Pros & Cons
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- Compact and portable
- Easy to set up and use
- Can operate independently of a computer or mobile device
- Saves scans to microSD memory cards
- Includes a USB cable, 4GB microSD card, and vinyl drawstring carrying case
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- Requires a steady hand and practice to achieve satisfactory results
- Can have a higher error rate than with document scanners
- Manual scan process can be tedious with longer scans
IRIScan Book 7 Specs
| Maximum Optical Resolution | 1050 pixels |
| Maximum Scan Area | 8.5" (wide) |
| Mechanical Resolution | 1050 |
The IRIScan Book 7 ($169) is a hand-operated wand scanner that’s small enough to bring with you almost anywhere. You could use it to scan printed words and images, whether they’re in books, magazines, menus, flyers, advertisements, or ordinary documents. The Book 7 comes with an impressive software bundle that supports OCR text extraction in 138 languages, advanced PDF editing, and a broad range of file-format conversions. Be warned, though, this device does require a steady hand to achieve its promised results. While the Book 7 doesn’t have the IRIScan Book 5 WiFi’s wireless capabilities, it does have a more compact design than the Book 5. It also has a new double-roller mechanism for smoother, less jerky scans. And its software bundle has a more recent version of the industry-standard Readiris application. Take that all together, and the IRIScan Book 7 replaces the IRIScan Book 5 WiFi as our Editors' Choice pick for wand-style scanners.
Design: Streamlined for the Task at Hand
At 0.9 by 10.2 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and weighing 7 ounces, the Book 7 is the same width, depth, and weight as the Book 5. However, it’s less than half as tall (0.9 inch versus 2.2 inches), which makes it much easier to fit into a handbag, briefcase, or backpack. Both models feature a 1.5-inch color screen and a built-in microSD card reader. Both models also have an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery, although the Book 7's battery has a slightly larger capacity. The Book 7 has a 900mAh battery versus the 800mAh battery in the Book 5. IRIS estimates that the Book 7 battery can last for as many as 750 scans of A4 document-size pages when the device is set for color and low resolution.
(Credit: David English)Unlike the Book 5, the Book 7 doesn’t support Wi-Fi. The Book 5 has been available in two variations: one with Wi-Fi and one without Wi-Fi. Not having wireless support isn’t necessarily a big deal with either model, given that you can connect your computer directly to the scanner using the provided USB cable. Alternatively, you can plug the provided 4GB microSD card into your desktop's or laptop’s SD card reader. IRIS estimates that a 4GB microSD card can hold as many as 2,000 A4-document JPG scans at 300dpi, or 1,000 A4-document JPG scans at 600dpi. If that isn’t enough, the Book 7 can accept microSD or microSDHC cards up to 32GB.
(Credit: David English)The Book 7 features a new double-roller design that keeps it more stable as you move the device down the page. That’s especially important when scanning books (as opposed to flat-sheet documents), where you need to apply firm pressure without damaging the book’s binding. Having two rollers can also help the image sensor maintain a more constant focus. And that will help to lower the OCR error rate.
The 1.5-inch color LCD on top of the Book 7 isn’t a touch screen. You’ll need to use the four buttons on the left and right of the screen to navigate and select the options that you see on the screen. On the left side of the screen, you’ll find the Settings Menu and Play buttons. On the right side of the screen, you’ll find the JPG/PDF and DPI buttons.
The Settings Menu button lets you choose the resolution (300dpi, 600dpi, or 1,050dpi), color mode (color or grayscale), and file format (JPG or PDF). It also has options for formatting the memory card and setting the date, time, and language. To exit the Settings Menu, just press that button again. The Play button lets you browse through your saved scans on the microSD card. The JPG/PDF button lets you toggle between saving your scans in JPG or PDF file formats. And the DPI button lets you toggle through the three available resolutions.
Also on top of the unit is a Scan/Power button. Holding the button down for more than 3 seconds will turn the device on or off. After turning it on, pressing the same button once initiates a scan. And pressing it a second time will stop the scan. That may sound confusing to have a single button do so many functions, but it becomes intuitive after a few sessions.
(Credit: David English)On the front of the device, you’ll see a USB-C port for connecting the provided USB-C-to-USB-A cable. You’ll also see the slot for the microSD card reader, and a pinhole button that can reset the user interface language (using a paper clip).
Setup and Software: Simple, Yet Adaptable
Like the Book 5, you can use the Book 7 right out of the box without any elaborate preparation. Simply insert the microSD card into the unit and charge it using the USB cable. IRIS recommends charging the Book 7 for 30 minutes before first use. When charging the device, a small indicator light located beside the LCD will illuminate in red. Once the device is fully charged, the indicator light will switch to green.
