PocketBook InkPad Color 3

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€ 315,00*

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Last updated on 1. September 2025 at 22:11. All statements without guarantee.

Video Review

PocketBook InkPad Color 3: At a Glance

The standout feature of the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is its 7.8-inch display, which uses E Ink Kaleido 3 technology. This delivers a resolution of 300 ppi for black-and-white content and 150 ppi for color.

The display is an eye-friendly alternative to conventional LCD screens, though it can’t match them for color saturation and intensity. Even so, the InkPad Color 3’s Kaleido panel is an intriguing option that, thanks to the higher resolution, looks significantly better than earlier Kaleido generations.

PocketBook InkPad Color 3 (right to left) compared to the InkPad Color 2, InkPad Color 1, and InkPad 4.

That makes the device interesting not only for color content, but also well worth a look for pure text. The subtle sparkle seen on earlier models’ screens is far less noticeable here thanks to the higher resolution. As a result, the InkPad Color 3’s screen looks more paper-like and is easier on the eyes.

Of course, the eReader also has a front light with adjustable color temperature.

Front light: 100% night light

The quality of the integrated lighting impresses with very even illumination, ensuring a distraction-free reading experience.

Robust with minor shortcomings

In terms of design, the InkPad Color 3 follows PocketBook’s current lineup and at first glance looks almost like an InkPad 4. The key difference from its sibling—aside from the color display—is that the screen is slightly recessed into the housing, so the front isn’t flush.

Build quality is impeccable; a minor drawback is the back of the device, which is prone to fingerprints. Despite this small blemish, the device feels solid and pleasant in the hand.

The back is prone to fingerprints

As usual for PocketBook, there are four physical buttons below the display. The two page-turn keys are sculpted, making them easy to find without looking. This is where PocketBook’s attention to detail really shows.

The optional cover that attaches to the back is also especially practical. It adds barely any bulk or weight while still protecting the screen.

Well equipped

With 32 GB of internal storage, the InkPad Color 3 is well prepared to hold a large library of eBooks, comics, magazines, as well as audiobooks and music. While that should be more than enough for most users, the lack of a memory card expansion option is unfortunate.

In return, you do get built-in IPX8 waterproofing.

Audiobooks, music, and the excellent text-to-speech (TTS) feature can be played through the built-in speaker, or via compatible Bluetooth speakers or headphones.

Intuitive to use with a wide range of features

Despite its wide array of functions, the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is intuitive to use. In this respect, PocketBook has made major improvements in recent years and is now on par with Amazon.

Robust font customization, a comprehensive selection of free dictionaries, and a note-taking feature are among the key eBook functions alongside TTS.

There’s also a very good browser, a dedicated Onleihe app, and the aforementioned audio features.

You can purchase eBooks and audiobooks through the built-in store. However, signing in to the store isn’t required to use the device. So the InkPad Color 3 is also an appealing option for privacy-conscious users.

Customizable home screen shortcuts

Another plus is the software’s strong customizability. You can tailor the shortcuts on the home screen as well as those in the notification center, the touch zones, and the button functions. If you value extensive personalization, you’ll feel right at home here.

Conclusion

The device’s strengths lie in its innovative display technology, solid build, and extensive feature set. While there are a few minor shortcomings—such as its susceptibility to fingerprints and lower color intensity compared to LCDs—it still adds up to a very compelling overall package.

While the color intensity can’t match a tablet, it still noticeably enhances the user experience

For anyone looking for an eye-friendly, versatile, high-quality reading device, the InkPad Color 3 is definitely worth considering

• Here you’ll find the in-depth review of the PocketBook InkPad Color 3

PocketBook InkPad Color 3: Full Review

With the InkPad Color 3, PocketBook has very unexpectedly launched a new eBook reader with a color display.

The rapid generational change in the InkPad Color line wasn’t originally planned by PocketBook. But the big success of the predecessor caught everyone off guard—PocketBook and display maker E Ink alike. E Ink, in particular, couldn’t deliver enough Kaleido Plus panels. As a result, they had to switch to the newer (and better) Kaleido 3 technology.

E Ink Kaleido 3 offers higher color resolution and has already proven to be a very capable display technology in various Chinese E Ink tablets. Expectations for the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 are accordingly high.

In this review, we take a look at how much Kaleido 3 improves readability and whether the third InkPad Color eReader can now be recommended without reservations.

