The perfect ereaders for 2024

Display screen dimension: 6” | Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi colour | Capability: 16GB | Waterproof score: IPX8 (submergible to six ft for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

Learn our full Kobo Clara Colour review

Our earlier choose 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 system that felt premium. When Rakuten introduced the Clara could be up to date, I apprehensive we’d see a tool with superfluous revamping to justify an inflated value. Fortunately, that’s not the case. The Kobo Clara Colour not solely provides colour and a sooner processor, it’s simply $10 greater than the earlier era.

Because the identify suggests, this ereader provides colour to the web page, lending a bit 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 colour filter layer on prime of the usual black and white microcapsule layer. That ends in two completely different resolutions on one display screen: 150 dpi for colour and 300 dpi for textual content.

Full-color pages remind me of comedian e-book artwork from the ‘60s, muted however saturated. Shade makes e-book covers extra attractive and provides a bit selection to headings, and tables in some non-fiction books. It’s definitely not a crucial 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. In the event you look carefully, you may see a little bit of noise on the white elements of the web page. That is as a result of added colour filter layer. It isn’t distracting and solely one thing I observed when evaluating the 2 generations side-by-side. but when absolute readability is your major purpose, you might be higher off with a non-color ereader.

In all probability 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 velocity of the web page turns and navigating from the menu to the web page and again once more is sort of 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 a bit hotter on the Color) and makes studying at evening simple on the eyes. The working system is identical, with intuitive entry to the Kobo retailer, your private books and titles out of your native library through Overdrive. You may customise your studying expertise with choices for font, font dimension, line spacing, margins and so forth. Kobos don’t have a approach to save a gaggle 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 sort of similar in form and dimension, 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 screen now, although that didn’t alter my studying enjoyment.

Now that it prices $150, the Kobo Clara Color is $50 greater than the bottom mannequin Kindle. However the waterproof construct, heat entrance gentle, responsive controls and lack of adverts (which price $20 to do away with on Amazon’s system) make it price it. And, in nice information for the right to repair crowd, it’s even designed to be user-repaired as soon as it falls exterior of guarantee by means of a partnership with iFixit.

Display screen dimension: 6” | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 16GB | Waterproof score: None | Heat gentle: No | Lock display screen adverts: Sure

Amazon has dominated within the ereader area for therefore lengthy that I used to be stunned when a Kindle system didn’t win me over. A Kobo might have taken the highest spot right here, however nothing can beat the standard Kindle in the case of value. It’s listed at $100 however has gone on sale each few months since its debut in October 2022, typically for as little as $75.

With it, you may entry the most effective of what Amazon has to supply, together with many unique titles. Kindle Exclusive is a catalog made up of one million titles, together with books by established authors in addition to newer, self-published writers; Kindle Limitless affords the widest number of any subscription-based studying service on the market; and Audible Originals is made up of narrated titles and podcasts you may solely hear by means of a Kindle system or Amazon-owned app.

In the event you like to change between audiobooks and ebooks, Kindle is the way in which 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 need to learn – the synchronization helps you to choose up on-screen the place you left off audibly. (Although we should always level out that you would be able to’t hear and browse concurrently on the identical system.) In checks, the function was pretty correct, getting me shut sufficient on the web page or within the audio to determine my spot.

The usual Kindle doesn’t really feel significantly luxurious, however it doesn’t really feel low cost both. The shell has a velvety end that doesn’t gather fingerprints, however I discovered myself wishing it had extra texture for a greater grip. Navigating from a web page to the menu isn’t as speedy as Paperwhite or the Kobos we tried. And it takes a number of moments to wake from sleep after hitting the button and swiping.

Web page turns are fast, however the touchscreen gestures didn’t at all times do what I needed them to. I’d typically discover the web page skipping ahead once I thought I’d tapped to return. There’s no heat gentle, which didn’t hassle me throughout the day, however at evening it felt like I used to be nonetheless gazing my laptop.

Kindle’s studying customization is nice, letting you dial within the font, dimension and margins. You may even save a set of settings as a “theme,” one thing not supplied by different units. I created one with bigger textual content and wider line spacing known as “drained eyes.”

Some individuals received’t be bothered by the lock display screen adverts that come commonplace on each Kindle system (except you pay 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 having the ability to set the sleep display screen to the e-book cowl of what I’m at present studying, however it’s simple to recover from that if all you need is a extra handy approach to eat books on the lowest value. It is also price noting that the Kindle Kids is identical system however comes with a canopy, an extended guarantee and goes on sale extra incessantly than the usual model. 

