Which ereader should I get?

May 6, 2023 9:26 AM

I'm struggling with which ereader to go with, and I need some help.

I'm upgrading from my (almost) 10 year old Kindle Voyage. I'm being extremely picky, because I want my Voyage, but with a bigger screen, and warmer lighting.
I love the page turn buttons, and the feedback from pressing them. I would also like to exit Amazon's ecosystem if possible. Easy Overdrive integration is a big plus.

Most of all, I want to read books. I want to bring all of my books over to whatever I get (Calibre will be used, most likely).

I've gone a bit crazy trying different readers. So far, hand on I've tried:
- Kindle Paperwhite (top contender)
- Kindle Oasis (The asymmetric design would be better of the back were rubberized. As is, it's slippy. And micro-usb. C'mon, it's 2023. Get with the C already! Otherwise, I love it. )
- Pocketbook Inkpad 3 (Not crazy about the bezel, and 8" may be a little too big for me)
- Pocketbook Era (neck and neck with Paperwhite)
- Tolino Epos 3 (Too big. I seemed to be locked into HugenDubel's store. It's basically a Kobo Sage running Android and no pen function. I would consider it as a writing tablet).
- Kobo Libra 2 (I'll be trying this later in the week)

I -think- I've narrowed it down to 2: Kindle Paperwhite and the Pocketbook Era.

Kindle Paperwhite:
Pro:
- light
- easy to hold on one hand
- comfortable UI
- does audio books and TTS. Not needed, but are nice-to-haves

Con:
- Amazon
- Can't sideload epubs (yes, I know, Calibre. But I want to drop them direct without send to kindle).
- No physical buttons. The more I write this Ask, the more this is becoming a sticking point.

Pockerbook Era:
Pro:
- light
- not Amazon-bound
- natively handles many formats
- highly customisable
- pretty easy to hold
- audio books, TTS

Con:
- Performance is not consistent. Sometimes it takes 10 seconds to open the settings menu. Sometimes it takes a long time to turn on.
- Not as easy to hold as the paperwhite
- The buttons are hard for me to differentiate because they are all set flush together

I'm hemming and hawing over this, and it's driving me batty because I can't make up my mind.

Honestly, If I could find something like the Oasis design that were rubberized, not Amazon

Could you share your experiences with these? Or offer some advice? Thanks.

posted by Cat Pie Hurts to Technology (19 answers total)

You can get stick-on pads that are grippy. Would that be an acceptable compromise?
posted by wenestvedt at 9:36 AM on May 6, 2023

I've always had kindles. This has been the first topic of discussion on the last two episodes of the Accidental Tech Podcast (last week, this week). You can probably just listen to this week. Spoiler: the host really loves the Kobo, and said it's just much faster than the Kindle.
posted by rdn at 9:47 AM on May 6, 2023

But I want to drop them direct without send to kindle

What does "drop them" mean? USB? Or did you mean "with Send to Kindle"?
Because you can sideload epubs by converting them to .mobi or .azw or whatever format Amazon is pushing these days and then just copying them over via USB. Calibre can do the conversion automatically. I think it can also do stuff like sync the file over to the kindle, maybe even over wifi, but not sure about that. Either way, you don't need to use Send to Kindle.

That said, I think you should try out the Kobo Forma and Libra 2 - sounds like they might be what you're looking for, including physical buttons and textured backs.
posted by trig at 9:49 AM on May 6, 2023

what trig said. I do it all the time. : ) You don't have to use calibre if you don't want to (though I think it is pretty great for converting and sending to your usb connected device and library-ing). You also can ignore calibre's library system if you want, though I don't think there's a way to prevent it from creating one.
posted by bitterkitten at 10:10 AM on May 6, 2023

You also can ignore calibre's library system if you want, though I don't think there's a way to prevent it from creating one.

You can eschew the GUI and library altogether and just convert via command-line if you're comfortable with that!
posted by trig at 10:16 AM on May 6, 2023

Wow, thanks trig. I've been using Calibre for a long time, but I never knew about ebook-convert. This info changes things.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:49 AM on May 6, 2023

I use a Paperwhite with a pop socket for easier grip, which I just want to mention that you could stick a pop socket on the back of any one of your candidates.
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:58 AM on May 6, 2023

I can certainly recommend the Kobo Libra 2. Combined with the sleep cover that acts as a stand and automatic on/off thing, it's really choice. It would 100% be my daily driver if I didn't prefer a 6" reader for easy pocketing. The case at $40 is a little expensive but basically it handles the wear and tear instead of the device, so if you drop, spill etc you're much safer. I found it indispensable.

One thing I love is it's really easy to add fonts - I've found one called Rojarivo that's amazing for ebooks, renders very well on the Kobo screen.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:13 PM on May 6, 2023

I've always had Kindles, except for an extremely brief time with Boyue Likebook Mars e-ink tablet with a horrible Android version of the Kindle reader. There's probably a lot to like in the Kobos and other brands, but I don't hate Amazon enough to give up on them and the thousand or so ebooks my wife and I have accumulated.

In addition to the good work done with Calibre, Amazon now allows you to email non-DRM ePubs to your Kindle for automagic conversion to the Kindle, and in my experience that works really well.

