DuRoBo Krono ePaper Device Review

Firmware version: 1.4

Design & build

The DuRoBo Krono has a form factor comparable to a smartphone, with a 6.13 inch screen measured diagonally. It is lightweight and comfortable to hold in one hand, while its relatively compact dimensions make it easily pocketable and, consequently, extremely portable. The overall design consists of flat edges and gently rounded corners, giving it a fairly conventional silhouette until you reach its most distinctive feature, the Smart Dial.

On the right edge is a circular power and sleep button, accompanied by an elliptical volume control. As well as adjusting the volume, these buttons can be used for navigating forwards and backwards through pages. The top edge has a small pinhole for the microphone, while the bottom houses a USB C port for charging and data transfer, flanked by two speaker grilles.

The left edge is considerably more interesting because this is where DuRoBo has positioned what it calls the Smart Dial. This cylindrical wheel provides several different shortcuts. A single press performs a manual screen refresh, a double press opens the native AI application, and pressing and holding launches Spark, DuRoBo’s native voice recording app. I will discuss these applications in greater detail later in the review, however it is important to note that these Smart Dial shortcuts are ‘hard-coded‘- you cannot customise them.

Rotating the Smart Dial performs different functions depending on the context. In the web browser, for example, it scrolls the page up and down. Within the native reading application, it turns pages, while rotating it from the home screen adjusts the intensity of the front light. This contextual functionality makes the dial considerably more useful than it might initially appear.

The Smart Dial is arguably the most interesting aspect of the DuRoBo Krono’s physical design. It gives the device an immediately recognisable appearance and, more importantly, provides some genuinely useful shortcuts. However, its unconventional design does introduce a few compromises.

The housing for the Smart Dial extends horizontally along the whole rear panel of the Krono, creating a kind of hump along the back. This means that the Krono does not lie completely flat when placed on a desk. There is a slight wobble when tapping the touchscreen in this position, and I have also occasionally managed to activate the Smart Dial inadvertently when moving the device on a flat surface.

The protruding cylinder creates another potential concern because any pressure against the back of the Krono is concentrated around this relatively small area rather than being distributed evenly across the rear panel. Admittedly, this is unlikely to cause problems for most people, but it became noticeable in my own slightly unusual use case because I regularly carry several e ink devices together in my rucksack.

For example, I recently carried the Krono alongside the Boox Go 6 Gen II, with both devices occupying the same front compartment. I found myself consciously positioning them so that the Krono’s cylindrical protrusion was not pressing directly against the screen of the Go 6. I cannot say that it would actually have caused any damage, but I was sufficiently concerned about the concentrated pressure that I did not want to take the risk.

There is also a small illuminated panel on the rear cylinder. During my initial unboxing, I mistakenly assumed that this was a fingerprint sensor, but it is actually what DuRoBo calls the Breathing Light. The lights gently illuminate and fade while the Krono is charging, providing a visual indication that power is being supplied.

I also mentioned during my unboxing that I suspected the Smart Dial might prove uncomfortable to operate. Having now spent considerably more time with the Krono, I no longer think this is the case. Once I became accustomed to its position, rotating and pressing the dial felt a little more natural. When holding the Krono in my right hand, I generally operated it with my index finger, while my left thumb naturally falls into position when holding the device in my left hand. However, in practice I found that I didn’t really need to spin the Smart Dial all that much and it became a bit superfluous.

My only reservation is that the dial feels slightly loose within its housing. I would not describe it as cheap, but there is enough lateral movement to give it a somewhat ‘loose’ sensation, as though excessive force might potentially damage it. To be clear, this concern is based entirely on how it feels rather than anything that has actually happened. I have deliberately operated it reasonably forcefully during testing and it has remained completely intact, so there is currently no evidence to suggest that it lacks durability. Nevertheless, its slightly wobbly construction does not inspire quite as much confidence as I would like.

Having said that, the device as a whole does feel well-built and durable – there is no audible creaking or rattling as can sometimes be the case.

The exterior of my review unit is white, although a black version is also available. Given the choice, I would almost invariably opt for the darker version. The white looks perfectly pleasant when clean, but inevitably makes dirt and marks considerably more conspicuous and therefore requires more frequent wiping. That is entirely a matter of personal preference, though, rather than a criticism.