Note: The test device was provided by PocketBook without conditions and without any influence on the review.

Build quality, features and handling

In terms of hardware—apart from the display—the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is virtually identical to its direct predecessor, the InkPad Color 2. At first glance you could also easily mistake the InkPad Color 3 for the recently introduced InkPad 4, as they have similar dimensions and a largely identical design.

One difference lies in the display construction: Like the InkPad Color 2, the InkPad Color 3 has a slightly recessed screen instead of a flush glass front. This design choice was likely made to avoid degrading E Ink image quality with an additional glass layer. That matters because the RGB color filter already darkens the display noticeably (see below).

Familiar design on the InkPad Color 3

The bezels around the InkPad Color 3’s display are uniformly slim, with a slightly broader area at the bottom where the physical buttons sit. As with the InkPad 4, these are placed right at the lower edge, eliminating the “chin” of the earlier model (InkPad Color 1). This small design change doesn’t hurt handling or operation, as the slightly curved page-turn buttons are still easy to reach.

Slightly curved page-turn buttons make them easier to find by feel

High-quality feel

Like the InkPad Color 2 before it, the InkPad Color 3 leaves an impeccable impression of quality. Versus the InkPad 4 it even has an edge in that the chassis doesn’t tend to creak—something that wasn’t a deal-breaker on the sibling model, but I still found slightly annoying.

Back with attached cover

The side frame of the InkPad Color 3 looks metallic, but it’s actually made of plastic. Visually and to the touch, the device feels premium—except for the back. It looks a bit cheaper and is a fingerprint magnet. On the plus side, the ribbed pattern gives it a secure grip.

InkPad Color 3 with attached sleep cover

You can once again attach a matching cover by connecting it to the back of the device. That keeps the eReader slim while still protecting the screen.

Well equipped

With 32 GB of internal storage, the InkPad Color 3 offers ample space for most use cases. More storage or an expansion option would still have been nice—especially for a color eReader that tends to store larger files. But for most users, 32 GB will be more than enough.

The device supports music, audiobooks, or text-to-speech via Bluetooth headphones or speakers. There’s also a built-in speaker that makes a wireless connection unnecessary and outputs audio directly on the eReader—already familiar from the InkPad 4 and InkPad Color 2. Sound quality is good and on par with those models.

Mono speaker on the side

At 270 grams, the InkPad Color 3 is only slightly heavier than the InkPad 4 (265 grams). One reason for the similar weight (despite the non-flush front) is the larger 2,900 mAh battery. It’s almost 50% bigger than on the sibling model and is needed for the higher processing load of color rendering.

New, faster CPU

Like its predecessor, the InkPad Color 3 again uses a quad-core processor with up to 1.8 GHz. This more powerful processor makes the device faster and more responsive than the InkPad 4 (and almost all other PocketBook models).

USB-C port on the bottom

Besides the powerful processor, the eReader comes with 1 GB of RAM and a USB-C port. The built-in IPX8 water protection is—along with the InkPad Color 2—a notable differentiator among color eReaders.

Display and lighting

As mentioned, the device uses E Ink Kaleido 3 display technology. The 7.8-inch screen thus has two different resolutions: 300 ppi for the E Ink panel and 150 ppi for the color layer.

Here’s how it works: A semi-transparent RGB layer (red, green, blue) with colored subpixels sits on top of a regular grayscale E Ink Carta display—the same kind used in the InkPad 4.

To display a specific color, the pixels of the underlying E Ink display are selectively darkened so that only the desired color remains unobstructed. The display reflects light freely only at that spot, making the chosen color clearly visible to the naked eye.

So if you want to show a green image, the screen is darkened behind the red and blue subpixels. Because E Ink pixels can be darkened in grayscale and not just switched to black, the Kaleido 3 display can render 4,096 colors. That delivers generally solid color reproduction, only reaching its limits with complex images.

Because of the RGB color layer, the screen is visibly darker without the light on

There is a downside to this color-layer approach: The additional RGB coating clearly darkens the screen. Without the front light enabled, the experience is simply worse than with a normal E Ink Carta display like on the InkPad 4. That applies to all Kaleido devices, regardless of brand.

