Are you having a tough time trying to figure out which eReader is the best among the numerous options available in the market today? In this Techspirited article, we will pitch all these options against each other to help you decide which of these is best suited for you.
Stat-speak
In 2014, e-books accounted for 20.8 percent of all consumer book sales in the United States.
Most people have a tough time trying to make up their mind as to which e-book reader to buy, which isn’t really surprising considering that the eReader market has evolved drastically over the last couple of years. When Amazon Kindle was launched in 2007, it was the only familiar name out there, and that saved us the dilemma of having to choose between two devices.
Come 2015, there is no dearth of eReaders to choose from. That each of these models boasts of being the best only adds to our woes. Even worse, the average price of e-book readers has come down to USD 100.
How to Choose the Best eReader?
Everybody is guilty of the same mistake: trying to find out which of the available e-book readers is the best, without taking into consideration what they actually want it for. It’s important to take a few things into consideration before you decide which eReader to buy. Like we said earlier, there is little to complain about the price, now that most of these devices come for less than USD 150.
As for size and weight, which add to the portability factor of the device, there is a wide variety to choose from. The same won’t just come into play when you are commuting, but will matter every time you are handling the device. We doubt you would want to use a bulky eReader, even if you just happen to read for half an hour a day.
You also get to choose from E Ink display, which comes as close to a real book as possible, and LCD screen, which doesn’t require external source of light. The tech pundits though, are in favor of E Ink display, not just because of the ‘real’ reading experience, but also because (i) it is easier to use E Ink-based reader outdoors and (ii) it doesn’t drain the battery like a color display does, and (iii) it doesn’t strain the eyes.
Storage and connectivity are two more things that need to be taken into consideration. Most of the eReaders nowadays offer internal memory which is enough to store more than a thousand books. As for wireless connectivity, the Wi-Fi option, which is available in almost all the e-book readers in production today, is more than sufficient. If you think Wi-Fi won’t suffice, which is highly unlikely, then you can go for a 3G eReader.
Each of the manufacturers has their own e-book store, wherein millions of titles are up for grabs. However, you might want to check whether the e-reader has the facility of downloading e-books from public library, as that would be a definite advantage.
All said and done, when it comes to e-book readers, or any electronic device for that matter, the one size fits all logic doesn’t really work, and thus, this list of ten best eReaders available in the market.
10 Best eReaders on the Market
Amazon Kindle Voyage
Dimensions: 6.4 × 4.5 × 0.36 in
Weight: 6.4 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink display (300 ppi, 1430 × 1080 resolution)
Formats supported: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), DOC, DOCX, HTML, MOBI, PDF, and TXT
Storage: 4 GB internal (3 GB for user content – Holds over 2,000 books); free cloud storage for Amazon content
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: 6 weeks with wireless off
Price: USD 199.00 (Wi-Fi only)/USD 259 (GSM 3G)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Dimensions: 6.7 × 4.6 × 0.36 in
Weight: 7.5 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink display (212 ppi, 758 × 1024 resolution)
Formats supported: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, PRC, HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP
Storage: 2 GB internal (1.25 GB for user content – Holds up to 1,100 books); free cloud storage for Amazon content
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: 8 weeks with wireless off
Price: USD 119.00
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G
Dimensions: 6.7 × 4.6 × 0.36 in
Weight: 7.8 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink display (212 ppi, 758 × 1024 resolution)
Formats supported: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, PRC; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP
Storage: 2 GB internal (1.25 GB for user content – Holds up to 1,100 books); free cloud storage for Amazon content
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: 8 weeks with wireless off
Price: USD 179.00 (Ad-free version: USD 199.00)
Amazon Kindle
Dimensions: 6.7 × 4.7 × 0.4 in
Weight: 5.98 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink display (168 ppi, 600 × 800 resolution)
Formats supported: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, PRC; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP
Storage: 2 GB internal (1.25 GB for user content – Holds up to 1,400 books); free cloud storage for Amazon content
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: 4 weeks with wireless off
Price: USD 79.00
Barnes & Noble NOOK GlowLight
Dimensions: 6.5 × 5.0 × 0.47 in
Weight: 6.95 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl display (212 ppi, 758 × 1024 resolution)
Formats supported: ePub, PDF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP
Storage: 2 GB (1 GB for content + 750 MB reserved for B&N content); 32 GB microSD card slot
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: 4 weeks with GlowLight/8 weeks without GlowLight
Price: USD 99.00
Kobo Aura H2O
Dimensions: 7.04 × 5.07 × 0.38 in
Weight: 8.22 oz
Display: 6.8-inch e-ink Carta display (265 ppi, 1440 × 1080 resolution)
Formats supported: EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, XHTML, RTF, CBZ, and CBR
Storage: 4 GB internal; 32 GB microSD slot
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: 8 weeks
Price: USD 180.00
Kobo Glo
Dimensions: 4.5 × 6.2 × 0.4 in
Weight: 6.5 oz
Display: 6-inch XGA Pearl E Ink touchscreen (212 ppi, 1024 × 768 resolution)
Formats supported: EPUB, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TXT, XHTML, RTF, CBZ, and CBR Storage: 2 GB internal (1 GB available for user content); 32 GB microsSD card slot Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: Over 4 weeks with Wi-Fi off
Price: USD 129.99
Kobo Touch
Dimensions: 4.5 in × 6.5 × 0.4 in
Weight: 6.5 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink XGA Pearl display (166 ppi, 800 x 600 resolution)
Formats supported: EPUB, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TXT, XHTML, RTF, CBZ, and CBR
Storage: 2 GB internal (1 GB available for user content); 32 GB microSD card slot Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: Over 4 weeks with Wi-Fi off
Price: USD 129.99
Kobo Aura HD
Dimensions: 6.91 × 5.05 × 0.46 in
Weight: 8.46 oz
Display: 6.8-inch WXGA+ E Ink Pearl Display (265 ppi, 1440 × 1080 resolution)
Formats supported: EPUB, PDF, MOBI, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, and CBR
Storage: 4 GB internal; 32 GB microSD card slot
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: Up to 8 weeks with Wi-Fi off
Price: USD 169.99
Sony Reader PRS-T3
Dimensions: 6.3 × 4.3 × 0.44 in
Weight: 7.5 oz
Display: 6-inch E Ink Pearl Display (212 ppi, 758 × 1024 resolution)
Formats supported: ePub, PDF, TXT, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP
Storage: 2 GB internal; 32 GB microSD slot
Connectivity: USB, Wi-Fi
Battery life: Up to 8 weeks with Wi-Fi off
Price: USD 150
Like we said in the beginning, the one size fits all logic doesn’t work when we speak of eReaders, and that calls for some serious bit of thinking. You should decide which of the available models is your best bet on the basis of your preferences. If you want a clean e-book experience―as close to real reading experience as possible―then the Kindle would be ideal for you. On the other hand, if you happen to be one of those who think additional features are always welcome, then the Nook, which allows you to listen to music, play games, or see photographs, would be your best bet. And lastly, if you like to read while relaxing in a warm water-filled bathtub, then you should go for the waterproof eReader, Kobo Aura H2O.