I've never met a Kindle (except for the Kindle 1) that didn't benefit from a case. I have an 11th gen. Paperwhite that I love; the Amazon-branded case makes the device much easier to hold (removes that last bit of slipperiness) and the magnetic off-on is flawless.
posted by lhauser at 3:30 PM on May 6, 2023

Kobo all the way. Wonderful warm lighting that can be fine tuned, nice buttons, gets you out of Amazon. The size is great for holding. Very easy to use with both overdrive and Calibre.
posted by Bottlecap at 4:49 PM on May 6, 2023

I love my Kobo Libra. It is a very nice ebook to use and the physical buttons are great.
posted by fimbulvetr at 7:02 PM on May 6, 2023

I am nthing the idea that you can use a Kindle but sideload in other ways. The Paperwhite is a good size for me, but your mileage may vary.

I haven't seen anyone mention using a tablet with an e-reading app - could that be an option? I don't do that because I really prefer the e-ink readers, but it might be something to consider
posted by TimHare at 7:32 PM on May 6, 2023

Kindle has ditched the .mobi format as far as I am aware and is now using .epub instead. I sideload .epub files downloaded from, ahem, 'elsewhere' by using the 'Send to Kindle' feature on Amazon's website without any problem whatsoever.
posted by essexjan at 1:23 AM on May 7, 2023

Thanks everybody. For reasons not related to the question, I've given up on the Pocketbook Era. It's really very nice. But the 4 buttons are flush with each other, and my fingers can't differentiate between them without looking ( useless in low light). Page turns became too annoying.

Calibre scripting looks to be the way to go, no matter the reader I choose.
So now I'm waiting on the Kobo Libra to arrive, and hope it edges out the paperwhite (the Paperwhite really is nice. I just realize now how much I like page turn buttons!)

I am bummed about the Tolino Epos 3 that I need to return. It's the same hardware as the Kobo Sage, but running Android instead of the Kobo's linux. I can't find any reliable way to install the Kobo OS/firmware on it. If so, I think I would just keep it.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 1:04 AM on May 8, 2023

I haven't had time to really look into it and you've probably seen this, but if not - you may be able to do what you want with the Tolino (see these posts and the mobileread.com Tolino forum if you haven't, and also this).

Regarding the Pocketbook's buttons... I once put some dots on some keyboard keys to increase tactile feedback. I did it with nail polish, which ended up looking a bit hacky (in retrospect I should have made a template), but there are actual stickers that are made for that purpose.

I'm assuming you've ruled out the Onyx Boox Android readers, but if not, they might be worth a try.

Still, hopefully the Libra is a good fit! The above is just in case it turns out not to work for you and you're looking for ways to make the other options work.
posted by trig at 3:53 AM on May 8, 2023

Kindle has ditched the .mobi format as far as I am aware and is now using .epub instead

(Yes and no - if I understand correctly the Kindle still doesn't actually support epubs and if you just copied an epub over via USB without converting it first, like you can with mobi/azw/kf8, it wouldn't load. Instead, it's Send to Kindle that now supports epubs, by converting them to an Amazon format so a Kindle can read it.)
posted by trig at 4:20 AM on May 8, 2023

Glad you went with the Kobo! If you didn't get the case... think about it. It's dope.

I'll only add one thing about the Libra 2 that I have, and that's that some models can be finicky sometimes when you plug them in to add books, resetting instead of just mounting. Not everyone has the problem but it isn't fatal, just annoying. I found switching cables and ports fixed it for me.

There are also alternative interfaces for e-reading if you like those, they're pretty easy to install. Kobo has a pretty dedicated hacking community.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:12 PM on May 8, 2023

Update: I got my hands on the Kobo Libra 2. It's very nice. I have a few issues with it though:

- It's bigger than I expected. It doesn't fit in one hand at all; I need a few centimeters more. And holding from the side isn't that comfortable. Maybe I'll get used to it?

- I rooted it and installed Koreader. It's nice. And the ability to sync page turns between devices is excellent. But that's the only reason for it (for me).

- Device syncing (iOS). The Kobo app won't sync non-purchased books the way TOlino, Pocketbook and Amazon do. Koreader has no iOS client. And there are no web-based Koreader clients (that I can find). Which means I can't read on my phone when I don't have my Libra with me. This may be a dealbreaker. I'm going to see what I can do with calibre-web. Maybe that will work. But it means another process I have to maintain.

- I have to fiddle with everything. I write code and troubleshoot and fiddle with systems all day. I kind of want this to -just work-. Maybe after I've tweaked everything to my liking, I'll be done with it.

I'm going to keep giving the Libra a chance. But at this point, I wish I could just have a Kindle Voyage with adjustable light warmth.

Anyway, thanks for all of the comments here. They've been very helpful.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:44 AM on May 13, 2023

Final update (I promise!)
I'm adjusting to Kobo's software. I've rooted my unit and have installed KOReader and other goodies. I've also deployed Calibre-web and have had some degree of success using it along with my calibre library, and BookFusion on iOS. I don't have page syncs just right yet. I'm considering mucking with sqlite db, and extracting page progress info and getting it into a web-based reader. We'll see how that goes.

So, one thing that was bugging me about the Libra 2: it just didn't sit right in my hand. I got a nice case, and that just made it worse. So, I decided to try the Kobo Clara 2e. Winner, winner tofu dinner! While I love larger displays, this one is still very good. And even with a case, it fits in my pocket. I can do all of the same fun things I can do with the Libra.

So the saga is over, and I am happy with the end result!
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 2:39 AM on May 18, 2023