The very best ereaders for 2024

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There are actually two forms of ereaders: Devoted book/audiobook units or slabs which are extra akin to small tablets with E Ink screens. Within the first class, the competitors is de facto between Amazon’s Kindle units and Rakuten’s Kobo readers. Ereaders within the latter group embody entries from Onyx Boox, PocketBook and a few smaller corporations.

After all, any smartphone or pill can act as an ereader, however for our functions, we centered on units with paper-like, E Ink screens. After shopping for, borrowing and studying ebooks utilizing a dozen ereaders, my prime advice is Kobo’s newest, the Clara Color. However there are conditions the place a Kindle may make extra sense, and Boox choices will fulfill those that wish to do extra than simply learn. Listed below are the very best ereaders you should purchase, with picks based mostly on greater than a yr of testing.

Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Display screen measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white and shade E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi shade | Capability: 16GB| Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof score: IPX8 (submergible to six toes for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display adverts: No

Learn our full Kobo Clara Color overview

Our earlier decide for this class, the Kobo Clara 2E was a superb ereader with a crisp show, a heat glow and responsive, intuitive contact controls all housed in a water-proof design that felt premium. When Rakuten introduced the Clara could be up to date, I fearful we’d see Kobo gadget with superfluous revamping to justify an inflated worth. Fortunately, that’s not the case. The Kobo Clara Color not solely provides shade and a sooner processor, it’s simply $10 greater than the earlier era.

Because the title suggests, this ereader provides shade to the web page, lending just a little vibrance to e book covers, tables and graphs, and even the panels of graphic novels. The know-how comes from E Ink, within the type of the Kaleido 3 module that includes a shade filter layer on prime of the usual black and white microcapsule layer. That leads to two completely different resolutions on one display: 150 dpi for shade and 300 dpi for textual content.

Full-color pages remind me of comedian e book artwork from the ‘60s, muted but saturated. Color makes book covers more enticing and adds a little variety to headings, and tables in some non-fiction books. It’s actually not a obligatory function, however it provides vibrance and it’s enjoyable. 

There’s a slight distinction in readability between the colour and non-color model of the Clara. For those who look carefully, you’ll be able to see a little bit of noise on the white elements of the web page. That is as a result of added shade filter layer. It is not distracting and solely one thing I observed when evaluating the 2 generations side-by-side. but when absolute readability is your main aim, you could be higher off with a non-color ereader.

Most likely the extra helpful improve right here is the twin 2GHz processor, a bump from the Clara 2E’s 1GHz CPU. There’s a noticeable enchancment within the pace of the web page turns and navigating from the menu to the web page and again once more is almost instantaneous. As with the 2E, the Color hardly ever errors a swipe for a faucet or a web page flip gesture for a menu request.

The adjustable heat entrance gentle remains to be right here (it’s truly just a little hotter on the Color) and makes studying at evening straightforward on the eyes. The working system is similar, with intuitive entry to the Kobo retailer, your private books and titles out of your native library through Overdrive. You possibly can customise your studying expertise with choices for font, font measurement, line spacing, margins and so forth. Kobos don’t have a option to save a bunch of show settings just like the Kindle does, so I’d like to see that added with future OS upgrades. However for now, the customizations are simply sufficient to get your e book the way you need it to look.

The Color is almost an identical in form and measurement, and has the identical premium really feel because the 2E, although the plastic has a grainier end. The bezels are noticeably much less flush with the display now, although that didn’t alter my studying enjoyment.

Now that it prices $150, the Kobo Clara Color is $40 greater than the bottom mannequin Kindle. However the waterproof construct, heat entrance gentle, responsive controls and lack of adverts (which price $20 to eliminate on Amazon’s gadget) make it value it. And, in nice information for the proper to restore crowd, it’s even designed to be user-repaired as soon as it falls exterior of guarantee by means of a partnership with iFixit. 

