2d ago

Recommendations for eBook reader devices, please

I've been a book reader for a long time, but never got into eBooks. I want to try it out next, but don't want to use any privacy vilotating devices or software. So, those "10 best" lists I found while searching are out, all of the Amazon crap is out.

What's left? What's a good device to buy so I can self-host my own eBook library and get into eReading. I would prefer suggestions for devices which just read books and comics and such. I don't need access to the app stores on it, I think.

Thanks for any ideas.

ETA: I have a Linux PC and an Android phone, if those things matter.

ETA2: Thank you all for these replies. You've given me a lot to think about and I appreciate the help!

LAST EDIT: Getting a Kobo Clara Color, 6" eInk dealie-bob! Thanks y'all. Don't let this stop you from posting your suggestions still. Posts like these help many over time. Y'all rock!

95 comments

I have a Boox Go Color, but most Boox ereaders are good devices. You can have a Calibre library self-hosted and use the Android app "Calibre sync" to access it on your ereader.

I have a good experience with PocketBook.

I use a Kobo with Calibre! I use it for fiction and theory alike.
- I got the color one for my daughter who can't stop reading manga, and we have no more shelves to put physical books. Calibre want super intuitive, and I edited the series name, but the kobo still didn't group things correctly, but it got sorted. Over all a high recommend
  
  Yep! I used to go years without reading any books, now I've gone to reading 30-50 a year. Huge improvement for me!
- Same here, its very nice. I got one with the forwards and backwards buttons, which I really like.
  
  Same! It's a game-changer for me, I don't block the screen by holding it and I love the tactile feedback!

I've had an e-ink device, and read ebooks on a number of devices. Some notes:
If it's a casual read and I can get the book in epub or mobi format, I might just have it on my phone and use Librera.
I did not like e-ink displays at all. The text itself doesn't appear easier on the eyes to me, and if anything the jarring refreshes on each page turn make the overall experience even more straining. For this reason regular Android tablets have become my preferred way to read books.
For tablets I suggest one that is at least 10 inches. A lot of ebooks are still only available in pdf format, and I've found that anything smaller than a 10 inch display makes for bad pdf reading.
Following from all that, I would suggest the Pixel Tablet, because from a privacy perspective, you have the option to install GrapheneOS on it. From there you can get F-Droid, install any of those ebook apps, and now you have a reasonably secure and private ebook reader - and the best part is, because it's a general purpose tablet, you're not accumulating unnecessary single-purpose devices. You never know if the tablet might have other important uses down the line.
- Super helpful, thank you!
- Or for other options you can checkout LineageOS. Filter by tablet to see which ones are supported, and that can help narrow choices of tablets that can be made privacy-respecting. Just make sure to use a version that does not have gapps on it. Once you use LineageOS's site to find a supported tablet, you can go to the MicroG for LineageOS site to download the MicroG version of the OS. This comes with a set of alternatives to Google spyware so you can use your tablet completely free of Google.

I really like my era. Pocketbook allows me to have the website of a local bookstore as the "shop" button on the home screen, so I can support them. It is comfortable to hold and the front light is pretty good.
In the summer months when I don't use the backlighting, I need to charge it every 2 weeks with very heavy reading or even 2 months with light reading (~20 mins a day)

I was on your point 4 years ago. After some research, I'm using Kobo + Calibre-web with Kobo Sync integration:
https://brandonjkessler.com/technology/2021/04/26/setup-kobo-sync-in-calibre-web.html

I use a Lenovo M9 tablet and Readera as an e-reader and Smart Audiobook player and am very happy with it. Both apps are free without ads but also have a paid version with a couple extra features. I hop on wifi and connect to calbre-web download all the books I want and then turn wifi off for maximum privacy

I'm very surprised the top answer isn't pocketbook. Their entire business model is reworking Chinese e ink tablets to make them GDPR compliant and privacy respecting. I'd recommend the pocketbook verse pro if you want a lit screen and USB C, but they have a cheaper model without those features.
Here is a good spec comparison table for ereaders in general. I'd point out basically all e-readers have great battery life.
https://ewritable.net/comparison-tables/comparison-table/

im still amazed the e-ink so expensive. you can get an androiud table for 40 quid.
- Oof, I get you about eInk, but how crappy is that tablet?
  
  It would last about a week if you’re careful ! The whole thing, not the battery !

I don't have experience with any readers until recently. Did some research and went with. Kobo colour. It has met expectations and I'm using it with no issue.
I wanted physical buttons.
I didn't want an Amazon device.

