Compare the Best E-Book ReadersMay 2021

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

The price range of E-book readers is from $67 to $599 and in total we found prices for 18 E-book readers. On average, a new ereader costs $189 and 80% of E-book readers are priced between $68 and $333. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite - 7th Gen is the cheapest E-reader at only $67, and Kobo AURA One is the most expensive at $599.

E-Book Reader Brands - Price Range

The highest average ereader price out of all brands is Onyx E-readers with an average price of $450. Onyx E-readers start at $450 and their most expensive ereader costs $450.

The second highest average E-book reader price out of all brands is Icarus ereaders with an average price of $333. Icarus ereaders start at $333 and their most expensive E-book reader costs $333.

The third highest average E-reader price out of all brands is Kobo E-book readers with an average price of $219. Kobo E-book readers start at $68 and their most expensive E-reader costs $599.

Ereader Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 842 expert reviews and 369 user reviews for E-book readers and used these reviews to calculate the average rating for each brand of E-book reader.

Biggest E-Book Reader Retailers

The biggest ereader retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 17 current ereader offers from eBay.

How Fast Do E-Reader Prices Drop After Release?

On average E-readers drop in price by 16% in the first 6 months after release.

That means that on a typical ereader costing $189 you could save on average $31 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Weights

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

Comparing all E-readers, the weights range from 110.2g to 550g. The weights of the majority of E-book readers range from 160g to 200g. The E-book reader with the heaviest weight is the Onyx Boox Note, which is a 355g E-book reader and is available at $449.95. The Amazon Kindle Oasis - 9th Gen, which can be purchased for $215.75, has the lightest weight and is a 131g E-book reader.

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 80 new ereaders currently listed on Kagoo are E-book readers with a touchscreen. 66 out of 80 ereaders are E-book readers with a touchscreen.

Display Resolutions

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

800 x 600 pixels is the most popular display resolution amongst new E-readers. We found 21 E-readers that are E-book readers that have a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels. The second most common 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-book readers, the diagonals range from 5" to 13.3". The diagonals of most E-book readers range from 6" to 6.5". The Onyx Boox Note, which is on sale for $449.95, has the biggest diagonal and is a 10.3" ereader. The E-reader with the smallest diagonal is the Pocketbook Touch HD 3, which is a 6" E-book reader and sells for $224.66.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for E-Book 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 ereaders. 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. 17 of their E-book reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of E-Book 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 E-book reader prices more likely to offer the greatest number of cheapest prices. The chart below considers the proportion of each retailer's E-book reader prices that are the cheapest compared to other retailers. The cheapest retailer that we found using this approach was eBay. 100% of their E-book reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.