Rakuten nonetheless makes the Kobo Clara BW, which is almost an identical to our earlier “best overall” decide. It would not endure from the slight readability loss that the colour overlay presents, however it additionally nonetheless has the older processor.   

After all, when you already personal a mountain of Kindle books, you could wish to persist with Amazon’s system. In that case, your finest wager is . It prices $160 and was just lately up to date with a extra highly effective processor and new E Ink tech that makes it exceptionally speedy with high-contrast textual content. The nice and cozy gentle is nice and the flush entrance display feels premium. After all, Amazon now has its personal shade mannequin too, the , however at $280, it’s considerably dearer than the Clara Color and even the Paperwhite Signature Version.

Professionals

  • Customizable settings
  • Much more responsive contact controls
  • Coloration is nice and textual content is crisp
Cons

  • Kobo’s retailer not as huge as Kindle’s.

$150 at Rakuten Kobo

 

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Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Display screen measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white E Ink | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 16GB | Battery life: 6 weeks | Waterproof score: None | Heat gentle: No | Lock display adverts: Sure

For those who simply wish to learn books, and don’t have any want for the perks that the fancier ereaders convey (shade, waterproof score, heat gentle, and so forth), then the bottom mannequin is for you. The six-inch, non-flush show is housed in a textured plastic that feels much less premium than, say, the Paperwhite and even the 2 Kobos on our listing, however nonetheless feels a lot sturdy. And it’s sufficiently small to slot in a coat or again pocket making it very travel-friendly.

It’s unlucky that the 2024 mannequin is $10 greater than the 2022 mannequin when not a lot has modified, however it’s nonetheless the most affordable ereader from any of the main producers. And if we all know one factor about Amazon, it’s that the corporate loves an excellent sale, so that you’ll possible discover it on low cost when you can maintain out for Prime Day or Black Friday offers.

The Kindle is a no-frills gateway to the very best of what Amazon has to supply, together with titles, with books by established authors in addition to newer, self-published writers; gives the widest collection of any subscription-based studying service on the market; and is made up of narrated titles and podcasts you’ll be able to solely hear by means of a Kindle gadget or Amazon-owned app.

For those who like to change between audiobooks and ebooks, Kindle is the best way to go. If you purchase each iterations of a title, you not solely get a reduction, however the Whispersync function strains up the place you might be within the e-printed model with the narration, too. Say you hear for an hour after which wish to learn – the synchronization permits you to decide up on-screen the place you left off audibly. (Although we should always level out that you may’t hear and skim concurrently on the identical gadget.) In assessments, the function was pretty correct, getting me shut sufficient on the web page or within the audio to determine my spot.

Web page turns are faster on the brand new mannequin however I’m disillusioned that there’s nonetheless no option to modify the zones and responses to touchscreen gestures, like there may be on each Kobo and Boox units. Kindles all have a really slim strip on the left for going again a web page and I’m always lacking it and going ahead as a substitute. Although swipes usually work properly.

Most likely essentially the most noticeable lacking function is the dearth of heat gentle. In comparison with any ereader with that choice, the display on the usual Kindle seems harsh and bluish, however it’s nonetheless far simpler in your eyes than a cellphone or pill display. There’s loads of customization for the font, measurement and margins, too. You possibly can even save your settings as a “theme,” one thing not supplied by different units. I created one with bigger textual content and wider line spacing referred to as “tired eyes.”

Some folks gained’t be bothered by the lock display adverts that come commonplace on this Kindle (except you pay $20 to take away them). They’re pretty innocuous, principally selling Kindle e book offers or particular titles (it’s not such as you’ll see promos for TVs or robotic pool cleaners). Personally, I like with the ability to set the sleep display to the e book cowl of what I’m presently studying, however it’s straightforward to recover from that if all you need is a extra handy option to eat books on the lowest worth.