I have a Kobo sage and its pretty good. Just avoid the color ones.
- Why avoid color ones? I have Clara Colour, works great with Koreader firmware...
  
  iirc, they are a bit more geared to selling you stuff, and the screens are sometimes a bit dodgy.
- Yeah, kobo is what I’m planning on upgrading too.

PineNote (Pine 64) or reMarkable (Pro if you have budget, 2 or even 1 otherwise)
Both work on Linux proper, the reMarkable comes with Linux out of the box whereas PineNote comes with Android but one can install Linux on it.
They are mostly to sketch but it is also good to read. You can pretty much use whatever you want on them, including developing your own software. I don't know if they have Calibre clients because whats I do is... just scp my ePubs or PDFs on there.
Here are my tinkering notes on both https://fabien.benetou.fr/Tools/Eink but feel free to ask any clarification.
PS: the Bookeen Diva also does not require any software, namely you can plug it on Linux, it gets detected as a filesystem and you can copy DRM-free content on it. It's a totally different form factor (much smaller so IMHO not great for comics) and I don't think there is the same open-source community as the other 2.
- Also a good moment to clarify that DRM sucks, but as a user, or even a consumer, you don't have to be worry of them (at least technically) because it's trivial to remove. For example you can use this super convenient script https://pypi.org/project/DeGourou/ to straight up download content that should in theory be "just" for you. The online public library I use, namely https://www.lirtuel.be/ does offer ePub and PDF so I was overjoy... only to realize they meant with DRM. As I had already registered and was honestly pissed at them for not disclosing it from the start I tried DeGourou and... it just worked and is very convenient (you just give it the .acsm then it downloads and remove the DRM, so you get a proper file after). So... yeah, obviously don't buy any DRM content if you don't have to but if somehow you must, it's not that big a deal technically speaking.

Just... Another kobo. I don't actually use calibre though, i just get the books in epub format. Then when you hook the kobo to the PC, it shows as mass storage anyway. Just dump your files, and after ejected it does its cursory file scan, and it shows them properly listed in the device.
Of course Calibre offers a lot more functionality, so if you want to have a proper library it might make sense to manage your books from there. I'm basically saying no conversion is needed a it natively reads epub.

Kobo is the answer. It used to require some finicking to get it so you didn't have to sign up with Walmart, but now that's supposedly no longer an issue (I've had my Kobo for a long time). Install Calibre and the Kobo extension for Calibre. You now can borrow epubs from your local library, purchase them from your favorite online ebook store, or sail the high seas if you don't give a fuck.
- ...and then my Kobo Clara briked itself into a bootloop after i connected it to WiFi.
  Also beware how you buy ebooks from kobo's store or you won't be able to un-drm them (i.e. they get locked to the kobo).
  All in all they do tend to be nice hardware and my usual recommendation.
  
  You can de-DRM books purchased from the Kobo store, I do it frequently. Use Apprentice Alf tools in Calibre.
  
  Sorry to hear that. I'll admit I don't buy ebooks. Yoho yoho and all that. And yeah, I also never turn on wifi. Have you tried a hard reset?
- I use my (likely knockoff) Kobo that I got cheap from a shady online shop. Adding EPUBs is so damn easy.

Kobo. Simple as that. 😊
- Is rakuten more private? I only know them for the smart tv app.
  Whats the experience like for buying ebooks with a kobo? Is it easy to do, are there lots of books, are there lots of ads?
  
  No ads. Easy to buy. It you're really concerned about privacy, just flash KOReader on it which is an alternative backend. The easier alternative is to never connect to the WiFi and manually transfer ePubs to the device through Calibre.
  
  Just don’t connect it to a network. Calibre to manage your library, transfer books via USB, done. Kobo+Calibre works fine on Linux.
  However, in rare cases Kobo devices can be a bit funny with displaying covers properly without internet access to fetch/correct them “automatically”. This is not privacy friendly, obviously.
  YMMV with this issue, but regardless if you choose a Kobo or not, I’ll drop some handy tips for you below just in case you care to polish your experience via Calibre.
  I can’t give credit for below cause this is copied from my notes and I don’t know the author/source. Enjoy.
  Calibre is so powerful and customizable that it has a bewildering amount of options and ways to do things. I wanted to scrape good metadata and covers for my ebook library in the simplest way I could. Here's my procedure:
  PREPARING THE MEDATA SOURCES (This only needs to be done once)
  Go to Preferences -> Get plugins to enhance Calibre -> find and install the 'Kindle hi-res covers' and 'Goodreads' plugins. Reboot Calibre.
  With your library open in Calibre, choose a selection of ebooks -> Ctrl+D to download metadata and covers -> configure download.
  On the lower right hand side, I set 'Max. number of tags to download:' at 4. This is personal preference.
  The only sources to have check marks (with their corresponding cover priority) should be:
  Goodreads: 3
  almost always has the best metadata, and is best for tags, which I limit to 4
  