Display screen dimension: 7” Decision: 300 dpi black & white, 150 dpi colour | Capability: 32GB | Waterproof score: IPX8 (submergible to six ft for 60 minutes) | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

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

After 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 screen adapt the system to simply 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 sort of 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 trying 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 colour, e-book covers all look extra attractive — although, in case your TBR listing is already three ft lengthy, this received’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 may, some new applied sciences their real-world counterparts. That’s principally how I really feel about styluses — I’m only a massive fan of pen on paper. However Kobo’s stylus makes it so enjoyable to focus on 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 facet so it doesn’t get misplaced.

Urgent and holding the button on the facet of the stylus highlights textual content whereas flipping it round erases. I unintentionally pressed the button a number of occasions once I was making an attempt to jot down, however I obtained used to the position after a couple of minutes of utilizing it. You may choose 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 in case you change the font dimension in a e-book, your handwritten notes will probably be transformed to a sticky note-type field. Going again to the unique font restores your unique scribbles.

The Kobo Libra Color is $30 costlier 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 definitely worth the value. However you additionally get options that make it extra than simply an ereader, like Dropbox and Google Drive integration, a beta internet browser and free-writing and text-converting notebooks.

After all, the stylus prices further and also you received’t get options like notebooks and writing within the margins with out it. Collectively, the set prices $290, which remains to be $50 cheaper than the preferred stylus-enabled ereader, . That one does have a much bigger, 10-inch display screen, which, for me, is a bit massive for an ereader. The Libra Color alternatively has simply the correct options on the proper dimension, plus some extras that stretch its usefulness.

Display screen dimension: 7” | Decision: 300dpi | Capability: 32GB | Waterproof score: None | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen adverts: No

Boox launched the Page in the midst of final 12 months as a substitute for the now-discontinued Leaf 2. Stacked side-by-side, the 2 look similar: each have 7-inch E Ink screens, two handbook page-turn buttons and a skinny, light-weight design.

Inside, the Web page has an additional gig of RAM, an upgraded Qualcomm CPU and a much bigger 2,300mAh battery, up from 2,000mAh on the Leaf 2. The batteries final so lengthy already — on the order of some weeks — so I didn’t discover a big distinction there, however the further processing energy and reminiscence has noticeably upped the wake velocity, effectivity in opening apps and page-turning velocity.

It nonetheless runs on a fork of Android 11, which implies the Web page acts extra like a pill than a traditional ereader. Just like the Leaf 2, it’s finest fitted to the tech-savvy — you’ll get little hand-holding in setup and utilization. The pill is impressively customizable, with programmable buttons and fine-tunable settings. Boox users have created APK information to tweak and enhance your expertise additional. The system even has audio system and might run apps like Spotify. Briefly, the Web page can do way over a typical ereader can, in case you’re keen to experiment.

However the ereader expertise can also be fairly good. The delicate, adjustable entrance gentle with temperature management makes for nice low-light studying and the flush, glare-free, 300dpi display screen is crisp and detailed. Boox has its personal app library or you should utilize Google Play to seek for and obtain apps very similar to on a smartphone or pill. You may even get ereader apps from different producers, together with Kobo and Kindle, and set up Libby to learn borrowed books from the library.

Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, is properly featured with an excellent quantity of management over the look of the textual content. Nevertheless it solely handles DRM-free ePubs from websites like Mission 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 unique app. After all, you might take away the rights administration from the information, however that’s technically unlawful, even after you “own” the e-book.

Display screen dimension: 6.13” Decision: 300 dpi | Capability: 128GB | Water-proof: Sure, splashes and spills | Heat gentle: Sure | Lock display screen 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 sluggish.

The Boox , nonetheless, is sort of enjoyable. It’s the identical dimension and form as a smartphone and, in plenty of methods, acts like one. The house display screen is a muted black and white model of what you may discover on an ordinary Android — you may even add a number of widgets. Just like the Web page, it could possibly obtain and run apps from the Google Play Retailer and has audio system to play music and movies. The E Ink display screen (a Carta 1200) renders textual content crisply, however pictures, significantly shifting ones, look far grainier and rougher than they might on an actual cellphone’s LED display screen. That stated, the video high quality is the most effective I’ve seen on an E Ink display screen, 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 may convert to PDFs. However the phone-like construct is comfortingly acquainted and the E Ink display screen is beautiful to learn. At $280, it’s costlier than an ordinary ereader — and a few E Ink tablets — however it’s a extremely moveable approach to learn Kindle, Kobo, Google Books and different ePubs, whereas additionally dealing with easy video games and apps like a smartphone. In the event you’re sick of the glow of your handset, the Boox Palma is a captivating various.