Compare the Best E-Book ReadersDecember 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.

E-Reader Prices

The price range of E-book readers is from $29 to $599 and in total we found prices for 17 E-book readers. A new ereader costs on average $192 and 80% of ereaders are priced between $85 and $361. The most expensive E-book reader that we found is the Kobo AURA One at $599, and the cheapest is the Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2 at only $30.

E-Book Reader Brands - Price Range

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

The average price of Kobo E-book readers is $228 which is the second highest average price of all E-reader brands. Kobo E-book readers range in price from $75 to $599.

Onyx E-book readers start at $30 and their most expensive E-book reader costs $384. The third highest average E-book reader price out of all brands is Onyx E-book readers with an average price of $207.

Ereader Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 820 expert reviews and 765 user reviews for E-book readers and used these reviews to determine the average rating for each brand of E-reader.

Biggest Ereader Retailers

The biggest E-reader retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 14 current E-reader offers from eBay. The second biggest retailer is Target with 1 offers. That means eBay is over 14 times bigger than Target when it comes to E-book readers. Appliances Connection is the third biggest retailer with 1 current offers.

When Are Most New E-Readers Released?

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

How Fast Do E-Reader Prices Drop After Release?

In the first 6 months after release, E-book readers drop in price by 16% on average.

That means that on a typical E-book reader costing $192 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).

The weights of ereaders range from 110.2g to 550g. The weights of most E-readers range from 160g to 200g. The Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2, which currently retails for $29.99, has the heaviest weight and is a 550g E-book reader. The ereader with the lightest weight is the Amazon Kindle Oasis - 9th Gen, which is a 131g E-reader and currently retails 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 80 new ereaders currently listed on Kagoo are E-book readers with a touchscreen. 67 out of 80 are E-book readers with a touchscreen.

Display Resolutions

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

We found 21 ereaders that are E-book readers that have a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, which makes this the most common display resolution amongst new ereaders. We found 17 E-readers that are E-book readers that have a resolution of 1024 x 758 pixels, making this the second most common display resolution amongst new E-readers.

Diagonals

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

Across the range of ereaders, the diagonals range from 5" to 13.3". The diagonals of most E-readers range from 6" to 6.5". The Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2, which sells for $29.99, has the biggest diagonal and is a 13.3" ereader. The Pocketbook Touch HD 3, which is priced at $213.95, has the smallest diagonal and is a 6" ereader.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for E-Readers?

The chart below helps you decide which retailer is normally cheapest for buying ereaders. For each retailer it shows the total number of ereaders 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. 12 of their E-book reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.

Proportion of Ereaders for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

Assessing how cheap each retailer is for E-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. 85.7% of their ereader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.