  Google Images: 2
  While selected: Configure selected source -> [Choose your preferred cover size and max number of covers to retrieve - I up it to 10]
  If you end up choosing the covers individually Google often has good covers the other sources don't
  
  Kindle hi-res covers: 1
  It usually has the best covers but can be a pain because it often picks a foreign cover and you have to go choose the cover individually afterwards.
  I change the maximum number of covers to get from 5 to 10, but that's not necessary.
  
  PREPARING THE EBOOKS FOR SCRAPING COVERS AND METADATA
  I clear all the 'Rating', Tags' and 'Series' fields because the data may be from all over the place (tags are often particularly awful), but Goodreads metadata will standardize it (as far as it can be for my liking, anyway - they seem to have a finite and well-ordered number of tags unlike many other sources). You can clear other fields but I only do those three.
  Select your books -> Right-click -> Edit metadata -> Edit metadata in bulk
  For 'Rating:' select 'Not rated' from the dropdown and then check 'Apply rating' on the right
  Also on the right side, check 'Remove all' on the 'Remove tags:' row and 'Clear series' below it.
  TO GET COVERS
  Select the ebooks you want to scrape and press Ctrl+D -> Download only covers.
  If I choose 'Download both' I usually have to reject many because the cover is foreign or something, and then I end up scraping the metadata separately anyway.
  
  When the job is done -> Review downloaded metadata -> Check 'Mark rejected books' (this option will stay selected in the future) then go through the books, pressing 'Reject' for any books that don't have a satisfactory cover.
  After finishing the selections, the marked books will show. Select them all -> Right click - > select 'Edit metadata individually'
  Press 'Download cover', select a cover, and press 'Next' until finished
  Select all the rejected books and press Ctrl-M to toggle the marked (pinned) status to off
  I put the 'Mark books' icon in the main toolbar with Preferences -> Toolbars & menus -> select 'The main toolbar' from the dropdown and move the 'Mark books' icon to the column on the right
  
  Press the X at the end of the search bar to clear the selection and get back to the main book list.
  If you don't see the search bar add it by pressing 'Layout' at the bottom right and toggling 'Search bar' to 'Show'.
  
  Rather than using the above steps, if I have some free time I like to select ALL the covers manually, because it can be fun to look at the different choices. Sometimes I'll pick a foreign cover because the art is better. (Also many of the larger covers - especially from Kindle hi-res - are actually much blurrier than some smaller choices and you can't tell from the thumbnails so I like to right-click and compare them at full size) To do it this way, instead of doing step 1 above:
  Select the ebooks you want to scrape -> Right-click -> Edit metadata -> Edit metadata individually
  Do Step 4. That will be the last step
  TO GET METADATA
  Select the books you want to scrape and press Ctrl+D -> Download only metadata.
  When the job is done -> 'Review downloaded metadata' OR 'Yes'
  If I DO review the metadata, I usually only check the comments, because I can usually trust the metadata from GoodReads
  
  OPTIONAL: If any of the metadata you reviewed is unsatisfactory, 'Reject' it when reviewing, then do step 3 from the 'TO GET COVERS' section, then go to step 4 but select 'Download Metadata' instead of cover and follow the instructions from there.
  You should now be finished selecting metadata for your selected books!

I was on the same journey as you a month or so back and luckily the PineNote just got a second batch produced.
I wrote down some of my thoughts here, maybe that helps: https://domistyle.gitlab.io/pinenote-2024/
- I read your blog post. I was interested until I saw the price on the EU store :(
  
  I ordered from the global store and paid 530€. Still expensive of course and it comes without warranty but it is cheaper and in stock.
- You page loads up then it goes away. Not sure what’s up. Maybe it’s my ad blockers. Who knows.
  
  Which browser do you use? The only issue I'm aware of is that the videos don't load on Firefox for Android.

