Tik Tech: We tested the Vivlio Color e-reader -

20 Minutes

  • The Lyon-based manufacturer Vivlio is launching in France the first digital e-reader with a color screen, the Vivlio Color, sold for 189 euros.

  • With its 6-inch screen, the device is simple and pleasant to use, opening up the possibilities for discovering comics, manga or children's books on an

    e-reader

    with a new level of convenience.

  • If the technology is promising, the colors displayed still really lack punch to impose the Color e-reader in competition with printed books.

Digital reading takes on color.

With Vivlio Color, no more dreary black and white e-books.

Launched at 189 euros, this new e-reader promises additional appeal to 2.0 reading.

The first of its kind marketed in France, it undoubtedly opens the field of possibilities to new digital readings, in particular those of comics or even magazines, but also games and could thus convert new

aficionados

.

The Vivlio Color e-reader launched at 189 euros.

- VIVLIO

Three filters to light up the color

It's a bit like the days of the switch from black and white to color television.

With the new e-reader from the Lyon firm Vivlio, digital reading seems to go from prehistoric times to the new world.

Nothing revolutionizes the ergonomics of the Color, only its screen changes.

Now, it is covered with colored filters: two green filters, a blue filter, and a red filter.

So superimposed, they are able to display 4,096 colors.

For anyone familiar with the world of digital e-readers, the result is obvious: the covers of the works displayed are identical to those found for printed books.

It thus becomes much more pleasant to walk in the Color library, which can contain up to 8,000 e-books in its 16 GB memory (expandable by microSD card up to 32 GB).

Digital reading differently

Buying an e-book online is also becoming fun again.

The gaze being drawn here and there, one finds oneself spending more time browsing the offers, browsing, whereas before, the impression of finding oneself in front of a monotonous telephone directory dominated.

The Vivlio Color is the first e-reader with a color screen.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

For now, the Color will lead you into the literary universe of the Cultura channel with which Vivlio has forged an exclusive 6-month partnership.

Then, other bookstores will be accessible: Le Furet du Nord, Decitre.

Faithful to Vivlio.

Lack of shine

After the act of purchase, is the reading experience with the Vivlio Color conclusive?

With a classic digital book, nothing really changes, except the jacket which takes on colors.

The 6-inch screen of the e-reader (this is the standard size of a digital e-reader) offers a native resolution of 1072 x 1448 pixels at 300 dpi.

Black and white books are thus perfectly rendered with 16 gray levels.

And we still appreciate as much that Vivlio is open to most digital formats *.

The course is different for everything related to color works, such as comics, some manga, children's books.

Overall longer to download, they are identical to their original version.

End of the frustration due to black and white, it is to a radical change that the eye is now invited.

The books that we have read are immediately much more attractive.

Several color books are available with the e-reader.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Five books are also offered ** with the purchase of the e-reader, allowing you to better understand the benefits of color.

But observation: we remain far from the rendering of the paper version of these books.

The colors displayed by the e-reader are dull and lacking in vividness.

Reading in direct sunlight is not a problem for the Vivlio Color.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Certainly called upon to evolve, the process suffers from an obvious lack of contrasts.

While it is well suited for manga, the 6-inch screen is also quite narrow to take full advantage of a more classic comic book.

Sometimes having to zoom in the boxes can also highlight the technical limits of the display.

Indeed, the overlay of colors sees its definition reduced: 357 x 482 pixels for 100 ppi.

Or a slightly degraded quality.

Not enough to sulk his pleasure, however, especially as Vivlio offers additional functions to which color brings a lot: coloring for children, the possibility of drawing, and a game of solitaire.

Other games, like Sudokus, remain in black and white.

Dozens of coloring pages on board the e-reader.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

The e-reader also allows you to subscribe to news feeds, but also acts as an audio player (with a wired or Bluetooth headset).

And the Vivlio Color has, like its predecessor, the Vivlio Lux 5, a voice synthesis system.

So any text can be read aloud.

The diction, however, remains mechanical and necessarily monotonous.

Finally, while the backlight of its screen can be automated, reading in direct sunlight is no problem.

Amazon's replica

Sold for 189 euros, the Vivlio Color remains more expensive than other e-readers with an equivalent screen size, such as Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite (159 euros in 32 GB).

It is also a little more expensive than the Kobo Libra H2O, a waterproof 7-inch screen reader (179 euros in 8 GB).

Vivlio, which is based in Lyon, entrusts its Ukrainian partner Pocketbook with the manufacture of its e-readers.

No wonder then that we find on Amazon a twin reader of the Vivlio Color, the PocketBook Color, sold for 205 euros in 16 GB on Amazon, the replica of which is awaited.

Because it would be surprising if the next Kindle reader from the American giant does not also pass the color course.

* E-books: PDF, EPUB (including files protected by Adobe DRM or CARE), Epub fixed layout, CBR, CBZ, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI).

Audio: MP3, M4B.

Images: JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF.

** Demain, j'arrête (comic adaptation based on Gilles Legardinier's novel);

Versus Memory 1 (manga);

1,000 vacation ideas in France (tourist guide);

Batch Cooking Libre / Vegetables Addict (cooking recipes);

The little hen that came from the sea (youth album).

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Young people reread

According to an Odoxa survey for the National Publishing Union *, 33% of French people read more books during confinement (s).

Even better: 42% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 read more during confinement.

31% first found in reading a way to avoid browsing the Internet ... A decree published in the Official Journal on February 26 classifies bookstores as “essential businesses”.

As such, it can open in the event of confinement.

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