Professionals

  • Probably the most reasonably priced ereader
  • Compact and sturdy construct is extremely transportable
  • Grants entry to Kindle’s huge book catalog plus library books
  • Finest integration between audio and textual content
Cons

  • No heat gentle
  • Not waterproof
  • Cannot learn third get together ebooks

$110 at Amazon

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Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Display screen measurement: 7” | Show sort: Black/white and shade E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi shade | Capability: 32GB | Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof score: IPX8 (submergible to six toes for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display adverts: No

When Kobo got here out with the brand new Clara Color, it additionally debuted the new Libra Color, which is perhaps the extra thrilling of the 2 units. Along with shade know-how from the E Ink Kaleido panel and an upgraded processor, the Libra now has stylus help. It’s the one ereader on this listing with that function, making it so much like a small E Ink pill — however all of its new options truly make it a greater ereader.

Once I wrote in regards to the earlier era ereader, the Libra 2, I used to be impressed by how comfy it was for studying. None of that has modified; the buttons and auto-rotating display adapt the gadget to only about any studying place you selected and the skinny design, textured again and soft-touch plastic give it a premium really feel.

Kobo’s interface is almost the identical right here as with different fashions, properly organized to allow you to simply discover your present reads or browse and search new titles from Kobo’s retailer or your native library within the Overdrive tab. The customizations for gentle and textual content allow you to get the web page wanting simply the way you prefer it, however there aren’t so many choices that it feels such as you’re writing code.

The brand new options add to the expertise. In shade, e book covers all look extra engaging — although, in case your TBR listing is already three toes lengthy, this gained’t not assist issues. The brand new processor makes waking from sleep, turning pages, navigating the menu and altering orientation zippy quick.

Then there’s the standing compatibility. Attempt as they could, some new applied sciences don’t but beat their real-world counterparts. That’s principally how I really feel about styluses — I’m only a huge fan of pen on paper. However Kobo’s stylus makes it so enjoyable to spotlight textual content and scribble notes within the margins of a e book that I’m beginning to come round. Plus, it neatly and magnetically attaches to the aspect so it doesn’t get misplaced.

Urgent and holding the button on the aspect of the stylus highlights textual content whereas flipping it round erases. I by accident pressed the button a number of occasions after I was making an attempt to put in writing, however I obtained used to the position after a couple of minutes of utilizing it. You possibly can decide from 4 completely different highlighter colours and examine your written notes and spotlighted textual content within the notes part of any title — which I might see being fairly helpful for e book membership reads, college assignments or simply refreshing your self on a previous learn earlier than you dive into the sequel.

Writing within the margins or instantly on the textual content labored on each e book I attempted. Although I ought to level out that when you change the font measurement in a e book, your handwritten notes shall be transformed to a sticky note-type field. Going again to the unique font restores your unique scribbles.

The Kobo Libra Color is $30 dearer than the Libra 2, however you get so much for $220. If it have been simply an ereader, the beautiful colours, responsive studying expertise, quick web page turns and simple highlights would make it well worth the worth. However you additionally get options that make it extra than simply an ereader, like Dropbox and Google Drive integration, a beta net browser and free-writing and text-converting notebooks.

After all, the stylus prices further and also you gained’t get options like notebooks and writing within the margins with out it. Collectively, the set prices $290, which is a substantial $110 cheaper than the just lately (and hottest) stylus-enabled ereader, . That one has an even bigger, 10.2-inch display, which is good for writing however, for me, is just a little huge for an ereader. The Libra Color however has simply the appropriate options on the proper measurement, plus some extras that stretch its usefulness.

Professionals

  • Premium construct that is comfy to carry
  • Crisp textual content and beautiful colours
  • Responsive and intuitive contact controls and buttons
  • Including the stylus permits for margin notes
Cons

  • Kobo’s retailer is much less huge than Kindle’s

$220 at Rakuten Kobo

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Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Display screen measurement: 6” | Show sort: Black/white E Ink | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 32GB | Battery life: 12 weeks | Waterproof score: IPX8 | Heat gentle: Sure, auto adjustable | Lock display adverts: No

Learn our full Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version overview

Once I reviewed the brand new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version, I used to be struck by the elevated studying expertise it supplied. It’s remarkably quick, the textual content is splendidly crisp and it has a premium design that feels nice to carry. Amazon was capable of enhance web page flip and scrolling speeds for each the usual Paperwhite and the Signature Version by giving them new processors and utilizing an oxide thin-film transistor layer to allow sooner modifications on the web page. The layer additionally permits for higher show readability than different transistor layers.

