Spring Design’s Android-Infused Alex E-Reader is Hot and Handy!

Just because you own an e-reader, doesn’t mean you don’t want to put down Mrs. Dalloway now and then to check out the latest Kardashian goings-on. Lucky for you, Spring Design is hip to your need to curl up with a classic as well as your need to veg out on the internet.  As a result, the company has created the new Alex e-reader, which combines the e-reading experience with the web browsing experience into a hot, dual-screened gadget featuring both in e-ink.

Spring Design modeled part of its dual-personality-ed reader after the smartphone by incorporating the Google Android Operating System and a color touchscreen on the bottom third of the Alex – but without the Apps. Alex is fashionably ahead of its brother and sister-e-readers, as it is thinner (0.4-0.5”), longer (8.9”)and not as wide (4.7 – 4.9”) – and consider this device the Kate Moss of the e-reader world, weighing in at a waifish 11 ounces.

Alex’s features include a USB charging and data-transfer, a 2.5 mm headphone jack, 2 top-quality speakers, and a microSD slot with storage capacity or 32GB (2GB of which is pre-installed). Accessories include an AC-to-USB power adapter, a USB cable, headphones which users have touted as being exceptionally cozy, as well as a protective neoprene sleeve for sporting this e-reader even on the busiest subway train without the worry of scratching it up.

Now onto Alex’s performance: consider it at the level of a first-generation Android phone. Startup time lags a little, scrolling through menus proves a bit stop-and-go-ish, as the screen tends to stutter, and the touchscreen keyboard requires users to wait a split-second for each key to register after being tapped. Nevertheless, Spring Design has created an ambidextrous, stylish gadget that is sure to seduce a slew of e-readers/web surfers – and adequately priced, Alex makes for a pretty fine device.