r/ereader

I recently got back into reading but I don't have the space for physical, so i wanted to get an e-reader. But, one I have no idea which one to get and two I've been trying to figure it out by reading some of the posts on here, but got super confused about all the jargon and programs like sideloading, calbire, boox?

I kinda thought you just buy the reader and then you'd pay like a subscription for access to a library or pay for the e-copy of a book. It's very confusing to me and I'm sure plenty of questions like these have asked before and I just can't find them, but any help would be appreciated.

Also, I'm just looking to read books. No manga or comics, so any recommendations are welcomed.

Few things I hope to do/will definitely be doing:

-I am a huge Libby user, I must be able to borrow books fairly easily from that system

-I read a lot at night in bed

-I have a TON of audiobooks from Audible, but I don't have any ebooks from them. I'm not opposed to getting a kindle, but since I am starting from scratch, I am open to other options!

-I don't tend to reread books, so I don't necessarily need a lot of storage?

-I think I prefer physical buttons for page turning

-I think I want color? I have a kid and I like the idea of downloading books to read. I have heard of some formatting issues, so maybe this is too hard to do?

I am sure I'm missing info, but any thoughts? I thought I was set on a Kindle Colorsoft, but then I saw the Kobo Libra Colour, and I like the added feature of the stylus and being able to upload that to Google drive.

The main thing that scares me about Kobo are all the people that say I might have to download a book, then convert it with Calibre... I am sure I could figure that out, but it does sound like a pain.

Thanks in advance!

I was pretty set on getting the boox until I came across the musnap. seems pretty close/similar, wondering if anyone's used and compared them both?

I’ve noticed the XTEink making a splash onto the e-reader scene. What is the utility of having this vs. just using your phone witch greyscale on and brightness lower? I try to limit my consumption of things, and this just seems like another device that I don’t need. What are your experiences with it?

Okay so I bought a Kindle mainly to force myself off the TikTok scroll spiral, half expecting it to just sit in a drawer like every other self-improvement purchase I've made.

Reader, it did NOT sit in a drawer.

I'm like a week in and I've caught myself choosing my Kindle over my phone unprompted, multiple times, which if you knew my screen time before this would sound like a medical miracle. There's something about the e-ink screen and the fact that it can't ping me with notifications that just... resets my brain? I pick it up to read one chapter and suddenly it's an hour later and I feel GOOD instead of that gross doom-scroll fog.

Anyone else have this experience going from short-form content addiction to actually reading again? I'm also looking for any book recs please, I'm hooked and need more fuel 📚

I’m looking to buy an ereader what is best and why ? I’m debating between kindle coloursoft or kobo Libra colour.

I used to think more than one was crazy and now I have 4.

A nook and 3 kindles. The nook goes unused for the most part, then my kindles are a scribe for studying and reading school books. Sometimes reading while im cooking or cleaning because it large enough to set up and read. The two kindles are because I lost one and found it. One is a signature that stays home. The other one travels with me now. I had a kobo but returned it because it just wasn’t my thing. I do love the books UI but kindle offers more value for the money.

How many do you have and what do you do with them?

Hey y’all. Looking for some advice on a new eReader. I read manga and books, looking for something that will cater to the manga. I like the color feature, and the pen feature from the Palma, but maybe I’m just wanting the extras lol.

Which eReader do you have for manga and why do you prefer yours?

I’ve had a Kindle Paperwhite for a few years, I like it! I’m just getting into using Libby, and in Canada you can’t use Libby on kindle, only Kobo. I saw someone review a Kobo Libra Color a while ago and it piqued my interest!

Someone local to me is selling one out of box, but unused with the pen and charger for $200CAD (which is about $140USD, for reference.)

Is this a good deal? Would it be super difficult to go from Kindle to Kobo? Worth it?

Alright… I have a Kindle and a Kobo. These are my main two for reading via library and purchases. I’m now at a point where I’m reading from both devices fairly consistently and sometimes switching during the day. I’m wondering which would be my best option… jailbreaking one of the devices or just getting an eReader that could do both? If your option is another eReader, what would you choose?

