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Kagoo Score
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Average Review Rating
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Price
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Touchscreen
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Weight
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Diagonal
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Release Date
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![]() Kobo Clara HD
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$118.00
electrojungle
+7 more shops
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Info
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166g
Info
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1448 X 1072 pixels
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6"
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Info
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Apr 2018
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87 ![]()
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![]() Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ‑ 8th Gen
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$119.88
eBay
+1 more shop
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Info
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161g
Info
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800 X 600 pixels
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6"
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Info
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Jun 2016
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85 ![]()
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![]() Kobo Aura
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$75.00
eBay
+1 more shop
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Info
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174g
Info
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1024 X 768 pixels
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6"
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Info
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Jul 2016
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84 ![]()
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![]() Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ‑ 6th Gen
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$64.00
eBay
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Info
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161g
Info
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800 X 600 pixels
Info
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6"
Info
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Info
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Feb 2013
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82 ![]()
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![]() Kobo Aura HD
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$79.99
eBay
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Info
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240g
Info
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1440 X 1080 pixels
Info
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6.8"
Info
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Info
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Aug 2016
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82
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Kobo Forma
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$239.00
eBay
+2 more shops
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Info
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197g
Info
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17,376,289 pixels
1440 x 1920 pixels
Info
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7.8"
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Info
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Oct 2018
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80
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Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G ‑ 6th Gen |
$159.90
eBay
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Info
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215g
Info
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800 X 600 pixels
Info
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6"
Info
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Info
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Jun 2014
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80
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Amazon Kindle Voyage |
$29.27
eBay
+1 more shop
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Info
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180g
Info
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1024 X 768 pixels
Info
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6"
Info
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Info
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Nov 2014
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79
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Pocketbook Touch HD 3
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$224.40
Elite Electronics Store
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Info
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155g
Info
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1448 X 1072 pixels
Info
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6"
Info
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Info
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Nov 2018
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79
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Pocketbook Touch HD 2
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$214.90
KSM
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Info
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180g
Info
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1448 X 1072 pixels
Info
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6"
Info
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Info
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Dec 2017
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77
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Kobo AURA One
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$599.00
eBay
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Info
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230g
Info
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1872 X 1404 pixels
Info
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7.8"
Info
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Info
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Jul 2016
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77
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Amazon Kindle Oasis ‑ 9th Gen |
$209.75
eBay
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Info
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131g
Info
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1440 X 1080 pixels
Info
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7"
Info
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Info
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Oct 2017
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77
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Onyx Boox Note
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$439.00
Appliances Connection
+2 more shops
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Info
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355g
Info
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1872 X 1404 pixels
Info
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10.3"
Info
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Info
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Dec 2016
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75
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Pocketbook Basic Lux
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$131.50
Elite Electronics Store
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Info
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170g
Info
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1024 X 758 pixels
Info
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6"
Info
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Info
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Jun 2017
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73
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Icarus Illumina XL
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$361.37
eBay
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Info
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275g
Info
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1024 X 768 pixels
Info
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8"
Info
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Info
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Oct 2015
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No matching products found.
Trending E-Book Reader Comparisons
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
E-Book Reader Buying Guide
What is an E-Book Reader?
E-book readers have quickly become a common site on trains, planes and subways the world over - a simple tablet dedicated to displaying book in the simplest, most natural way possible. With excellent battery life, easy-to-read screens and capacity for thousands of books at once, e-book readers are a good way to make sure you always have something to read on your commute or holiday!
Most e-readers use a technology called ‘e-ink’ to display the books - this is uses microscopic particles suspected in a liquid film under the screen. Some of these particles are positively charged and coloured white, and others negatively charged and coloured black. By running a charge through the liquid, the white or black particles can come to the surface, allowing letters and text to form.
Because the charge is only required when the text changes, e-ink has an extremely low power draw - power is normally only used when the page is ‘turned’ (refreshed). This means that most e-readers have an extremely long battery life - they can last for weeks and even months between charges, depending on how fast you read.
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:
- The e-ink display draws very little power, meaning you won’t use much power, compared to draining your phone/tablet battery reading on it.
- E-ink displays are also very easy on the eye, and can help prevent eye strain caused by long reading sessions.
- Most e-readers have a larger display than phones, making reading easier and also helping to ease eye strain.
- E-readers are free from notifications, apps and other distractions that would stop you from concentrating on your book.
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.
Display
One of the biggest concerns when picking an e-book reader is the display. The quality of the text on an e-reader display is measured in Dots Per Inch (DPI). The higher the DPI, the more particles make up each letter on the screen, leading to smoother, clearer text that is easier to read. Most e-readers have a DPI of somewhere around 2-300, although top-tier models can rise as high as 600 DPI, for extremely crisp and clear text.
Tied into the DPI is the size of the display. Most e-readers are the size of small tablets - slightly larger than a paperback book. There are larger models - some go as large as 8”, meaning they are more unwieldy to carry, but can display more/larger text at once.
Battery Life
As mentioned above, because e-readers draw very little power, they have a very good battery life. Even the most basic of e-readers will have a battery life of weeks, with many able to function for a month or more between charges. Some higher-end readers have larger batteries, but these are only worth seeking out if you spend a long time travelling or away from any power - for most people a month’s charge will be more than enough.
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.
Alongside buying books from an online store, it is also possible to load books onto an e-reader as individual files. These files could be downloaded from a different store, received directly from the publisher (in the case of small independent labels) or even your own work.
Different e-readers have support for different types of files. One of the most popular file format is the epub (electronic publication) file - these are used for a lot of publicly available books, such as Project Guttenberg, which aims to make much of the classic literature in the world available freely. However the Kindle doesn’t directly support the epub format - meaning you’ll have to transfer it to another format if you want to use it.
If you are going to be using e-readers for independent (non-store) files a lot, it’s worth taking a look at ‘Calibre’, which is a free program for converting ebook files between different formats. The site is here: Calibre
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-Book Reader Retailers, Prices and Features
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.