E reader vergleich 2022

An ebook reader is a dedicated device that lets you read electronic books—usually those you buy from the reader’s own ebook store, but also some you can download elsewhere. Over the past few years, the prices of ebook readers have fallen dramatically while the hardware has improved significantly, and high-end features like a backlit, high-resolution screen and waterproofing have become standard. If you don’t have an ebook reader, there’s never been a better time to get one.

An ebook reader offers fewer distractions than reading on your phone—you won’t be tempted to switch apps to check Twitter or your email.

For current e-reader owners, an upgrade isn’t necessary but can make a world of difference. If you struggle with finding light to read, get frustrated with slow page turns or low resolutions, or merely hate how big your current ebook reader is, upgrading might be worthwhile. You can get a great reader that addresses all of those concerns for a fair price.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo all offer apps that allow you to access each ebook reader’s library on an iOS or Android tablet or smartphone; you can also use a tablet or phone to read ebooks from Apple’s iBooks Store (on iOS) and the Google Play Store (on iOS and Android). This flexible arrangement can be great for times when you may not have your reader handy: You can read a few pages, and your progress syncs to the cloud so that you can pick up right where you left off on whichever device you prefer.

For regular reading, however, we think dedicated ebook readers are a better option for a number of reasons: Nonreflective, electronic-ink displays give you a more paperlike visual experience (including enjoyable reading outdoors and less eyestrain compared with an LCD screen), plus lighter weight and a significantly longer battery life. And a dedicated ebook reader offers fewer distractions—you won’t be tempted to switch apps to check Twitter or your email.

When you purchase an ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, or Google, that book is usually protected with a digital rights management (DRM) scheme, which means the book is available for reading only on devices that support that store’s DRM system. For example, you can read Amazon-purchased ebooks only on Kindle devices or in Amazon’s Kindle apps for other platforms—you can’t view them on a Barnes & Noble or Kobo reader.

This isn’t an issue specific to any one seller, and it isn’t a problem with the DRM-free ebooks you can purchase from some independent sellers or download from sources such as Project Gutenberg. But DRM is worth keeping in mind, because it means that once you commit to an ebook reader, you’ll likely end up sticking with it because you won’t be able to transfer your DRM-protected ebooks to another platform.

Few companies ever made ebook readers, but these days the number has dwindled to just three serious competitors. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo are the only major hardware makers with digital bookstores to back up their respective devices. Among them, they offer only a handful of distinct readers, not counting the Nook tablets and Nook-branded Samsung tablets that Barnes & Noble sells, nor Amazon’s Fire tablets, which have a Kindle app. You can find a few niche devices, such as those from Ectaco, but nothing else comes in at a reasonable price with a library to back up the hardware.

Here’s what we looked for in determining the best ebook readers:

• Built-in lighting: Most e-readers provide their own light for reading in dark environments. (Unlike tablets such as the iPad, ebook readers use a side-lighting system that provides a glow across the screen, rather than from behind it.) Because this feature is so prevalent, we didn’t test any readers without it.
• Screen quality: We gave preference to devices with a pixel density of 300 dots per inch, the highest available in any ebook reader and what most models offer. Anything lower will mean less crisp text and images.
• Build quality and size: While most ebook readers are made of plastic, some feel better than others in your hands. Six-inch screens are the most common size, as well as the most portable and likely to be pocketable, although newer readers pack larger screens into similarly sized bodies, which is a bonus.
• Battery life and storage: Most of the readers promise battery life somewhere between six and eight weeks (depending on usage) and offer 8 GB or 32 GB of storage. In other words, most specs are less important than how good the ebook reader feels in the hand.
• Other features: While not required, features like waterproofing and Bluetooth audio can make a good e-reader great.
• Library: Ebook readers can’t stand on the strength of their hardware alone. While all readers allow you to side-load unprotected content, it’s important that they provide easy access to a large library of commercial books.

The Kids version improves on the Kindle Paperwhite’s great display, adjustable color temperature, even lighting, and waterproofing with a cover, a longer warranty, and no ads.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $115.