So you should buy an E Ink Kaleido color eReader with the expectation that you’ll be using the front light pretty much all the time indoors. With the light on, readability is excellent and this drawback is largely neutralized. Accordingly, almost all photos in this review were taken with the light enabled. In my view, that best reflects real-world use.

With the light on, the InkPad Color 3 is very easy to read

The only small disadvantage versus the InkPad Color 2 is the slightly darker appearance without lighting. Because the pixel density is higher on the InkPad Color 3, the screen looks a little darker. That’s not a real problem, though, since—as noted—you’ll normally be using the front light on both devices anyway.

Display quality

So the basic way it works hasn’t changed with the new Kaleido 3 tech. The key difference is the 50% higher resolution. From the predecessor’s 100 ppi, color resolution on the InkPad Color 3 rises to 150 ppi.

PocketBook InkPad 4, InkPad Color 1, InkPad Color 2, and InkPad Color 3 showing the same comic page

Although that might not sound like a lot, the improvement has a clear impact on image quality in my experience. My biggest gripe with Kaleido Plus was that you could see the RGB subpixels fairly well with the naked eye. At a reading distance of about 30 centimeters, I could perceive them on the predecessor as a kind of shimmering.

This shimmering clearly degraded the reading experience for pure text (black on white, no color) for me. The typical paper-like E Ink feel was also missing because of it.

Comic page from the InkPad family in detail: The InkPad Color 3 has the visibly best image quality

That’s different with the PocketBook InkPad Color 3: The 150 ppi pixel density shrinks the subpixels. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re completely invisible, but they’re much less noticeable. At around 30 centimeters, the Kaleido 3 display looks more paper-like than previous generations. At greater distances I can’t see the subpixels at all.

The changed subpixel shape and arrangement also contribute to this impression. The tiny color dots are now square, and their diagonally appearing arrangement also makes them less conspicuous to the naked eye.

Zoomed in again: The InkPad Color 3 renders best

Color reproduction

This new subpixel arrangement also improves color rendering in general. Beyond the fact that colored text is sharper thanks to the higher resolution, colored areas appear less dithered.

Color saturation is also minimally better, but the difference is so small it’s hardly worth mentioning. The gentle, more pastel look remains with the new display generation.

Still, simply having color on an eReader is a very welcome bonus and makes the user interface feel more lively to me. Even more so for color content like comics, which simply look better. You quickly get used to the pastel-like color rendering.

PocketBook InkPad Color 3 vs. paper comic

It’s important to note in this context that E Ink Kaleido 3 still shares the same advantage as all other E Ink displays: excellent readability even in direct sunlight. So while color saturation is much lower than on an LCD tablet, outdoors the eReader clearly has the upper hand thanks to the low-glare surface and reflective screen tech.

As a final note on color saturation, PocketBook could tweak the default configuration a little. To my taste, saturation is set a bit too high. Fortunately, PocketBook lets you adjust certain values yourself. I found the best balance between image quality and color accuracy with these settings:

• Contrast +6
• Brightness -1
• Gamma 0.8
• Saturation -2

Of course, personal preference plays a role here, and the setup may change with future software updates. So you should just experiment a bit with the sliders yourself.

Lighting quality & brightness

As with its predecessor, the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 delivers a very good performance in terms of lighting quality. You can spot a slight vertical brightness gradient if you look closely, but it doesn’t detract from the reading experience. Especially with full-page color content (like comic pages), any minor front-light inconsistencies are hardly noticeable—even if they’re more pronounced.

Contrast almost becomes a side note: With the light on, it’s absolutely impeccable. Turn on the front light and readability is excellent. Without lighting, however, the screen is, as mentioned, rather too dark indoors.

Even front light: 0% nightlight

The color temperature of the front light can again be adjusted between cool white and warm orange, and the cool-white setting at 7,200 Kelvin is notably cooler this time than on the InkPad Color 2. Since you can mix the light color yourself with the slider, that’s not an issue. The nightlight sits at a similar level as before at 3,100 Kelvin.

Front light with 50% nightlight setting

Maximum brightness is a bit lower than on the predecessor at 54 cd/m² for the cool-white LEDs and 55 cd/m² for the warm-orange LEDs, but it’s still easily bright enough for comfortable daytime reading. In the dark you’ll reduce brightness anyway, and here the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 shines again with a very low minimum brightness of 0.7 cd/m².

