PocketBook Touch Lux 3

Good and affordable, but lacking a Retina display: that’s the best way to sum up the Lux 3.

At a Glance

Evolution, not revolution, is the motto of the PocketBook Touch Lux 3. This eBook reader was introduced in April 2015 and looks and feels largely familiar in terms of design, hardware, and software. The biggest change lies in its display technology: instead of E-Ink Pearl, it now uses Carta. This is the same screen technology found in the Kindle Paperwhite 2 and Tolino Vision 2.

Otherwise, on the technical side, not much has changed: the Touch Lux 3 still offers a resolution of 1024×758 pixels, which, with its 6-inch display, gives a pixel density of 212 ppi. This means it isn’t quite as sharp as the latest Kindle Paperwhite 3 and Kobo Glo HD models, but at a price of €109, it comes in about €10 and €20 cheaper, respectively.

The revamped user interface is straightforward and nearly as intuitive as those of its competitors. The main drawback of the Lux 3 is the sometimes noticeably visible ghosting effect. Fortunately, you can solve this by setting the device to refresh the page fully after every page turn.

Aside from that, there’s really nothing to complain about. The software features are extensive and well implemented, with the library and PDF display functions standing out in particular.

Interim summary: The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 is an excellent reading device that offers outstanding value for money. Its main highlights are memory card expansion, freely assignable buttons, and an excellent library feature.

PocketBook Touch Lux 3: Full Review

In the first half of 2015, the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 was introduced quite unexpectedly, and shortly after its swift market launch we already took a quick look at the e-reader’s new E Ink Carta display. After all, the question was whether the company would have a better hand with the screen this time than it did with the Ultra. Fortunately, PocketBook fans could breathe a sigh of relief, because in the first hands-on the Touch Lux 3 made a very good impression.

Below you’ll find the full review of PocketBook’s latest 6‑inch model. In addition to a closer look at the display, we also examine the rest of the e-reader. You’ll find out below whether the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 can keep up with its excellent predecessor.

Build quality & features

Like the rest of the current model line-up, the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 comes in a good-looking, minimalist box. Inside you’ll find the e-reader, a multilingual quick start guide and a micro USB cable.

The 6‑inch model is again sold in three colors; our unit purchased from Osiander is black. The first impression of the housing is very good—which isn’t really a surprise, as the Lux 3 uses almost exactly the same chassis as its predecessor. Measuring 174.4 x 114.6 x 8.3 mm and weighing 208 grams, nothing has changed in that respect.

PocketBook and Touch Lux 3 logos on the back

There are two small changes though: The icons on the buttons below the display revert to the original design, i.e., the generic symbols (circle and square) have been swapped for a house (home) and a list icon (menu). The arrows on the page-turn buttons now point left and right again instead of up and down. Functionally, nothing changes—the buttons are still freely assignable.

The second change is on the back: in addition to the PocketBook logo, the device name is now printed as well.

In hand, the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 convinces: it not only feels good to hold but also offers comparatively wide resting areas so you can comfortably place your fingers on the bezels. The e-reader also feels very solid and doesn’t creak even with a firmer grip. The front is largely resistant to fingerprints. The matte black back is a bit more susceptible in that regard, but still within reason.

There’s a minor cosmetic flaw—at least on our unit—at the menu button, which sits slightly misaligned in the housing so the gaps are uneven. Fortunately, this doesn’t affect functionality.

One button sits crooked … but thankfully works perfectly

Nothing has changed in terms of features, so the Lux 3 still comes with Wi‑Fi and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Internal storage is 4 GB, of which 3.21 GB are available out of the box. The e-reader is still powered by a 1 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM.

Display & lighting

The big unknown at the Touch Lux 3’s launch was without question the E Ink Carta screen. PocketBook had already tried the technology once, but the (high-priced) Ultra was disappointing in many respects. That’s why shortly after its release we published the brief hands-on mentioned above, putting the display through a quick check.

Fortunately we were able to give the all-clear straight away: the Touch Lux 3 is a world apart from the mixed showing of the PocketBook Ultra.

Before we get to the measurements, here are the key specs for the sake of completeness: The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 is equipped with a 6‑inch E Ink Carta display with a resolution of 1024 x 758 pixels. That results in a (still common) pixel density of 212 ppi.

Contrast & resolution

Right out of the box, the screen looks “friendly” and easy to read; reflectance is clearly very good. Our contrast measurement confirms this impression: without lighting, the Lux 3 achieves a contrast ratio of 7.45:1, which is a big step forward compared to the predecessor’s E Ink Pearl display (6.47:1).