Each the usual and Signature fashions have heat entrance lights that solid a stunning glow throughout a display that’s just a little bigger now at 7-inches (up from 6.8 final time). The battery life is longer, promising as much as 12 weeks (as a substitute of 10), that means you’ll hardly ever have to cost your ereader. Regardless of that, the Paperwhite fashions are literally three millimeters thinner than the earlier era (and only a contact heavier).

With the Signature Version, you additionally get auto-adjusting entrance lights that dim or brighten as daylight fades otherwise you transfer from room to room. The storage capability goes up from 16GB to 32GB, so even when you obtain an entire bunch of audiobooks, you aren’t more likely to run out of house too rapidly. And eventually, you get a wi-fi charging choice for the periodic events when it’s time for a refill. All of these options are good to have, although not obligatory — however for anybody who desires to learn ebooks in essentially the most luxe approach doable, the Signature mannequin is the one to go for.

If you would like an expertise that’s almost as deluxe, however don’t want the wi-fi charging, auto-adjusting lights and additional capability, the Paperwhite remains to be noticeably extra premium than the usual Kindle, whereas nonetheless getting you entry to all of the perks that solely Kindles supply, like Goodreads integration, Kindle Unique titles, Kindle Limitless subscription books and Whispersync tech that strains up your audio and book reads so you’ll be able to swap between the 2 codecs.

Professionals

  • Display screen shows crisp textual content with a stunning heat gentle
  • Flush-front display and soft-touch again really feel premium
  • Noticeably sooner web page turns and scrolling
  • Auto-adjusting heat entrance gentle is useful
Cons

  • Energy button on the underside edge is simple to by accident set off
  • Can’t modify contact display controls
  • Fewer web page and font changes than the competitors
  • The options unique to the Signature aren’t important

$200 at Amazon

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Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Display screen measurement: 7” | Show sort: Black/white and shade E Ink | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi shade | Capability: 64GB | Battery life: Weeks | Waterproof score: splash-resistant | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display adverts: No

Coloration E Ink screens are the “new” factor in ereaders — though the tech has been commercially out there since round 2010. E Ink introduced its Kaleido 3 show in 2022, and with the appropriate mixture of shade saturation and readability, it’s now interesting sufficient for basic consumption. The most recent ereaders from each Boox and Kobo are shade fashions, and there’s little doubt Amazon will stick shade in a Kindle within the close to future (probably as a alternative to the now-unavailable Kindle Oasis).

The Boox Go Coloration 7 (Amazon, Boox) is a pure option to supplant our earlier winner on this class. The Boox Web page remains to be out there, and represents an excellent multipurpose pill that simply handles ereader and pill duties. The brand new Go Coloration not solely layers shade on prime of that, it additionally has double the storage capability, an additional gig of RAM and ships with Android 12. The again can also be textured as a substitute of slick, an improve my accident-prone fingers are grateful for. And all of this comes on the identical $250 listing worth because the Web page.

Boox caught a sooner quad-core processor within the Web page. That made for a noticeable uptick in pace when in comparison with the reader’s predecessor, the Leaf 2. This seems to be the identical CPU within the Go Coloration and I haven’t observed an enormous pace distinction with the brand new reader — although it’s a lot quick. The battery has the identical 2,300mAh capability, however ereader batteries final the order of some weeks, so an improve in that division wasn’t actually obligatory.