Overall, the DuRoBo Krono feels like a well constructed and reassuringly solid device. Its compact dimensions and low weight make it comfortable to hold and exceptionally portable, while the general standard of construction feels good in the hand.

The protrusion on the rear that accommodates the Smart Dial certainly gives the Krono a distinctive identity and prevents it from looking like yet another generic smartphone shaped ePaper device. The dial itself also provides some genuinely useful shortcuts. However, I am less convinced that these advantages entirely outweigh the compromises introduced by the protruding design, particularly the slight instability when the Krono is placed on a flat surface and my concerns about concentrated pressure against other devices during transit. I like the Smart Dial as a concept, but I remain somewhat ambivalent about whether its implementation is ultimately a net positive for the physical design.

Protective Cover

The protective cover supplied with my DuRoBo Krono is manufactured from a flexible, rubber like polymer into which the device is squeezed fairly snugly. It has been molded specifically for the Krono, incorporating the cylindrical Smart Dial assembly at the rear as well as appropriate openings for the buttons, speakers and USB C port.

The cover envelops the back and sides of the Krono but leaves the front display completely exposed. This is something that concerns me slightly because, in my experience, e ink screens can be a little more fragile than conventional screens, particularly when devices are being transported and pressure or an impact is applied directly to the display.

Having said that, my practical experience has so far been reassuring. The Krono has spent a couple of weeks being carried around in my rucksack without sustaining any damage. I have also carried it loose in my pocket alongside everyday objects including coins, pens and keys, and the screen has remained unscathed.

Of course, this is purely anecdotal evidence rather than any guarantee of durability. Personally, I would still feel more comfortable with a cover that provided some protection for the front display, particularly if I were regularly throwing the Krono into a bag alongside other devices and miscellaneous belongings.

Hardware and Battery Life

I have already discussed the Smart Dial in some detail, along with the circular power and sleep button and the volume controls, which can double as page turning buttons. Beyond these controls, the DuRoBo Krono has a surprisingly respectable hardware specification for a device of this size and category.

There are dual speakers built into the bottom edge, and while their diminutive size inevitably places some limitations on audio quality, they are perfectly adequate for listening to podcasts and even music. Speech comes through clearly and music is certainly listenable, although anyone looking for greater volume or fidelity can connect Bluetooth headphones or an external Bluetooth speaker instead.

There is also an integrated microphone, which can be used for making audio recordings. This is particularly relevant to Spark, DuRoBo’s native voice recording and transcription application, which I will discuss in considerably more detail later in the review.

A G-Sensor allows the display to automatically reorient itself between portrait and landscape according to how the device is being held. WiFi connectivity is also included, along with the aforementioned Bluetooth support.

Under the bonnet is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor running at up to 2.07GHz, accompanied by 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. These are fairly generous specifications for an ePaper device and, in practice, the Krono feels appropriately responsive. Navigating around the operating system and switching between applications is generally quick and fluid, without the sluggishness that can sometimes characterise less powerful e ink hardware.

To put some numbers behind that impression, I ran Geekbench 7 on the Krono. It achieved a single core score of 621 and a multi core score of 1707. These are highly respectable results for this category of device and corroborate my subjective experience that there is plenty of processing power available for the tasks the Krono is designed to perform.

Display

The Krono uses a 6.13 inch monochrome E-Ink Carta 1200 display. Consequently, anyone who specifically requires colour will need to look elsewhere. However, as I have discussed elsewhere on eWritable, current colour e ink technology introduces its own compromises, particularly in terms of background whiteness and overall contrast. For that reason, I genuinely consider monochrome to be the preferable choice when colour is not a necessity.

On the Krono, text is both sharp and pleasingly high contrast, making the display very comfortable for extended periods of reading. There is also an integrated front light for illuminating the screen in dim or completely dark environments, making the Krono particularly well suited to bedtime reading. A warm light option introduces softer, more reddish illumination, which I personally find considerably more agreeable in the evening than a colder white light.

Battery Life

Battery life is one area in which the Krono performed exceptionally well during my testing.

To get a reasonable idea of its endurance, I spent an hour reading one of my ebooks using the native reading application. Rather surprisingly, the battery indicator did not drop by even a single percentage point. I therefore continued reading for another 20 minutes before finally registering a 1% reduction.