The Lux 3 (left) offers a visibly brighter, warmer background (right: Lux 2) — both without lighting

However, it must be said that in a direct comparison with some E Ink Carta rivals it falls slightly behind. The main competitor, the Kindle Paperwhite, still offers a marginally better contrast ratio. The difference, though, is no longer as big as it used to be and is really only visible side by side. You shouldn’t put too much weight on this—especially because the tables turn with the light on.

Newer models, in particular, show it can be a touch better. The Kobo Glo HD, for example, not only has a higher resolution but also a deeper black.

The black level on the Kobo Glo HD (right) is better

Note: The contrast measurement is carried out under realistic, standardized conditions, so the results are not directly comparable with the maximum values determined in earlier tests.

Contrast ratio without lighting (higher is better)

• Kobo Aura H2O 8.98
• Kindle Voyage 8.48
• Bookeen Muse Frontlight 8.25
• Kindle Paperwhite 2 8.0
• Kobo Glo HD 7.99
• Tolino Vision 2 7.48
• PocketBook Touch Lux 3 7.45
• Icarus Illumina 2015 7.07
• Tolino Vision 1 6.96
• PocketBook Touch Lux 2 6.47

Kobo’s premium model (Aura H2O – right) remains unbeaten so far, and the Touch Lux 3 (left) has to line up behind it. To be fair, the Aura H2O also costs 80 euros more!

When you turn on the integrated light, the contrast ratio increases visibly. The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 owes this to a very good light guide layer that ensures the display’s black level only rises minimally while the background gets significantly brighter.

PocketBook’s latest e-reader reaches a contrast of 9.54:1, making it slightly better than its predecessor (9.4:1) — and the Kindle Paperwhite (9.0:1). The higher contrast ratio here is primarily down to the brighter light. If you set the brightness to a similar level, the differences become very small.

Contrast ratio X:1, at full brightness (higher is better)

• Bookeen Muse Frontlight 10.78
• Kindle Voyage 10.5
• Kobo Aura H2O 10.0
• PocketBook Touch Lux 3 9.54
• PocketBook Touch Lux 2 9.4
• Kobo Glo HD 9.21
• Kindle Paperwhite 2 9.0
• Icarus Illumina 2015 7.4
• Tolino Vision 2 7.4
• Tolino Vision 1 6.5

As good as the contrast is overall, one flaw shouldn’t go unmentioned: compared to other E Ink Carta (and Pearl) devices, ghosting is quite noticeable at times.

Without a full refresh (top) you can end up with frayed letters; with a full refresh (bottom) things look better

This doesn’t show up as overly visible character artifacts in the text background, but rather directly on the letters after a page turn without a full screen refresh. In places they’re not as deep black as they should be, which makes the letters look frayed and the text a bit “blotchy.” The microscope shot above demonstrates the effect.

That’s probably also why the screen refresh is set to “every 3 pages” by default. The issue can only be eliminated by forcing a full refresh after every page turn (you can adjust this in the system settings).

To be fair, I’ve also observed this effect after normal page turns on other devices, though not quite as often or as noticeably as here.

Lighting quality

When it comes to lighting quality, the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 is more reassuring again. The light is evenly distributed across the screen and shows hardly any shadows at the bottom edge. A small light glow along the left edge slightly mars the otherwise excellent performance, but it’s not very noticeable while reading.

A small light bleed is visible at bottom left; otherwise the illumination is on par with the predecessor

In a direct comparison with the predecessor, the different color temperature also becomes apparent—although, as always, it should be noted that there can be very large variances even within a single model line. While my test device has a comparatively cool color temperature, other users report noticeably warmer (= more yellowish) screens. These variances occur with all manufacturers, not just PocketBook.

Brightness

Brightness has improved noticeably on the Lux 3, now offering an above-average 111 cd/m² at maximum. That’s especially practical during the day, as you can brighten the background even in well-lit environments and improve readability. Thanks to the very good light guide layer, the contrast ratio with the light on also increases (see above).

The lowest setting of 1.6 cd/m² is also very good. The Touch Lux 3 may not get quite as dark as some competitors, but it should be perfectly fine even for light-sensitive people.