The Go Coloration 7 runs on a fork of Android 12, which permits it to behave extra like a pill than a traditional ereader. Like all Boox units, this strategy is finest fitted to the tech-savvy. Not like a Kindle or Kobo, which come preconfigured with a retailer and simple library-book entry, Boox ereaders supply little hand-holding in setup and utilization. Whereas there’s a retailer, it’s made up of public area titles — most individuals will learn books by importing ePubs manually or by means of ereader apps like Kobo, Kindle, Libby and others from the built-in Google Play retailer.

Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, is properly featured with an excellent quantity of management over the look of the textual content. However it solely handles DRM-free ePubs from websites like Venture Gutenberg or publishers like Tor. If you wish to learn ePubs with digital rights administration, which make up the overwhelming majority of present ebooks, you’ll want to make use of a distinct app. Sarcastically, I’ve been utilizing PocketBook’s ereader app to learn DRM ePubs I purchased from third events.

The pill is impressively customizable, with programmable buttons and fine-tunable settings. Boox customers have created APK information to tweak and enhance the expertise additional. The gadget even has a microphone and audio system, and may run apps like Spotify. Briefly, the Go Coloration 7 can do excess of a typical ereader can, when you’re prepared to experiment.

The studying expertise is enhanced with a smooth, adjustable entrance gentle with temperature management that makes for nice low-light studying and the flush, glare-free, display is lush and detailed. Like all shade ereaders, you do quit a modicum of readability to accommodate the colour array, and the heat is noticeably extra yellow. I solely observed the distinction after I set comparable ereaders side-by-side and, actually, it’s the distinction between a brilliant duper crisp display and solely a brilliant crisp display.

The smooth and muted colours have a saturated seem like watercolors or previous comedian e book illustrations. Evaluating the identical e book cowl on the Kobo Clara Color and this, the Boox hues do look a contact grainier and fewer wealthy. However that’s a small sacrifice when you want an ereader that may do excess of simply carry your books round.

Professionals

  • Succesful, customizable pill
  • Helps a number of ereader apps
  • Strong construct with a muted shade display
Cons

  • Not straightforward for learners
  • Native ereader app would not help DRM information
  • Constructed-in retailer is barely public area titles

$250 at Onyx Boox

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Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Display screen measurement: 6.13” Decision: 300 dpi | Capability: 128GB | Waterproof: Sure, splashes and spills | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display adverts: No

Boox makes two sizes of its ereader. The is smaller than the , doesn’t have buttons and goes for about $80 much less. However after making an attempt it, I don’t advocate it. It’s laggy and getting the Google Play Retailer to work was a ache. As soon as I did, web page turns in apps like Kindle have been excruciatingly gradual.

The Boox , nevertheless, is kind of enjoyable. It’s the identical measurement and form as a smartphone and, in lots of methods, acts like one. The house display is a muted black and white model of what you may discover on a typical Android — you’ll be able to even add a number of widgets. Just like the Web page, it might probably obtain and run apps from the Google Play Retailer and has audio system to play music and movies. The E Ink display (a Carta 1200) renders textual content crisply, however photos, notably shifting ones, look far grainier and rougher than they might on an actual cellphone’s LED display. That mentioned, the video high quality is the very best I’ve seen on an E Ink display, due to a software program enchancment Boox calls Tremendous Refresh Expertise.

However make no mistake, it’s not going to exchange your cellphone. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the one connectivity and the 16MP digital camera is only for making doc scans you’ll be able to convert to PDFs. However the phone-like construct is comfortingly acquainted and the E Ink display is gorgeous to learn. At $280, it’s dearer than a typical ereader — and a few E Ink tablets — however it’s a extremely transportable option to learn Kindle, Kobo, Google Books and different ePubs, whereas additionally dealing with easy video games and apps like a smartphone. For those who’re sick of the glow of your handset, the Boox Palma is a captivating various.

$246 at Amazon

Loads of apps, together with the Kindle app, will allow you to obtain and skim digital books on a cellphone or pill. However what makes book readers completely different is the display: almost all of them use know-how from an organization referred to as E Ink. It manufactures digital paper shows (EPD) composed of three sheets: one containing hundreds of thousands of microcapsules stuffed with black and white ink particles sandwiched between clear electrode layers. When a cost is utilized, both the black or white particles shift to the highest, forming letters and the whitespace round them.

