Kindle eReaders dominate many markets, but Germans aren’t having any of that

Apr 4, 2014 13:22 GMT  ·  By

After releasing a bunch of uninspiring eBook readers, Tolino is gearing up to release the Vision eReader, which has been designed to take on the Kindle Paperwhite and might actually gain some traction.

Tolino is a pretty obscure brand that’s trying to make a name for itself. Back in 2013, we saw the company unveil the Tolino Tab 7 tablet, which bore a strange resemblance to the NVIDIA Tegra Note.

Anyway, the company has allied itself with major mobile players like Deutsche Telekom, Hugendubel, Thalia, Bertelsmann and World View in order to bring eBook readers offering on the market for the last two years.

To understand better, the alliance has been created as an attempt to dethrone Amazon from its dominant position in Germany. So Tolino eReaders can be found to be selling in major phone shops, bookstore and tech gear shops across the country.

The alliance has launched two models of the Tolino Shine eBook readers, but they aren't really all that impressive. But in a few days the association will roll out the new Tolino Vision, which for now looks to be pretty reminiscent of the Kindle Paperwhite 2 and Kobo Aura (via The-Digital-Reader).

Why are we saying that? Well, first off, the Tolino Vision comes equipped with an e-Ink Carta screen technology one usually finds in the Kindle Paperwhite 2.

This means customers eyeing the Tolino Vision will enjoy higher contrasts and will notice the absence of the refreshing of the display. The resolution is quite decent too, being set at 1024 x 758 pixels.

Another thing that’s interesting to note is that the screen is flushed with the bezel, something seen only with the six-inch Kobo Aura.

So customers using the Tolino Vision might feel like they are using a tablet or smartphone instead of an eReader. That’s a pretty neat turn of events, since most of the eReaders on the market have their touchscreens sunken in.

That’s not a problem if you’re operating at the center, but if you need to access options located near the edges, it’s not that easy anymore.

As for inner specifications, we have a Freescale iMx6 1GHz processor under the hood, combined with 512MB of RAM and fitted with 4GB of internal memory, so you’ll be able to store up to at least 1,500 eBooks.

The good news is there’s a microSD card so you can expand up to 32GB in case you need more.

We should also note the eReader has a matte and non-reflective glass. Also, instead of the home button we now have a touch sensitive sensor.

The eReader can read ePUB and PDF files and is also certified with Adobe. So bottom line, the Tolino Vision seems like a pretty sweet deal and it sells for €129 / €177.