Tolino Shine 4

Video Review

Tolino Shine 4: At a Glance

With the Shine 4, Tolino is releasing an update to its compact 6-inch e-reader that appears evolutionary at first glance but, on closer inspection, delivers a number of notable improvements. While many manufacturers are now switching to larger displays, Tolino is staying true to its original form factor—and with the Shine 4 still brings cutting-edge tech to a compact package.

Refined design and noticeably more power

Visually, the Shine 4 stays true to itself, but opts for a refined chassis with rounder edges that sits noticeably more comfortably in the hand than its boxy predecessor. The back is made of perforated recycled plastic and offers a secure grip, but unfortunately tends to attract dust. The combination of a black front and dark blue back (“Ocean Blue”) gives it a restrained yet elegant look. The power button has moved to the back, and the status LED is discreetly integrated into the front.

Under the hood, there’s now a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor backed by 1 GB of RAM. System speed is noticeably higher than the predecessor, especially when waking from standby or rendering pages. Internal storage has doubled to 16 GB—more than enough for most users. You still have to forgo storage expansion via microSD, though. On the plus side, the Shine 4 is now water-resistant (IPX8) and charges faster over USB-C.

E Ink Carta 1200 and excellent illumination

The standout of the new model is the revised display using E Ink Carta 1200 technology, which delivers better contrast and faster response times. The resolution remains at 300 ppi, but the new tech makes content look even crisper and more contrast-rich—especially with the light on. The illumination is very uniform, with only minimal shading along the bottom edge, and both color temperature and brightness can be adjusted almost continuously. Peak brightness is a bit lower than on the predecessor, but the lowest setting is gentler still—ideal for light-sensitive readers.

Another plus: the proven blue-light reduction feature, which makes for a more eye-friendly view, especially when reading in the evening. You can choose between cool white and warm orange light and blend them freely. The display remains pleasantly high-contrast even at warmer color temperatures; only near the light sources do faint color blotches appear—hardly relevant in everyday use.

Familiar software, small tweaks

Little has changed in the software—for better and for worse. The interface remains intuitive, with the most important settings easy to reach. New is a dark mode that shows white text on a black background. However, increased ghosting and the lack of automatic brightness adjustment make it slightly less comfortable to use. The integration of Skoobe is a welcome bonus for users of the e-book subscription service—but only if the device was purchased through certain booksellers.

Tinkerers take note: The system, based on Android 8.1, can be extended with additional apps via sideloading—not officially supported, but possible. The alternative reading app “Tolino Leseerlebnis (beta)” is also included, required for some DRM-protected eBooks such as those from Onleihe. It still feels unfinished, though, and isn’t yet a full replacement for the standard app.

Battery life in the middle of the pack

While the battery capacity hasn’t changed compared to the predecessor, the new hardware platform is a bit more power-hungry. In standby, consumption stays modest at 2–3% per day; during active reading, runtime is around 14–17 hours. That translates to about a week of daily reading—fine, but not class-leading. On the bright side, thanks to USB-C the battery charges twice as fast as on the Shine 3.

Conclusion: A strong all-round package for fans of compact e-readers

The Tolino Shine 4 is a successful successor that improves many details and scores with modern technology. Its high-contrast display, comfortable lighting, and premium build make it the best compact e-reader currently in the Tolino ecosystem. If you value expandability, an intuitive interface, and a modern 6-inch reading device, this is a compelling choice. Only the slightly shorter battery life and the lack of new software features detract a little. All in all, the Shine 4 remains a clear recommendation for anyone looking for a compact and refined e-reader.

Tolino Shine 4: Full Review

Now in its fourth generation, the Tolino Shine 4 carries on the legacy of the very first Tolino e-reader. While wrapped in a completely different casing, the original Shine already featured a 6-inch illuminated display back in 2013.

Even though the e-reading market has increasingly shifted toward larger screens in recent years, the latest Shine stays true to this display size and is thus one of the few remaining compact 6-inch models with blue light–reduced lighting and state-of-the-art E Ink technology.

As a (virtually) unique selling point in this size segment, the Tolino Shine 4 (alongside its platform sibling and near-identical Kobo Clara 2E) now brings the latest E Ink Carta 1200 technology, among a few other minor upgrades. We take a closer look at how the e-reader performs in the following review.

Note: The review unit was provided by Thalia with no conditions and no influence on the review. Firmware 15.4.0 was used for testing.

Build quality, features, and handling

Just like the recently introduced Tolino Epos 3, the Shine 4 looks quite similar to its predecessor. At first glance, you might not be able to tell the devices apart.

Look closer—and especially once you pick it up—and the changes become obvious.

