Review: Bebook Neo

MORE: click here to read our full review of the Bebook Neo

This ebook reader is a kind of answer to the Amazon Kindle. It’s white, sparse and isn’t limited to your computer.

You can plug in a memory card to load books or music files, and it can also connect to the internet over a wireless network.

The reader has a nice white finish, and the front panel looks good, and like the Kindle there is a two-tone back panel. We found the grey section extremely unpleasant to the touch, being both rough and slightly sticky.

The reader itself has a decent interface, but unfortunately it’s nowhere near as intuitive or as pleasant to use as that on the Kindle. The reader includes the usual functions of being able to resize books on the fly, with several text sizes and fonts available, and in fact there are lots of options available to customise how it looks and works.

We found the menu system far too fiddly, though, and it was a little slow to respond to button presses. Likewise, the wireless network connection was too fiddly and too flaky.

As well as using the buttons below the screen to control it, you can also use the supplied stylus to press buttons on the screen directly. This can also be used to make notes in your books.

The Bebook Neo is a clever piece of kit with some interesting customisation options, but it’s just not a polished enough product to make it a competitor to the best-selling ebook readers.

MORE: click here to read our full review of the Bebook Neo