What are your thoughts?

Here’s what I like about both that might help if I should just jailbreak.

Pros of Kindle PW:
- seems to be faster than my kobo
- lighter than my kobo
- can completely turn WiFi off/airplane mode on and it doesn’t reset automatically (I can’t turn on airplane mode for weeks at a time)
- use of Kindle Unlimited when I can’t find a book any other way.

Pros of Kobo:
- size & screen I like more than my Kindle PW
- color
- Libby integration
- this is the platform I use to buy books (typically anything over 900+ pages in paper).

Both have dark mode and I can read in the sun. I’ve never used anything like Koreader, but willing to learn.

I'm debating whether to purchase a PocketBook Era Lite or a Boox GO.

My question is about the Boox Android. I've tried using a couple of Android phones (cheaper ones) and I thought the OS was incredibly difficult to navigate and use. Because I know Linux and Windows, my father always thought I should know everything, and I almost threw his phone through a wall a couple of times trying to find settings or make them do what I thought they should.

So my basic general question is: if I hated Android on cheap phones, might I hate it on a Boox? How much contact do I actually have with the OS on an e-reader? (I know I would use Libby and a couple of other apps, but I wouldn't use it as a tablet.) I

My use case would be: I love my Kobo Libra, but as many of you probably know, Libby doesn't work properly on it; the Libra can't access certain books that are in the Libby system but not in Kobo's inventory, and switching between accounts (I have 4 library cards) is a frustrating time sink. So I'd keep the Kobo and have a Books GO - or an Era - for libraries, whatever Kobo doesn't handle well, or as an in-house replacement if the Libra explodes or something.

I don't read much manga or graphic novels, etc., so I don't need color, and I understand that print is usually clearer on a B&W reader, so I'd prefer that - does that difference in print quality apply to Boox products like it seems to do with most brands?

Thanks.

I’ve ditched my Kindle 10th Gen PW and am now trying a few different ereaders with the intent of keeping one and returning/selling the others. My use case: I’m mainly interested in books, either from the store, free sideloads and Libby. I’m also very interested in portability - I like to grab my ereader and run out to the coffee shop etc to spend some time with my books. 

Right now I’m using the Era Color and the Clara BW to read alternating chapters in The Sympathizer. On the way from eBay is a Kobo Libra 2. 

So first up: 

Pocketbook Era Color: This one was a bit of a curveball - I purchased on Amazon what was advertised as a B&W Era and instead received the color version. 

KoReader is easy to install on the Era, but I’m basically reviewing this as a stock product. I don’t particularly like using KoReader - it’s useful but the UI is something I think only tech-minded people could love and us normies just have to endure. Also, I’m of the mind that a company should be judged on what it’s done with its product, not what it could be if you go through the trouble of using outside mods. 

The hardware: Very handsome - probably the most solid feeling and best looking e-reader I’ve used so far. Which can actually be something of a demerit - it looks/feels too nice to just shove into my pocket and its size, while still relatively compact, is just wide enough that it doesn’t slip into a pocket as easily as smaller ereaders. 

The buttons are nicely done and having a “home” button to bring the reader directly to the main library is great. 

The size is kinda weird for me. Although the buttons make it seem like it should be a one-hand experience, the Era is just wide and heavy enough to make it just as likely the reader will use two hands after a little while. The Era is so nice looking/feeling that it’s actually something you want to pick up and hold. I noticed in my time using it that I didn’t read with it just placed on the table very much - I always wanted to have it in my hand. 

The screen: I get what people mean about the color e-ink screens being dark and less focused. The latter bit I don’t mind too much, but the darkness gets a bit annoying when you know pushing up the lighting is going to drain the battery faster. It also makes me wonder if I’m getting the benefits of using e-ink - supposedly less eye strain - if I’m just having to max out the lighting to get a decent visibility. 

I actually do like the color bit. I don’t read manga or comics on my ereaders, but I do appreciate seeing the color on the book covers. That’s something I actually miss now when I go try my other readers. 

