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Specs:

Our Analysis:

How I conducted my analysis of the BeBook Neo:

There’s not much to say about the BeBook Neo that hasn’t been said about any other eReader. Basically, it’s a rebranded version of an older eReader (the Onyx Boox) and as such, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the market. After getting an opinion about it for myself, I went over to expert websites such as Gizmodo Australia, Engadget, and Maximum PC and other customer-oriented website such as blogs, MobileRead, and even BeBook’s online forum only to find the following conclusions:

What I thought of the BeBook Neo:

After pronouncing the upcoming release of the BeBook 2, Endless Ideas BV, which is a Dutch company that operates throughout Europe and has recently been represented in Australia, dropped the BeBook 2 notion and decide that the BeBook NEO will be its leading eReader brand from now on. Therefore, you will find two different BeBook sites. For Europe, there is MyBeBook.com and for Australia there is BeBook.net.au.

There is nothing unusual about this eReader except for its price, which we will get to (as usual) at the end.  It has a six inch e-Ink screen, weighs and feels identical as other eReaders in its categories (the Amazon Kindle and the B&N Nook), and it has a very clean, intuitive design.

Similar to the Nook, the BeBook Neo utilizes a combined touch-screen and physical controller navigation system, although the BeBook Neo’s touch-screen technology doesn’t let you operate it by hand, but only through the use of a stylus pen. Overall, the device seems pretty intuitive and easy to use and the stylus pen will enable you to sketch, annotate, and markup specific sections of your eBooks.

Battery life is good and will last around 7,000 page turns and the BeBook Neo also supports an extremely wide variety of formats which makes it much more attractive. Once you purchase the BeBook Neo, you will immediately have access to BeBook’s own collection of over 20,000 “free classic titles”, or to eBook providers sprouting up on the Internet, such as Project Gutenberg, the World Public Library, or Mobipocket.

One of the main features of the BeBook Neo is its universal nature.  You can use the built in Wi-Fi to locate third party book stores on the net and purchase eBooks from them without being “chained” to any particular brand (e.g. Amazon or B&N). The BeBook Neo is pretty compatible overseas. This feature probably is the only thing that makes the BeBook stick out a little bit from the crowd, but seeing as Amazon already has international 3G wireless installed and B&N are not too far behind (with their own Wi-Fi eReader), you may want to reconsider before going down the NEO road.

On a final note, when inspecting the BeBook Neo’s usability, I found that the Neo is the “fastest eReader currently on the market”, with browsing and operating speeds 2.5 times faster than competitors. It comes with 512mb of internal memory, which is really not that much, but this can be expanded through the use of a memory card.

Online Experts Opinion of the BeBook Neo:

After going through different online expert sites (Gizmodo, Gadgetell, Engadget, and more), I found out a very peculiar issue.  You don’t really know what the price of the BeBook Neo is since it varies between continents. That’s right. If you’re located in Australia, then the BeBook Neo will cost you around $570, which is ridiculously expensive considering you can get the Kindle 2 for less than half the price. If, however, you try to purchase the BeBook Neo from any other location around the world, it will cost you around $300. Still, the leading brands offer a cheaper alternative ($259 for either the Kindle or Nook).

Bottom-line experts agree that the BeBook Neo is a different version of what already exists and, therefore, I don’t see any reason why it should cost $40  more or $320 more (if you live in Australia) than what are currently considered the leading brands. If the price were cheaper, this may have been a good alternative for the Kindle 2 or Nook, but currently, its only strong side is its worldwide compatibility to perform its Wi-Fi features.

What customers who bought the BeBook Neo thought about it:

Not many users have reviewed the BeBook Neo yet since it only came out in early 2010, but those who have are describing a pretty good experience with it. It’s easy to read from, navigates smoothly, and seems to do the job as well as its competitors. This raises somewhat of a question mark about why no one is reviewing this product online, since one of the most reliable resources of information are customer reviews. I wouldn’t recommend choosing an eReader without finding at least a few reliable reviews since there are so many options out there.

The Verdict:

The BeBook Neo brings to the table very little that we haven't seen elsewhere. It’s basically the same six inch eReader all over again (like the Kindle or Nook), only a little faster and with Wi-Fi capabilities. Now, that’s not a bad thing. The only problem is that you would not expect from a weaker brand, such as BeBook, to over-price its fierce competition if they want to penetrate the market and gain reputation. (Maybe that’s why there aren’t many customer reviews online). The BeBook Neo’s price tag makes it an option only if you’re an international reader which needs to be able to access eBook stores around the world. Otherwise, I’d rather stick with my Kindle or Nook.

Our Sources:

For this review we have used information gathered from

 

and also Pookey, Gotta Be Mobile, Unthinkable, BookBee & Beranger. 

*Prices are only estimates and may vary from time to time, eReader central does not guarantee the stated prices.