An ebook reader is a device that has transformed the reading experience. With this innovative technology, you can enjoy reading without the burden of carrying heavy books. The key question is: which reading device is the best fit for you? Let’s explore the various models available for purchase and their unique features.
An ebook is simply a digital book, that is, a file that replaces the standard paper product or supports it in the editorial sale.
The ebook requires an electronic book reader, that is, a device that encodes the text of the file and allows it to be read in the same way as a traditional paper book.
The strength and simplicity of this product consist above all in the possibility of loading a large number of texts on the reader ( eBook reader ) and being able to carry hundreds of books, magazines, and newspapers without any added weight. Here we will be listing the top 12 best ebook readers.
- Kindle Paperwhite – Now with a 6.8” display and thinner borders, adjustable warm light, up to 10 weeks of battery life, and 20% faster page turns.
- Purpose-built for reading – With a flush-front design and 300 ppi glare-free display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.
- More books in more places – Store thousands of titles, then take them all with you. A single charge via USB-C last weeks, not hours.
- Get more with Signature Edition – Everything in the Kindle Paperwhite, plus wireless charging, auto-adjusting front light, and 32 GB storage.
- Purpose-built for reading – With a flush-front design and 300 ppi glare-free display that reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.
- More reading time – A single charge via USB-C or compatible Qi wireless charger (sold separately) now lasts up to 10 weeks.
- 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 - Glare-free 6” E Ink Carta 1300 HD lets you read in bright sunlight without reflections with fast page-turns and optional Dark Mode for better nighttime reading
- 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗦 - Use ComfortLight PRO to adjust your eReader’s brightness, colour temperature, and blue light so you won’t be kept awake
- 𝗜𝗣𝗫𝟴 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥 – Full waterproof protection and meets requirements of IPX8 rating – waterproof for up to 60 minutes in up to 2 metres of water
- 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗥 - Book covers, comics, graphic novels, illustrations, note-taking and more come to life. No glare in sunlight, no notifications – just you and your eBooks in full-color
- 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗟, 𝗗𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 - Dive into your stories with colorful markups. With Kobo Stylus 2* compatibility (*sold separately), annotate, highlight, and note take your eBooks in color
- 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 - Ergonomically designed with page-turn buttons, left/right screen rotation, full font size and margin customization, and landscape mode
- Meet Palma: Our new Mobile ePaper device combines cutting-edge performance with an E Ink display and a phone-sized design, allowing you to effortlessly slip it into your pocket and carry it on the go.
- Pocketable Design, Uncompromised Tech: Featuring an advanced octa-core CPU and an expandable storage, the Palma can let you immerse yourself in reading an ebook, listening to a podcast, or perusing your favorite news feeds, from limitless third-party apps in the Google Play Store¹.
- A Phone-Like Experience on ePaper: Witness the new form of ePaper technology. With a sleek form factor and an aspect ratio that is commonly seen on smartphones, the Palma fits snugly into your bag and can be comfortably held in the palm of your hand.
- THE ONLY KINDLE WITH A DIGITAL NOTEBOOK AND PEN – Read and write down thoughts in books or a separate notebook, distraction free. Selected one of Oprah’s Favorite Things 2023.
- EXPLORE KINDLE NOTEBOOKS – A digital notebook you can write on. Journal, sketch, take notes, and more.
- CONVERT HANDWRITTEN NOTES TO TEXT – View or share your notes with contacts and browse notes on the go through the Kindle app.
- 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗘𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗥 - Read in colour with a 6” E Ink Kaleido 3 display to enjoy eBook covers, comics, graphic novels, illustrations, and more.
- 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗥 - With multiple colours available at the touch of a finger, you can highlight your eBooks. Add, erase, or change colours as you go, and easily see all your highlights by chapter at a glance.
- 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗦 - ComfortLight PRO automatically reduces blue light and personalize your reading settings via font size, line spacing, or even Dark Mode
- ✔️ GLARE-FREE & EYE-FRIENDLY: Thanks to the 6-inch touch screen with E-Ink Carta technology, you can enjoy an eye-friendly and comfortable reading experience anywhere at any time. The screen is as close to an ordinary paper as possible, so it does not glare in the sun and doesn’t tire your eyes.
- ✔️ READ IN ANY LIGHTING: Immerse yourself in the world of e-books anywhere and anytime, regardless of the lighting. Just turn on the frontlight of the Basic Lux 4 and read even in total darkness.
- ✔️ MANAGE & EXPAND YOUR LIBRARY: The E-Ink reader connects to Wi-Fi and cloud services to easily manage even large libraries by synchronizing books across devices (including smartphones via the PocketBook Reader app). With a memory card slot, the e-reader allows for easy expansion of the 8GB internal storage, creating an impressive library that can be accessed at any time.
- LARGE & EYE-FRIENDLY TOUCHSCREEN: The 9.7 inch E-Ink Carta screen is suitable for a variety of content, including fiction, textbooks, comics and professional literature. Enjoy an eye-friendly and glare-free reading experience that comes as close as possible to a page on paper. The large screen displays more text allowing you to adjust the font size accordingly.
