Compare the Best E-Book ReadersMarch 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.

E-Reader Prices

The price range of E-book readers is from $29 to $599 and in total we found prices for 18 E-book readers. On average, a new E-book reader costs $196 and 80% of E-readers are priced between $75 and $361. The Amazon Kindle Voyage is the cheapest ereader at only $29, and Kobo AURA One is the most expensive at $599.

E-Reader Brands - Price Range

The average price of Onyx ereaders is $480 which is the highest average price of all E-reader brands. Onyx ereaders range in price from $480 to $480.

Icarus ereaders start at $361 and their most expensive E-book reader costs $361. The second highest average E-book reader price out of all brands is Icarus ereaders with an average price of $361.

Kobo E-book readers range in price from $75 to $599, and the average price of Kobo E-book readers is $221 which is the third highest average price of all E-book reader brands.

E-Book Reader Brands - Average Ratings

We have analysed 813 expert reviews and 774 user reviews for E-readers and used these reviews to determine the average rating for each brand of ereader.

Biggest Ereader Retailers

We found 14 current offers for E-book readers from eBay making it the biggest E-book reader retailer.

How Fast Do E-Book Reader Prices Drop After Release?

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

A typical new E-book reader costs on average $196. By waiting 6 months before buying you could save on average $32.

Weights

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

Across the range of ereaders, the weights range from 110.2g to 550g. The weights of most E-book readers range from 160g to 200g. The Onyx Boox Note, which is on sale for $479.99, has the heaviest weight and is a 355g E-book reader. The E-reader with the lightest weight is the Tolino Shine 3, which is a 110.2g ereader and is priced at $173.00.

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.

Of the 80 new ereaders currently listed on Kagoo, the vast majority 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.

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

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 the majority of E-book readers range from 6" to 6.5". The E-book reader with the biggest diagonal is the Onyx Boox Note, which is a 10.3" E-reader and is available at $479.99. The E-book reader with the smallest diagonal is the Pocketbook Touch HD 3, which is a 6" ereader and sells for $230.65.

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. 13 of their E-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 ereaders 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. 92.9% of their E-book reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.