The best ereaders for 2025

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For those who simply need a option to learn ebooks, you have already got what you want in your pocket together with your smartphone. However if you would like one thing that’s much less distracting and simpler in your eyes, it’s possible you’ll need to go along with an ereader as a substitute. Because it stands, the market is at the moment dominated by two manufacturers. Amazon’s Kindle has captured the biggest share by far, however Rakuten Kobo gadgets are a profitable different — in actual fact, the Kobo Clara Colour is our present prime choose. Smaller firms like Onyx Boox and PocketBook produce Android tablets with e-paper screens that may do extra than simply show books.

Different issues, similar to whether or not or not you want a shade show or the power to put in writing on the display for note-taking, will decide which ereader to purchase. Elements like library dimension, compatibility with rights-managed content material and extra additionally come into play. Over the previous two years, we’ve examined out greater than a dozen gadgets to create a information that can assist you choose one of the best ereader for you — and assist you to get essentially the most out of your new gadget when you get it.

One of the best book readers for 2025

What to search for in an ereader

Loads of apps, together with the Kindle app, will allow you to obtain and browse digital books on a telephone or pill. However what makes book readers totally different is the display: practically all of them use know-how from an organization referred to as E Ink. It manufactures digital paper shows (EPD) composed of three sheets: one containing hundreds of thousands of microcapsules stuffed with black and white ink particles sandwiched between clear electrode layers. When a cost is utilized, both the black or white particles shift to the highest, forming letters and the whitespace round them.

Shade ereaders add a color filter array on prime of the usual black and white microcapsule layer. The result’s two totally different resolutions on one display — the colour readability is 150 dpi whereas black and white photos and textual content are nonetheless 300 dpi.

As a result of these shows are so totally different from normal backlight LED panels, you’ll be able to count on most ereaders to do quite a few issues nicely. They’ll be simpler to stare at for lengthy durations of time and simpler to learn in direct daylight. Additionally, since E Ink shows solely require energy to rearrange the ink, these gadgets have for much longer battery lives than even one of the best tablets: we’re speaking weeks on a single cost, not days.

The ereader market will not be as saturated as, say, the smartphone market, however there are nonetheless loads of choices on the market they usually do have small however necessary variations amongst them. They have a tendency to vary from round $100 to greater than $400, although normally the upper finish choices are stylus-enabled learn/write E Ink tablets just like the Kindle Scribe. Past value, it’s best to think about bodily properties like buttons, lights, storage and determination, in addition to how the software program enables you to discover and entry books.

Studying options

With any ereader, you’ll navigate the OS by way of faucets and swipes, and a few add bodily page-turn buttons. Most with built-in buttons have an auto-rotating display so you’ll be able to press together with your proper or left hand.

As E Ink know-how has superior, decision has tremendously improved – even the finances Kindle ereader has a 300 ppi show. You’ll be able to nonetheless discover fashions with decrease decision, however we don’t suggest them.

Some ereaders have entrance LEDs that assist gentle temperature adjustment. Meaning you’ll be able to swap to a hotter gentle after the solar goes down, which is able to really feel simpler on the eyes. For those who’re involved about blue gentle, it’s best to go for a reader with that characteristic. Lastly, darkish mode is on the market on most later mannequin ereaders, permitting you to invert the black and white textual content and background, which some folks discover simpler to learn in low-light settings.

Different options

The capabilities of those pocket libraries have advanced significantly for the reason that early days. Along with storing books, some allow you to browse the net, run apps and play music. The display’s body fee can’t deal with gaming, nevertheless it’s adequate to indicate you the Wikipedia entry for Striver’s Row when you learn Criminal Manifesto.

For those who take heed to audiobooks, you might have considered trying a Bluetooth-enabled ereader able to taking part in them. A lot of the fashions we examined have that capacity, with the notable exception of the Nook ereader we tried. Needless to say audiobook information can take up more room than print information so you will most likely need a system with a better storage capability should you plan on doing plenty of listening.

Above all, it’s best to think about the place and the way you propose to search out books to learn. Most ereaders make it best to buy by their very own digital bookstores, however all of them (even Kindles) will now allow you to obtain titles from different sources, like libraries, unaffiliated book sellers and free public area websites.

An assortment of ereaders, including ones from Kobo, Kindle, Boox, Nook and PocketBook are arranged on a tan bamboo desk with a white keyboard and black mouse in the background.

Learn how to get books to your ereader

Kindle, Nook and Kobo all have their very own shops that you simply entry immediately from every model’s gadgets. Costs are the identical amongst all sellers, too. Publishers set the value of an book, not the retailer, so a title will price the identical at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBooks.com and the Kobo retailer.

Amazon provides Kindle Unlimited for $12 monthly, and it consists of 4 million titles from which you’ll choose your subsequent learn. It consists of audio and ebooks, however you gained’t discover many massive, new releases or older bestsellers. Kobo has a subscription referred to as Kobo Plus with about 1.3 million titles: it goes for $8 monthly for ebooks solely, $8 for audiobooks solely or $10 for each.

