PocketBook Aqua 2: Reads By the Pool, With One Real Catch
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PocketBook’s own marketing for this device leans hard into the yacht. Not a metaphorical yacht — an actual yacht, in the actual promotional copy, alongside the beach, the pool and the bath, as places you’re now free to read without worrying about your e-reader. It’s a nice image. It’s also a slightly misleading one, because “IP57” is a specific, bounded engineering claim, and a yacht is not a bathtub.
Let’s get precise about what this device actually promises, because the waterproofing claim is the entire reason anyone looks up the Aqua 2, and vague marketing language is exactly how people end up with a dead e-reader and a warranty argument.
What it actually is
PocketBook released the Aqua 2 in 2017, as the successor to the original Aqua, and the headline feature is right there in the name: this was billed as one of the first serial-production e-readers with real water resistance, not just a splash-resistant coating. Underneath the waterproofing, it’s a fairly standard mid-range PocketBook of its era — a 6-inch E Ink Carta screen, a built-in LED front light (new on this model, versus its predecessor), Wi-Fi, and PocketBook’s usual broad format support.
Specifications
| Screen | 6″ E Ink Carta, capacitive multi-touch |
| Resolution | 1024 × 758, 212 ppi |
| Front light | Built-in LED |
| Water/dust rating | IP57 |
| Storage | 8 GB internal |
| Battery | 1500 mAh Li-Ion Polymer, up to ~1 month claimed |
| Processor | 1 GHz |
| RAM | 256 MB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
| Weight | 180 g |
| Formats | EPUB, EPUB DRM, PDF, PDF DRM, FB2, TXT, DJVU, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, MOBI |
| Released | 2017 |
The IP57 rating, precisely
IP57 is an internationally standardized ingress-protection rating, and it means two specific things, no more: the “5” means the device is protected against dust ingress (not fully dust-tight, but dust can’t get in enough to interfere with operation), and the “7” means it can survive immersion in fresh water up to 1 metre deep for up to 30 minutes.
That is a real, tested, meaningful claim. It is also a narrower one than “waterproof” as most people use the word casually. Here is what IP57 does not promise, based on what the standard itself covers:
- No coverage for salt water or chlorinated pool water as a matter of course. The IEC 60529 standard that defines IP ratings is tested with fresh water. PocketBook’s own marketing mentions beaches and pools, but the certified rating is a fresh-water test — treat salt and chlorine exposure as something to rinse off promptly rather than something the rating explicitly covers.
- No protection against water jets, pressure, or being dropped into water from height. IP57 is a static-immersion rating, not a splash-and-impact rating.
- No coverage beyond 30 minutes or beyond 1 metre. Leave it at the bottom of a pool for an afternoon and you are outside the tested envelope, rating or no rating.
- No coverage for the charging port left open during immersion, on devices where the port isn’t independently sealed — check the manual for guidance on port covers before submerging.
None of this means the rating is fake or the marketing is dishonest — IP57 is a genuine, useful, better-than-nothing-and-better-than-most-e-readers rating. It just means “yacht” is doing a lot of aspirational work in that sentence, and the actual guarantee is closer to “survives a dunk in the bath or an accidental drop in the pool, briefly, in fresh water.”
What it’s actually like to use — and what’s wrong with it
Outside the waterproofing, the Aqua 2 is a fairly ordinary mid-2010s PocketBook: a 212 ppi Carta screen that renders text cleanly but isn’t as sharp as later 300 ppi panels, a modest 1 GHz processor and 256 MB of RAM that are adequate for page turns and menu navigation but won’t feel fast by modern standards, and PocketBook’s usual strength — genuinely excellent format support, including PDF and DjVu handling that Kindle still doesn’t match natively.
The trade-off for waterproofing on hardware of this generation is usually a slightly thicker, heavier build than an equivalent non-waterproof model, and the Aqua 2 follows that pattern at 180 g. It’s not heavy by any reasonable standard, just noticeably more than the slimmest readers PocketBook made without the sealed casing.
Who should buy one now, if anyone
If what you want is a genuinely up-to-date waterproof e-reader, the honest answer is not this one — PocketBook and other brands have released considerably newer waterproof models since 2017, with sharper screens, faster processors and updated software support. Check current price on a current-generation waterproof PocketBook rather than chasing this specific model for the waterproofing alone.
Buy one if: you’re specifically after a PocketBook of this era for format-support reasons and the waterproofing is a welcome bonus rather than the whole point · you want a cheap, disposable-feeling reader for poolside or bathtub use and understand the IP57 limits above.
Do not buy one if: you need salt-water or chlorinated-pool confidence, or you want current-generation screen sharpness and speed. Our PocketBook hub covers the brand’s current lineup, including newer waterproof models with far better specs across the board.
Where to find one
The Aqua 2 turns up regularly on eBay, since it sold in reasonable volume across Europe when new. Battery age is the main thing to check — a 1500 mAh cell nearly a decade old will likely hold noticeably less charge than when new, even if the “up to a month” claim held true at launch.
Questions people actually ask
Is the PocketBook Aqua 2 fully waterproof?
No — it’s water-resistant under a specific, tested standard (IP57): fresh water, up to 1 metre, up to 30 minutes. It is not rated for salt water, pool chemicals, water jets or extended submersion.
Does it have a front light?
Yes, a built-in LED front light — this was new compared to the original Aqua, which did not have one.
Can it borrow library ebooks?
PocketBook devices generally support OverDrive/Libby-style library lending depending on region and firmware version; check your library’s supported device list before relying on this specifically for the Aqua 2, since support varies by country and PocketBook’s own regional stores.
Should I buy this for pool or beach use specifically?
It will likely survive an accidental splash or brief dunk in fresh water. It is not the right choice if you’re planning to read poolside in chlorinated water regularly and want a rating that explicitly covers that scenario — for that, check newer waterproof models on our PocketBook hub.
Sources: MobileRead Wiki: PocketBook Aqua 2; PocketBook official announcement, “world’s first serial water-resistant E Ink reader”; Good e-Reader coverage. IP57 definition per IEC 60529, described generally rather than device-specific test data, which PocketBook has not published in detail.
This is one of the odd ones. If you own something stranger, we would like to see it — the Miscellaneous E-Readers section exists precisely for devices the rest of the internet forgot.
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