Refined casing

The first thing you notice is the more rounded design of the chassis. The Tolino Shine 3 was comparatively angular and not exactly a pleasure to hold. Thanks to its rounder edges, the Shine 4 sits much more comfortably in the hand.

Tolino Shine 4 (left) vs. Shine 3 (right)

As with its predecessor, the body is made of hard plastic, which feels less premium than the soft-touch finish of the first two Shine models.

The back, perforated with tiny dots, follows the familiar Tolino design and, to my taste, feels a bit rougher—and therefore grippier—than the likewise perforated yet smooth back of the Shine 3. However, those little recesses once again collect dust and crumbs that aren’t always easy to remove, so I’m still not a fan of this design choice.

On the plus side, in the name of sustainability the e-reader is made of 85 percent recycled plastic.

Back in dark blue

The Shine 4’s color combination is also worth noting. As is now common with Tolino models, the e-reader’s front is black. The back, however, is dark blue (“Ocean Blue”)—so dark that you sometimes wonder if it isn’t actually black. I like it!

I also like the new placement of the power button on the back. With the button’s relocation, the status LED has moved as well. It now sits directly in the housing and, when needed, shines through the front under the plastic. That’s already familiar from the Vision 5 and 6.

The power button is now on the back

New hardware platform

As with the Vision 6 and Epos 3, some of the biggest changes in the Shine 4 are under the hood.

Instead of the previous single-core 1 GHz CPU, the Shine 4 now uses an AllWinner B300 quad-core processor with up to 1.8 GHz. RAM has also doubled to 1 GB.

In everyday reading, the faster hardware isn’t really noticeable, and elsewhere in the interface the speed gains primarily show up as faster page rendering. Overall, the Shine 4 also feels a bit more consistently snappy than its predecessor. The much faster wake-up from standby is particularly noticeable.

There’s no microSD expansion again, but internal storage is 16 GB (about 12 GB available), twice as much as before. That’s more than enough for most use cases.

With USB-C and IPX8 waterproofing

Another major change is water protection, now rated IPX8. Previously, this was reserved exclusively for the Vision line.

Future-proofing is also helped by the USB-C port on the bottom edge, which charges the e-reader at up to 2 amps—twice as fast as the Shine 3.

Display and lighting

The Tolino Shine 4 still has a 6-inch display but now uses E Ink Carta 1200 technology. Behind the rather cryptic name is the highest-contrast E Ink tech currently used in e-readers. Carta 1200 is also found in the Vision 6 and Epos 3, as well as Amazon’s competing Kindle Paperwhite.

Screen resolution remains 1448×1072 pixels, yielding a pixel density of 300 ppi. In other words: text and other UI elements are razor-sharp, just like on its predecessor.

E Ink Carta 1200 and contrast

With the light off, the screen background appears minimally brighter compared to the previous model. As a result, readability without lighting feels slightly more comfortable.

The differences become more noticeable with the light on. When you switch on the integrated LEDs, the background naturally becomes significantly brighter, while the text remains deep black.

Very good contrast with the built-in lighting

Compared directly to its predecessor, the Tolino Shine 4 appears significantly higher in contrast. Readability with the light on is therefore more comfortable than on the already very good Shine 3.

Even so, the Tolino Vision 6 remains the top model in this respect, as the contrast is a notch better still on the bigger brother.

Lighting quality

There are no noteworthy changes in lighting quality—and little to criticize. The Tolino Shine 4 is very evenly illuminated, and no brightness gradient is visible to the naked eye. It’s once again among the most evenly lit 6-inch devices on the market.

Even illumination (100% brightness, 0% night light), with slightly visible light cones along the bottom edge of the screen

Only along the bottom edge do relatively unobtrusive light cones or shadows appear, about as pronounced as on the predecessor. Because they don’t extend up into the text area, they aren’t distracting while reading.

Blue light–reduced lighting

The blue light–reduced lighting, first introduced to the Shine series in the previous model, is of course present again.

This lets you switch the built-in LEDs from a cool white (more bluish) to a warm orange color temperature. It uses two sets of LEDs for the respective color range.

Brightness control is almost stepless, allowing the light colors to blend very well and be adjusted to your own preferences. For evening reading you’ll prefer a warmer, orange setting; during the day you’ll set the screen to as neutral white as possible.

Even illumination (100% brightness, 50% night light)

The color mixing works without any notable artifacts. Only in the aforementioned lower screen area, where the light cones also appear, are faint color clouds visible. These arise from the mixing of the LED colors within the light cones and likewise don’t extend into the text, so they remain unobtrusive. Color mixing across the rest of the screen works without clouding.

