PocketBook's InkPad Eo improves on the build quality of its forebears

My first thought as soon as I took the InkPad Eo out of its packaging was, “Ooh, that’s different.” It’s physically unlike any PocketBook device I’ve tried before, with a premium and hefty build that it’s borrowed from Bigme — made possible after the Chinese brand became a co-owner.

This was a good move as the metal-bound chassis feels nice to hold and, despite an 8MP rear camera, there’s no bump, so it lies completely flat on a table. However, the use of metal edges and the camera could be what’s made the InkPad Eo heavier (at 470g) than some of its competition, like the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (375g), and uncomfortable to hold for long sessions. I’ve tested other 10-inch E Ink writing tablets and most of them are more comfortable to hold than the InkPad Eo.

Other than its design, there’s just a couple of other positives I appreciate about the PocketBook InkPad Eo. One is the adoption of the global handwriting feature — aka the ability to write on third-party apps — which is not always supported in other epaper note-taking tablets and could well sway some potential buyers. The other is the color palette — while not as well optimized as the Kobo Colour Libra’s screen, book covers on the InkPad Eo look lovely in color. However, this has not quite translated to the ink colors when writing or drawing and those look far more washed out.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

And that’s where my positives for this device stop. While I commend the attempt at giving the Onyx Boox devices competition, the Eo is unable to hold its own in other areas.

PocketBook InkPad Eo (Grey) at Amazon for $579

For starters, it’s very easy to lose the stylus as it doesn’t secure magnetically to the side of the tablet itself. Moreover, the eraser on the top of the pen doesn’t quite behave as expected — it’s more a selector, and the erasing happens after you’ve selected something in the notes app. It’s not a massive lag, but I much prefer the way the Kindle Scribe’s Premium Pen or the Kobo Stylus 2 behaves — erasing as you move along the writing (or drawing), much like an actual pencil eraser would do. Even the reMarkable’s Marker and the Boox pens erase in real time.

The camera, despite being a nice touch, isn’t worth having at all. It doesn’t actually ‘scan’ a document as your phone might do — instead it takes a photo. And the quality of the image isn’t great either, much like the Onyx Boox Palma 2.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The one thing you expect to do easily with any ereader is transfer files, but even that basic task was frustrating with the InkPad Eo. While there’s Dropbox support (and I’m not a user of this cloud service), there’s no cable transfer possible from a MacBook (I’m not a Windows user either). All possible solutions recommended by PocketBook that I found online to move ebooks to the library application didn’t work and I had to resort to using a microSD card instead. That worked well, along with allowing me to add custom fonts, and a restart enabled the latter easily enough. Even Boox devices don’t have Apple support, but it’s still a lot easier to transfer files without resorting to using a microSD card, and that’s thanks to BooxDrop and Google Drive support.

It’s also not easy to check if a file import (in my case via the microSD card) has been successfully completed on the InkPad Eo. There’s no progress bar and the files don’t uncheck when the import is done. Strangely, there is a greyed-out Import button with a check mark, but it’s barely visible.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Even ghosting is a massive issue. Nearly every app and every page turn results in a light overlay of the previous screen, which can get distracting after a while because you keep expecting it to happen. And that’s despite PocketBook adopting the multiple refresh rate options that Boox devices also have, and yet the latter does it better. I found that the best refresh rate setting to successfully minimize ghosting on the Inkpad Eo is the Regal option, but the only way to select that is to choose Custom Mode, otherwise it’s greyed out. It’s a simple thing and should be available as one of the default options.

The InkPad Eo is the first epaper writing tablet from PocketBook that I’ve tested, but the user interface was instantly familiar. It’s like a love child of reMarkable and Boox, inheriting more from the latter. And, of course, that means the Eo struggles with similar issues that I’ve previously complained about with Boox. The interface is clunky and not very streamlined, with important submenus tucked away when they should be easier to access.

I’m also not too chuffed about a tablet released in April 2025 running Android 11. That’s outdated now and, even though I don’t expect security to be an issue on a device like an E Ink note-taking tablet, surely it’s time to move on — even Boox has adopted Android 13.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

There are a whole lot of other little bugs which can be fixed via a firmware update, but are, at present, rather annoying. For example, tapping on the Home icon doesn’t take you to a home screen at all — it just refreshes the screen you’re already on or takes you to the home page of the app you were using.

Another example is that even though PocketBook has thought about adding a Night and Bedtime frontlight setting, they’re both very bright by default and require manual adjusting anyway. So having those presets was of no use, at least to me who prefers dim screen light when reading at night.

Long story short, PocketBook needs to do better. The InkPad Eo has the makings of a good epaper writing tablet but, as it is now, it’s hard to recommend when there are other brands that do a far superior job at the same or lower price.