The 2021 Kids edition of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader for most people thanks to stellar hardware that makes reading your books a pleasure, a massive ebook catalog that frequently offers better prices than others, and Amazon’s ecosystem and services that are unavailable or have fewer features on other readers. You can comfortably navigate your collection, as well as find and purchase new titles (and download them over Wi-Fi). The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is waterproof, for reading at the beach or in the bath, and also features Bluetooth for streaming audiobooks. New to the 2021 version are a larger screen and adjustable color temperature. And while “Kids” is in the name, this is the best ebook reader for people of any age. The $20 premium over the standard version gets you a cover, a two-year warranty, and no ads, any of which would be worth at least $20 on their own.

The ideal ebook reader provides a window for reading without allowing too many hardware distractions to get in the way, and that’s just what the Kindle Paperwhite Kids does. It’s a thin rectangle of soft-touch plastic measuring 6.9 inches tall, 5.1 inches wide, and 0.5 inch deep. The dimensions are a little larger than the previous edition, but that added size gets you a new 6.8-inch-diagonal, 300 ppi touchscreen (up from 6 inches). The Kindle weighs 11.32 ounces—slightly heavier than the average e-reader model we tested, but still comfortable to hold for extended periods. It has no headphone port, speakers, or navigation buttons. The screen is flush with the bezel, whereas most comparable models have recessed screens. It also has no physical inputs or controls, other than the USB-C (finally!) charging port and a power button along the bottom edge.

Amazon’s e-reader software is easy to use. The homepage presents books you’re currently reading, reading lists based off of Amazon and Goodreads, and recommendations from Amazon. Controls for features such as screen brightness and airplane mode are now easily accessible by tapping the top of the screen, then selecting the Settings menu.

When you’re reading, you can easily turn a page with a tap or swipe. The screen is evenly lit across its entire surface, and the text is incredibly crisp. Amazon also got the small details right: Tapping to call up a footnote, for example, opens it on the current page instead of taking you to a separate page, and you can dismiss the footnote with a simple tap. And actually hitting the footnote is easier than on other readers, thanks to a much larger touch target.

You can adjust the Kindle Paperwhite Kids’s screen temperature manually, or set it to adjust automatically throughout the day. Video: Sarah Kobos

Adjustable screen color temperature isn’t new to ebook readers, but 2021 is the first year that it’s come to the Kindle Paperwhite line. You can change how much blue light the screen emits, going from a typical white glow to a darker yellow in 24 increments, either manually or on an automatic schedule tied to sunset and sunrise. Wirecutter has written extensively about whether blocking blue light makes it easier to fall asleep (maybe) or help you avoid eyestrain and headaches (probably not). Even if there’s no demonstrable benefit, though, color-temperature adjustment isn’t a bad feature to have.

The huge collection of services that Amazon and its partners offer is a major reason why we love the Kindle Paperwhite Kids. Just a few examples include the capability to share purchased books with people on your Amazon Prime account; X-Ray, which helps identify notable people and terms in your books; the optional Kindle Unlimited service, which gives you on-demand access to a huge catalog of books for a flat rate every month; and Amazon Kids+, which provides access to kid’s books, movies, TV shows, and more (a free, one-year subscription is included with the Kindle Paperwhite Kids). All of the ebook readers we tested allow you to use OverDrive to borrow free ebooks from your local library. With the Kindle Paperwhite Kids (and all other Kindles), OverDrive uses Amazon’s storefront, as well as the same wireless delivery you’d expect from a purchase. (The Kobo Clara HD, as with other modern Kobos, also has seamless OverDrive integration; some other readers require a third-party software client running on a computer to transfer the files to the ebook reader.)

We tested the Kindle Paperwhite Kids’s IPX8 waterproofing by submerging it in a pitcher of water for an hour; Amazon says it can survive for that long in water up to 2 meters deep. The reader worked just fine afterward, although we were surprised how much water came out of the USB-C port when we shook it. We could even hear water sloshing around inside, but after a few minutes of keeping it upright, the moisture was gone.

Amazon has finally added the ability to play audiobooks from Audible, the audiobook company it owns, to the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Paperwhite Kids. You can pay for an Audible subscription or buy audiobooks à la carte. You’ll have to use Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, however, because the Paperwhite doesn’t have a headphone jack. But the feature works well, and if you have both the ebook and audiobook version of a title, you can switch between reading and listening wherever you left off. You can also use the Bluetooth streaming for VoiceView, Amazon’s accessibility program that helps the visually impaired navigate the screen.