The goal of blue light reduction is to make reading in the dark and in the evening more comfortable. Blue light has been shown in various studies to influence sleep cycles. It remains unclear, however, whether an e-reader’s light is sufficient to have that effect.

Even illumination (100% brightness, 100% night light)

Subjectively, I find the warm color temperature very pleasant for evening reading. It actually becomes uncomfortable when I do a counter-test and suddenly switch off the orange LEDs in the dark. Despite the same brightness, I then find the cool white light downright unpleasant. Personally, I therefore assume that blue light reduction is beneficial on an e-reader as well, and I now read privately only on devices that offer this option.

Brightness and color temperature

At maximum brightness, the Tolino Shine is slightly behind its predecessor. In cool white, the e-reader reaches up to 102 cd/m², and in warm white up to 110 cd/m².

Minimum brightness is also lower than before, and the two LED colors are closer together: the cool-white LEDs go as low as 1.0 cd/m², and the warm-orange LEDs as low as 1.2 cd/m². With these values, even light-sensitive readers should have no issues with glare.

As always with these values (brightness and color temperature), keep in mind there can be variance within a model line, and in practice there are device-to-device deviations.

There is no ambient light sensor for automatic brightness control.

However, the color temperature can be adjusted automatically based on the time of day. The Tolino Shine 4 forgoes the extensive customization options you get from, say, PocketBook, where brightness and color temperature can be adapted hour by hour in a graph.

Instead, Tolino’s software opts for a simpler approach: you just flip a switch to activate the automatic adjustment. There are no further options.

Touchscreen and ghosting

The Tolino Shine is operated via a capacitive touchscreen. It works as quickly and accurately as ever.

Ghosting hasn’t been a notable issue in normal reading on most e-readers for years now. That applies to the Shine 4 as well. Its ghosting behavior is a shade better than the already good predecessor’s, meaning the faint “show-through” of letters from the previous eBook page is even less noticeable.

Interim verdict

As with the Epos 3, the Tolino Shine 4 has to slot in just behind the Vision 6 in terms of contrast—but only narrowly. Combined with the very good, uniform illumination and inconspicuous ghosting behavior, the e-reader makes a very strong showing.

In the 6-inch segment, there’s currently (aside from the nearly identical Kobo Clara 2E) probably no better display.

Reading and usability

The Tolino Shine 4’s interface follows the familiar, intuitive layout of its predecessor. You can find the most important details on operation and features in the Shine 3 review. Almost all of it applies to the Shine 4 as well.

Below are a few software changes worth mentioning.

Familiar Tolino interface

Night mode

Night mode for an inverted screen wasn’t available when the predecessor launched. It shows a black background with white text.

The very well-implemented blue light–reduced lighting is enough for me personally to read comfortably in the dark. Still, dark mode is a welcome bonus and has become very popular on smartphones in recent years.

Once you use the option, however, it becomes clear why such a night mode hasn’t really caught on with e-readers: the otherwise fairly unobtrusive ghosting effect is much more visible with a black page background.

Night mode with inverted text

Because of the stronger ghosting, the screen needs to be fully refreshed more often. During that refresh it briefly flashes white, which can momentarily dazzle you if the light is on.

Amazon has handled this better on the Kindle: there, the light turns off at the exact moment the screen refreshes. That way you don’t get dazzled by the flashing. Amazon also limits maximum brightness, making ghosting less noticeable.

In principle, this extra option to tailor the reading experience to your needs is very welcome. However, there’s still room for improvement here, hopefully via future updates.

Skoobe

If you bought the Tolino Shine 4 at Thalia, Mayersche, Osiander, or Orell Füssli, you can also use it with Skoobe (assuming you have an active Skoobe subscription). That’s because Thalia joined the e-book subscription service Skoobe some time ago and recently even announced it would fully acquire the company.

Skoobe as its own menu item

Using it couldn’t be easier: there’s a dedicated Skoobe item in the main menu that lets you browse the service’s catalog. You can borrow eBooks directly and sync them to the Shine 4. This worked flawlessly in my test and is a real added value for heavy readers.

However, if you didn’t buy the Tolino Shine 4 from one of the retailers listed above, Skoobe isn’t currently available through regular means. That could change in the medium term. In the meantime, you’ll have to resort to the sideloading described below, which isn’t officially supported.

Android apps via sideloading

Like all other Tolino e-readers, the Shine 4 uses Android (or AOSP) as the foundation for its interface. Like the latest Vision, the new Shine also moves to a more modern version of the OS: instead of 4.4.x, it now runs 8.1.

If you only use the e-reader to read eBooks, this doesn’t matter and won’t be noticeable in everyday use. You never leave the Tolino interface and therefore never actually see Android.