Even in well-lit indoor environments the bright frontlight can be useful

Maximum screen brightness in cd/m² (higher is better)

• Kindle Voyage 122
• Kobo Glo HD 114
• Kobo Aura 112
• PocketBook Touch Lux 3 111
• Kobo Aura H2O 99
• Kindle Paperwhite 2 91
• PocketBook Sense 70
• Icarus Illumina 2015 60
• Tolino Vision 2 53
• Tolino Shine 41

Minimum screen brightness in cd/m² (lower is better)

• Tolino Shine 2.4
• PocketBook Sense 2.4
• Tolino Vision 2 2.2
• PocketBook Touch Lux 3 1.6
• Kobo Glo HD 1.4
• Kobo Aura H2O 1.2
• Kobo Aura 1.2
• Icarus Illumina 2015 0.7
• Kindle Voyage 0.2
• Kindle Paperwhite (2013) 0.2

Touchscreen & interim verdict

The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 has a capacitive touchscreen that responds very well and precisely. Particularly noticeable here is the change in the feel of the screen surface. While the Lux 2 has a very smooth display, the surface of the Lux 3 is noticeably rougher. This makes the screen feel almost like paper—a very nice touch compared to many other e-readers. Amazon even explicitly advertises this “paper feel” with the Kindle Voyage, but in my experience it can’t match the Touch Lux 3.

All told, the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 leaves a very good impression in terms of the display: legibility is excellent thanks to the new E Ink Carta screen, the illumination is (for the most part) very even and the brightness is sensibly adjustable. The device does, however, have to take criticism for the ghosting effect. Screen resolution is also something PocketBook should address in the next model. While 212 ppi is perfectly fine for reading, our test of the competing Kobo Glo HD showed that 300 ppi does look a bit nicer.

Reading & usability

The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 naturally ships with the “new” interface (version 5.x) introduced about a year ago. You can therefore enjoy the much improved clarity, which is a clear advantage especially for less tech-savvy users compared to the old table- and text-heavy system. The Lux 3’s user interface is clean, tidy and (mostly) intuitive. PocketBook doesn’t need to hide behind Amazon, Tolino or Kobo.

Initial setup is still straightforward: turn on the e-reader, choose your language, accept the license agreements, set the time and date, and you end up on the home screen. Registration isn’t required.

Clear home screen

The home screen already gives a good idea of the rest of the system and presents itself in the appealing, minimalist look you expect from a modern reading device.

In addition to your most recently read eBooks, the most recently added titles are also displayed. Below are three menu items to jump to the library, the eBook store and the browser. At the bottom of the screen is the expandable app list with the following programs:

• Osiander Sync / PocketBook Sync (retailer-dependent)
• Library
• Browser
• Dropbox PocketBook
• Settings
• Gallery
• Klondike
• Notes
• RSS News
• Chess
• Scribble
• Send-to-PocketBook
• Sudoku
• Calculator
• Clock/Calendar
• Dictionary

Library and reading

The Touch Lux 3’s library offers numerous customization and sorting options. In the general overview you can sort eBooks by last opened, date added, title and author. You can also filter the view by authors, genres, bookshelf, folder, format and series (ascending or descending).

The genre option lets you manage multiple tags for an eBook (with Calibre), so you can assign a title to several categories (e.g., sci‑fi, Star Trek, space, etc.). This is an extremely helpful way to organize large eBook collections—something many other manufacturers lack.

The library offers many options

You can also use the directory structure and folders for sorting. That way, you can simply copy the eBooks you’ve already sorted into folders on your PC onto the e-reader and not worry about anything else.

PocketBook allows the use of alternative reading apps (e.g., Cool Reader), though with the firmware tested the quick selection option is currently missing, so you have to adjust the options manually. You can find more information here.

You can turn pages with the page‑turn buttons (below the display), the familiar swipe gesture, or a simple tap anywhere on the screen.

Good font adjustment options, though changing the size can be a bit fiddly

The font settings let you change the font size (between 16 and 90 points; can also be adjusted with a pinch-to-zoom gesture) and the typeface. In addition to the numerous preinstalled fonts you can add your own. Line spacing and margins can be adjusted in three steps, and hyphenation and a landscape mode are available as well.

One point of criticism is the currently faulty rendering of italics: instead of using the selected font, a fallback font is apparently used. With eBooks that frequently alternate between regular and italic text, this can be quite distracting.

Highlights, notes & dictionary

The note-taking function is as comprehensive as usual, but unfortunately still comes with a somewhat unintuitive approach, because it can be used in two different ways—either by long-pressing a word or by selecting the corresponding menu item. The problem is that in the first case not all options are available.

In the advanced notes mode, you get simple text highlighting, note entry, a drawing mode and a screenshot mode. Input is via the well-functioning virtual QWERTZ keyboard, whose responsiveness has noticeably improved compared to the predecessor (with firmware 4.x). All created notes, highlights and bookmarks can be viewed in an overview list, although position info and filter/sorting options are still missing.

Notes can be copied and exported on a PC. They’re tucked away in the “systemconfigActive Contents” folder and saved in HTML format. The annotations in the HTML file, including position info in the source, are stored as a table, so they can be further processed if needed.