Based on that admittedly limited test, the Krono consumed approximately 0.75% of its battery per hour of continuous reading. Extrapolated across a complete charge, that equates to roughly 133 hours of reading time.

There are, of course, some important qualifications to that figure. I conducted the test with WiFi disabled. In my testing, leaving WiFi switched on appears to consume approximately an additional 1% of battery capacity per hour. Similarly, using the front light at a comfortable medium intensity can add roughly another percentage point of consumption per hour.

It is also worth emphasising that I measured battery consumption specifically while using the native reading application. Different applications and workloads will inevitably produce different results, particularly when wireless connectivity, audio playback or more computationally intensive Android applications are involved. And, as I will discuss later, I do not actually consider DuRoBo’s native reader to be the strongest reading application available for the Krono.

Nevertheless, the result is genuinely impressive. Even allowing for the inherent imprecision of extrapolating from a relatively short test and the additional consumption of WiFi and the front light, the Krono should comfortably provide very long periods of conventional reading between charges.

Overall, the DuRoBo Krono has an unusually capable hardware specification for what is ostensibly a compact e reader. The Snapdragon processor, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage give it plenty of performance headroom, while the speakers, microphone, Bluetooth, automatic rotation and illuminated Carta 1200 display provide a comprehensive selection of supporting hardware. Combined with the excellent battery performance I observed while reading, there is very little to complain about from a purely hardware perspective.

Native e-reading app and library management

The DuRoBo Krono’s native reading app is accessed through the Read option on the home screen, which opens the device’s ebook library. It supports common formats including EPUB and PDF (providing the files are DRM free) and ebooks can be transferred wirelessly from a computer, smartphone or other device over the same local WiFi network. I did try a local file transfer over USB, but my Linux laptop did not recognise the Krono as a mass storage device.

Library management

Library management is functional, although fairly simplistic. Books can be sorted alphabetically in ascending or descending order, searched by filename, and organised into groups/collections. These collections are single level rather than hierarchical, so you cannot create subgroups within them.

There are also three tabs for navigating the library. The main tab displays a full list of your books and collections, Recent provides quick access to recently opened files, and Favorites contains books that you have specifically marked as favourites. Individual titles can be added to the latter by long pressing them and selecting the appropriate option.

And that, broadly speaking, is the extent of the library management functionality. You can also create and sign into a DuRoBo account, although I have yet to ascertain what tangible benefits this provides within the reading app.

Reading ePUBS

Once a book is open, the actual reading experience is perfectly serviceable. I encountered no significant problems with the formatting or presentation of either EPUBs or PDFs, but the functionality is noticeably more basic than that offered by more sophisticated reading software.

There are controls for changing the font size and type, with five fonts available, along with an adjustment for font weight. A dark mode is provided as well. Pages can be bookmarked, while passages can be highlighted by long pressing and selecting the relevant text.

Annotations are also supported, although these are essentially highlights with an attached text field into which you can type additional notes. Unfortunately, I could not find any obvious way of exporting highlights or annotations from the Krono, which substantially diminishes their usefulness for anyone who wants to incorporate reading notes into a broader research or knowledge management workflow.

There is also a text-to-speech (TTS) function that will read a book aloud through the Krono’s speakers or connected Bluetooth audio device. It works, but the synthesised voice is rather robotic, so I would regard it more as a useful accessibility or convenience feature than a substitute for a professionally narrated audiobook.

Dictionary and AI

One aspect of the reading experience that I found particularly disappointing is the absence of a conventional local dictionary. Instead, highlighted words or passages can be submitted to the Krono’s AI engine for further information.

AI can certainly perform the role of a local dictionary, but I do not think it is an especially good replacement for one. When I encounter an unfamiliar word while reading, I generally want to highlight it, see a definition almost instantaneously and then continue with the book. A locally stored dictionary can accomplish this without requiring an internet connection.

Using AI introduces unnecessary friction. It requires connectivity and there is an inevitable delay while the request is processed and a response generated. Even if this only takes a few seconds, it interrupts the rhythm of reading in a way that an instantaneous dictionary lookup does not.