Not intended, but currently possible with a trick or root: using Android on the Shine 4

It’s more interesting for tinkerers. While not officially supported, you can install Android apps with a few simple steps. That lets you use the Shine 4 as a compact E Ink tablet. Thanks to the newer Android version, the selection of apps is significantly larger than on the predecessor.

tolino reading experience (beta) and Onleihe

“tolino reading experience” is an alternative reading app that can be enabled in the system settings. It differs from the regular reading app in look and features, but is still in beta.

The reason this app exists is the spread of LCP/CARE encryption. CARE stands for “Content & Author Right Environment” and is based on the European DRM solution Readium LCP (Licensed Content Protection). With CARE/LCP you don’t need a separate Adobe account to open DRM-protected eBooks. This makes handling easier and is less problematic from a privacy perspective.

The Tolino reading experience is still only available as a beta version

The downside, however, is that eBooks protected in this way can’t be opened with the regular reading app, and this two-track setup is primarily necessary to use Onleihe. Skoobe eBooks also open in the new app.

From my perspective, the beta label is quite apt, because the missing features (notes, dictionaries) and the less polished text rendering make it all feel rather unfinished. Opening an eBook also takes noticeably longer than with the normal reading app. Accordingly, I currently use it only for Skoobe and nothing else.

Software issues (?) and battery life

While the Tolino Vision 6 struggled with software problems and short battery life for several months after launch—which only recently improved with firmware 15.4.0—there were no software instabilities with the Epos 3 launched a few weeks ago.

And the Tolino Shine 4 also behaved unobtrusively in my test (with firmware 15.4.0). However, I only had the device in use for a few days before publishing this review, so I don’t want to give a final verdict. If anything noteworthy comes up, I’ll update the review here.

As for battery life, I can also cautiously give the all-clear. The Vision 6 already improved its standby times significantly with firmware 15.4.0. The Tolino Shine 4 is likewise very good in this regard and loses very little charge in standby (around 2–3 percent per 24 hours in my test). That puts it on par with the patched Vision 6, which isn’t surprising given the identical battery capacity (1,500 mAh) and the same chipset.

Power consumption is higher than the predecessor’s, but still acceptable

Power consumption while reading

In day-to-day reading, power consumption seems very similar to the Vision 6. In airplane mode, at around 50 percent brightness and SmartLight settings, the battery level dropped by an average of 6 to 7 percent after one hour of reading in my test.

That’s not a scientific experiment, but it gives an approximate idea of what to expect: extrapolated, the Shine 4 should last about 14 to 17 hours of pure reading on a single charge with those settings.

In practical terms: if you read for two hours a day, the Shine 4 would need to be plugged in again after about 7 days. Those aren’t class-leading figures, but in my view they’re still fine.

Of course, this depends heavily on brightness, text settings, the frequency of full refreshes, Wi-Fi connection quality, and other factors that can push these numbers up or down. So these figures are by no means set in stone.

More power-hungry platform?

The power draw of the new Tolino models (including the Shine 4) reminds me of various open Android e-readers, which also aren’t exactly battery champs with their stronger CPUs and modern Android versions. I suspect the new hardware platform demands its toll.

If you’re moving up from an older Tolino model, you should keep the shorter battery life in mind.

A small consolation in this regard is the doubled charging rate. It somewhat offsets this downside in my eyes. The Shine 4 needs the charger more often than the Shine 3, but not for as long.

Conclusion

“More comfort in the compact segment” — that’s the headline the Tolino alliance used to announce the Shine 4, and it hits the nail on the head. Compared to its predecessor, the latest Tolino newcomer has been improved in every respect—with one exception. Many small and some larger changes add up to a very comfortable, well-balanced e-reader that’s hard to beat in the 6-inch segment—at least in terms of hardware.

The exception, as with its recent siblings, is the shorter battery life. While I called the Epos 3’s battery runtime an acceptable lower bound, the Shine 4 is a bit more forgiving thanks to its larger battery. But it still doesn’t match the predecessor in this regard.

The Tolino Shine 4 offers great hardware, but has to face criticism for the battery and the lack of new software features.

On the software side, I don’t see any major issues that would detract from everyday reading, but compared directly to some competitors, Tolino’s software now lags a bit in terms of feature set.

The Tolino partners would be well advised to invest more in the medium term in further developing the fundamentally very intuitive interface. At least tinkerers can extend the feature set themselves with suitable apps by using Android (see above).

Apart from those points, I have nothing to complain about. All told, the Tolino Shine 4 is not only a very good e-reader, but thanks to its excellent screen it’s also my new first choice in the 6-inch segment—and earns a score of 1.5.

Tolino Shine 4: Technical Specifications

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