Haven't tried any other similar product (except the pro version), but I have the Remarkable 2 and in my experience it's pretty good as an e reader as well. Maybe expensive for just using it as an e-reader but you can also use it as a note taking device. It's pretty big but still really thin and light, so it's a pretty good reading experience especially if you have bigger hands, some people may find it too big as an e-reader tho, but I really like the size.
One recommendation I can make is that if you are interested in it, if you have the money consider the pro version. If notetaking matters to you, the little I experienced writing on the pro version was so much better. The pen is much better as well as the tracking. My version tends to be off by about a millimeter at some places and the edges. This becomes extremely frustrating when you're trying to e.g. dot the i-s and you keep missing where you want to write. From what I saw, the pro version is much better at this and is in colour.
- I have had quite a battle with/trying to avoid Remarkable's cloud service with both my RM1 and RM2. It is very deeply linked, and their privacy policy isn't the best.
  This might not be applicable if you're only going to use it as an ereader, but I want to keep sensitive documents on mine and it has not been easy. I currently use this script, but it's a clunky experience.
  Unbelievably good piece of hardware though!
  
  I'd argue it's a simple toggle, namely if you do not register to their cloud, you don't have access to their features and that's it. If you somehow "mess" registration up and still went through the steps, hard reset and voila, clean reMarkable.
  Source : I had the one and now have the reMarkable 2 and Pro and I do not use their cloud.
  
  Ah, didn't realise this was the Privacy community, yeah not main the goto if that's your focus.

Buy a Kobo, never connect it to WiFi. Or flash KOReader on it. Either way much better than the alternatives.
- I have a Clara 2E. It was some time ago, so I cannot remember all the fine details, but I couldn't get mine to start without some internet connection. I gave a throwaway email and allowed it to update before I switched off WiFi and could freely move books with Calibre.
  To it's credit, in 3 years since purchase it has not asked for internet since switching it on the first time.
  
  Got a libre2 recently as a gift. My first ereader. I was able to plug it into the PC. Change a line of code and reboot.
  Thst made the email prompt go away.
  Then installed koreader and syncthing on it. I DL books on Android and it syncs over to Kobo. I can even read via koreader app on andrpid and it syncs progression.
- What is the reason not to connect it to the WiFi ?
  
  If one doesn't want telemetry etc being sent to Rakuten.

I have an old Kindle Paperwhite. I put use Calibre and USB to manage the library, no Amazon connection necessary. Works great.
- Used to have Paperwhite. Upgraded to Kindle Oasis a few years ago. No regrets.
- Yeah with ebook readers the actual device doesn't really matter as long as you use calibre. I also use the same kindle and honestly I'm not even sure if it has wifi. Maybe. Probably. But it never gets used.

I use a Boox Note, and I like it a lot. Its an android based eBook reader so you have full access to android apps including side loading apps from other stores.
By default it does not have Google services set up but you can use the Play store should you want. But its not integrated to googles services. Obviously there is some integration to Onyx Boox services which is based in China. However infindnit is unobstrusive and you dont have to use their store or any of their tools.
Personally I use Calibre on my Linux PC to manage my books on the device, and I use fbreader as a reader (closed source) but you can install open source software if thats your preference. KOReader certainly works but I'm not a big fan of the interface personally.
I use ebooks.com to buy books (and calibre to remove DRM so I can use my preferred software), and you can install the Kindle app to access a kindle library if you haven't liberated your books yet. Ebooks reader works on the device too. Obviously DRM free books from any source and format can also be used.
My device - the note - has an nice crisp screen, is well made with a nice aluminium chassie and is comfortable to hold. I read books in portrait mode so you have 2 pages visible at a time. Its also good for a4 size documents. They do also have smaller sizes that match a kindle paper white.

Pocketbook devices mostly run on Linux, except for a few android models. I have the Pocketbook Basic Lux, and I side load manga onto a SD card for it. It has a bookstore that can be entirely ignored, and you can use it without ever connecting wifi. I use Kindle Comic Converter to resize all my manga to the same resolution of the screen to prevent artifacts when the software downscales the images, as well as significantly reducing file size. It has a very simple menu and does not come with any bloatware or unnecessary additions. It is simply an eReader.
- Have a later model, the Pocketbook Verse (not the pro edition). Flashed KOReader on it which was much easier than anticipated. Have a couple extra features in the reader that way.
  It does as promised. I just plug it into my devices to get epubs onto it. You don't even need a book management software like Calibre, you can use it similarly to how you'd use a thumb drive.
- +1 for Pocketbook
  Never had any issues with it whatsoever.
  The device works great with Calibre.
  There is some other functionality that I did not use.
- I just got the Dandadan opening out of my head, now it's back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4na2opArGY
  How's the manga?
  
