Hi,
My Kindle won’t boot anymore and keeps getting stuck in boot screen, so I thought this might be a good time to get away from Amazon, even though that device was great.
So, what non-kindle readers would you recommend?
It should have color and background light and it shouldn’t be huge so I can keep it in the back pocket.
And, since I don’t have any experience outside the Amazon ecosystem: how is the experience of buying and transferring books to non Kindle readers?
Update: I did research based on your recommendations. Thanks for all the input, that was way more than I expected! I settled for the Kobo Clara Color since it seemed to almost perfectly match my needs and Kobo and the model itself got heavily recommended here and on the web.
I use a Kobo, sideloaded with KoReader. I use Calibre to manage my ebooks, which takes a bit of a learning curve, but is definitely worth learning!
You might possibly be interested in checking out the YouTube channel MyDeepGuide. Guy does in-depth reviews ofbmostly e-ink writing tablets, which perhaps is more functionality than you’re looking for, but some of those manufacturers also do standalone “just” readers. Or maybe you’ll be convinced to get a writing tablet :p
I just use an old Kindle, but I’m considering buying an SPC Dickens Light 2 Pro. They’re sold out, right now.
Boox go 10.3, check mydeepguide on YT for a review.
i have a kobo which i adore. It’s a great little device. Pretty simple to sideload if that’s your thing. Just plug in, drag and drop to the root folder of the kobo, then eject drive and unplug. it auto imports them and stuff. The draw back though, kobo plus doesn’t have as many books as kindle unlimited, if that’s your thing. but all in all, kobos are great.
As for transferring books from kindle to kobo, i don’t believe you can anymore. amazon closed that process down, and now I believe you can’t do it. Which sucks balls.
I just use the free kindle app on my phone or ipad
I use the app too, but I don’t want that as my main reading device because e-ink feels way more comfortable on the eyes.
I have a Vivlio, a French ebook reader, and I’m quite happy with it. I have a Kindle Paperwhite too for Amazon purchased books, but mainly use the Vivlio. I’m not sure if it’s available in the States, or even outside of France.
I’d recommend a Kobo Clara. They do do a colour variant but the next part of my recommendation might not be able to cope with it, I don’t know.
That next part is KOReader - you can install it ‘over the top’ of the standard Clara software so it becomes the working environment. Its got so many pluses I don’t have time to list them all but it plays nice with Calibre, you can SSH to it, FTP to it, even access it from some cloud services. I can’t say if it supports colour or not though as I don’t use a colour Clara.
Transferring your current collection is probably a non-starter due to the recent limitations Amazon have put on downloading files. Getting new ebooks is up to you, there’s loads of both legal and not so legal places to source books from, depending on how you feel about DRM.
In terms of transferring books - as well as the ways I mentioned above it also supports OPDS and of course standard USB cabled transfers too.
I’ve researched this and I’ll be buying a Kobo once my Kindle finally dies (it’s lived a hard life). I’ve bought DRMed books from some non-Amazon sources and had to go through the steps to strip their DRM so I could read them on the Kindle - this was using Calibre. Mostly those other sources were using Adobe Digital Editions (DeDRM can handle it).
I have yet to find if there’s a self-hosted option that would replicate what Amazon does - i.e. tracks read position and lets you download and read via an Android app or a website. I do have Calibre-web set up, but haven’t fully looked into what it can do yet.
Look into koreader. They host for you without an account. All you need is a username. You can read the same book and track your progress on different devices through koreader. If that’s what you mean
The Kobo is great. Very moddable, you can set it up in sideload mode so you never even need to register for an account, just move files to it via USB.
I’ve heard Kobo makes good ereaders and they have cool stuff like library integration. I’m very happy with my Kindle Oasis (because I largely ignore the Amazon ecosystem 🏴☠️), but if I had to replace it I would probably look at Kobo.
A lot of people will recommend Kobo readers, but also look into Pocketbook readers. I have their Basic Lux, which is a barebones eReader with a black and white screen. Even though it’s lower screen size and resolution, I use it for manga and I think it looks great. They have color ereaders, and some that even run on android (but that takes away from battery life).
Seconding Pocketbook. I’m using the older Touch3HD, which works just wonderfully and comes 100% without any DRM BS.
They do have their own store but I haven’t used it yet.
Kobo Libra 2 checking in. The ability to directly load epub files (and other formats) directly onto the drive and bypass the store is a game changer.
Not defending Amazon, but you can do this with Kindle too. I’ve had my kindles in airplane mode since I bought them (for me and my wife) and I’m adding books directly with Calibre anytime I want. You don’t need their whole “ecosystem”.
I also have a Libra 2 and it’s great! Nice size screen and very lightweight. Just to note as the OP asked for colour, the Libra 2 is B&W but they now do Libra and Clara colour versions :)
Kobo for sure. Great devices.
You bought the kindle books, Amazon took away what you bought. Anna’s archive without any guilt - boom, your kindle books are now yours to read on any device of your choosing again.
You don’t need to fiddle with calibre or managing files. This website works great for transferring books to the kobo. https://send.djazz.se/
You’re welcome :)
I quite liked the Pocketbook readers