Coloration ereaders add a shade filter array on prime of the usual black and white microcapsule layer. The result’s two completely different resolutions on one display — the colour readability is 150 dpi whereas black and white photos and textual content are nonetheless 300 dpi.

As a result of these shows are so completely different from commonplace backlight LED panels, you’ll be able to anticipate most ereaders to do various issues properly. They’ll be simpler to stare at for lengthy durations of time and simpler to learn in direct daylight. Additionally, since E Ink shows solely require energy to rearrange the ink, these units have for much longer battery lives than even the very best tablets: we’re speaking weeks, not days.

The ereader market shouldn’t be as saturated as, say, the smartphone market, however there are nonetheless loads of choices on the market they usually do have small however necessary variations amongst them. They have a tendency to vary from round $100 to greater than $400, although often the upper finish choices are stylus-enabled learn/write E Ink tablets just like the Kindle Scribe. Past worth, you must think about bodily properties like buttons, lights, storage and determination, in addition to how the software program permits you to discover and entry books.

With any ereader, you’ll navigate the OS through faucets and swipes, and a few add bodily page-turn buttons. Most with built-in buttons have an auto-rotating display so you’ll be able to press along with your proper or left hand.

As E Ink know-how has superior, decision has enormously improved – even the finances Kindle ereader has a 300 ppi show. You possibly can nonetheless discover fashions with decrease decision, however we don’t advocate them.

Some ereaders have entrance LEDs that help gentle temperature adjustment. Meaning you’ll be able to change to a hotter gentle after the solar goes down, which is able to really feel simpler on the eyes. For those who’re involved about blue gentle, you must go for a reader with that function.

The capabilities of those pocket libraries have superior significantly because the early days. Along with storing books, some allow you to browse the net, run apps and play music. The display’s body charge can’t deal with gaming, however it’s ok to indicate you the Wikipedia entry for Striver’s Row when you learn Criminal Manifesto.

For those who take heed to audiobooks, it’s your decision a Bluetooth-enabled ereader able to enjoying them. Many of the fashions we examined have that potential, with the notable exception of the Nook ereader we tried. Remember the fact that audiobook information can take up extra space than print information so you may in all probability need a gadget with a better storage capability when you plan on doing lots of listening.

Above all, you must think about the place and the way you plan to seek out books to learn. Most ereaders make it best to buy by means of their very own digital bookstores, however all of them (even Kindles) will now allow you to obtain titles from different sources, like libraries, unaffiliated book sellers and free public area websites.

An assortment of ereaders, including ones from Kobo, Kindle, Boox, Nook and PocketBook are arranged on a tan bamboo desk with a white keyboard and black mouse in the background.

Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Kindle, Nook and Kobo all have their very own shops that you simply entry instantly from every model’s units. Costs are pretty aggressive among the many sellers, too – as I write this, the present NYT bestselling fiction book is $12 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBooks.com and the Kobo retailer. The highest nonfiction launch prices $15 in any respect 4.

Amazon gives Kindle Limitless for $12 per 30 days, and it consists of 4 million titles from which you’ll decide your subsequent learn. It consists of audio and ebooks, however you gained’t discover many huge, new releases or older bestsellers. Kobo has a subscription referred to as Kobo Plus with about 1.3 million titles: it goes for $8 per 30 days for ebooks solely, $8 for audiobooks solely or $10 for each.

Shopping for a e book from a proprietary retailer immediately delivers it to your gadget, supplied you’re linked to WiFi. It additionally syncs your studying throughout units and apps, so you’ll be able to decide up the place you left off in your cellphone when you forgot your ereader at residence. It actually is essentially the most handy option to go, however when you don’t wish to be locked into one model’s retailer, or when you go for an ereader with out its personal market, you do have choices.