Word definitions and translations are shown in a small window

It still takes at least two taps to open the dictionary, which does not meet the market standard. Typically the dictionary opens directly (with a single tap), which is not only more intuitive but also faster. The definition is displayed in a small window at the edge of the screen. If the word isn’t found, a list of similar words appears instead. Alternatively, you can type the word into a search field and look it up yourself.

Kudos for the large number of bundled dictionaries, even if most are primarily useful to and from English. With Osiander, in addition to the standard English–German–English dictionaries, there’s also a Langenscheidt dictionary (English–German–English). The remaining ABBYY dictionaries are, in our experience, not quite as strong, especially in terms of grammatical forms. Beyond the base form, words are occasionally not found.

PDF viewing

There are several display modes for PDFs, so even large-format files can be read relatively well on the small 6‑inch screen. The following modes are available:

• Fit to width
• Entire page
• Columns
• Reflow
• Zoom
• Crop margins (automatic and manual)

The column mode is one of the most useful options, especially for magazines, newspapers and academic texts. You can choose between a two- and three-column mode, so only a portion of the page is enlarged according to the preset column width. Once set, you jump from one section to the next following the flow of the text.

Practical PDF viewing options

Regular zoom including pinch-to-zoom is also available; you simply drag the visible area with your finger. This works well overall, though it could be faster at times.

With the text reflow function you can automatically adapt the otherwise fixed-formatted text in the PDF to the screen width. You can set a zoom level of up to 300 percent; further adjustments such as line spacing, margins or changing the font are not available. Page turns aren’t quite as fast as with a regular ePub file, but they’re not annoyingly slow either.

Miscellaneous

Buying eBooks works directly on the device thanks to the integrated store and Wi‑Fi, with different stores depending on where the Lux 3 was purchased. In my case, the Osiander store is preconfigured; it’s clearly laid out, fast and easy to use. However, it isn’t a standalone app like at Mayersche, for example, but the regular mobile Osiander online shop opened in a specially adapted browser window.

On our Osiander device the shop opens in a modified browser window

The separate web browser works well as usual and is fast enough for quick research on the internet or to visit an alternative eBook store (or the Onleihe). Pinch-to-zoom, moving the viewport with the page‑turn buttons, a landscape mode and bookmarks are available. For faster browsing you can also disable images and JavaScript. In terms of responsiveness and speed, however, the browser can’t keep up with the Android or Kobo competition.

The handy Dropbox synchronization is, of course, on board again. As soon as you enter your login details on the device, you can sync a cloud folder. This opens up great possibilities especially for delivering news: with Calibre you can fetch RSS feeds and automatically convert them into ePub format. You can save this ePub file in the Dropbox directory and, after syncing, read it directly on the device. If you add a timer to the setup, you can even automate the whole process. But it can be simpler too: save an eBook in the Dropbox folder on your PC and then sync it to the e-reader via Wi‑Fi.

The Send-to-PocketBook feature is also still available, assigning the device its own email address so you can send content to the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 via email.

Conclusion

Last year, the Touch Lux 2 was a pleasant surprise for PocketBook: despite largely unchanged specs, it was a clear improvement, with the excellent lighting in particular earning lots of points.

The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 is a surprise as well, since it was announced completely out of the blue and hit the market shortly thereafter. Looking at broader market movements, you could almost suspect the launch wasn’t long planned but tied to a product change at E Ink Holdings (the display manufacturer).

The PocketBook Touch Lux 3 is (again) a very good device

Whatever the reason for the quick launch, one thing is clear: the Touch Lux 3 lives up to the Lux line’s reputation once again. The newest 6‑inch PocketBook model brings a clear improvement in readability with the E Ink Carta display, both without and with the light: contrast and brightness controls are better than on its predecessor. Points are deducted, however, for the occasionally unsightly ghosting.

With software version 5.5 the Lux 3 offers a clear interface with many useful functions. The freely assignable buttons, the library feature and the PDF display modes in particular set the device apart from the competition. There’s still criticism for dictionary access and the notes function.

In the end, the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 earns an excellent 1.5 in our test. The reason it scores slightly lower than its predecessor isn’t that it’s worse (it isn’t), but that the competition has raised the bar with even higher-contrast, high‑resolution 300 ppi screens, which in turn is reflected in our scoring scale.

The fact is: with the PocketBook Touch Lux 3 you get an excellent e‑reader at a very good price. From us, it’s another clear buy recommendation!

Photos

Predecessor

The PocketBook Touch Lux 2 is the predecessor of the Lux 2. The new model comes with an E Ink Carta display and thus noticeably improves readability without the light activated.

PocketBook Touch Lux 3: Technical Specifications

All information provided without guarantee.