The Kindle Paperwhite Kids doesn’t have any ads on the lock screen or homepage, unlike the regular Kindle. The cost to buy a version of the non-Kids reader without those is the same as that of our recommended model with its extras. You may be asked to set up a parental control PIN and add an account for a child, but you don’t have to set any sort of limits that would prevent you from using your Kindle as if it weren’t the Kids model, and you can turn off kids mode altogether by going to the settings, choosing parental controls, entering the PIN you created during setup, tapping the edit button, and then tapping delete profile.

You have your choice of three different cases with the Paperwhite Kids: plain black, or colorful “robot dreams” and “emerald forest” designs.

Amazon promises broad protection with its two-year warranty: “If it breaks, return it and we’ll replace it for free.” That’s useful for both kids and adults.

Kindles don’t natively support EPUB, an open-standard format for unprotected ebooks that’s common for public-domain and other freely available books, but this is a pretty minor limitation to get around. Calibre is free software for Windows, macOS, and Linux that allows you to reformat EPUB files into the proprietary format that Kindles can read. PCMag has a great article that explains the process.

Previous Kindles have been available in a configuration with 3G, allowing you to download books even if you’re not on Wi-Fi. The 2021 lineup does not have a cellular option, and 2G and 3G networks are being phased out, meaning if you have an older Kindle, you’ll only be able to get online using Wi-Fi. We don’t think this is a problem for most people, though, since it’s easy enough to load up on as many books as you might need when you do have access to Wi-Fi, and you don’t need to be connected to read them.

After it’s been off for a few hours, the Kindle Paperwhite Kids can take about 10 seconds to wake from sleep. This is about as long as some of the other ebook readers you can find, and not particularly bothersome.

If you don’t want an e-reader from Amazon, this is the next-best choice. It’s not waterproof, there’s no Bluetooth, and the device isn’t tied into the Amazon ecosystem, but the hardware is otherwise nearly identical, and the book selection is similar.

If you insist on something other than a Kindle, the Kobo Clara HD is the option we recommend. The Kobo Clara HD’s specs are comparable to those of the Kindle Paperwhite, except it lacks waterproofing and Bluetooth, and it’s a bit smaller in every dimension. We still think Amazon has an insurmountable lead when it comes to the reading ecosystem, but if you don’t like the company or its products, you’ll be well-served by this e-reader. It works with Kobo’s ebook store, which is similar in size and price to Amazon’s (at least for best sellers), and like the Kindle, it has on-device OverDrive integration for borrowing books from public libraries.

You could easily confuse the Kobo Clara HD for a Kindle at first glance. The body is made of a similar black plastic, although we like the unique recessed-dot pattern on the back that provides some grip. The 6-inch, 300 dpi screen looks as good as any Kindle’s display, and it’s just as responsive. Like the Paperwhite, it lacks physical page-turn buttons; unlike the Paperwhite, it isn’t waterproof and lacks Bluetooth.

The Kobo Clara HD’s screen looks as good as any Kindle and is as responsive. Photo: Michael Hession

The Kobo Clara HD has a unique recessed-dot pattern that helps with grip. Photo: Michael Hession

The one thing that sets this ebook reader apart from most others is its “natural light” feature. This diminishes the amount of blue light the screen puts off as the day progresses, which some people suggest helps you sleep better at night. There’s an option to have the lighting profile change automatically based on your bedtime, but you can change the brightness of the screen only manually.

The Libra 2 matches almost all the features of Amazon’s high-end Kindle Oasis for less money, minus the Amazon ecosystem. It’s waterproof, includes physical controls and Bluetooth, and has a 7-inch screen, as well as screen light color-temperature adjustment for late-night reading.

$180 $160 from Kobo

We’ve generally found more expensive e-readers to not be worth the price, especially when the more affordable models work so well. But if you’re set on an ebook device with physical page-turn buttons and a larger screen, we recommend Kobo’s Libra 2. It matches the features of Amazon’s Kindle Oasis (10th generation), including physical page-turn buttons, a larger screen, waterproofing, and screen light color-temperature adjustment, yet costs significantly less. The 2021 edition adds Bluetooth, with support for Kobo’s audiobook store, and increased storage of 32 GB. If you’re locked into the Kindle ecosystem, it likely won’t be for you, but if you’re platform agnostic, willing to convert your Kindle ebooks into a different format, or buying your first reader and value these features, it’s the one to get.