Shops like ebooks.com and Google Play have hundreds of thousands of ebooks on the market as digital rights-managed (DRM) ePub information, which Kobo, Nook and PocketBook readers can learn of their native ereader apps. Kindles don’t help DRM ePub information in any respect and Boox units require third get together apps (of which there are numerous) to prepared these information.

Titles from some publishers like Tor and public area classics from websites like Venture Gutenberg are additionally bought as ePubs, however with out the added DRM. Consequently, Kindles and the Boox Neoreader do help these information. Books you get from third-party sources will look identical to ones you purchased from a proprietary retailer, due to the flowable, formatted nature of ePub information. Whereas these device-agnostic book collections provide you with further choices for locating your subsequent learn, they require a number of further steps to get the information onto your ereader.

To take action, you’ll sometimes want a pc operating a free program referred to as Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). After shopping for and downloading the ePub file, open ADE and plug your ereader into your laptop (all readers right here have a USB-C port for charging and knowledge transfers). Your gadget ought to pop up within the left panel. Drag and drop the ePub file out of your downloads folder into the principle panel in ADE. The file will show as a picture of the e book cowl. Drag that picture onto your gadget on the left panel. If the file consists of digital rights administration (which protects in opposition to unauthorized copying) you’ll have to authorize your ereader, which requires utilizing or making a free Adobe ID. When you’ve completed including information to add, eject the reader out of your laptop to finish the switch course of.

Kindles use a web-based uploader as a substitute of the ADE technique. However since Kindle makes use of its personal proprietary DRM know-how as a substitute of Adobe’s, the one information it might probably settle for from third events are non-DRM information, comparable to from Tor Publishing or Venture Gutenberg. After downloading a suitable ePub file, drag and drop it into your browser with the Ship to Kindle web page open. So long as you’re signed into Amazon, this wirelessly transfers the information to your related gadget.

Boox additionally makes use of a browser uploader referred to as BooxDrop (together with many different strategies) to ship ePubs to the gadget. Open it from the Boox App menu and also you’ll see a device-specific url. Kind that into your browser to entry a file supply portal that uploads to your library. Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, additionally doesn’t help information with DRM, so that you gained’t have the ability to learn present titles from most publishers utilizing that app. Fortuitously, Boox units run almost each ereader app on the market, Kobo and Kindle included, letting you entry ePubs any variety of methods.

Your native library card permits you to borrow audio and ebooks by means of a program referred to as Overdrive and its companion app Libby. On a Kobo, you could have have built-in entry to Overdrive in a separate tab. When you’ve linked your public library card, the search perform will embody outcomes for titles out there out of your native library; a number of faucets will add your alternatives to your gadget for the size of the mortgage. I personally discover it best to borrow the title I would like by means of the Libby app on my cellphone. After that, the e book pops up on my Kobo’s residence display as soon as the gadget syncs.

To learn library books on a Kindle, you’ll be able to both undergo the Libby app or the Overdrive part of your library’s web site. When you click on Borrow, you’ll see the choice to “Read now with Kindle,” which takes you to Amazon’s web site to check in. After that, the e book shall be delivered to your gadget the subsequent time it connects to WiFi.

For different ereaders, you’ll undergo your library’s Overdrive portal and obtain the ePub after clicking the Borrow button. You possibly can then use the ADE course of we described above. Units that run exterior apps, like Boox’s Web page, Go Coloration 7 or Palma, assist you to learn library books through the Libby app, simply as you’d on a smartphone or iPad.

You too can use the Libby app to borrow audiobooks, however you gained’t have the ability to entry them by means of your ereader. (The exception is an ereader, like a Boox gadget, that permits exterior apps). I discovered it was simpler to take heed to an audiobook on my cellphone anyway, no matter whether or not I borrowed it by means of Libby or purchased it from Kindle or Kobo.

Four ereaders are arranged on a dark brown wooden table outside. There are Boox, Kindle and Kobo devices showing the covers of different novels from Tana French, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Martha Wells.