100% nightlight

As always with these values (brightness and color temperature), keep in mind that variations within a model line are possible and in practice there are device-to-device differences.

Touchscreen and ghosting

You primarily operate the eReader via the fast, precise touchscreen, plus the typical PocketBook hardware keys below the display.

Ghosting is minimal with pure text, so while you can make out a faint “bleed-through” of the previous page, it’s so mild that it doesn’t disturb.

It’s a different story with images. Here, a full screen refresh is helpful because ghosting can be more pronounced. A full refresh reliably fixes the issue.

Lighting and nightlight automation

The PocketBook InkPad Color 3 still doesn’t have sensors to automatically adapt screen brightness to the environment. True to the brand, there is a time-based automation feature instead.

You can even customize it by defining brightness and nightlight on a time graph according to the time of day.

Handy time-based automation

This approach has pros and cons: On the plus side, sudden ambient light changes don’t affect the device, so you don’t have to tolerate constantly shifting screen brightness in extreme cases. The downside is that the lighting doesn’t react directly to the environment, so you may need to adjust it yourself.

All told, I still like this solution a lot, and it’s especially convenient for me in the evenings when lighting conditions don’t vary from day to day. The customization options are a welcome bonus for advanced users.

Interim verdict: display

Surprises happen: Shortly after launching the InkPad Color 2, PocketBook already released its successor, which addresses my biggest criticism of the color display.

The PocketBook InkPad Color 3 scores with higher pixel density that makes for a better user experience. In my view, the difference is much bigger than the seemingly small on-paper jump of only 50 ppi would suggest.

The less conspicuous subpixels and the resulting p

Great color rendering and image quality with E Ink Kaleido 3—though only with the front light turned on

aper-like look make the InkPad Color 3 not only a great display device for comics and magazines, but also for pure text without images.

You still need to come in with the right expectations, because E Ink Kaleido 3 isn’t perfect either: Without the front light on, the screen is noticeably darker than grayscale E Ink, and color saturation can’t compete with LCD screens in tablets or smartphones.

If you’re aware of those points, there’s hardly anything to criticize about the display. On the contrary: the color screen on the InkPad Color 3 is a joy to use.

Reading and usability

In recent years PocketBook has put a lot of polish into its software and interface. As a result, usability is now on par with the competition from Amazon or Tolino, and in some details even better—despite a large feature set.

For the privacy-conscious, the InkPad Color 3 is also an interesting choice. You don’t have to sign in to the built-in store if you don’t want to—and you can still use all device functions without restrictions (aside from buying eBooks and audiobooks, of course). PocketBook has also stopped collecting anonymous usage statistics. These were already optional before, but are now no longer collected at all.

So the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 gives you the usual convenience of using the built-in store if you want, as well as the option to use the device in a privacy-conscious way.

The most important functions are briefly covered below. The test was conducted with software version U743k3.6.8.2193.

Home screen

The InkPad Color 3’s home screen sticks with PocketBook’s proven design. The three most recently read or added titles are shown at the top, with recommendations from the integrated eBook shop below.

One differentiator for PocketBook versus other providers is the ability to hide these shop recommendations. This option is available if the device is purchased directly from the manufacturer. If you buy from a partner shop, there may be differences.

Familiar home screen

If you hide the shop recommendations, the home screen changes slightly: The four most recently read or added eBooks are then displayed larger in the center, and the shop area is hidden.

The status bar at the top provides quick access to functions like lighting, Wi-Fi, and sync. These shortcuts can now also be customized.

At the bottom of the screen are five app shortcuts: Library, Audiobooks, Shop, Notes, Apps. These can be customized as well.

Library

The InkPad Color 3’s library offers extensive filtering and sorting options. eBooks can be organized by categories like authors, genres, collections, favorites, folders, formats, and the PocketBook Cloud. You can also sort by last opened, date added, title, and author.

By default you get a cover view, but you can switch to a more compact view with title and author shown as text.

As is typical for PocketBook, the book list scrolls vertically and continuously. That takes a moment to get used to, but becomes very comfortable quickly. Alternatively, you can use the page-turn or virtual buttons to flip through the library page by page.

Pocketbook still has the best library function—by far

The device supports both a folder structure and Calibre’s tag system. So if you already use one of these systems to sort your eBook collection, you can keep using it without reworking anything.

