Things I look for in an ereader

In no particular order:

• Does it have page-turn buttons? I like them, others don’t. I prefer reading with them, actually—pushing a button gives me more of a sense of doing something when I turn the page; a more concrete sense of advancing through the book. Plus, they’re fun and a way visually distinguish ereaders from tablets (sometimes with a little bit of a retro feel). I like it when my devices for different things look different. They can wear out, but I’ve never personally encountered anything more severe than some softening of the mechanism—and that was in a fourth-generation kindle, after years of heavy use. Also, most modern ereaders with buttons also have touchscreens—if the buttons failed, the reader could be operated with touchscreen alone. Older readers without touchscreen don’t have this same redundancy, but with an older ereader it’s really the battery that you usually want to worry about.


• What’s the battery life like? Not a huge consideration for me, actually; every ereader I’ve had has been more than satisfactory, and besides--the only real way to find our how long the battery lasts on a single charge is to use the device until the battery runs out, which you can't do before you own the device. Usually, they last two of three weeks on a charge. Enough that I usually have to hunt around for the chargers a bit when they run out. The only ereader I’ve had battery-life problems with was an old Kindle Basic (KT2)—which was tenish years old and had been hacked to run a Linux desktop. Not an entirely battery-friendly life, there. Anyway, there’s plenty of articles on how to replace the batteries of most major ereaders, and batteries usually aren’t too expensive. This is a more significant consideration if you’re buying used; in that case, it’s very likely that an older battery will need to be replaced. If your screen is freezing suddenly and the reader refuses to respond, plug it in—this can be a sign you need to replace the battery.
• How big is the screen? I’ve used both six-inch and seven-inch models, and liked both for different reasons. Six-inch devices tend to be more portable (the Kobo Clara most of all), but seven-inch screens are bigger and thus more comfortable to read on. My main ereader these days is a seven-inch device, but I’ve also got a few six-inch ones that I use when portability’s a factor.


• How clear is the screen? There are a number of things that influence this, the most obvious of which is ppi, or pixels per (square) inch. The higher the number, the clearer your screen. I find 300 beautiful, and 167 grainy but readable. I probably wouldn’t notice the graininess of 167ppi if I hadn’t read with 300ppi as well. The other big factor is the number of layers over the eink display. Devices that use capacitive touch for their touchscreens (which is nearly all of them, these days), and devices with flush fronts tend to have more layers, and thus less clear type. I haven’t found capacitative screens to be much of an issue, honestly, but I do avoid flush screens, both because of this and because the extra layers tend to mean more glare in the light (not fun to read on).


• How is the contrast between the letters and the background?I haven’t found as clear a measurement as ppi to describe this, so it’s mostly subjective for me at this point. If you know of such a measurement, shoot me an email (contact form can be found at my index; if it’s not there I haven’t yet gotten around to putting it up). Anyway—the greater the contrast between the black parts of the screen (text, usually) and the white parts (background, nearly always), the easier it is to read. Generally, newer types of eink displays will give you higher contrasts. I’m not going to mention what the current newest eink display is, because that sort of information goes out of date quickly. A quick web search should bring it up.


• Can I get the books I want? Related: Does this ereader manufacturer also sell ebooks? Will I be able to get them onto my other ereaders and into a backup, if need be? How easy is it to sideload books? I own enough ebooks that I’m not interested in a reader on which I can’t read sideloaded content; it’s most of what I read since I tend to either move things from one device to another (if, that is, the file in question lacks DRM) or back them up onto my computer. This also includes library books, as they’re a type of book I want (and most of what I read). Generally, I’m looking for something in which I can do most of the business of borrowing books and sending them to my ereader smoothly, whether this means direct integration with Overdrive (like Kobo), or wireless delivery of library ebooks (Amazon).


• What formats does it read? Generally, this is a nonissue; I can easily convert books using the Calibre ebook management software. But I always like to look for something that can read .ePub at least, as it’s pretty much the standard and tells me that this company isn’t trying to lock customers into its ebook store with proprietary formats.


• What other features does it have, and am I likely to use them? This is where I consider things like Kobo's Pocket integration (which I use) and Amazon's Send-to-Kindle service, which I do not.


• How open to modification is the ereader’s operating system? I’m a habitual tinkerer with my ereaders. I do things like install alternate reading apps, Linux desktops, minesweeper, or custom screensavers. This means that I look for ereaders where modifications are, if not easy, then at least possible.


• Can it use dual-band wifi? Most ereaders can only use the 2.4ghz frequency; most businesses and universities use mostly 5ghz, making the use of any of the ereader’s wireless features much more difficult, and sometimes impossible. I dream of a dual-band equipped ereader—I’ve still only had ereaders which connect to the 2.4ghz wifi automatically.


• Does it have good lighting? A well-lighted screen can make text seem clearer, in comparison to a non-lit screen. I also like being able to adjust lighting temperature for more comfortable reading in low light, so I tend to look for that, as well. On the other hand, any scratches or cracks will show up much more on a screen with a light.