I’m neutral on the 7” vs 6” screen size. The Era’s 7” is nice on the eyes, but I’ve found that 6” screens give me the impression I’m reading faster because I’m turning more pages. Nice kind of a placebo affect, that.

The UI: This is where the PocketBook kinda fails me. The UI is almost great but has too many minor annoyances to really gel for me. Once I get things set and can start reading these complaints generally go away, but the Era is not as “set and forget” and other readers I’ve had.

Set up is a bit too convoluted, at least if you’re in the U.S. It asks you to sign in to your PocketBook account. If you're in the US, don’t even bother with setting this up - just skip all this because the store is (understandably) focused on the German market and you’re going to be sideloading books anyway. But you might have to do this if you want to use Cloud loading via Dropbox or email - I haven’t gotten that far yet. 

Libby set up requires you to make an account with Adobe (bytebooks.com is your friend here if you don’t already have one) and enter that info. Nothing major, but it’s still another step or two you have to do on an outside device. 

Setting margins on this thing is all but impossible to do on the stock OS. I installed Koreader just to tweek the margins enough to prevent the text on a few books from bleeding right into the extreme edges, becoming all but unreadable. 

I did NOT find the page turning to be as slow as some people have said, but I have found that changing the lighting to be oddly stuttered. I’m also minorly annoyed that getting to the lighting menu requires one or two taps. Kobo knocked it out of the park on the Clara BW I have where it’s a gesture that doesn’t even require going into a menu. [Edit: Thanks folks for showing me that there IS a gesture-based light adjustment! It's a bit laggy compared to the Clara BW swipe, but it is there and it is convenient.]On the Era, I feel like I’m constantly fighting to get good lighting - even setting it to “auto” gets me wonky, all-but-dead-looking screens.

I don’t see where to change the book progress bar on this thing or even if you can without using KoReader. From what I can tell, you only get the book page counter at the bottom, something I’ve never found useful given that you don’t know how many “taps” equal a page. This again is something I find much more well done on the Kobo - chapter progress in “taps” on the top and total-book progress on the bottom. 

The device sleep page (a sleeping cartoon ereader) is kinda childish. Changing it requires creating your own template using GIMP or another image editing program and mucking about in the Era's root menu. It’s not impossible, but why in Dawg’s name PocketBook doesn't allow the option of setting the current book cover as the device’s sleep image is beyond me. Update: Apparently there's a way to do this, but it's for some reason not showing up on my device.

And I just discovered one feature I quite like - the RSS news feed is well done and something I like to have on an e-ink screen. We'll see how much battery will drain from my using this feature for the NYT and WSJ, among others.

So far I really want to like the Era more than I do. As a physical product, it’s the nicest ereader I’ve used, hands down. I like the color book covers. But the constant need to tweek settings before I actually read a book is kinda annoying and it not being a true “grab and go” device for me is a checkmark in the “con” list.

I’m looking to get an ereader for the first time and have been researching a lot into them but I’m having a hard time picking one. Currently I’m between the Bigme B6 BW and the Boox Go 6 Gen 2. However, I’m open to any ereader that has expandable storage and where I can upload my own files from AA! Any advice helps, thanks!

I have been wanting to get something with side buttons to replace my kindle PW, endlessly debating for months. I ended up getting a musnap ocean from ebay. My thinking was it is very open and I can always fall back on using the kindle app. To my great disappointment, the android version of the kindle app kinda sucks. The time left in chapter feature does not work for sideloaded books. The font size options are minimal (either too small or too large). Overall it is just far off the iOS version and the native kindle version.

The musnap reading app is complete trash. Cannot change to left justify. the spacing between each line in my epub is different for unclear reasons.

Google play books is okay, but still pretty limited regarding options of font and format. Text looks grainy in that app. Also you need google play store "on" to run the app, which makes a big hit on battery life.

Moon+ reader: I don't get what people like about this. It is as unwieldy and ugly to me as KOreader. Maybe it is better on an android phone screen rather than eink? I find it hard to see the menus and options.

Pocketbook app on musnap: kinda sucks too. Makes me glad I didn't get a pocketbook ereader.

Any other guidance? I guess stick with my kindle :(