That means PocketBook remains the provider with the best library function on the market—even with the InkPad Color 3.

Reading

On the InkPad Color 3 you can turn pages by tapping or swiping on the touchscreen or by using the hardware buttons. The touch zones can also be customized with predefined actions.

You can tailor things like line and margin spacing, font size (between 6 and 40 points), and hyphenation. You can change the font and choose between regular, bold, and italic. Fonts can be installed later if your preferred one is missing.

Good text customization options

PocketBook also lets you hide various on-screen elements. These include page numbers, the status bar, the number of pages remaining to the end of the chapter, and integrated page numbers. With the last option, the software calculates reading position dynamically, depending on the chosen font size. This initial calculation can take a little time.

Highlights and notes

In the advanced note mode, all options are displayed at the top of the screen as follows:

• Highlight
• Write note
• Handwritten highlight
• Eraser
• Screenshot (with size selection)

Beyond allowing handwritten markup, the advanced note mode can also save time. While paging with the buttons, the options bar at the top stays fixed. That way you can add new notes and highlights with a single tap, without having to press and hold a word each time to open the context menu. This is especially handy if you annotate frequently.

Note-taking with color coding

Thanks to the color display, highlights and notes can be color-coded. Notes can also be exported in HTML format. At present, it’s not possible to export handwritten notes; in the export they are shown only as a reference.

Dictionaries

The PocketBook InkPad Color 3 offers a huge number of (free) dictionaries (see below) that more reliably recognize grammatical forms than before. If there’s no exact match, the dictionary now looks for the best next word, which works well in most cases. If the wrong word is shown, you can correct it with the virtual QWERTZ keyboard and search for the right one yourself.

PocketBook is also working elsewhere to optimize lemma recognition. There’s now a “Morphology” extension for some dictionaries to better recognize different grammatical forms. Honestly, after installing it I couldn’t clearly see an advantage—at least not for German-language dictionaries.

My remaining gripe with the dictionary is the need to tap twice to open an entry: First you long-press the word, then select the dictionary in the context menu. Other providers like Amazon or Kobo need one less tap. It sounds minor, but if you look things up a lot, it can make a noticeable difference in comfort.

Dictionary displayed at the bottom of the screen

There is at least a special dictionary mode that mitigates this. When enabled, you can look up a word with a single tap—but at the expense of direct access to the context menu. So if you want to add a note, for example, you have to exit dictionary mode again.

Other new features known from the InkPad 4 include adjustable font size in the dictionary window and the ability to add a note directly to the looked-up word. That way you can build a vocabulary list for studying.

You can also have a looked-up word read aloud via the text-to-speech function (see below) and directly through the built-in speaker.

The following dictionaries can be downloaded directly from the interface (provider: PocketBook unless otherwise noted):

• Arabic -> English
• Armenian -> English
• Azerbaijani -> English
• Chinese (simplified) -> English
• Chinese (traditional) -> English
• Czech -> English
• Dutch -> English
• English -> Arabic
• English -> Armenian
• English -> Azerbaijani
• English -> Chinese (simplified)
• English -> Chinese (traditional)
• English -> Czech
• English -> Dutch
• English -> English (Webster’s 1913)
• English -> Estonian
• English -> French
• English -> German
• English -> Greek
• English -> Hebrew
• English -> Hungarian
• English -> Italian
• English -> Latvian
• English -> Lithuanian
• English -> Polish
• English -> Portuguese
• English -> Romanian
• English -> Russian
• English -> Slovak
• English -> Spanish
• English -> Swedish
• English -> Turkish
• English -> Ukranian
• Estonian -> English
• French -> English
• German -> English
• German -> Russian
• Greek -> English
• Hebrew -> English
• Hungarian -> English
• Italian -> English
• Italian -> Italian (Wiktionary)
• Latvian -> English
• Lithuanian -> English
• Polish -> English
• Portuguese -> English
• Romanian -> English
• Slovak -> English
• Spanish -> English
• Spanish -> Spanish (Wiktionary)
• Swedish -> English
• Turkish -> English
• Ukranian -> English

That makes PocketBook’s dictionary function arguably the most internationally accessible one currently on the market.

Unlike my list here, the dictionaries are organized on the device by source language, which is much clearer. You can also delete dictionaries you don’t need, making it easier if you switch between them frequently. If you need a deleted dictionary again later, you can simply add it back via the menu.