That is not to say that AI has no place within an ereader. It can be genuinely useful when you want to explore a word, phrase, concept or passage in greater depth. In my view, however, that functionality should complement a conventional local dictionary rather than replace it.

This became apparent during my own testing because I read the entirety of Slaughterhouse-Five on the Krono. The reading experience itself was perfectly comfortable, but whenever I encountered an unfamiliar word, I generally did not bother looking it up because I did not want to wait for the AI response. And, for me, this slightly spoiled the reading experience. It is a relatively small deficiency, but one that repeatedly affected the way I actually felt about the device.

PDF Reading

PDFs are handled adequately as well, with the ability to zoom in and out and switch between portrait and landscape orientations. However, once again, the available functionality is comparatively sparse. You do not get the extensive assortment of cropping, navigation, reflow and display configuration tools available from some more sophisticated reading applications.

This is particularly pertinent on a device with a 6.13 inch screen because many PDFs are formatted for substantially larger pages. More comprehensive PDF manipulation tools would therefore have been particularly beneficial.

Overall

Ultimately, the native reading app does what it needs to do, but not much more. It displays EPUBs and PDFs correctly, provides basic library organisation and includes bookmarks, highlights, annotations, text to speech and some straightforward typography controls. I was able to read an entire novel fairly comfortably without encountering any serious problems.

Nevertheless, for a device that could ostensibly be described as an ereader, the native reading software feels somewhat underdeveloped. Features such as a proper offline dictionary, annotation export and more sophisticated PDF controls would make a substantial difference.

Fortunately, this limitation is mitigated considerably by the fact that the Krono runs Android and has access to the Google Play Store. If the native reader feels too restrictive, third party applications such as Kindle, Kobo and KOReader can be installed instead. As a result, I see the native reader as an adequate starting point rather than something you are necessarily compelled to use.

Other Apps and Extended Functionality

The DuRoBo Krono is marketed as an ePaper device rather than simply an ereader, and that distinction is important. Reading is only one aspect of what it can do, with several additional native applications as well as access to third party Android software through the Google Play Store.

One of the simpler native applications is a music player, which supports MP3 playback and basic management of a music library. It is fairly rudimentary, but perfectly adequate if you want to store some music locally and listen through the Krono’s speakers or a Bluetooth audio device. I copied several tracks over from my phone and hooked up my Bluetooth earbuds so that I could listen to some music whilst I was doing some gardening. I also downloaded an audiobook from LibriVox, but didn’t get chance to listen to it.

DuRoBo AI

More interesting is DuRoBo AI, a conversational AI assistant broadly analogous to ChatGPT. Queries can be entered using the virtual keyboard or dictated using the microphone, and responses can subsequently be copied and pasted into other applications.

Unfortunately, I found DuRoBo AI rather underwhelming. When I asked which LLM it was using, for example, it took approximately 12 seconds to respond before identifying itself as a large language model trained by Google. More generally, responses are noticeably slow to appear and comparatively terse, typically comprising only a few sentences or a couple of short paragraphs.

Its underlying knowledge also appears to be outdated. I asked which teams had been promoted to the English Premier League for the 2025/26 season and was told that the season had not yet taken place and the promoted teams were therefore unknown (this article was written when the 26/27 season had just started) . This substantially limits its usefulness for questions involving more recent information.

If you are accustomed to using a contemporary subscription version of ChatGPT, or the like, DuRoBo AI feels considerably less capable by comparison. Nevertheless, I did find occasional uses for it where I only needed a small piece of information. For example, while playing NYT Games’ Connections, I sometimes encountered an unfamiliar word and used DuRoBo AI to quickly establish its meaning. Similarly, when playing GeoGuru, a geography game in which you identify countries from directional and distance clues, I occasionally used the AI to help when I became completely stuck (this was usually to do with my lack of knowledge of African countries!).

For these relatively simple queries it works adequately, but I would regard DuRoBo AI as a convenient supplementary tool rather than one of the Krono’s principal attractions.

Spark Voice Notes

I was considerably more impressed by Spark, DuRoBo’s native voice note application.

Pressing and holding the Smart Dial provides immediate access to voice recording, allowing an idea or observation to be captured with very little friction. Once the recording has been made, Spark can transcribe it into text or use AI to produce a condensed summary.