- ADJUST BRIGHTNESS & COLOR TEMPERATURE: Thanks to the adaptive SMARTlight, the brightness and color temperature of the screen are adjustable. Enjoy eye-friendly reading on the e-book reader at any time, whether on the go, on holiday, or at home.
- HIGHLY USER-FRIENDLY DESIGN: The side control buttons provide a comfortable and effortless way to navigate, making the pdf reader simple and easy to use. Thanks to the G-sensor for automatic screen rotation, our e-reader is designed to provide maximum comfort for both right and left-handed users, ensuring an enjoyable reading experience.
- ✔️ FULL OF COLORS & TOTALLY EYE-SAFE: PocketBook InkPad Color 3 is equipped with a large 7.8-inch color screen based on the new technology E-Ink Kaleido 3. This eye-friendly and glare-free screen displays 4096 colors and demonstrates a 50% improvement in color e-page resolution, so you can enjoy your books, comics, and manga even more!
- ✔️ EYE-FRIENDLY SMARTLIGHT & DARK MODE: discover superior reading comfort with SMARTlight. Adjust screen brightness and color tone for cozy evenings or bright mornings. Use Night Mode for eye-safe late-night reading without additional lighting.
- ✔️ ENJOY AUDIOBOOKS WITH A BUILT-IN SPEAKER: PocketBook InkPad Color 3 supports 6 audio formats, so you can always switch from reading to listening. Dive into exciting audiobooks using a built-in speaker or pair the e-reader with other audio devices via Bluetooth.
Buying Guide to Select the Best Ebook Readers
In the original sense, eBook readers were studied exclusively for reading texts and equipped themselves with a technology called e-ink, that is, with screens that we’re able to return images of the book only in shades of gray.
As we have already said before, the eBook is a book that has been digitalized through computer science and, therefore, accessible through a specific program.
The devices that can be equipped with this software can be different: PCs, PDAs, tablets, ebook readers, and how many devices the technology will be able to invent to read digital texts.
The e-ink e-reader has been designed to satisfy its user in reading by emulating on the screen and dedicated technology the printing on paper, restoring the pleasantness, and the relaxing aspect that reading a book in the article can give.
The peculiarity is to be found on the screen and in what is technically called “electronic ink” and by choice of the manufacturer of this device not to backlight its product so as not to strain the eyes while reading, reproducing the sensation of the printed paper.
Screen and Visual Quality
As we have widely said, the primary function of the screen of an eBook reader is to simulate the printed paper on one side and allow prolonged use without straining the reader’s view.
The choice of the e-ink screen or also called digital ink has revolutionized the same concept of screen and lighting: the idea was to create a digital product that resembled as much as possible the printed paper thus giving up the backlight used by tablets or others portable devices in favor of quality and ease of reading.
The most recent technologies used for the latest generation of eBook readers are the E-ink Pearl and Carta.
The first can be safely considered as an evolution of the E-ink display. From a strictly technical point of view, little changes from the previous one, there is a noticeable improvement as regards the legibility of the texts.
Which in the first version was a dark background with some specks, Pearl technology instead returns a lighter and less stained experience, drawing better quality in the more distinct characters.
Further refinement and the most recent digital ink technology are obtained with E-Ink Paper . With darker blacks and whiter background, the E-readers that equip screens with Carta technology are 50% more contrast, and higher reflectivity confirms an unparalleled sense of cleanliness of the text image.
Noteworthy e-readers with an LCD screen are particularly suitable for niche use. If for those looking for reading a piece of literature or a narrative book the choice of E-Ink is mandatory.
Reading comics or manga makes the experience unrewarding for the absolute lack of color so if your passion is the story drawn the decision must be characterized by a screen capable of returning the emotions of the colors. Without any doubt, the most appropriate is the LCD one.
A look to the future comes from the Chalmers University of Technology, which seems to have created a flexible material capable of reproducing the colors of a standard LCD screen that will allow you to view images and texts in high resolution.
Text Resolution and Density
A hint on the resolution and density of the text. Up to now, we have talked about what characterizes and what are the properties that an ebook reader must-have. The sharpness and resolution of the book are essential.
The more we have a high number of PPIs (dots per inch), the more the texts we will display will be comparable with the same traditionally printed. So the greater the number of PPIs, the higher the definition of the screen and consequently also the text image.
It is also useful to consider the “page-change” system, which can be performed by touching the screen like browsing a book or using a dedicated button inserted in the body of the device.
Inches and Sizes
When talking about the screen size of a portable device, two considerations must always be considered: the adequacy of the dimensions must guarantee, on the one hand, the ease of transport, on the other a clear vision of the contents without particularly straining the view.
Considering these two essential characteristics, the manufacturers of the best E-Book Readers have opted for two standards, a smaller one of 6 inches up to a maximum of 8 inches, thus keeping the size of a portable book unchanged, while reducing its weight.
The eBook-reader will allow you to have a considerable number of texts with you without taking up more space.
Supported Formats
As we have already stated several times, the ebook is a digital book and, as such, is saved as a file. The most common reading file extensions are PDF, E-PUB, AZV, and Mobi.
In any case, ebooks can also be in the following formats, less known or proprietary: BBeB, FB2, HTML, CHM, IMP, DOC, PRC, RTF, RB, LIT, or written in plain text.
