Tolino announced three new e-readers in March, but they were unavailable then. It looks like the e-readers finally hit the market a little while ago and can now be purchased everywhere. The Tolino e-readers are available at Thalia, Bucher, and GMBH. The Tolino brand controls 44% of the e-reading market in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Tolino e-readers are primarily aimed at the European German-speaking market, and various models have been available since 2013. In 2019, Kobo started to design the hardware for all future e-readers, but the software always used the Google Android OS. This has all changed with the current generation of Tolino Shine, Tolino Vision Color, and Shine Color. They are all now using the Linux OS with a new UI and menu design.
All new Tolino e-readers have Bluetooth, which supports wireless headphones and earbuds. Most of the Tolino Bookstores have an audiobook section where customers can buy and listen to them. They are also waterproof, so they can be used in the bathtub or at the beach. I recommend not leaving them under tap water to clean them; instead, use a damp cloth.
The Tolino Shine Color features a six-inch E INK Carta 1300 and Kaleido 3 colour e-paper screen with FastGLR and Dark Mode. The black-and-white resolution is 1448×1072 with 300 PPI, and the colour resolution is 150. The e-reader only comes in one colour: black. It has a ComfortLight PRO adjustable brightness and colour temperature for blue light. Reduction. There are no physical page-turn buttons, and users must interact with swipes, taps, and gestures with the capacitive touchscreen display.
Underneath the hood is a MediaTek processor MT8113T – dual-core ARM A53 @ 2.0 GHz, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It has WIFi to connect to the bookstore and Bluetooth 5.0 to use wireless headphones or earbuds to listen to audiobooks. This e-reader should be immune to coffee or tea spills, thanks to the IPX8 rating – for up to 60 minutes in 2 meters of water. It has USB-C to transfer data and charge it. It is powered by a 1500 mAh battery, has 112 x 160 x 9.2 mm dimensions, and weighs 174g. It retails for 149,00 €.
The Tolino Shine features a 6-inch E INK Carta 1300 e-paper panel. The resolution is 1448 x 1072 with Dark Mode and 300 PPI. The screen is recessed and does not have glass. Text will pop because the exposed e-paper screen is closer to your eyes. The e-reader only comes in one colour: black. The ComfortLight PRO adjustable brightness system will give you both white and amber LED lights to read during the night.
Underneath the hood is a MediaTek processor MT8113L – ARM A53 @1GHz, 512MB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Listen to audiobooks via Bluetooth 5.0 and pair earbuds, headphones or an external speaker. USB-C will allow you to transfer content to your e-reader and charge it. It is powered by a low-end 1,500 mAh battery, and the dimensions are 112 x 160 x 9.2 mm and weighs 174 g. It retails for 119,00 €
The Tolino Vision Color features a 7-inch E INK Kaleido 3 colour e-paper display with a black-and-white resolution of 1264×1680 and 300 PPI. The colour panel’s resolution is 150 PPI. There are manual page-turn buttons, which help you use the device one-handed to turn pages rapidly; you can also elect to use the capacitive touchscreen display to do it, pinch, and zoom. Read during the day or night, thanks to the ComfortLight PRO adjustable brightness and colour temperature for blue light reduction.
Underneath the hood is a MediaTek MT8113T – dual-core ARM A53 @ 2.0 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It is certified IPX8 for up to 60 minutes in 2 meters of water. There is a USB-C port for charging and transferring data and wifi to connect to the internet. Bluetooth 5.0 can be used to listen to audiobooks purchased from Tolino. It is powered by a 2050 mAh battery, and the dimensions are 144.6 x 161 x 8.3 mm and weighs 199.5 g. This device retails for 199,00 €.
This device is similar to the Rakuten Kobo Libra Color, where you can use the Tolino Stylus to make notes, draw in ebooks, and edit documents. The Vision Colour is the first Tolino-branded device to incorporate note-taking with a stylus. However, you can also use it as a large-screen e-reader and not bother with notes.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