Audiobooks, music and text-to-speech

Like some other PocketBook models, the InkPad Color 3 can play audio via Bluetooth or the built-in speaker.

Using the speaker is straightforward: Activate audio playback in the player and sound is output immediately through the speaker. You can adjust the volume in the interface.

In addition to playing music or audiobooks via their respective players, there’s a text-to-speech (TTS) feature. This option reads the text of an eBook aloud using a synthetic voice.

To use TTS, activate it in a book’s “Voice” menu. The controls then appear at the bottom of the screen. For various languages there are (sometimes) multiple male and female voices available for download. You can download voices directly from the interface, and it only takes a few minutes.

Good text-to-speech function

The section currently being read is clearly highlighted with an underline, which makes it easier to follow along. You can also adjust the reading speed.

The TTS engine quality is very good, although it can’t match the latest AI voice generation—like Apple’s. As a reading aid or for short drives, however, it’s more than sufficient.

The music player offers standard features like adding individual files or entire folders and creating playlists in M3U format. You can edit playlists by deleting or reordering tracks. Shuffle and repeat are also available. The player runs in the background, so you can read and listen to music at the same time if you want.

The audiobook player is similar, but without functions audiobooks don’t need, like shuffle or repeat. Providing separate players for music and audiobooks keeps things clean and organized.

Audiobook player in action

A major advantage over Amazon’s audiobook solution (Kindle, Paperwhite, Oasis & Scribe) is that you aren’t tied to a single provider like Audible. You can use audiobooks from different sources. Audible isn’t supported, but that’s a small price to pay for the freedom to choose providers and also use free audiobooks—without being locked into a specific ecosystem. At the same time, you do have the option of using the convenience of the built-in PocketBook shop for this.

PDF functionality and readability

Compared to other mainstream providers (Amazon, Tolino, Kobo), PocketBook still offers the best PDF rendering. Despite the 7.8-inch display—which isn’t ideal for reading large A4 documents—large-format documents are ultimately readable thanks to the software features.

PDF file on the InkPad Color 3

These display options are available:

1. Scroll mode: Enables smooth scrolling through PDFs.
2. Single-page view: Displays one page of the PDF at a time.
3. Column view (2 & 3): Splits the PDF into two or three vertical areas—especially useful for multi-column layouts.
4. Reflow: Adapts the layout to the screen size, rearranging text and images. This is helpful on small screens, but can cause formatting issues with complex layouts.
5. Zoom (30 to 300%): Lets you zoom in and out of PDFs.
6. Crop (off, automatic, manual): Removes margins to show more text on screen.
7. Adjustments (gamma, brightness, contrast, saturation): Adjust gamma, brightness, contrast, and saturation to improve readability (see the display section).

In my testing, the InkPad Color 3 handled large, image-heavy PDFs without issues and showed no stability problems. The faster processor is also noticeable in the snappier PDF experience. Only pinch-to-zoom could be a bit quicker for my taste.

Tiny type: Thanks to 150 ppi, tinted content is more readable on the InkPad Color 3

Color is a clear advantage when viewing color PDFs and other fixed-layout documents, like comics and manga in CBR/CBZ format. That said, the 7.8-inch display is borderline small for many such types of content. Not too small, but definitely a compromise—despite the strong software features. Luckily, landscape mode can be a big help here, enabling more comfortable use of large-format files—provided the layout is suitable.

eBook shop and PocketBook Cloud

With integrated Wi-Fi, the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 lets you purchase eBooks directly from the built-in shop. The shop used varies depending on where you bought the device, but the basic functionality is the same and is integrated with the PocketBook Cloud.

Built-in eBook and audiobook shop

To buy an eBook or audiobook, you need to register in the shop with a suitable payment method. All purchased eBooks are automatically uploaded to online storage and can be synced with the eReader. A separate PocketBook Cloud account has not been required for some time now, which makes usage much simpler.

PocketBook has also improved the search function I used to criticize, so you no longer have to scroll endlessly through search results to find the title you want. Very nice!

Improved shop search

The InkPad Color 3 also offers Dropbox sync. This lets you sync the reader with a cloud folder, which allows for a variety of uses. For example, you can use Calibre to convert news feeds into ePub and save them in a Dropbox folder so they’re available on the eReader. It also makes transferring eBooks purchased on a PC easier.

