Bookeen - a company founded in France in 2003 and specializing in the production of various digital devices for reading electronic books in various formats. This is one of the oldest existing companies, which is engaged in the development of technologies in this field.
Bookeen Logo
For more than fifteen years of work, Bookeen e-books have not lost their charm. Probably, this is largely achieved thanks to the people working there, who throughout their work have maintained a love of electronic books and make devices, not just for selling and receiving money, but for the buyer, who will then use it. Therefore, this company is so popular in Europe, and recently, having received official support in the CIS, it has become very popular with the Russian buyer. Next, 5 best models from this manufacturer will be considered with consideration of the characteristics of each of them.
Bookeen Cybook Odyssey HD Frontlight
This model is one of the most popular market among the entire past line of the company, which were presented on the market - and for good reason. The device has a pleasant design and ergonomics, which is largely achieved through the use of high-quality materials and thoughtful form. Although the company is French, but as is usually the case, assembly is still carried out in China. However, this does not mean that the device is poorly assembled, during use or compression, it does not creak, and backlashes when examined in detail are hardly noticeable. In this case, the minimum number of mechanical elements is used and only one large button was left in the lower part of the case, the rest is controlled by the touch screen.
Cybook Odyssey HD Frontlight
Specifications
- Management: using the sensor and the menu button
- Backlight: available
- Wi-Fi: available
- Display diagonal: 6 "
- Resolution: 1024 × 768 px
- Built-in memory: 2 GB
- RAM: 128 MB
- Battery: 1600 mAh
- Weight: 180g
- Price: 8900 rubles
As with all e-books, Cybook Odyssey uses E-Ink screen technology to simulate paper, making it believable. The main feature of such screens from ordinary ones is that they work on the principle of reflection of ambient light from their surface, that is, also all objects surrounding us and the same book sheets. Therefore, in the case of readers, the more light around, the better the screen will work. The prefix HD in the title is not just because it uses the advanced E-Ink HD technology with a better and clearer character display, without blurring at the edges.
The difference between E-Ink and E-Ink HD
Another feature that this device has is the presence of a second layer with backlight. This solves the common problem that the user encounters when trying to read in low light - the text on the screen is simply not visible. This feature is very easy to turn on, but it’s worthwhile to understand that with it the main advantage of the “book screen” is lost, since now your eyes will see a light spot in front of you and the battery will noticeably decrease.
Bookeen Cybook Muse FrontLight
This model has an interesting, slightly futuristic design, due to its sharp edges and bevel along the edges of the case. At the same time, the assembly is also at a high level and does not have any gaps between the screen and the case itself, and there is no backlash. In general, the location of the buttons is successful, the device has 3 mechanical buttons: two on the sides of the reader - for turning pages and one in the bottom center - to call up the menu, which allows you to do this not only by pressing on the touch screen.
Cybook muse frontlight
Specifications
- Management: 3 mechanical buttons and touch screen
- Backlight: available
- Wi-Fi: available
- Diagonal: 6 "
- Screen Resolution: 1024 × 758 px
- Memory: 4 GB
- RAM: 256 MB
- Battery: 1900 mAh
- Weight: 190g
- Price: 8500 rubles
The device also has a screen backlight that quietly turns off in a couple of taps. If this function is fundamentally necessary, then the company released another specification called Bookeen Cybook Muse Essential, in which it is absent, which saves money on the purchase. The screen has a resolution of 1024 × 758 px., But at the same time it has Multi-touch, which allows you to select or rotate text with several gestures.
Bookeen Cybook Gen3
The Cybook Gen3 was released almost 10 years ago and is a bit off the standard notion of an “electronic book.” In many ways, thanks to its appearance and built-in music player, which gives the impression of a music player, not a reader, but this is not so. About 30% of the body is plastic with a joystick control, which is quite an interesting and convenient solution. You can also adjust the pages using the volume controls on the side of the device. I would like to note that in the configuration there are also branded headphones, although not of the best quality. In general, the device turned out to be controversial, but it also has its own zest.
Cybook gen3
- Management: using the joystick and sliders on the side of the case
- Backlight: available
- Wi-Fi: available
- Diagonal: 6 "
- Screen Resolution: 800 × 600 px
- Memory: 1 GB
- RAM: 32 MB
- Battery: 1000 mAh
- Weight: 174g
- Price: 4500 rubles
The screen is small, with a resolution of only 800 × 600 pixels with a resolution of 167 ppi. The device is made qualitatively using E-Ink and Vizplex technology, while it has 8 gradations of gray, which allows you to display images in the best quality. In this case, the battery charge is enough to switch between 8,000 pages.
Now a little about controversial decisions. The presence of a music player is more likely to interfere than to complement the device, since the software implementation of this function clearly let us down. You will have to overpay for this opportunity, but with such a sound quality, even for audio books it is easier to use a separate player. The assembly also let us down a bit, as some buttons creak and stagger, and if you make a little effort, the Cybook Gen3 will begin to bend.
Bookeen Cybook Odyssey 2013
This device, as the name suggests, was released in 2013 and is a budget version of the Cybook Odyssey HD Frontlight. The design and dimensions of the device are exactly the same as in its improved version, but the changes lie in the mechanical part.
Cybook Odyssey 2013
- Management: using a mechanical button and touch screen
- Backlight: None
- Wi-Fi: available
- Diagonal: 6 "
- Screen Resolution: 800 × 600 px
- Memory: 2 GB
- RAM: 128 MB
- Battery: 1,600 mAh
- Weight: 180g
- Price: about 6500 rubles
The device has a reduced screen resolution, with the same diagonal, which affects the quality of the text display, HD E-Ink is also absent. Continuing the theme of the screen, this reader does not have a second layer with a suspension, which will complicate its use in dimly lit rooms. But, looking at it all from the positive side, in such conditions the battery of the device will last much longer. Therefore, for its price category - Cybook Odyssey 2013 is a good budget option.
Bookeen cybook ocean
At the moment, the last released model from the company Bukin and, probably, this is one of those cases when everything went wrong. Externally, this reader fully copies Cybook Muse FrontLight, but with one “but”, the display diagonal in this device is 8, which in itself increases the dimensions of the device. And everything seems to be in order, but the manufacturer left the same resolution and resolution of the screen, which is why all the information looks extremely mediocre. The unsuccessful decisions did not end there, the company decided to reduce the size of RAM, which entailed many hardware problems. Including brakes during operation, artifacts and much more.
Bookeen cybook ocean
- Management: via touch buttons and screen
- Backlight: available
- Wi-Fi: available
- Diagonal: 8 "
- Screen Resolution: 1024 × 768 px
- Memory: 4 GB
- RAM: 128 MB
- Battery: 2100 mAh
- Weight: 300g
- Price: About 15 thousandrubles
At the same time, the Cybook Ocean is equipped with a backlight, a 2100 mAh battery, which in a sense saves the device. In general, it is suitable for people who do not like small e-books, but the purchase itself will be controversial.
The Bookeen company has both successful e-book models that will calmly compete with readers from Amazon Kindle market leaders, and frankly, controversial. But, one way or another, these devices have their own interesting developments and technical solutions.
