This New Pocketable E-Reader Is Also a Secret Phone

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When I put the new Viwoods AiPaper Reader through its paces for my review, published yesterday, I made the mistake of trusting the company's own statements when I described its capabilities. According to Viwood's website, the phone-shaped device has mobile data functionality (specifically, 4G/Wi-Fi 2.4G), which I tested using a data-only SIM card. Nowhere does Viwoods advertise that its new e-reader call make and take phone calls. But it can.

I'd love to say I figured this out on my own, but I actually first saw a post about it on Reddit shortly before I went to bed last night. By the time I woke up, I had an email in my inbox from a Viwoods representative asking me to amend the portion of my review where I'd noted the device can't take calls, saying that it actually can, with the proper SIM card. The rep explained that while the feature wasn't advertised, the company was treating it as a "quiet extra" customers could discover on their own.

So this morning, I pulled out the prepaid T-Mobile SIM card I keep around for testing various devices, popped it into the Viwoods AiPaper Reader, and was instantly able to use it to call my wife. As far as I can tell, it worked great—I wasn't out and about, so I have no idea how reliably it holds a signal—but with one huge caveat.

Viwoods AiPaper Reader

$279.99 at Amazon

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$279.99 at Amazon

It's still only technically a phone

Calling capability aside, I would be hesitant to call the AiPaper Reader a phone for one pretty important reason: It lacks an external speaker, which means if you want to be able to hear the person on the other end of the line, you're going to need to connect your Bluetooth headphones or earbuds (there's no headphone jack).

Obviously being unable to use the device to take a call without fumbling around for your earbuds first severely limits its usefulness as a phone, to the extent that I imagine it would be difficult for anyone to justify using the Viwoods AiPaper Reader as an e-ink replacement for their Pixel or iPhone. But at the same time, it can make calls. So that's...neat?

It lacks other common phone features

Adding weight to the "it's an e-reader that incidentally happens to be able to make calls" side of the scale is the fact that the AiPaper Reader also lacks a lot of other features that are basically de rigueur for modern smartphones, including selfie and rear cameras and GPS functionality—nope, this thing won't work with Google Maps.

Why isn't Viwoods advertising this feature?

This is the most interesting question to me. The AiPaper Reader seems to be trying to compete directly with the new Boox Palma 2 Pro, which has the same dimensions and capabilities, including mobile data. So why not point out to potential customers that they can also use the AiPaper Reader as a phone?

My guess is, the company cannot to do so legally because it is not certified as a phone by the Federal Communications Commission. But that's just supposition on my part; I've reached out to Viwoods for more information and will update this article when I hear back.

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