Another useful feature is “Send-to-PocketBook,” which lets you email eBooks directly to the device.

Overall, the shop and cloud functionality on the InkPad Color 3 is an intuitive, user-friendly solution that makes buying eBooks as convenient as on Amazon and clearly pulls ahead of Tolino. While Tolino partners still often use mobile versions of their online shops years after launch—ones that don’t look well integrated with the interface—the purchasing experience on the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is seamless and unified.

Web browser and Onleihe

The InkPad Color 3’s web browser proves reliable and generally renders web pages correctly. It’s ideal for quick searches or using alternative eBook stores.

Browser features include pinch-to-zoom, navigating the viewport with the page-turn buttons, a landscape mode, and the ability to save favorites. You can also disable images and JavaScript as needed. Thanks to the faster CPU, responsiveness is now very good (for E Ink). That puts it more or less on par with Tolino’s Android competition—and thanks to color, you’re actually at an advantage for web browsing.

For using the Onleihe, the InkPad Color 3 provides a dedicated app. This special-purpose browser is designed exclusively for Onleihe, making operation easier and the borrowing experience more comfortable.

Support for CARE DRM makes reading Onleihe eBooks straightforward and, compared to Tolino eReaders where the “tolino reading experience” beta often causes issues, a better alternative.

Conclusion

When PocketBook introduced the InkPad Color 3, I wasn’t the only one surprised. After all, the predecessor hadn’t been out for long. My review of that device only went online at the end of August.

The quick turnaround is still a welcome surprise, because with the new E Ink Kaleido 3 technology PocketBook eliminates my only major criticism of the predecessor. The slightly higher 150 ppi resolution of the color filter doesn’t sound like much at first, but—as described in the review—it still has a hugely positive effect on image quality.

The biggest benefit is the more paper-like look of the display. Something E Ink usually excels at was more compromised with the previous Kaleido Plus tech. With Kaleido 3 in the InkPad Color 3, that changes: The screen simply looks better thanks to the less visible subpixels and, as a consequence, is more fun to read on.

The two remaining design-related drawbacks of Kaleido end up mattering less: The generally darker display can be wonderfully brightened with the built-in lighting. And you get used to the muted saturation very quickly.

All in all, color rendering adds real value. Even the home screen with the color book covers just looks more appealing. It gets even better, of course, in color comics, manga, or magazines, where the color screen significantly improves the viewing experience.

The PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is my new favorite among PocketBook eReaders

From my perspective, the biggest downside of the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is the price at 319 euros. That means digging a bit deeper than for the black-and-white InkPad 4. The InkPad Color 3 is still one of the most affordable E Ink Kaleido 3 devices on the market, and with our PocketBook.de coupon (see below) you can save another 10%, widening the price gap to the competition even further.

The InkPad Color 2 was already a good device that I could only recommend to a limited group due to the lower color resolution. With the InkPad Color 3, that group clearly widens. If you’re aware of the remaining (in my view) small drawbacks, there’s hardly anything to criticize about PocketBook’s latest color eReader. It’s not just great for viewing color content—reading regular eBooks is also much better thanks to Kaleido 3.

Together with the fast CPU, good ergonomics, and the huge feature set with an intuitive interface, color on the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is simply fun. That lets this color eReader step out of the niche, and it’s well worth a look for anyone who enjoys digital reading.

All told, thanks to the strong overall execution, the PocketBook InkPad Color 3 earns a solid rating of 1.6.

If you decide to buy the eReader, you can save 10 percent (about 30 euros) on PocketBook.de with the coupon code “allesebook”:

Versand*:
Listenpreis*: 329,00

€ 296,10*

weiter →

bei PocketBook

*10% sparen auf den Listenpreis mit dem Gutscheincode “allesebook“. Der Code ist beim Bestellvorgang an der Kasse auf PocketBook.de einzugeben.

Versand*:
Listenpreis*: 350,00

€ 315,00*

weiter →

bei PocketBook

*10% sparen auf den Listenpreis mit dem Gutscheincode “allesebook“. Der Code ist beim Bestellvorgang an der Kasse auf PocketBook.de einzugeben.

Last updated on 1. September 2025 at 22:11. All statements without guarantee.

PocketBook InkPad Color 3: Technical Specifications

All information provided without guarantee.