E-reader purchasing advice
So for various reasons I can't use paper books very well. I've been reading almost exclusively on epaper for... 15 years or so now?
My current reader is a Kobo Aura One which has done very well but is starting to get a bit tired - the screen is a bit scratched up and the battery life is measured in days rather than weeks (at around 1hr/day reading with the frontlight on low). Plus the usb socket has done that annoying thing where the cable needs to be at the exact right angle in order to charge.
So I'm in the market for a new one. I'd like it to be >7 inches, 300ppi (same spec as the Aura One or better). Overdrive support is nice but not essential. EPub support is a must, as is orange/red frontlighting. Linux slightly preferred over Android. Battery life in weeks. Waterproof doesn't matter. Cloud sync, bluetooth, audiobook support, apps (other than a decent reader), note-taking - I don't care about. It's for reading books, nothing else. Budget is not a huge issue but I don't want to spend more than I have to.
I have had zero time for the last few weeks to look into what the market is doing now and it's been many since I paid much attention to the world of ereaders, so anyone who is more up to date than me who can offer some suggestions would be much appreciated.
If it's just for eBooks, then I always recommend the Kobo line that you're already using. I use the Libra 2, but the screen is only 7in. If you want bigger than that, then the Sage has an 8in screen, but it's more expensive because of the whole stylus thing.
The only other real major player, that's not Kindle, is probably Onyx. I had a Onyx Boox Poke 2, and I wasn't a fan of their software. The plus of it being full Android was nice, you could use whatever reader app you wanted, but the software was clunky at best. Other than that, I question the amount of polish and support the other brands offer. You can find a lot about various eReaders from My Deep Guide on YouTube if you want to get a feel for what's out there.
I concur -- Kobo is probably the best option if you want an open, competently programmed reader with great battery life in a nice package.
I use a Onyx Boox Nova 3, personally -- 8", WACOM pen for notetaking, Android -- and I really love KOReader on it. But it took me quite a while to get it set up just the way I like, and it's probably more expensive than it needs to be if you only want to read.
Sadly the Kobo Sage has very bad reviews for battery life, and the Sage is the device in my required screen size range.
The Onyx devices do look nice but they are very pricey, I know I said budget wasn't that much of a concern but it is a bit a concern.
Looking at the specs, that device uses micro USB and, by design, those cables wear out quicker than the charging port. It might just be the cable that's worn out, unless you've tried it with others.
That said, you could always look into magnetic USB breakaway cables if that's the case so you no longer have to worry about the cable wearing down.
My current reader has only ever reliably charged using the official Kobo cable that came with it. Even my decent quality, actually paid for (rather than came free with another device) cables it's been unhappy with. Sometimes they work but it's very hit and miss, and it's been that way since new. I will give the port a clean and see if that helps though.
The Kobo cable is currently working with every other micro usb device that it's being plugged into - it's one of the cables that lives in my charging hub and shady cables don't last long there because there's such a range of things that need charging day to day.
Battery life matters for me because it's tricky for me to have charging for my book in the room it's mostly used in, so I have to remember to take it downstairs to charge it. I'd rather only have to remember to do that once a month rather than every few days. Although if the next device had USB-c that would change things a bit.
We've had a few similar threads.
Choosing a good e-reader for studying (2022)
Which Kindle/e-reader are you using? (July 2023)
You might get some additional ideas from this one: How do you feel about eBooks and eBook readers?
Brilliant, thanks. I should search better!
Not an eReader suggestion, but the issue with the cable not charging unless at certain angles is usually due to lint/dust buildup in the port. You can fix that by using a toothpick or small tweezers to pick the dirt out.
If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, your local repair shop typically does it for free or a few bucks. I saved numerous tablets and eReaders in this way when I was a repair tech.
Hah, why I didn't think of this I don't know. I regularly do this to my phone, no idea why it hadn't occurred to me to do it to my book too. Thanks!
+1 to Kobo.
I've had 2 basic Kindles, 1 Kobo Aura ONE, and 1 Kobo Clara HD. I wanted the PocketBook InkPad 3 Pro to be something special. I imagined it'd be snappier or have a redder light. It's just an EReader with features that I, too, don't care about, like audiobooks and waterproofing.
Kobos have nearly Kindle's prices without Amazon's ecosystem and market prevalance enough to need to maintain some reputation.
I discovered Pocketbook earlier this evening, when I finally had a bit of time to look into this: they have a new Inkpad 4 out, which has very solid reviews so far - but it is very new. Also looks like Pocketbook devices are quite hard to buy in the UK, although I can get a friend in the EU to pick one up for me if it comes to that.
I have had a good time with the Aura One but it's successor, the Sage, doesn't have good reviews for battery life. Rather the opposite. And that's a bit of a deal breaker for me.
My first reader was an iRex Iliad, then I had a Sony something, then a Kobo of some sort and most recently the Aura One..