This functionality feels particularly well suited to the Krono’s physical design. Because the device is so small and pocketable, you can simply take it out, hold down the Smart Dial and start speaking. The resulting recordings, transcriptions and summaries can then be reviewed later.

I can envisage this being particularly useful for capturing ideas and snippets of information throughout the day. Rather than having to stop, unlock a phone, find an application and type something out, the Krono can effectively function as a pocket sized repository for thoughts as they occur. Of all DuRoBo’s bespoke software, Spark is probably the application that makes the most convincing argument for the Krono being something more than an Android ereader.

Other Native Apps

The Krono also includes a web browser that appears to be based on Google’s Chromium engine, along with a conventional file explorer for browsing locally stored files.

There is also a dedicated Transfer application for wirelessly moving files between the Krono and another device over the local WiFi network.

Most importantly, the Google Play Store is preinstalled. You can sign into a Google account and download conventional Android applications, which dramatically expands what the Krono is capable of doing.

Third Party Android Apps

During my testing I installed quite a varied selection of applications, including NYT Games, GeoGuru, CPUZ and Geekbench 7. I also installed the Kindle app and ChatGPT.

Everything I tried worked without issue, and I was actually rather surprised by how responsive third party applications felt. Opening apps, navigating menus and scrolling through conventional interfaces were all pleasingly snappy, reinforcing the impression from my benchmark testing that the Krono has more than sufficient processing power for this sort of workload.

Installing ChatGPT also provided a stark comparison with the native DuRoBo AI application. Responses were faster, considerably more detailed and generally more informative. In many respects, this illustrates one of the greatest advantages of the Krono’s open Android architecture. If you find one of DuRoBo’s native applications too simplistic, there is a good chance that a considerably more sophisticated alternative can simply be downloaded from the Play Store.

The same applies to reading. As mentioned previously, I found DuRoBo’s native reading application rather basic, but the Kindle Android app worked perfectly well. Other reading applications can similarly be installed according to your preferences.

There is, naturally, an important caveat. This is still an e-ink device, and installing Android applications does not somehow circumvent the inherent limitations of the display technology. Applications involving video, animation or rapidly changing graphics are never going to look particularly good on an e-ink screen. For predominantly static interfaces, text based applications and activities such as scrolling through web pages, however, performance is absolutely fine.

Home Screen and Widgets

The home screen provides a reasonable amount of customisation. Up to four widgets can be displayed across the upper portion of the interface, with options including reading progress, a calendar, list of ebooks, voice notes and a clock. Up to six application shortcuts can also be placed on the home screen, with the selection configurable through the settings.

Some of the widgets are more useful than others. The calendar, for example, is purely informational. It displays the current month but does not allow appointments, reminders or notes to be attached to particular dates. It is therefore more of a visual reference than a genuine calendar application.

I also have one relatively minor complaint about the virtual keyboard. Bizarrely, the main keyboard includes a comma but not a full stop. To enter a full stop or period, you have to switch to the symbols keyboard, adding an unnecessary extra key press. This becomes surprisingly irritating when entering email addresses and other information containing full stops. Considering how frequently the character is used, I cannot understand why it was omitted from the primary keyboard layout.

Overall

Taken as a whole, the Krono’s software proposition is much stronger when viewed as an Android ePaper platform rather than purely through the capabilities of its native applications. The MP3 player and reading software are fairly basic, and DuRoBo AI is noticeably limited compared with more sophisticated contemporary AI assistants. Spark, on the other hand, is genuinely useful and makes excellent use of the Krono’s portability, microphone and Smart Dial.

The real strength, however, is access to the Google Play Store. Third party applications performed remarkably well during my testing, and the ability to replace DuRoBo’s relatively basic native software with more accomplished alternatives makes the Krono considerably more versatile. Provided an application is reasonably compatible with the intrinsic limitations of an e-ink display, the Krono has enough processing power to run it surprisingly well.

Final Verdict

The DuRoBo Krono is very much a mixed bag for me, although perhaps not for the reasons I anticipated when I first started using it.

There is actually an awful lot here that I like. The minimalist home screen feels clean and relaxing, the monochrome display is sharp and clear, and the open Android operating system means that I can install whichever third party applications I want. More importantly, the Krono has sufficient processing power to run those applications remarkably well (within the context of e-ink tech).

