Things I look for in an ereader (under construction)

• ppi . This stands for pixels per inch. Sometimes companies will use a resolution (e.g. 600 x 800px) instead of ppi, but resolution can change easily based on screen shape or size. Look for ppi; it stays the same no matter the size/shape of the screen. These generally range from around 160-300ppi. The larger the number, the clearer your screen will be - and the closer it'll look to paper. I've read on ereaders with anywhere from around 150-300 ppi. My main ereader these days (a Kobo Libra 2) has 300 ppi and looks very clear. My KT2 has 167 ppi, which is noticably less clear but still alright to read on. I wouldn't recommend buying anything with a lower number of ppi; in fact, I'd recommend you go for something higher if your budget supports it.


• touchscreen Most modern ereaders have touchscreens these days, so it's mostly only an issue if you're buying used. Touchscreens can be easier to navigate than non-touch ereaders, but can also pick up fingerprints. Navigation buttons can also wear out, but I used a 4th generation Kindle for something like five years and all the buttons were compleatly functionaal. The big issue that you're likely to run into is whether to get an ereader with a recessed or flush touchscreen. I prefer recessed as the raised bezels around them tend to protect the screen from impacts (sort of like the raised edges on some phone cases). Recessed screens also don't have an extra layer of glass over them so they can be flush, which means that they can be a little more clear. (Noticed that clarity-of-screen is a big thing I look for in an ereader, yet?). Flush screens tend to make the device itself look sleeker; I've heard them referred to as feeling more premium. They can also be easier to waterproof. (This doesn't mean that you need a flush screen to have a waterproof ereader; the Kobo Libras (2 and H2O) are both waterproof and have flush screens.


• page-turn buttons. I like them. My first ereader was a 4th generation non-touch kindle with page-turn buttons. I've used touchscreen-only ereaders, too, but I vastly prefer something with page-turn buttons - they help avoid fingerprints on the screen, and provide a more tactile reading experience (I get more of a sense of actually having turned the page when I push a button rather than swipe the screen). They also help visually distinguish ereaders from tablets/phones, if you care about that sort of thing. All of my ereaders with buttons have had buttons on the side; other brands like Pocketbook and Sony place them on the lower part of the ereader. I haven't yet tried an ereader with buttons there; when I do I'll update this list with something about my preference.


• ebook ecosystem this is mostly an issue if you've got a preestablished library of ebooks; in that case, if your new ereader isn't made by the same people as your old one, you'll need to either convert them to a format that your new ereader will read or repurchase them from the new ecosystem/walled garden. Otherwise, both Kindle and Kobo have extensive catalogues. I don't have much experience with other retailers; I mostly borrow ebooks from my library.


• library access. My library uses Overdrive for ebooks; therefore, that's the only libary software I've used. There are others that I won't talk about here. Regarding Overdrive: Kobo ereaders do it best, with on-device Overdrive integration. Kindles also work, though you have to use a computer to send ebooks to your ereader, and its impossible to browse your library's cataloge on the reader unless you use the (extremely clunky) browser. Other ereaders can use Adobe Digital Editions to send overdrive ePub files over USB after downloading an ACSM file. (More on that in another page; I'll put a link in here once I write it).


• size. The most standard screen size these days is 6-inch; most entry-level ereaders don't deviate much from it. Body sizes differ, of course; a Kobo Clara, for example, is much smaller than a Kindle Basic, even though they both cointain the same size screen. My current main reader has a 7-inch screen, which is considerably bigger when you look at them side-by-side. (Link to a comparision picture will go here, eventually). I like the bigger screen, but it does lead to an ereader that's harder to put in a pocket. For reference, a 6-inch screen will produce a "page" that's about the same size as a mass-market paperback, and a 7-inch screen will be just a bit shorter than a standard paperback. There are readers with bigger screens, though as the screens get larger the prices go up very quickly - to the point where I wouldn't consider the increased screen real estate worth the increased price unless I was going to read pretty much only PDFs (which do render decently on a 6- or 7-inch screen, though not comfortably).


• manufacturer. This is where considerations like "I don't really want to support oligopolies Amazon" come in, as well as more practical stuff like "do they ship to my country?" Since I already have a main ereader that I expect will work for at least four more years, I'm pretty much at the point where I want any new ereader I purchase to be significantly different than any of the others I own (as well as cheap). In practice, this often means that I end up not buying multiple ereaders from the same company/manufacturer - otherwise, you run into the problem of "well, it's mostly just the same device with a different screen size/backlight/name/whatever."


• DRM (digital rights management) Link to a Wikipedia article explaining DRM is here, and a link to the Mobileread wiki's page on DRM is here. Both open in new tabs; reading both should give you a decent overview on what DRM is and why it's relevant to ereading. There's a broader depate about if it should be relevant to ereading (e.g. if it should be used at all), but I won't get into that here. Some (most?) ereaders and ereading programs support only one type of DRM; some support none at all. When shopping for a new ereader, it's important to make sure that you'll be able to actually read on it, so it's useful to see what types (if any) of DRM it supports. Proprietary formats for ebooks like Amazon's KF8 (.azw3) and KFX (.azw8) are also relevant; unless you can convert them to something else, they're usually only readable by ereader software from the same company that owns the format. It's relitively easy to convert non-DRM ebooks using programs like kepubify and calibre.


• the ereader's operating system. There's a few things to consider here, actually. Ereaders these days mostly run on either a modified version of Android (like the Pocketbook or Nook) or a modified version of Linux (Kobos, and - I believe - Kindles as well). Android-based ereaders can often run Android-based apps (rooting may or may not be required; depends on manufacturer), though compatibility of these apps varies, as does the performance of the devices themselves. I don't have much hands-on experience with Android-based ereaders, so I can't really say a lot about their performance as compared to non-Android ereaders.
  Something about Kindle vs. Kobo operating systems (features, ease-of-use, etc) goes here, eventually.