If you consider PocketBook, take a look at last year's PB Era, too. It has a different form than InkPad. It is asymmetric, which personally I like a lot more. I currently use Kobo Forma and PocketBook Era interchangeably. As you can see both have similar form factor. :) I had a PocketBook InkPad 3 before. Kobo has a rock-solid firmware, while PB tends to have some issues here and there.
I saw the Era on their website and it looks really nice, but it's a bit small. I really like the eight inch screen on my Aura. My wife has a Kobo Libra and while the screen looks amazing, it's just not quite big enough for me. As an occasional device it would be great, but 99% of my reading is electronic and I'd like a bit more screen, ideally.
I've heard a lot of horror stories about the Forma's screen and frontlight quality but that could just be a side effect of being subbed to /r/kobo (although obviously haven't heard anything since mostly leaving reddit)
Forma is the best ereader I ever used. Period. :) But just to list all I had for comparison: Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Paperwhite (1st gen), Kindle Voyage, PocketBook InkPad 3, Kobo Forma (current), PocketBook Era (current). I tested a borrowed Kobo Aura One for a few weeks (read 1 book), but didn't buy it in the end.
I am also used to 8'' displays (InkPad, Forma) and was wondering whether Era wouldn't be too small at 7'' but I am pleased to inform that it isn't. :) At the same time, 6'' screens appear tiny to me, it would be difficult for me to go back to that size.
Regarding the horror stories, I don't know what you mean and I guess I don't need to. ;) The Forma's frontlight is not uniform, I admit -- there's a blue tint at the edge where the buttons are placed. But Era's frontlight is no better. Perhaps only Amazon nailed it on Kindle? Anyway, it doesn't bother me, I just have high tolerance for those things. My main issue is the pricing of those premium ereaders, I think PocketBook's prices are too high for what they offer. But I still pay...
Ah, that's good to hear about the light. My first Aura One had frontlight blotchiness issues to the point I had to return it and get a replacement. Kobo's QA seems a bit wobbly because this sort of complaint seems to accompany any new form factor they come out with. I'm glad yours is good though!
Unfortunately buying a new Forma is a bit tricky given it's been discontinued for a while. The Sage definitely has battery issues, even Kobo admit that. That's sort of why I was asking here because I looked at the Sage on the basis of "just get the current 8 inch Kobo" but wasn't impressed with the battery life, and that is a pretty strong influencing factor for me.
I'm currently leaning towards Pocketbook's Inkpad 4 but the Kobo Elipsa is potentially in the running too. The latter is a little large though I'm sure I could get used to that. I'd like to see an Era in person before buying but Pocketbook don't have any UK stockists that I can find, so it's probably out. Which is a shame, it's a very pretty device.
I average one reader every 5-6 years so £200-300 per device isn't too bad, but I would love to see a cheap, bare bones 8-inch device that just reads books and has a frontlight and a usb socket and nothing more. No bluetooth, no speaker, no wifi. Just a dumb screen and some reader software.
My advice is to find a 2009 Nook Simple Touch and root it.
The Nooks have always been hard to find in the UK new, let alone used. Also that's only a six inch screen and considerably lower resolution and quality than my existing reader.
I don't need root access, I just want to read books with minimal faffing around.
Sure. But my advice is to find a 2009 Nook Simple Touch, and root it.
I don't think your advice particularly applies to my situation, but thanks for taking the time anyway.
Fair enough. Enjoy your search! Mine ended
nearly 15 years ago, and even the original battery is still doing great.
Fifteen years ago I think I was still using an iRex iLiad from 2006 and while it was great at the time, I'm not sure I'd want to go back to it. eInk has come quite a long way since then.
Very impressed that your Nook is still going strong though! It's a rare electronic device that lasts so long these days.
What’s the advantage of rooting a nook?
Jail breaking it so you can source and load your own PDFs/epubs via sd card without needing to buy them from the walled-garden B&N store and/or being surveilled by B&N.
Also it runs an old version of android so you can install apps on it, etc, if you wanted. It was fun at the time and I used it as an epaper-based remote for my Kodi for a while, but obviously a
20092011 android device is probably pretty limited in use nowadays. Still makes a perfect ereader though.Edit: looks like I got the age wrong
I see. You can email PDFs and epubs to a kindle by default, Amazon provides each device with an email address to use for that. I was struggling to think of what other functionality an old epaper based android device could have other than reading books. A remote control is a neat idea though.
I have the Libra 2 here and have been pretty happy with it! Granted, I've never had a Kindle so don't have any point of comparison (besides a 12 year-old Nook), but I keep several hundred books on it and manage them wirelessly via calibre-web, battery lasts through multiple books, and the screen clarity and brightness are pretty nice.
I started reading on a Chromebook that flips to a tablet. With night light on it feels more like a book and the battery life is fantastic. I bet if you put a matte style screen protector on it it would be excellent. Plus with the hinge you can set the Chromebook like a tent and read easily with holding anything.
