Just Published: My review of an e-reader with a distinctive control feature…

I’ve just published my full review of the DuRoBo Krono, a compact 6.13 inch e paper device that combines a monochrome E Ink screen with Android, Google Play Store access and a rather unusual Smart Dial built into the side and rear of the device.

I’ve been using the Krono for the past couple of weeks, not just for testing but as an everyday pocketable device. I’ve read an entire novel on it, installed and used several Android apps, benchmarked its processor, tested its battery consumption and experimented with its native reading, AI and voice recording software.

You can read my full DuRoBo Krono review here.

The DuRoBo Krono can be purchased:

• Directly from DuRoBo*
• From Amazon Stores*

* Buying via my links helps to support this website

TL;DR

For those who don’t fancy wading through the whole review, I actually rather like the DuRoBo Krono.

The monochrome display is sharp and clear, performance is surprisingly snappy, third party Android apps work very well and battery life during my testing was excellent. I particularly like Spark, the native voice recording app, which makes it remarkably easy to pull the Krono out of a pocket, record an idea and have it transcribed or summarised afterwards.

There are some shortcomings. The native reading app is fairly basic, DuRoBo AI is considerably less capable than something like ChatGPT, and there are a handful of firmware peculiarities that could do with refinement.

Rather ironically, though, my biggest criticism concerns the Krono’s most distinctive feature: the Smart Dial. It looks interesting and gives the device some character, but I found little reason to actually rotate it during everyday use. Meanwhile, its cylindrical housing prevents the Krono from lying flat and introduces a few other practical compromises.

The unexpected conclusion to my review is that I like the DuRoBo Krono enough that I’m going to continue using it for a little while longer. In fact, I think the underlying device is good enough that it doesn’t really need the unusual feature designed to make it stand out and the Smart Dial actually detracts from the device as a whole.