The Kobo Libra 2’s plastic body, like that of the Kindle Oasis, is asymmetrical, with a narrow bezel along one edge and a wider border on the other that houses the two page-turn buttons and rises in thickness to create a comfortable angled grip. There’s no left side or right side, as the e-reader has an accelerometer that registers which way is up and automatically adjusts the screen to the proper position. You can even turn it so the Kobo is in landscape orientation with the buttons underneath the screen (although the homepage works only in portrait).

We found the buttons to click crisply and a bit loudly. The page turning is as responsive as on any other reader, with no lag. If you prefer, you can tap the screen to go back and forth, but the buttons are the main reason to pay the extra money. We were initially thrown off by whether the “up” button was meant to advance or flip back, but we appreciated that it could be set to our preference in the Settings menu.

The 7-inch screen has the same 300 dpi resolution as the Kobo Clara HD. And like the Clara HD, the Kindle Paperwhite, and the Kindle Oasis, the screen’s color temperature can be set to filter out blue light as you approach your bedtime, while the brightness is adjustable but only manually. (This is one area where the Oasis clearly beats the Kobo, as Amazon’s reader does support auto brightness.) The Kobo Libra 2 is also waterproof, with an IPX8 rating. This means it’ll easily survive splashes and dunks, as well as submergence for up to an hour in under 2 meters of water.

Every ebook reader we recommend here (and almost every e-reader, period), is monochromatic. Black and white, while perfect for reading novels or nonfiction, leaves a lot to be desired for content with color images, such as comics and graphic novels. There have been a handful of color ebook readers over the years, and the early 2021 introduction of the E Ink Kaleido Plus display with support for 4,096 colors at 100 dpi has led to more new, mainstream models. Both Pocketbook’s InkPad Color and the Onyx Boox Nova 3 Color use the E Ink Kaleido Plus in 7.8-inch configurations.

While these devices are conceptually cool, we don’t think either is worth their high price. Color images on the screens of both the InkPad Color and the Nova 3 are fine at best. The very nature of an e-ink screen means you won’t get the bright, vibrant images you may be expecting (of the two, we found the PocketBook InkPad Color’s images to be a bit more washed out). Compounding that, page-turn artificating that’s annoying on monochrome readers is even more distracting on these color readers. The effect is a bit like reading a poorly produced comic on cheap, thin newsprint—you can literally see the ghost of the previous page underneath what you’re currently reading. You can increase how often the page fully refreshes, but that’ll diminish the reader’s battery life.

Then there’s the content itself. You can load your own content in various formats over web-based services, or, in the case of the PocketBook, a microSD card. But neither has direct access to the book stores offered by Amazon, Google, Apple, or any other major seller. The Linux-based InkPad Color lacks any sort of US-based store, period (there’s a limited selection of books for sale in euros, but a spot-check pulled up very few best sellers). It’s a slightly different story with the Nova 3, which runs Android. From its built-in app store, you can download apps including Kindle and Libby. You can also, through a somewhat convoluted process difficult to find if you’re not specifically looking for it, install the Google Play store and have access to any Android apps. But the default bookstore on the device includes only public domain works.

We’d recommend staying away from these color e-readers for now. The technology is still young and expensive: The PocketBook InkPad Color costs $330, and the Onyx Book Nova 3 Color is $420. The tech will improve over time, and there will likely be a point when it’s ready for broad consumption.

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (11th generation) is identical to the 2021 Paperwhite and Paperwhite Kids reader, save for three small differences: It has 32 GB of storage space (four times that of the other models,) it supports Qi wireless charging, and the backlight automatically adjusts thanks to a sensor above the screen. These are all nice-to-have features, but not worth the premium price for most people.

The Kobo Sage has an even larger 8-inch screen than the Libra 2 and offers a slew of custom accessories, including a charging cover and a stylus for note-taking. But those benefits come with a hefty $260 price tag, so unless you know you want to be able to write on your reader’s screen or will definitely benefit from a larger display, it’s not worth the higher cost.

