The popular e-reader is cheaper again! PocketBook 700 Era features IPX8, a fine display, and an open ecosystem

Among e-readers today, Kindle is king, and everything else defines itself in relation to it. The PocketBook 700 Era has now dropped to 4 157 Kč with code ALZADNY10, and at this price point, it offers two things you won’t find with Amazon – physical page-turn buttons and openness to formats and stores.

Quick summary:
✅ Makes sense if you buy e-books in Czech stores (Palmknihy, Kosmas, Martinus) and want an e-reader with EPUB, MOBI, and PDF support.
⚠️ Consider if you are used to the snappy response of a Kindle or phone – PocketBook is repeatedly criticized for its slower system.
💡 For 4 157 Kč, you get a 7″ display, IPX8, USB-C, and side buttons, which is rather an exception for e-readers today.

Seven inches, physical buttons, IPX8

The 700 Era features a 7-inch E Ink Carta 1200 display with a resolution of 1680 × 1264 pixels (300 PPI) – the same sharpness offered by more expensive models, just on a surface one inch larger than most six-inch competitors. From a reading perspective, it’s an ideal compromise: more text per page than a 6″ Kindle, but still fits into a handbag. The backlight offers classic switching between warm and cool tones (SMARTlight), so the display doesn’t shine cold blue light into your eyes before bed.

The asymmetrical design has one narrower side where the physical page-turn buttons are located. For people who read in bed with one hand under their head, the buttons are significantly more comfortable than a touchscreen – indeed, this is one of the main reasons why some buyers chose PocketBook over Kindle in reviews. A bonus is IPX8 water resistance, so the e-reader will survive immersion in a bathtub or pool.

What PocketBook can do more than Kindle

The main difference from Amazon is openness. The PocketBook 700 Era natively opens EPUB, MOBI, PDF, FB2, AZW, and DJVU, supports Adobe DRM (so you can comfortably read books from Palmknihy, Kosmas, Martinus, or online libraries), and you can easily get your own files into it via Dropbox, PocketBook Cloud, or Send-to-PocketBook. Instead of the Amazon ecosystem, you have a normal device here where you can put anything you want.

In addition, there’s an integrated speaker and Bluetooth for audiobooks and text-to-speech conversion in Czech. But let’s be honest here – user experiences agree that Czech narration sounds robotic and is not ideal for longer listening. English reading works noticeably better.

Slower system – a fact you must accept

There’s no point in hiding it – the same criticism repeatedly appears in 237 reviews on Alza: PocketBook responds slower than you would expect. When reading and turning pages, it’s fine, but opening a book, browsing the library, settings, or the web browser are noticeably sluggish. One user summarizes it precisely – if you’re used to the speed of a smartphone, for a few days you’ll feel like the e-reader is broken. Then you get used to it and no longer notice.

The other side of the same coin is battery life. With normal use, the e-reader lasts about a month on a single charge, which most reviews confirm. The connector is USB-C, so you don’t have to carry a special cable.

Verdict: who it makes sense for

The PocketBook 700 Era for 4 157 Kč is suitable for readers who buy e-books in Czech stores and want an e-reader with an open ecosystem, physical buttons, and a large display. If you’ve owned a Kindle for several years and primarily use the Amazon Store, there’s no reason to switch. If, on the other hand, you are just facing your first e-reader and don’t want to be locked into the Amazon ecosystem, this discount is a reasonable opportunity.

Do you prefer turning pages with a button or by touching the display?