  It seems they took some liberties to do more cool action scenes that weren't in the manga. Otherwise it seems almost the same content-wise so far. I like the way Momo looks in the manga; she seems more lighthearted at times.

I can't speak to the privacy of it, but I love my Kobo Elipsa 2E setup. I've got NickelMenu, Synching and Autoshelf installed, so I can sort books by directory and have them sync. I also have KOReader installed with some other goodies, but rarely use it. The reading experience in the stock firmware is way nicer. And the screen is big enough to read full size PDFs comfortably. Kobo runs Linux under the hood, and there are extensions to give you Telnet/SSH access so you can mod what you need.
Also, being able to borrow books from Overdrive/Libby on it and support my local library is rad.
I did the whole Calibre with Kobo extensions thing for a few weeks, but it just didn't work out very well for me. I like to have my books synced to multiple devices and Calibre just isn't built for that.
- Yeah I like my Kobo too. It's never done anything sketchy as far as I can tell, plus you can sideload things, and if you plug it in via USB it just shows up like regular drive so you can do what you want with it. And also Libby is awesome lol.

used kindle paperwhite, check firmware version to ensure jailbreak
jailbreak, install koreader
use calibre to manage library, source books from uh. the seas
amazon devices have quite good screens for the price
however, if you are reading comics, you should get a bigger screen probably a tablet, look into boox and meebook, both are android based
i would not recommend color screens rn, they still have significantly lower contrast and resolution and refresh is slow af

Instead of self-hosting, I have a device that can hold a large amount of sideloaded material and sync between my PC and device with syncthing. Boox devices work well for this.

The Miyoo Mini Plus. It's a Gameboy Linux Emulator device. Besides being able to run most games up to ps1, you can also put ebooks as pdf or epub on it.
- That's not really an adequate recommendation imo. The Miyoo Mini Plus has subpar battery runtime due to it's size limitations and it's LCD screen, compared to actual eInk devices. The screen size and ratio is also not suitable for effective reading, even though it is possible to read eBooks with it.
  
  Yeah well it's more of a fun recommendation, don't take things so seriously. There are already enough serious recommendations in the comments.

I read on my phone amoled display in dark mode with the app Cool Reader.
- Same here with librera

I use a boox leaf 2, it has android without google play services OOTB, you can install that if you want and you can side load apps like normal android too. It has a nice crisp screen, adjustable backlight (color and intensity) micro SD slot in addition to the 32gb internal storage. It will open pretty much any eBook format out there, and you can also use kindle app and adobe digital editions for DRM books (if you don't strip the DRM)
I highly recommend it.

there's the pineNote but its a bit pricy

I use a Kobo Libra 2 and it's been great

I recently got a Boox Go 6. It's just a really simple android tablet with a paper type display. So whatever android reading app you use you could probably run it. Strictly in terms of privacy I'm not sure if it's uniquely well suited. But I would expect it's better than Kindle or Kobo.
- I only trust my ebook because I never connect it to the internet)
  
  In theory the boox only has wifi. Presumably you could never connect it to anything, even by usb, if you loaded your books onto an sd card.

I have had the same Tolino Shine for... 10 years now? It recently broke down and I will definitely get the new Shine at some point. You can put books on it yourself via usb and basically never need to connect to the internet if you don't want to. Unsure tho if it is available outside of Germany/EU.
- AFAICT currently Tolino is just a rebranded Kobo.

I have a Remarkable Paper Pro that I love for graphic novels, aside of its hand-writting capabilities. It's also good for reading books, but the size is a bit too big to carry it without a bag or when out and about. Ideally, I'd like something like the Boox Palma 2, but not sure if I can justify the price + Pen having already another eNotebook.

On Android I use FBReader. I paid for the Premium version.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fbreader
- I think the person asked for e-ink device recommendations. Reading on an Android vs e-ink screen makes such a huge difference
  
  There is no mention of e-ink, OP has an Android device, I have an Android device, I read eBooks on it daily, I use FBReader. I'm not sure what all the kerfuffle is about.

95 comments

PREPARING THE MEDATA SOURCES (This only needs to be done once)

PREPARING THE EBOOKS FOR SCRAPING COVERS AND METADATA

TO GET COVERS

TO GET METADATA