Shopping for a guide from a proprietary retailer immediately delivers it to your system, supplied you’re related to WiFi. It additionally syncs your studying throughout gadgets and apps, so you’ll be able to choose up the place you left off in your telephone should you forgot your ereader at house. It really is essentially the most handy option to go, however should you don’t need to be locked into one model’s retailer, or should you go for an ereader with out its personal market, you do have choices.

Learn how to add ePubs onto an ereader

Shops like ebooks.com and Google Play have hundreds of thousands of ebooks on the market as digital rights-managed (DRM) ePub information, which Kobo, Nook and PocketBook readers can learn of their native ereader apps. Kindles don’t assist DRM ePub information in any respect and Boox gadgets require third social gathering studying apps (of which there are lots of) to learn these information. Titles from Apple Books are solely readable in iOS gadgets.

Titles from some publishers like Tor and public area classics from websites like Project Gutenberg are additionally bought as ePubs, however with out the added DRM. Consequently, Kindles and the Boox Neoreader do assist these information. Books you get from third-party sources will look identical to ones you got from a proprietary retailer, because of the flowable, formatted nature of ePub information. Whereas these device-agnostic book collections offer you further choices for locating your subsequent learn, they require a number of extra steps to get the information onto your ereader.

To take action, you’ll sometimes want a pc working a free program referred to as Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). After shopping for and downloading the ePub file, open ADE and plug your ereader into your pc (all readers right here have a USB-C port for charging and information transfers). Your system ought to pop up within the left panel. Drag and drop the ePub file out of your downloads folder into the primary panel in ADE. The file will show as a picture of the guide cowl. Drag that picture onto your system on the left panel. If the file consists of digital rights administration (which protects in opposition to unauthorized copying) you’ll have to authorize your ereader, which requires utilizing or making a free Adobe ID. When you’ve completed including information to add, eject the reader out of your pc to finish the switch course of.

Kindles use a web-based uploader as a substitute of the ADE technique. However since Kindle makes use of its personal proprietary DRM know-how as a substitute of Adobe’s, the one information it may possibly settle for from third events are non-DRM information, similar to from Tor Publishing or Venture Gutenberg. After downloading a appropriate ePub file, drag and drop it into your browser with the Send to Kindle web page open. So long as you’re signed into Amazon, this wirelessly transfers the information to your related system.

Boox additionally makes use of a browser uploader referred to as BooxDrop (together with many other methods) to ship ePubs to the system. Open it from the Boox App menu and also you’ll see a device-specific url. Kind that into your browser to entry a file supply portal that uploads to your library. Boox’s built-in ereader app, NeoReader, additionally doesn’t assist information with DRM, so that you gained’t be capable of learn present titles from most publishers utilizing that app. Thankfully, Boox gadgets run practically each ereader app on the market, Kobo and Kindle included, letting you entry ePubs any variety of methods.

Not too long ago, Bookshop.org, the web vendor of bodily books that helps indie bookstores, began promoting ebooks and up to 100 percent of the profits will go to native booksellers. The corporate makes use of a unique rights administration system than ADE so, proper now, you’ll be able to solely learn titles you purchase from them on the Bookshop.org app, however the firm is working with the makers of each Kindle and Kobo to increase compatibility to these ereaders.

Learn how to learn library books on an ereader

Your native library card enables you to borrow audio and ebooks by a program referred to as Overdrive and its companion app Libby. On a Kobo, you’ve gotten have built-in entry to Overdrive in a separate tab. When you’ve linked your public library card, the search operate will embrace outcomes for titles out there out of your native library system; a number of faucets will add your picks to your system for the size of the mortgage. I personally discover it best to borrow the title I would like by the Libby app on my telephone. After that, the guide pops up on my Kobo’s house display as soon as the system syncs.

To learn library books on a Kindle, you’ll be able to both undergo the Libby app or the Overdrive part of your library’s web site. When you click on Borrow, you’ll see the choice to “Learn now with Kindle,” which takes you to Amazon’s web site to sign up. After that, the guide shall be delivered to your system the subsequent time it connects to WiFi.

For different ereaders, you’ll undergo your library’s Overdrive portal and obtain the ePub after clicking the Borrow button. You’ll be able to then use the ADE course of we described above. Gadgets that run exterior apps, like Boox’s Web page, Go Shade 7 or Palma, can help you learn library books by way of the Libby app, simply as you’ll on a smartphone or iPad.

You may also use the Libby app to borrow audiobooks, however you gained’t be capable of entry them by your ereader. (The exception is an ereader, like a Boox system, that enables exterior apps). I discovered it was simpler to take heed to an audiobook on my telephone anyway, no matter whether or not I borrowed it by Libby or purchased it from Kindle or Kobo.

Four ereaders are arranged on a dark brown wooden table outside. There are Boox, Kindle and Kobo devices showing the covers of different novels from Tana French, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Martha Wells.

How we take a look at ereaders

When placing collectively any information, the very first thing we do is spend hours researching the sphere. We take a look at what’s out there, what’s new, and what consumers {and professional} reviewers must say. Then we slender an inventory to one of the best candidates for hands-on testing.

