My Kindle seems to have crapped out, so I am looking at replacing it. This is the third Kindle i have had and I’m tired of having to replace it every few years. Plus, I no longer trust Amazon. So I’m contemplating a different type. There seems to be a pretty wide variety of types available so I’m looking for advice.
Concerns are:
Ability to transfer my current library. I’m not sure if this will work as the current one is dead, but maybe there’s a service which can do this?
Availability of new books. By this I don’t necessarily man recently published, but pretty much anything I might want to get. I’m willing to spend some money replacing what is on the Kindle if necessary.
Ability to borrow from my local library might be nice, but I don’t view it as necessary.
I am a fan of the Kobo ebook readers. They work with epub which most libraries support. Transferring content from Amazon to a Kobo ebook is possible, but not straightforward, for that you probably need the program Calibre for ebook management which has plugins for converting ebooks you have to different formats. There is also a plugin to connect directly to Kobo ebook readers.
At one point I tried the Barnes and Noble Nook, and that was fine, but I preferred the Kobo both because of ease of use, and the content available on their store. Currently, what I actually use is a Samsung tablet. It is not great for reading in bright light, but it is the right size (I got a 8 inch one) and it allows me to have several reading apps on it.
If you don’t want a Kindle, I would say go with a Kobo.
I have a nook that I’ve had for a long time, but the battery was starting to go and it was always a little slow. I wanted to get a new nook, but B&N isn’t really supporting them that well, and getting library books onto it was a real pain. So, I switched to a Kindle – as you know, getting books onto it is pretty easy. I’ve had it for less than a year, no issues yet.
Honestly, I liked using the nook better – it didn’t accidentally turn two pages at once like the Kindle does sometimes, and holding the on button to turn on the backlight was a great feature when I had to use it in the dark. But, ultimately, the hassle of getting books on it and lack of real support from B&N had me switch to Kindle.
The research I did at the time seem to indicate that Kobo was the best alternative to Kindle.
My iPad is kind of old and creaky and probably due for a replacement, but I use apps on it to read (Mapleread for my books, whatever reader my library uses when I get one from it, etc). I don’t like apple’s iBooks on my specific iPad or in general. I like having the iPad because I can use other apps well. I found the apps on a Kindle not as good, but tbf that was a while ago. Throwing open Safari to look up a term I don’t understand that the in-app dictionary isn’t enough for is great. Or if i’m all snuggled up and cozy I get my text alerts on it so I don’t have to get my phone if it chimes.
Reading on an e-reader is much easier on my eyes – it looks like you’re looking at a book, including needing a light source. I don’t like to read with the internal LEDs on, but I will if I have to when I’m in the dark.
I see people with Kindles and these beautiful e-ink screens with the build-in light all the way up in a fully lit room. I guess they want the Kindle to look like a regular phone screen for some reason. That reason is probably because Kindle has the light all the way on by default (unlike the nook, which has it off by default).
If you don’t mind trying out Chinese tech (and whatever risk of being spied on by China that might entail), I would recommend a Boox device. You can download the Kindle app, and it works a lot better than an actual Kindle. You can download other apps as well, including the Kobo app, the Barnes & Noble app, and the Libby app for borrowing books from a library. I have a Boox Note 3 that I’ve had since 2021. It works just as well as it did the day I got it.