Picture by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

When placing collectively any information, the very first thing we do is spend hours researching the sector. We have a look at what’s out there, what’s new, and what consumers {and professional} reviewers must say. Then we slim a listing to the very best candidates for hands-on testing.

Over the course of the previous yr and a half, I’ve examined simply over a dozen ereaders, representing 5 completely different manufacturers: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Boox and PocketBook. I purchased, borrowed and uploaded books for every gadget utilizing the strategies above. I used each for between a number of days to a couple months. I evaluated each within the areas of e book entry, ease of studying, further options and general worth. Right here’s every thing we examined to date:

Amazon’s first shade Kindle impressed with its fast page-turns and cargo occasions, auto-adjusting entrance gentle and, in fact, a decently placing shade E Ink show. However at $280, it’s dearer than the entire different shade ereaders in its measurement vary, together with the Kobo Libra Color and the Boox Go Coloration 7.

Additionally, some Colorsoft house owners have reported seeing a yellow band on the backside of their ereader’s show. This difficulty didn’t have an effect on our overview unit in the course of the testing interval, however it has since appeared on ours as properly. An Amazon spokesperson advised Engadget: “A small number of customers have reported a yellow band along the bottom of the display. We take the quality of our products seriously—customers who notice this can reach out to our customer service team for a replacement or refund, and we’re making the appropriate adjustments to ensure that new devices will not experience this issue moving forward.”

Amazon’s Kindle ereaders are the plain reply, however different units able to operating apps can even learn titles from the Kindle retailer. For instance, you’ll be able to obtain the Kindle app on a Boox ereader by means of Google Play (the shop comes commonplace within the Boox app menu). You possibly can then signal into your Kindle account and entry all of the books in your library — the identical approach you’d learn Kindle books in your cellphone or pill.

Sure. You should buy Kindle books by means of the Kindle app or by means of Amazon’s web site through a browser. You possibly can learn these titles on a Kindle or any gadget that may run the Kindle app, comparable to a smartphone, pill or laptop. Simply bear in mind that Kindle titles can solely be learn by means of considered one of Amazon’s ereaders or the Kindle app. The corporate makes use of proprietary digital rights administration on all ebooks it sells that may’t be learn by different ereader apps like Kobo or Adobe ADE.

Each Kindle and Kobo are manufacturers of devoted ereaders that help looking, shopping for, downloading and studying ebooks from their very own shops. Each additionally help borrowing books out of your native library through Overdrive and Libby.

The distinction is that Kindle is owned by Amazon and makes use of the Kindle retailer, whereas Kobo is owned by Rakuten and its books come from the Kobo retailer. Each shops come pre-loaded as a tab on their respective ereader and each carry most in-print books. Every retailer additionally carries their very own unique ebooks as properly, however Amazon’s library of Kindle-only books is far bigger than Kobo’s. Amazon additionally gives Amazon Authentic tales to learn on the Kindle, that are free quick fiction and nonfiction reads which are free to Prime members.

Each Kobos and Kindles have easy programs for borrowing library books. Different ereaders, like Boox, allow you to borrow books after downloading the Libby App. Solely Kobo ereaders allow you to seek for and borrow books instantly on the ereader, with a devoted Overdrive tab. Kindles, however, make the most of a handy “read on Kindle” perform from the Libby app or web site. You possibly can ship a borrowed e book to your Kindle simply by signing into your account. Each strategies are fairly straightforward, so which is the very best for you in all probability relies on different components than simply the library-book function.

August 2024: Changed our Android pill decide with the brand new Go Coloration 7 ereader from Boox. Up to date e book titles to present examples. Added an FAQ part to clarify the distinction between Kobo and Kindle ereaders and additional element library-book help on completely different fashions.

November 2024: Following the discharge of Amazon’s new Kindle ereaders, we examined and reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version, the base-model Kindle and Amazon’s new shade ereader, the Kindle Colorsoft. Accordingly, we up to date our finances decide, added a premium decide and famous our expertise with the Colorsoft.

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