Over the course of the previous two years, I’ve examined simply over a dozen ereaders, representing 5 totally different manufacturers: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Boox and PocketBook. I purchased, borrowed and uploaded books for every system utilizing the strategies above. I used every one for between a number of days to some months. I evaluated every one within the areas of guide entry, ease of studying, further options and general worth. Right here’s the whole lot we examined to this point:

Amazon Kindle (2022)
Amazon Kindle (2024)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2021)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature (2024)
Boox Go Color 7
Boox Leaf 2
Boox Page
Boox Poke 5
Boox Palma
Kobo Libra 2
Kobo Libra Colour
Kobo Clara 2E
Kobo Clara Colour
Kobo Nia
NOOK GlowLight 4
PocketBook Era

Different ereaders we examined

Amazon Kindle Colorsoft

Amazon’s first color Kindle impressed with its fast page-turns and cargo instances, auto-adjusting entrance gentle and, after all, a decently putting shade E Ink show. However at $280, it’s dearer than the entire different shade ereaders in its dimension vary, together with the Kobo Libra Color and the Boox Go Shade 7.

Additionally, some Colorsoft homeowners reported seeing a yellow band on the backside of their ereader’s show. This challenge didn’t have an effect on our first overview unit through the unique testing interval, however it will definitely appeared. An Amazon spokesperson advised Engadget: “A small variety of clients have reported a yellow band alongside the underside of the show. We take the standard of our merchandise critically—clients who discover this will attain out to our customer support group for a alternative or refund, and we’re making the suitable changes to make sure that new gadgets is not going to expertise this challenge transferring ahead.”

Amazon despatched us a brand new Colorsoft ereader on the finish of 2024 and it does seem that the fixes the corporate made resolved the yellow-band challenge. The display on our second overview unit seems hotter general, however not overly so. It’s extra akin to the display on the Kobo Libra Color, and that’s a great factor.

Ereader FAQs

Which ereaders can learn Kindle books?

Amazon’s Kindle ereaders are the apparent reply, however different gadgets able to working apps may learn titles from the Kindle retailer. For instance, you’ll be able to obtain the Kindle app on a Boox ereader by Google Play (the shop comes normal within the Boox app menu). You’ll be able to then signal into your Kindle account and entry all of the books in your library — the identical means you’d learn Kindle books in your telephone or pill.

Can you purchase Kindle books and not using a Kindle?

Sure. You should purchase Kindle books by the Kindle app or by Amazon’s web site by way of a browser. You’ll be able to learn these titles on a Kindle or any system that may run the Kindle app, similar to a smartphone, pill or pc. Simply bear in mind that Kindle titles can solely be learn by one in all Amazon’s ereaders or the Kindle app. The corporate makes use of proprietary digital rights administration on all ebooks it sells that may’t be learn by different ereader apps like Kobo or Adobe ADE.

What is the distinction between Kindle and Kobo?

Each Kindle and Kobo are manufacturers of devoted ereaders that assist looking out, shopping for, downloading and studying ebooks from their very own shops. Each additionally assist borrowing books out of your native library by way of Overdrive and Libby.

The distinction is that Kindle is owned by Amazon and makes use of the Kindle retailer, whereas Kobo is owned by Rakuten and its books come from the Kobo retailer. Each shops come pre-loaded as a tab on their respective ereader and each carry most in-print books. Every retailer additionally carries their very own unique ebooks as nicely, however Amazon’s library of Kindle-only books is way bigger than Kobo’s. Amazon additionally provides Amazon Original tales to learn on the Kindle, that are free brief fiction and nonfiction reads which might be free to Prime members.

Which ereader is finest for library books?

Each Kobos and Kindles have easy methods for borrowing library books. Different ereaders, like Boox, allow you to borrow books after downloading the Libby App. Solely Kobo ereaders allow you to seek for and borrow books immediately on the ereader, with a devoted Overdrive tab. Kindles, then again, make the most of a handy “learn on Kindle” operate from the Libby app or web site. You’ll be able to ship a borrowed guide to your Kindle simply by signing into your account. Each strategies are fairly straightforward, so which is one of the best for you most likely will depend on different elements than simply the library-book characteristic.

Current updates

March 2025: Added information about Bookshop.org stepping into the book market. Up to date details about price-setting by publishers.

January 2025: Up to date the “Others we examined” part to incorporate impressions of the second Kindle Colorsoft overview unit we acquired.

August 2024: Changed our Android pill choose with the brand new Go Shade 7 ereader from Boox. Up to date guide titles to present examples. Added an FAQ part to clarify the distinction between Kobo and Kindle ereaders and additional element library-book assist on totally different fashions.

November 2024: Following the discharge of Amazon’s new Kindle ereaders, we examined and reviewed the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Version, the base-model Kindle and Amazon’s new shade ereader, the Kindle Colorsoft. Accordingly, we up to date our finances choose, added a premium choose and famous our expertise with the Colorsoft.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cell/tablets/best-ereader-130013808.html?src=rss

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