 grams from 150 grams.
However, they did add a microSD card slot so that’s definitely a win, and the OS is based on Android 11 instead of Android 10.
The Poke5 is also a few millimeters shorter than the Poke4 and Poke3 at 148 x 108 x 6.8mm (the Poke4 Lite is 153 x 107 x 7.1mm).
Other than that, the specs are pretty much identical to the Poke3. It has 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, it has a 6-inch 300 ppi E Ink screen with adjustable frontlight color (with a flush front layer), there’s dual-band WiFi support, Bluetooth 5.0, it has a built-in microphone (but no speakers), and a USB-C port with support for OTG.
The price is listed at $179 when purchased from Onyx’s website, which makes it the most expensive 6-inch ereader on the current market, but that’s $10 less than the Poke3 sold for when it was still available.
Don’t expect this to turn up on Onyx’s Amazon store because they don’t sell their Poke and Leaf models on Amazon for some odd reason, but it might turn up on B&H or Best Buy’s website at some point.
The Meebook M6 is another similar 6-inch Android ereader that was recently released. It has 3GB of RAM instead of 2GB, and the price is $20 lower than the Poke5 on Amazon, but Onyx’s software is generally a bit more advanced and refined.
Actually $170 without bundle so $10 extra for the magnetic case. But don’t see US warehouse option (yet?) and neither does B&H or BestBuy lists it. Goodereader shows it but probably not best place to buy from.
I see what you’re saying but the $179 option is the only one available so that’s the number I went with. The picture with the magnetic case says “Standard Bundle” below it so it doesn’t really make any sense anyway. And if the standard option doesn’t come with a case why are they calling it a bundle? Onyx…
True it says ‘sold out’ for the standard bundle and ‘also for all US options. No clarification on what bundles will be available & when.
Normally B&H lists new Boox devices right away as pre-order, but not the Poke5. I asked but they didn’t know yet. The Leaf2 is better value, but great fit for anyone that prefers a very portable compact 6″ with flush screen.
Goodereader sells it for $179 with case but suspicious if they really have it in stock. The PocketBook Viva for example is ‘available’ for a month but PocketBook removed the device from their site (educated guess they are still struggling with color reproduction for certain colors and possibly can’t be fixed anytime soon).
They don’t have any in stock because they’re not a real store. They just dropship everything. Search online and you’ll find all kinds of reports of people having problems ordering from them.
Thanks, yes will avoid them. I also noticed missing typical standard ordering help page and their restocking / cancellation fees are way too high.
I have great experience with B&H and since they carry most Boox devices, seems best place to buy from (BestBuy typically has restocking fee unless you have a membership).
I recently bought a Poke5. I cannot find the “split screen” option (either system-wide, or within NeoReader). Can someone confirm that splitting the screen by either/both methods does indeed work on the Poke5? Thanks!
I don’t think split screen is available on the smaller models.
Well in that case … is there a Poke5-compatible reader app, which would allow me to split the screen between two EPUB’s of my choice?
Sorry, I don’t know of any. Having two ebooks open at once isn’t a very common use-case scenario.
Too bad. I was hoping to make my own dual-language reader by putting the original-language version in one window, and the English translation in the other. (I know there are some reading apps that do this sort of thing, but they seem to require that you use one of their “canned” dual-language editions)
Anyway … Nathan, thanks for your help!