We call foldable phones that collapse along a vertical axis “book-style” foldables. Considering the obvious implication of that nomenclature, I’m surprised it took so long for somebody to devise an e-reader that closes like a book. Chinese brand Readmoo claims it cracked the code on a folding color E Ink display with its new device called the mooInk V. It has an 8-inch display that clams up small enough to slip it into your pocket. It could offer bookworms a device that’s as convenient to carry as a paperback or Kindle, but with a more colorful display and more exciting design.
In a release (read via machine translation), Readmoo detailed its new mooInk device in partnership with E Ink that’s meant to shrink the size of your typical e-reader. As with all folding displays, the panel needs to be far thinner than a traditional display to enable the folding action. As first noted by The Verge, the mooInk V’s panel is designed around the E Ink Gallery 3, the same technology used in the reMarkable Paper Pro. This display type uses color ink capsules of yellow, cyan, and magenta which are pulled around via an electrical field. This allows for more vivid colors compared to older versions of color E Ink like Kaleido. But I’ll be curious to see if it can pull off the same refreshing magic trick the reMarkable Paper Pro has. Gallery 3 is definitely prettier, but it has a much slower refresh rate than the Kaleido tech found in other color E Ink e-readers. That makes it great for signage and splashy book covers but could make it excruciating for flipping through a book.
Readmoo claimed it used “multiple new materials” and optimized stacking to get the normally thicker E Ink display into a folding form factor. The display resolution hits 300 ppi, or pixels per inch, which should offer enough clarity to read fine text on what is still a relatively small tablet, even when unfolded. The device will run up against some of the same problems as other folding devices. Judging by Readmoo’s own images, there’s a defined crease in the center of that screen. Anybody who has used a folding screen on a phone or folding PC can tell you it can be extra annoying trying to read text while light reflects off the gully made by the folding screen.
The device shell uses aluminum-magnesium alloy with a silver finish, and in total it weighs 255 grams, or just half a pound. Folding phone makers like Samsung and Google have had to do a lot of work to fine tune the hinges on these devices to make them hold up after prolonged use while protecting the thinner display from blemishes or breakage. Images from Readmoo imply the device folds fairly flat, but we can’t tell if there’s any gap where dust may get through. The company claimed the device survived 200,000 bending tests, but we know from experience that using folding displays in the real world often introduces their own complications. Just in the last week, two of my friends with Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phones had to get their devices serviced when the internal screen broke.
Readmoo did not offer a release date or any pricing details, but I wouldn’t expect it to be cheap. The much larger 12-inch reMarkable Paper Pro costs $630 and folding devices inevitably cost more than traditional flat screens, which has severely hampered the popularity of $1,800 devices like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Then again, there’s no denying the convenience of a pocket-sized e-reader like the Onyx Boox Palma. A pocket-sized color E Ink display offers the kind of convenience that may finally get me off my ride or die appreciation for physical paper. Provided it doesn’t cost all of my money.
