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Add an e-ink screen to your Samsung Galaxy S4 with PocketBook (hands-on)

The Galaxy S4 may be the best phone ever made, but does it have a low-power, eye-friendly screen for reading books? With the PocketBook case it does.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm
Andrew Hoyle/CNET

BERLIN -- What do you get for the phone that has everything? The Samsung Galaxy S4 is possibly the best smartphone ever made, but one thing it doesn't have is an e-ink screen for reading the latest page-turner.

That's where the PocketBook S4 case, unveiled at technology bunfest IFA 2013, comes in. It's a case for the Galaxy S4 that contains a 4.3-inch e-ink screen.

But my S4 already has a glorious 5-inch high-definition full-colour screen! Why do I need a spare screen that only does one colour hanging off the side of my fancy, high-class phone?

Let me tell you, dear reader. Unlike an electronic screen, you can stare at an e-ink display for ages without getting eyestrain. You don't have to worry about glare from the sun or bright lights reflecting off the glass screen, and, best of all, an e-ink display uses next to no power compared with a battery-guzzling bright electronic screen like the dazzler on the S4.

So if you want to catch up with a marathon session of "Fifty Shades of Grey" without caning your phone's battery or knackering your eyes, the PocketBook could be worth a look. Made by e-book-builder PocketBook, the case talks to an app on the phone, where you store your e-books. You take an e-book stored on your phone and zap it to the e-ink screen, turning pages with the volume key.

No price or release date has been confirmed.