Tolino Shine 4 review: Compact reading companion in everyday life
A TEST REPORT from David Wurm 
on March 27, 2024, 8:30 pm | Write a comment
The Tolino Shine 4 is a fourth generation e-book reader developed by the German bookstore chain Thalia in collaboration with other booksellers. The development team has updated the model and given the device some exciting and useful innovations. We tested the handy e-reader for you.
And finally ... My conclusion about the Tolino Shine 4 is good. The compact, simple design, the water protection, the backlight and the large memory are definitely on the “have” side of the model. Surfing the web was not so positive. As long as you don't spend a lot of time rummaging through the shop or want to read content directly in the web browser, the new release is a good and compact everyday companion for bookworms.
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This is in the Tolino Shine 4
Its predecessor, the Tolino Shine 3, was available in stores from 2018, and the Shine 4 has now been available since October 2022. Among other things, the Shine 4 can now also be used in the bathtub for a long bathing and reading session. The new IPx8 water protection protects the e-reader from accidental immersion in bath water. The e-book reader also has a high-resolution 6-inch e-ink display, which enables comfortable reading in bright sunlight. Although the e-reader market has been moving towards larger displays in recent years, the Tolino Shine remains true to its display size. The resolution also remains at 1448 × 1072 pixels. Unfortunately, there is no brightness sensor for automatic control.
Picture: TechnikNews
In addition to the E-Ink display, the Tolino Shine 4 also scores points with its integrated lighting. This enables a comfortable reading experience, even in poor lighting conditions. The weight of the Tolino Shine 4 also contributes to the pleasant reading experience - at only 172 grams, it is light in the hand and is comfortable to hold even for longer novels. Battery life is around 13 to 16 hours of reading time (depending on brightness), which isn't phenomenal compared to the competition, but is okay.
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
The night mode is also practical, as it sets the background to black when reading and offers a kind of “dark mode”.
Versatile formats and compatibility
The e-reader gets another plus point with its wide range of e-book formats. Among them, EPUB, PDF and TXT enable users to read their favorite books in different formats. In addition, access to the Tolino platform offers a large selection of digital books from various booksellers, which makes it easier to expand the e-book collection. Another highlight is that Skoobe book flat rate, which lets users browse over 400.000 titles. These can be easily borrowed - starting at 12,99 euros per month. Unfortunately, there were some difficulties synchronizing and downloading books from Skoobe during the test.
With a doubled storage capacity of 16 GB, the Tolino Shine 4 also offers enough space for even more books in your personal library, which corresponds to around 12.000 e-books. In addition, the Shine 4 uses the modern USB-C port. Despite these optimizations, the device retains the proven features of its predecessor, including the eye-friendly SmartLight. The color temperature of this feature adjusts from cold to warm throughout the day.
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
The scope of delivery includes not only the Tolino device itself, but also a compact operating manual and a charging cable with USB-A and USB-C ports. This allows the device's 1.500 mAh battery to be fully charged in around 2-3 hours. After the first start, you set up an account or log in to an existing account and connect the device to your home WiFi. This also makes it possible to synchronize existing books via the account and also install firmware updates.
Fast, except when surfing
Tolino promises with its new quad-core Proprocessor with up to 1,8 GHz and 1 GB RAM a “20 Pro“Centially shorter response time compared to its predecessor”. When you turn the page, you can hardly notice any difference. The quad-coreProHowever, cessor doesn't help much if you want to surf the Internet with the Shine 4. For example, to bring the e-reader edition of a newspaper to the device or to connect it to the service of a public library. This process takes an annoyingly long time and is not recommended, especially for those with a short patience.
The price of the Tolino Shine 4 is 139 euros. At Thalia you can either have the e-book reader delivered to your home free of charge or have it made available for collection at a nearby branch.