I know this is not the recommendation you want, but I'm just putting it out there for anyone else! I am really pleased with it!
You probably wouldn’t like the ads and other anti-features but Amazon Fire Tablets are amazingly good for what they cost and they’re the reason why everybody thinks Android tablets are dead. There is Kindle but a lot of other software such as Acrobat Reader can be installed and before I got an iPad I used to read a lot of PDFs on my Fire.
A tablet isn't an ereader. I do need an epaper display.
Do people think Android tablets are dead?
It amazes me how many people don’t notice/care about the difference between a tablet and an e-reader. It makes such a huge difference for me.
iPads have a reputation for having better software/ui in general.
That might be the case - although I can't ever find my way around iOS, personally - but I'm not sure that's the same thing as Android tablets being considered dead. That reputation and impression of deadness might also be regional, Apple are far more dominant in the US than many other places.
Anecdotally I only know two or three people with iPads but I see a lot of Android tablets around. Perhaps because lots of my friends have small-ish children and given the rate kids destroy stuff, investing in Apple hardware is probably not a good financial decision.
That’s you. I’d be happy to have either an e-reader or tablet in my backpack, in fact I am in danger of packing both, at least until I sprain my ankle again and decide I’ve gone too far again. I am well on my way to this happening again because I caught myself packing three cameras in my second backpack
https://mastodon.social/@UP8/111091984601991594
and the iPad counts as a fourth camera. Either the iPad or an e-Reader substitutes for 10,000 or so books which I might try to pack in my first backpack otherwise (only had two yesterday but I picked up one at the library so that doesn’t count.)
I might be the only mobile app developer who doesn’t own a smartphone (at least one with a plan) so I really need the tablet (not least to tap out badly spelled posts on this site), but I think a lot of people could go either way.
It is me, yes. I was the one asking for advice, for me :)
I don't carry things unless I have no other option. For the same physical reason as I don't read paper books. So when I want to take my book somewhere, I want my book to be light and just my book. For example, I'd never buy that big Sigma hyperzoom that you have because it's far too heavy (also I prefer primes, but that's by the by). I'm sure it's a nice lens though, I do like Sigma's stuff. Hell, I even adjust my keyring depending on what keys I'll need for that trip - if I'm driving I don't take my bike key, if I'm biking I don't take my car key and so on. It's very important for me to keep weight down as much as I can. I don't own a tablet because holding the bloody thing up is too hard some days, and the stands all put them at either the wrong angle to touch or the wrong angle to look at.
Also while I'm perfectly happy reading factual content on a transmissive screen, I struggle to get into long form fiction that way. eInk is an absolute must for me on that front. Tablet and ereader are not at all interchangable for me.
I have to apologize for going a bit off topic but since you gave such a good reply I will elaborate.
My choice of lenses depends on what I am doing. I got the hyper zoom when my other telephoto broke (oughta send it out to get fixed) and despite being cumbersome I find it it is more versatile than you’d think. It is good for portraits for instance. Lately I’ve been into sports photography where it is great (but still overkill) and also taking a lot of flower photos because people on Mastodon eat them up and it works for that.
When I had a Canon DSLR I had just a 20mm prime and really enjoyed it but I when I got my Sony I got more into zooms although I am having so much fun with that 7artisans 50mm since it opens wide and can take pictures that look like nothing I ever saw before. I also have a 90mm macro prime that actually takes better flower photos and that I’m going to take to a game one of these days. The kit I show there is the kind of kit I would take to a game because the stadiums at my Uni have really striking views of the nearby buildings, sky, etc. and getting the players in context of that I think captures the experience of going to a game and a 50mm is good for that as well as pictures of the band, other spectators, etc.
I’m lusting after the G Master 24-70 ii but that is getting to the place where I have to be selling more photos but I am building up my portfolio and going out with the kit is a critical part of it. It is the stereo cameras I need to get under control because I still don’t have a reliable formula for stereograms.
——
For that matter, I do get where you are w/ fiction. I really do relish reading conference proceeding PDFs on the bus but I have never gotten into the fiction habit with the tablet, I am still packing fiction books.
There sure are a lot of posts recommending Kobo here. I "upgraded" from my old Kindle3 to a Kobo Aura H20 about 2-3 years ago, and wouldn't recommend it tbh. The battery life when I first got the Kobo was just OK, lasted 2-3 days... I suppose I was spoiled by the Kindle3 which lasted for probably a month even with heavy daily reading. Now, however, the Kobo battery has degraded so much that it only lasts a few hours. The power button has also been incredibly finicky... I have to hit it in the exact right spot or else it won't make contact and turn on, which often takes me 10+ attempts. Maybe I just got a bad one? But just wanted to chip in with my Kobo experience thus far.
I hadn't heard of the Onyx Boox readers, and I'm tempted to try them out. Do they benefit from rooting/jailbreaking at all? Other than the obvious removal of stock android bloat.
(Edit: Spelling correction)