Vivlio Light HD Color test: the compact e-reader that has (almost) everything right

After releasing the first color screen for e-readers on its Vivlio Color, the French brand Vivlio this time rewards us with a model that aims to be more advanced: the Light HD Color.

Equipped with a 6-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 color screen, it offers a resolution of 1072 x 1448 pixels in black and white (300 ppi) and 536 x 724 pixels in color (150 ppi). Weighing 182g, it has 16GB of storage, wifi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as IPX8 waterproof certification. The autonomy is announced at around thirty days by the manufacturer, but as always, this criterion can vary depending on the intensity of the backlight during reading sessions.

Before continuing, a clarification is necessary. It is indeed likely that this Light HD Color will not fail to create confusion in the minds of some users. You would think that after its first Vivlio Color, the manufacturer would extend its range with the model we are testing here. This is not the case and this Light HD instead replaces it.

It offers the same screen size, but better features for an equivalent price. The Light HD Color thus integrates a more efficient display, offering better color resolution and an overall improved visual experience. In addition to waterproofing, the manufacturer promises better responsiveness.

Despite these improvements, Vivlio offers the Light HD at a lower launch price than its previous color e-reader, at €180 compared to €190.

Construction

The Vivlio Light HD Color immediately stands out for its compact format and lightness. Even if it is a little heavier than its predecessor (182 g compared to 160 g), its weight remains entirely reasonable. It is particularly pleasant to hold in the hand, even during long reading sessions.

Its sober and elegant design is enhanced by a metallic blue edging. You won't buy it for that obviously, but this little attention gives it a welcome touch of originality. If the e-reader benefits from a modern design overall, it would have benefited from offering thinner screen borders. That said, other e-readers generally don't do better in this area.

The back of the device has a grooved texture which improves grip. However, this surface tends to retain fingerprints, which can harm the overall aesthetic in the long term. The most obsessive will wipe this area regularly…

The e-reader is otherwise equipped with four navigation buttons located at the bottom of the screen. They allow you to access the home screen, turn pages and turn the device on, off and to sleep. Although practical, the symbols indicating their function are not very visible, which may require some adaptation time for new users. However, the habit develops quickly.

More annoying, these buttons are located at the very bottom of the front panel. And even after several hours of using the e-reader, we weren't able to find a comfortable solution to both hold the device with one hand and use those buttons without contorting our fingers. It is of course possible to navigate almost exclusively via the touch interface and only use the buttons to put the e-reader to sleep, but that would be a shame, especially since it is possible to personalize their behavior.

Screen

The major advantage of this e-reader lies in its E Ink Kaleido 3 screen, at least in theory. Because once passed under the caudine forks of our probe, the result is a little disappointing. Indeed, the color rendering on the Vivlio Light HD Color is fanciful to say the least with a delta E measured at 20.9, a recurring weak point of current color E Ink screens. Remember that the human eye is capable of detecting colorimetric drift from a score greater than 3.

The color temperature fares better at 6915 K, a result not so far from the measurement considered perfect (6500 K). Alas, all this is obliterated by the contrast measurements set at 9:1. This is low, even for a color e-reader display. The Kobo Libra Color and Clar Color do a little better, at 13:1. Above all, it is the Kindle Colorsoft which is the current champion in the category, at 19:1. In all cases, the colors are much less vivid than on paper.

This does not mean that the screen of this Vivlio Light HD Color is unusable. Its resolution of 300 ppi in black and white ensures excellent readability of texts, while the resolution of 150 ppi in color offers an interesting compromise for the display of illustrations. Because the presence of color ultimately remains anecdotal here.

The 6 inches are far too small to enjoy a comic book or a comicsand even mangas are cramped on a diagonal of this size. This e-reader is therefore mainly intended for reading books. And for this use, its screen poses no problem, especially since with a reflectance of 19.5%, it lends itself well to outdoor use. Reflections won't bother you as long as the Sun doesn't hit the display directly.

User experience

On the interface side, the Vivlio Light HD Color is quite intuitive and allows easy navigation in the menus and settings. You can use it as is, but those who like to fine-tune their experience will find many settings to do so. From this point of view, Vivlio e-readers offer unparalleled richness. The interface is also similar to that of a smartphone, with even a task manager system. The only downside is that this abundance comes at the expense of ease of use for readers who are less comfortable with technological tools.

Once immersed in a book, there is no shortage of customization options. We can thus influence the font, the size of the text or even the spacing of lines and margins. It is also possible to adjust the screen brightness and schedule the activation of SmartLight mode which changes the color temperature to reduce eye fatigue. As for dark mode, it will be the best ally for those who like to read in dimly lit environments. This mode inverts the screen colors, displaying white text on a black background.

The e-reader also offers practical functions such as searching in the text, adding bookmarks, notes and highlights. One of the interesting features is the possibility of highlighting passages in color. Users can choose between blue, purple, yellow and green, which allows for clearer organization of annotations. To quibble a little, we would also have liked to benefit from the possibility of sorting books by status in the library.

One of the great strengths of this Vivlio Light HD Color is undoubtedly its versatility in terms of supported formats. It is indeed compatible with almost all current formats, from EPUB to PDF including CBR/CBZ for comics and manga. DOC, TXT, FB2 for texts are also compatible. Above all, it can play MP3 and M4B for audiobooks.

This extensive compatibility therefore allows users to access a vast library of digital content without having to worry about file conversion. Remember that if Kobo and Kindle e-readers do offer audiobook reading, it is only through their respective proprietary formats. On the other hand, Vivlio follows in the footsteps of its competitors on one point: its Light HD Color does not include a speaker or even a jack socket. You will therefore need to connect a Bluetooth headset for audio books.

In addition to reading, the device integrates a few additional apps such as a basic web browser, but much more efficient than that of the Kobo, a calculator or even simple games like sudoku and chess. While these additional functions may be a plus for some, they are obviously not the main attraction of the device.

The only real criticism that we will make of the interface concerns its responsiveness, which is sometimes erratic. Navigation in this interface is generally quite fluid, even if there is still a small latency specific to e-readers, of the order of a second, between the moment you press and the moment the action is carried out. Slightly longer delays occur, without us really knowing what triggered them. This probably has to do with RAM management. Whatever the case, fortunately they are rare enough not to become a real problem on a daily basis.

Likewise, it is surprising that the orientation sensor does not benefit from a shortcut in the quick shortcuts pane – you have to look for it in a settings submenu. This won't bother everyone, but if you like to regularly switch from one to the other, to read lying down for example, it can be a bit frustrating.

Finally, we regret that Vivlio does not offer cloud integration, as Kobo already does on its mid- and high-end models for Dropbox and Google Drive. Here, you can certainly synchronize your readings via a Vivlio.com account, but this does not give you access to remote storage space. This only syncs purchases, reading progress, bookmarks, etc.

Moreover, if you use a Vivlio account, unless you regularly read on several media, we advise you to disconnect it as soon as you have made your purchases. If you don't do this, the system will check the status of your online library every damn time you wake up. An operation that takes several seconds each time and quickly becomes irritating.