I’m just re-discovering the 2015 Kindle paper white I bought years ago and had stopped using…because overall I had started reading less. I’m using it with a new appreciation for how great of a form factor it is for my hands + a pop socket. Carry it with me everywhere, tucks into my jacket pocket or backpack when I’m heading to work.
I’m not the biggest fan of Amazon, but I load it with Calibre so where possible I try to get my ebooks from elsewhere.
Anyway Im wondering what you all are reading on and why. What’re the latest advances in ereader technology since 2015? Am I missing out on something?
They haven’t really advanced a whole lot, unless you want an android tablet with e-ink and deal with the annoyance that will bring or are looking for an eink tablet to write on. Newer ones aimed primarily to reading are now usually water resistant, have non-recessed screens, and audiobook support with the exclusive service each ereader company is provided by (kobo only has kobo audiobooks, kindle only has audible books etc) so the technology hasn’t evolved a whole lot unless you want to detangle yourself from the Amazon ecosystem. There are android e-ink tablets, but most them are unfortunately made by Chinese companies that not only require you to manually enable the android app store, but there’s pretty big privacy concerns and just general shady business practices amongst nearly all of the few that operate in that niche market (especially amongst Boox, they have paid people to write fake reviews)
There are some color ereaders but the technology isn’t really ready for general use, its very finnicky and has a bunch of issues when used in consumer ereaders. Writing based eink tablets are excellent though, if that’s something you are into.
I personally have kept my 2015 kindle and as long as its still running I’m gonna stick with it personally.
Thanks for the comprehensive overview. Yeah color in my ereader is not very personally enticing and I don’t care for an app store, I actually keep my Kindle in airplane mode 24/7 haha.
The water resistance and flush screen sound great though, but nothing I’m rushing to the store for. Think I’ll look for that when my paperwhite dies out which is probably going to be a long time from now unless I damage it.
I’m the exact same! I keep mine on airplane mode too, I like to check out books from my library and instantly return them while their on my kindle still so others can get it and so my ADHD doesn’t forget about the ebook. And yeah kindles are built to last, so it’ll probably be a while before another one is needed. I think it’s likely by the time we both need to replace our ereaders, the flaws with color eink tech will probably be ironed out anyway.
I have an Onyx Boox tablet, but that is 1/2 e-reader, 1/2 work tool for me.
Onyc Boox is the move!! I use it for reading at home plus notes in class and even as a basic computer on the go. Is yours black and grey or color?
Black and grey, had it for about three years. When I upgrade I’ll go for color.
I also use a Kindle Paperwhite from around the same era as yours (maybe even older). I just load it up with overdrive books from my library.
They are ebooks checked out from your local library. It’s a US only feature with kindle to send ebooks checked out to it, but if you have a library card definitely look and see if your library has a catalogue on the libby app.
I have a Kobo Libra 2 and I think the only extra features are that it’s waterproof and you can do audiobooks on it via Bluetooth (you might be able to do that on Kindle too, I’m not sure).
I went with Kobo because I’m not a fan of Amazon and because I wanted to access a subscription service through it. With the optional sleep cover I never turn it off so it’s always ready to go.
I have a PocketBook HD somethingorother that I bought last year, which I choose specifically because PocketBook is Swiss and doesn’t lock me into any ecosystem, and while I don’t regret my purchase or anything I think there’s a lot to improve on the model I got, among them:
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the device is clearly underpowered and the OS stutters so badly that even powering the device back up from sleep can be a challenge at times as it will lag-out.
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it only has 16-gigs of built-in storage with no microSD-support.
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it supports audiobooks…but only supports audio-playback via a dongle.
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auto-brightness simply doesn’t work at all on my unit.
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it has micro-USB and not USB-C.
