Compare the Best E-Book ReadersOctober 2020

Benefit of an E-book reader over mobiles/tables

When e-readers were introduced, many people wondered - you have your phone/tablet with you already, why not just use that to read books, and save yourself having to carry around another device? A fair question, and e-readers have multiple advantages over using your phone:

That said, if you do want to read books on your phone/tablet, many of the major e-reader makers have apps for those devices, allowing you to start reading a book on one device and pick it up seamlessly on another, so you can have your literary cake and eat it too.

Wifi/4g Connectivity

Nearly all e-readers apart from the very cheap models will have some form of wifi connection to allow the device to connect to the internet to download new books. Some more expensive models will also have 3G connectivity, meaning it can connect to the net from anywhere, and doesn’t have to be on a known wifi network. This can be helpful since it allows you to buy and download new books from anywhere - even half-way round the world - as long as you have a cell phone signal.

Stores

The biggest difference between all the various ranges of e-readers is the online stores they have access to. This denotes what books you can buy at what price. Kindle’s only have access to the Amazon store, while the Kobo reader has it’s own store. Amazon is far-and-away the biggest of these stores, but it doesn’t contain everything - and some of it’s publishing policies rub people the wrong way. Other stores have their own positives and negatives, so it is worthwhile does a bit of checking to see if the store for your chosen reader has a good selection before you commit to buying it.

Backlights

One of the most helpful additions to e-readers is a backlight. While lacking in very cheap models, most mid-range readers have a light built into the screen, which allows you to read in low-light conditions. Many have several different levels of brightness as well - higher brightness can be helpful in certain situations, but lower brightness will help conserve battery power.

Waterproofing

Waterproofing is currently limited to a small collection of e-readers, but is immensely helpful if you can get it. Having a water-resistant device means that you can happily read everywhere from the beach to the bath, and don’t have to worry about damaging your device if it gets a bit damp.

Ereader Prices

We currently list 19 E-book readers ranging from $29 to $599. The average price of a new E-book reader is $176 and the 80% of ereaders are priced between $45 and $361. The Onyx Boox Max 2 is the cheapest ereader at only $30, and Kobo AURA One is the most expensive at $599.

E-Book Reader Brands - Price Range

Icarus E-book readers range in price from $361 to $361, and the average price of Icarus E-book readers is $361 which is the highest average price of all ereader brands.

The average price of Pocketbook E-book readers is $240 which is the second highest average price of all ereader brands. Pocketbook E-book readers start at $215 and their most expensive ereader costs $265.

Kobo E-book readers start at $74 and their most expensive ereader costs $599. The third highest average ereader price out of all brands is Kobo E-book readers with an average price of $218.

E-Reader Brands - Average Ratings

We couldn't find any reviews for ereaders.

Biggest E-Book Reader Retailers

The biggest E-reader retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 11 current E-reader offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is e-Global Central US with 1 offers. That means eBay is over 11 times bigger than e-Global Central US when it comes to ereaders.

When Are Most New E-Book Readers Released?

We couldn't see any obvious pattern in the release dates for new E-readers over the last 3 years. In October 2019, one new E-readers were released making it the biggest month that year for new ereader releases. May was the biggest month in 2018 for new ereaders, with three new ereaders released that month. The biggest month in 2017 for new E-book reader releases was July, with five new E-readers released that month.

How Fast Do E-Reader Prices Drop After Release?

New E-readers drop in price by an average of 16% in the first 6 months after they were first released.

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $29 on a typical $176 new E-book reader by waiting 6 months before buying.

Weights

'Weight' denotes the weight of the e-reader, measured in grams (g).

Across the range of E-book readers, the weights range from 110.2g to 550g. The weights of most E-readers range from 160g to 200g. The E-book reader with the heaviest weight is the Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2, which is a 550g E-reader and is priced at $29.99. The ereader with the lightest weight is the Amazon Kindle Oasis - 9th Gen, which is a 131g E-reader and can be purchased for $199.98.

Touchscreens

'Touchscreen' denotes whether the e-reader has touch capacity or not, meaning you can control the device by poking the screen, rather than manual controls.

The vast majority of the 79 new ereaders currently listed on Kagoo are E-readers with a touchscreen. 67 ereaders out of 79 are E-readers with a touchscreen.

Display Resolutions

'Display Resolution' denotes how many pixels make up the display of the e-reader.

Amongst new E-readers, the most popular display resolution is 800 x 600 pixels. We found 21 E-readers that are E-readers that have a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. The second most frequently found display resolution amongst new E-book readers is 1024 x 758 pixels. We found 17 E-book readers that are E-book readers that have a resolution of 1024 x 758 pixels.

Diagonals

'Diagonal' denotes the size of the e-reader, measured in inches from the top-left to bottom-right corner.

Comparing all E-readers, the diagonals range from 5" to 13.3". The diagonals of the majority of E-readers range from 6" to 6.5". The Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2, which currently retails for $29.99, has the biggest diagonal and is a 13.3" E-reader. The Pocketbook Touch HD 3, which is available at $264.50, has the smallest diagonal and is a 6" E-reader.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for E-Readers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying E-book readers. For each retailer it shows the total number of E-book readers where they currently have a market leading price. The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying E-readers. For each retailer we took all of their prices and looked at what proportion of those prices where the cheapest on the market. The cheapest retailer that we found was eBay. 8 of their E-book reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of E-Readers for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for E-book readers by counting the number of cheapest prices for that retailer, makes the retailers that offer the greatest number of ereader prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's ereader prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 72.7% of their E-reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.