WeFound Kindle Clone

Before I start I would like to offer Founder, the manufacturers of this Kindle like device, a genuinely large thank you. So here goes:

“Dear Founder, Thank you so very much for naming your Kindle clone the ‘WeFound’. Most companies have no idea how difficult it is to come up with a simple, but interesting and to the point title for gadget posts. You guys however, have saved me the effort and named your device with a loaded pun! Thank you!’

Founder are a large manufacturer of netbooks, mp3/mp4’s and other computing devices here in China. Their most famous Mp3 mimicked the look of the original iPod Shuffle and became quite popular due to it low 200RMB price. Founder are known for their aggressive pricing and high specifications. They are also known for low quality, but you can’t have it all I suppose.

When I learned about the WeFound I expected it to greatly undercut the Amazon model and was surprised to find that it is priced head to head with the Kindle. So what would sway you to buy the Wefound over Amazon’s original Ebook reader?

The Shell

If your use to the Kindle the WeFound wont be of much a surprise to you. It comes in the same ivory white color with a metallic back plate as Amazon’s offering.

On the face, six function buttons, for Chinese-English dictionary, MP3 e.t.c,  nestle beneath a full Qwerty keyboard. Along the sides there are page up/down, home and menu buttons. There is also a small joystick style button which allows quick navigation of pages while zoomed in. Handily the WeFound offers custom shortcut support, so you can quickly switch between apps. using buttons your happy with rather than having to learn new ones.

From the images, the edges of the Wefound look to be angled up, this is just an illusion due to the shape of the shoulder buttons. The whole face of the device is flat smooth and rounded just like the Kindles.

Screen

Like the Kindle the WeFound uses Eink technology on a 6inch screen. It even offers the same resolution as the Kindle at 600×800. Looking at the screen specs I’ve become convinced that they might even both use the same screen:

• E-ink e-ink screen patent, class paper-based reading
• High-resolution, 600x800dpi
• Anti glare (daylight friendly) reading
• 16-level gray-scale
• 180-degree visibility

Memory

The WeFound offers 4Gb of storage, enough for 3000 eBooks, where as the similarly priced Kindle only offers 2Gb.

Battery

A full charge can be had in around 2 hours. Once fully charged the Wefound is good for 14 days standby or 1 million page turns! On par with the Kindles.

Connectivity

This might be the real head turner (if your in China at least) The WeFound offers unlimited free edge and 3G connection via a China Mobile Sim card for the first 3 years after purchase. After which you will need to start topping your sim up just as you would a pay as you go phone.

This Kindle clone could be our first look at Founder trying to re-brand themselves, or even the beginning of their new flagship brand.

The WeFound has no obvious Founder branding on it or it’s packaging, which will entice brand aware Chinese buyers well. The average Chinese consumer doesn’t forgive and forget as well as consumers in the West. If something was once bad it will continue to be bad until it gets re-branded. Take a look at automotive giant Geely for example. Although they are highly profitable and have just purchased Volvo, they have still had to release two sub-brands (Gleegle and Emergrand) to shake the Geely stigma.

Overall the WeFound looks to be a viable alternative to the Kindle. The prices are practically the same, as are the specs. Plus the quality and design of the WeFound is spot on. So if your Mp3 heavy or need a built in Chinese-English dictionary, it might be worth giving the Founder device a look.