(Credit: David English)While you can jump right in and start scanning without any software or computer, the software bundle that’s included with the device can help expand what you can do with your saved scans. No software is included in the box, but you will find links to download the Readiris PDF and InstantResult apps. And if you choose the IRIScan Book 7 Dyslexic edition, which costs $189 ($20 more than the standard Book 7), you can also download the Readiris Dyslexic app. All three apps are available for Windows 10 and Windows 11. InstantResult and Readiris Dyslexic are not available for macOS. (I'll talk more about Readiris Dyslexic in a moment.)
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The Readiris PDF app is both powerful and versatile. It can perform OCR in 138 different languages. You can use it to edit your PDF documents and export them to a wide range of formats, including PDF, PDF Compressed, PDF/A, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, HTML, and ePub. It also supports batch processing, barcode extraction/reading, and PDF bookmarks. Readiris is an industry-standard OCR program that’s included with many scanners and multifunction printers, not just IRIS products. It can import both JPG and PDF scans from the Book 7. And it can also work with JPG or PDF files from other sources.
(Credit: IRIS)With the InstantResult app, you can scan with the Book 7, even if it doesn’t have a microSD card. After connecting the scanner to your PC using the USB cable, the app will be able to directly import and process the scanned images. Once imported, you can perform OCR on the scan, copy the text and images, print the scan, or convert the scan to a PDF or Word (.docx) document. And it isn’t just for direct-connect use. You can have it import the Book 7 scans that are already stored on your computer, though it can only import the JPG scans, not the PDF ones.
The Readiris Dyslexic app that’s available with IRIScan Book 7 Dyslexic edition adds text-to-speech and speech-to-text conversions to your scans. Those capabilities can help dyslexic users who struggle with reading and writing. The app can read aloud sentences or individual words and repeat them for better comprehension. And it has a high-contrast mode that makes text easier to read for people with visual processing difficulties, which is a common issue for dyslexic users.
Scan Performance: Steady as She Goes
In most of our scanner reviews, we cite the manufacturer’s speed rating and then test the device to see if it can match or exceed that rating. That’s not possible with a hand-propelled wand scanner where the user determines the appropriate scanning speed.
Even so, how fast should you try to scan an A4-size page with the Book 7? IRIS cites the top A4 speeds for the Book 7 as 4 seconds when set to 300dpi, 7 seconds when set to 600dpi, and 11 seconds when set to 1,050dpi. Ideally, you would scan a page just a bit slower than that. However, I found that scanning at half that speed still yielded satisfactory results.
(Credit: IRIScan)To scan a page, you’re instructed to place the document or picture on a flat surface. Hold the scanner’s target firmly. Press the Scan button once to start scanning. A scanning status icon will appear on the LCD screen to indicate that the device is ready to scan. Slide the scanner smoothly from the start line to the end line. Then, press the Scan button again to end the scanning process.
If your scan speed is too fast, you’ll see a red exclamation point on the scanning status icon, indicating that you should try again. After the scan is complete, you’ll see a small version of it on the LCD, which can give you an initial indication that you were successful. Because the screen is quite small, you won’t be able to see if the focus is off or if individual elements are missing. If you don’t scan smoothly, you may have lines that are scrunched up or elongated due to the unevenness of the downward motion. In addition, if you drift horizontally as you move down the page, your scan will be similarly distorted. Lapses like those will not only affect the look of the scans, but they can also dramatically increase the error count of the software’s OCR output.
It does require a steady hand, and you should expect to spend time practicing the manual scan process. In testing, I did get better at it with each scanning session. Bound books can be especially challenging, as you may not be able to hold them perfectly flat without damaging the binding. In theory, you can scan both facing pages of small books with a single swipe of the scanner. In practice, that can cause the words closest to the center of the book to be slightly out of focus. I found it best, in that situation, to scan the two facing pages separately.
How good is the OCR? Using the Readiris PDF app, I was able to convert text scanned at 300dpi to editable text without errors down to 8 points for both our Times New Roman and Arial test pages. Those are the same results that we got from the Readiris app when testing the Book 5, as well as several other portable scanners that we have tested.
You should consider those results to be the best-case scenario when your scans don’t have any visual irregularities. When my scanned pages showed a significant skew, scrunched or elongated lines, or missing characters, the OCR error count increased significantly. Or put another way, if you’re not able to smoothly scan a page by hand, you won’t have an accurate OCR outcome. I was able to quickly correct the few errors when the scan was only slightly off kilter. With scans that were much further off the mark, having to correct a multitude of errors was more trouble than it was worth.