For the digital readers, on which platform do you read and why?
Phone, eReader, tablet, iPad etc.
I personally have been reading on my iPhone but it feels a bit… off lately. Can’t pinpoint what exactly it is.
Was thinking to purchase a tablet or eReader but uncertain which one and if they’re worth to get for only reading.
EDIT: Thanks for all the responses! I’ll look into them all!
I love my kobo. I’ve had ereaders from each of the major current eink brands, as well as iPad and iPhone.
I like having a eReader because reading on my phone makes it too easy to swipe away to go back to doomscrolling the internet.
I have a Kindle. Combined with Anna’s archive and emailing myself an epub, it’s brilliant. Reading on your phone can increase eye strain and lead to poorer sleep. Look into an e-ink e-reader, you won’t regret it.
I’m exactly on the same page! There was a book in Portuguese that I couldn’t find to purchase as ebook, but found on Anna’s archive! And the feel of the è-ink display scratches that itch for a paper-like reading experience.
Another Kobo user, I have the Clara HD. I like having an eInk device for ease on the eyes, it has a good backlight with a natural light setting for warmer usage at night which is nice.
I suspect most basic ebook readers would be similar. I just wanted something feature-light that was purely for reading.
I did specifically want to avoid Amazon. Basically every other retailer uses the same ebook format: Epub, either DRM free or with Adobe Digital Editions DRM. This means most ereaders can use books from most retailers. The exception is Amazon - they use their own proprietary format with its own DRM to lock you into the Kindle ecosystem. Kindles can now read non-Amazon ebooks but non-Kindles can’t read Amazon ones due to this. I find that particularly scummy and want nothing to do with supporting it, especially when most books I buy through Kobo or other sites are completely DRM free by comparison.
(There are ways to get Amazon books you own onto other devices in a pinch if you do some searching. Questionable legality, even if you own the book, which is crazy to me, but it’s not impossible. Amazon has been updating their DRM against it, but it’s still doable.)
I have an e-reader and for me it’s something else, I have access to basically all of what LibGen can offer me so it expanded my reading possibilities a lot more, and it is way more comfortable than reading on the PC since there are countless distractions there. I would go with a Kobo, that’s what I have, since Amazon is a lot more shitty in terms of privacy, but I can’t say much more than that.
I tend to alternate between my Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle app on my phone, depending on circumstance. My phone has an AMOLED screen so it’s not bad on the eyes with a black background.
I’ve got a Kobo Sage and I love it. My only complaint is that it doesn’t have the depth of accessories that you can get with the Kindle Paperwhite.
I’m a hardcore reader, and I use a Kobo Forma daily. I can’t say enough good things about it.
Can purchase and download books from any shop, and they’ll work in the Kobo, can add stuff like NickelMenu, Dropbox integration…
People complain about the power button on the Forma and rightfully so, as it’s crappy. However, the quality build of the device is excellent. Got it almost since launch, take it absolutely everywhere with me (backpacks, bags, to the beach, swimming pool, camping…) and it shows 0 damage, not even a scratch.
I mainly read novels but it also scratches the itch for mangas and comics, as it also reads .cbz format (among others).
NOT GOOD FOR PDFs. They get displayed weirdly, hard to read, are slow to change pages…
Battery is great, better than the Sage’s.
If you like reading, get a dedicated device because I swear you won’t regret it.
So many dedicated reading devices seem to struggle to do a good job with pdfs.
I’m on my second Kindle. They were both gifts and serve(d) their purpose well enough, but I intend to go in a different direction than Amazon next time.
I read through Kobo app, and Libby on my phone, and I also have a Kobo e-reader (I think it’d Clara but not sure). I actually use my phone more than the reader though, just because I always have it with me. Both are great imo!
I have a Tolino Vision 6 and its a piece of shit. An e- Reader with integrated backlight is nice, you can read anywhere and it doesn’t matter how thick the book is- it always weighs the same. And you can pay less for E-books ( or not at all). Buuut my Tolino takes a random time between 1 and 3 seconds to change pages, can’t read a lot of ebooks (it should do epub, but I just can’t open some. same with pdf ), and randomly just freezes for a day or two. I already got a warranty replacement because my first one just froze and stopped for good (at a high tension point in the book. like bruh.)
I have a Kobo eReader (idk the specific model) and it has many advantages:
- Since its only purpose is reading, the battery lasts a lot more than the phone’s one. I usually charge it once a week. (A side effect of the single purpose thing is that there are no notifications, so there are less distractions too).
- You can read no matter the light conditions, both in the dark and in intense light.
- The screen is larger than a phone’s one, yet the eReader itself is small enough to fit most pockets.
- I have no problem reading on the phone, but some people feel that their eyesight tires more easily than on paper. Apparently eReaders fix this.
- It has an embedded offline dictionary and you can download more in other languages.
Some cons are:
- There is no dark mode, at least on my model.
- The screen, because of its being different from the phone’s, is only black and white.
- To upload books I didn’t buy through the Kobo store I need to connect the eReader to a computer. However, it has a lot of memory, so you can upload all the books you may want to read and you won’t need to touch it for months.
- It’s quite slow. Normally I don’t even notice it, but it’s very annoying if I want to read PDFs where I need to zoom in.
- I don’t know if it’s a problem of my device, but it’s also slightly buggy. Again, it’s not a thing I usually notice, just when I need to highlight something or take notes. It shouldn’t be a problem if you use those features only once in a while, otherwise I suggest to keep close to you the phone/notebook for your annotations or to use a more comfortable device.
I hope this helps :)
I alternate between an ipad and my phone, depending on the situation
Kindle Paperwhites are amazing for reading, if you’re thinking about getting one. I really miss mine. I got so much more reading done with my paperwhite than anything else
I got a Nook in 2011 and it was my main reader device until it died a few months ago. I replaced it with a Kobo and I’m quite happy. Having backlight is a huge improvement.
I had a kindle and now I have a Kobo, I still read oj my phone if I get stuck somewhere and I don’t have my e-reader with me, but e-readers are so much better. Less eye strain, less distractions from notifications or random thoughts. IMO if you read more than a book a year you probably should have an e-reader. Just my 2 cents.
I have a Kindle and am quite happy with it. Reading on a phone gives me horrible eyestrain.
