Minor E-Book Reader BrandsOctober 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-Book Reader Prices

We currently list 17 E-readers ranging from $29 to $475. The average price of a new E-reader is $188 and the 80% of E-readers are priced between $74 and $360. The most expensive ereader that we found is the Onyx Boox Note at $475, and the cheapest is the Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2 at only $30.

E-Book Reader Brands - Price Range

The highest average E-reader price out of all brands is Icarus E-book readers with an average price of $361. Icarus E-book readers range in price from $361 to $361.

Onyx E-book readers start at $30 and their most expensive ereader costs $475. The second highest average ereader price out of all brands is Onyx E-book readers with an average price of $252.

Pocketbook E-book readers range in price from $204 to $265, and the average price of Pocketbook E-book readers is $234 which is the third highest average price of all E-book reader brands.

E-Book Reader Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 145 user E-reader reviews 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 12 current E-reader offers from eBay.

When Are Most New E-Book Readers Released?

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

How Fast Do Ereader Prices Drop After Release?

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

If you are prepared to wait then you could save an average of $31 on a typical $188 new E-reader 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-book 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-reader. The E-book reader with the lightest weight is the Amazon Kindle Oasis - 9th Gen, which is a 131g E-book reader and is available at $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 E-readers currently listed on Kagoo are E-readers with a touchscreen. 84% of E-readers are E-readers with a touchscreen.

Display Resolutions

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

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

Diagonals

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

Comparing all ereaders, the diagonals range from 5" to 13.3". The diagonals of the majority of ereaders range from 6" to 6.5". The E-book reader with the biggest diagonal is the Onyx Onyx Boox Max 2, which is a 13.3" ereader and is priced at $29.99. The Pocketbook Touch HD 3, which sells for $264.50, has the smallest diagonal and is a 6" E-book 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. 11 of their ereader 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-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. 91.7% of their E-reader prices were the cheapest that could be found anywhere.