The benchmark results are highly respectable for an ePaper device, but what surprised me even more was that this performance does not appear to come at the expense of battery life. Ordinarily, devices optimised for running third party Android applications tend to consume substantially more power, yet the Krono combines responsive performance with genuinely excellent endurance. I can only assume that this is attributable to some effective optimisation within the firmware and power management.

And then there is the Smart Dial.

This is the feature that visually distinguishes the Krono from virtually every other pocket sized e paper device on the market. It gives the Krono character and, when I first unboxed the device, I expected it to become one of my favourite aspects of the design.

Having lived with the Krono for a while, I have reached almost the opposite conclusion.

The cylindrical housing across the rear prevents the device from lying completely flat on a table. Consequently, tapping the touchscreen while it is resting on a hard surface can cause it to wobble and knock against the desk. The dial can also sometimes rotate inadvertently when the device is moved across a surface. And, as I discussed earlier, any external pressure against the back of the Krono is concentrated around this protrusion rather than being distributed evenly across the rear panel.

Those disadvantages might be worthwhile if I found myself regularly using the rotational functionality of the Smart Dial. The problem is that it was only while recording this final verdict that I realised I had barely used it at all.

If I am browsing a web page, I can rotate the dial to scroll up and down, but it is actually easier and more instinctive to swipe the touchscreen. Operating the dial requires my finger or thumb to adopt a slightly unfamiliar position and does not make navigation appreciably faster or more convenient. Similarly, although the dial can adjust the front light from the home screen, I can already accomplish the same thing perfectly easily through the conventional touchscreen controls. And i used the volume+/- buttons on the right edge to flick between pages in an ebook.

For me, therefore, the rotational functionality of the Smart Dial solves a problem that I do not really have.

There is one important exception. Pressing and holding the Smart Dial to immediately start recording a voice note in Spark is genuinely useful. The Krono’s pocketable dimensions combined with this instant access to voice recording make it an excellent device for capturing ideas on the move. However, that functionality only requires a button. It does not inherently require a rotating dial or the substantial cylindrical protrusion needed to accommodate it.

Ironically, then, the feature that gives the Krono its identity and could arguably be considered its principal selling point is also the aspect of the device that I would most like to remove. Personally, I think I would prefer the Krono with a conventional flat rear panel and a simple programmable button for launching Spark.

That is a shame because, Smart Dial aside, I genuinely like the Krono.

There are some comparatively minor software improvements I would like to see. A full stop really should be available on the primary virtual keyboard, and the native reading application would benefit enormously from a proper local dictionary (and custom dictionaries). And it would be noce to be able to customise the actions of the Smart Dial button. I also remain slightly apprehensive about the protective cover leaving the e ink display completely exposed, although my review unit has survived several weeks of being carried around without suffering any damage.

Perhaps the most meaningful endorsement I can give the Krono is that I intend to continue using it after completing this review. Devices I review do not automatically become part of my everyday life, and many inevitably end up being returned to their boxes once I have finished testing them. I can genuinely envisage the Krono remaining in use as a pocketable Android device and ereader.

Readers of my article about how the Boox Palma 2 Pro rather stealthily inserted itself into my everyday routine will already know that I have a fondness for this particular category of device. My Palma 2 Pro has also recently suffered some screen damage, so I intend to continue carrying and using the Krono for the foreseeable future rather than consigning it to storage.

Ultimately, that leaves me with a slightly peculiar conclusion. I began this review expecting the Smart Dial to be the feature that made the DuRoBo Krono interesting. Instead, I discovered that the underlying device is good enough that it does not really need the gimmick that makes it distinctive.

The Krono is compact, responsive, versatile and remarkably frugal with its battery. Its monochrome screen looks excellent, Android provides considerable flexibility, third party applications run surprisingly well, and Spark makes good use of its portability. I like the Krono enough to continue using it for at least a little longer.

I just wish it did not have the Smart Dial.

Buying options

The DuRoBo Krono can be purchased:

• Directly from DuRoBo*
• From Amazon Stores*

* Buying via my links helps to support this website and my work.

Full DuRoBo Krono Specs