Amazon’s 10th-generation Kindle (the 2019 version, not to be confused with the 10th-generation Kindle Paperwhite) is the first entry-level Kindle to feature an illuminated display. The biggest downside to this model is its 167 ppi resolution, which means text is fuzzier and images are blurrier than on the 300 ppi Paperwhite. Smaller flaws—the lack of waterproofing, the recessed screen, and dimmer lighting, for example—might be acceptable at the lower price, but the display just isn’t good enough to justify a recommendation, especially when the Paperwhite often falls to a similar price during Amazon’s semiregular sales.

The Kobo Nia is the company’s newest entry-level reader. Compared to the entry-level Kindle with a 167 ppi screen, it has a sharper 212 ppi screen. But it has similar flaws, including a recessed screen and no waterproofing.

Amazon’s Kindle Oasis (10th generation) is the most advanced, and the most expensive, e-reader Amazon sells. Its design is unique compared with that of other Kindles, as it features an asymmetrical body (0.13 inch on the thinner edge, 0.33 inch on the thicker edge) with physical page-turn buttons along one edge. The Oasis is a little wider than the Paperwhite, though it weighs about the same, and it also has a larger 7-inch screen. Overall, the Oasis’s larger size makes it less practical to carry and hold than the Paperwhite. The Oasis is no longer the only waterproof Kindle, but it does have an auto-brightness feature that automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness level based on ambient light. Amazon has also added a night-mode feature that shifts the display’s color temperature; you can set it to change automatically on a custom schedule or at sunrise and sunset, but it doesn’t automatically adjust based on ambient lighting conditions. There’s a lot to like about the Kindle Oasis. But its $250 starting price is significantly higher than that of even our top pick, yet it isn’t clearly better for even frequent readers.

The Kobo Forma was Kobo’s first take on the Kindle Oasis, with a similar asymmetrical body, larger screen, water resistance, and premium price. We think you’re better off with the Kobo Clara HD, which has a smaller screen (by 2 inches) and a far lower price tag.

The Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 3 is less polished than any Kindle or Kobo and hints at B&N’s lack of enthusiasm for the category. Like most e-readers, the Nook GlowLight 3 has a plastic body, but it’s wider and taller than any 6-inch-screen competitor and feels hollow. The 300 dpi screen is set back quite a bit from the thick bezel, something you’d likely notice while typing on the on-screen keyboard. And although the previous GlowLight was waterproof (with an IP67 rating), this version is not. A 7.8-inch version, dubbed the GlowLight Plus, is waterproof but based on the same general design. We appreciate both models’ page-turn buttons and automatic light-temperature adjustment, but not enough to recommend a Nook over other e-readers.

Unlike tablets, which can do as much as a laptop, ebook readers are (mostly) dedicated to one task: reading. Both the hardware and software are designed to make the reading experience great. The monochromatic, e-ink screens on our picks render text sharply while using very little battery, but they’re not great for most other tasks. E-readers weigh less than tablets, with the Kindle Paperwhite coming in at about two-thirds the weight of the iPad mini. Since they can do less, ebook readers are also generally cheaper.

Most people find that e-readers are much easier to read for long stretches than tablets. At least one study backs up the idea that e-reader displays don’t fatigue the eyes any more than paper. In some cases, e-readers can actually be a little easier to read than paper: You can increase the font size any time if it makes you more comfortable, and the edge lighting means you’ll never be stuck reading in low light.

Both top e-reader brands—Amazon and Kobo—support checking out books from your local public library through OverDrive, but Kobo allows you to do so directly on your reader. Once you’ve signed in, you can browse and borrow titles right from the device. If you have a Kindle, you have to use a separate computer or your phone, and then your rented books will be sent over the air to your ebook reader.

In most cases, if you want to put your textbooks on an e-reader, you should get a Kindle. Though the Kobo e-readers can store and display any book in the EPUB format, the selection of textbooks is more limited. Amazon has an entire textbook storefront that includes the option to rent books. Not all books are well suited for e-readers, though; if your course or content requires a lot of flipping back and forth, or needs color images, you may want to stick with a print edition.

1. Sascha Segan, How to Put Free Ebooks on Your Amazon Kindle, PCMag, December 15, 2015

2. Brad Stone, Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle, The New York Times, July 17, 2009

3. Nate Hoffelder, The Beginning of the End: B&N Shutters the International Nook Store, The Digital Reader, July 8, 2015