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!
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’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.
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”.
Kobo is the way. Open system. Not locked like kindle. You can “jailbreak” it in 5 seconds. Linux based. They send you firmware updates even when it’s “jailbroken”. You can bring your own books and they won’t fuck with your book covers like kindle does (I would use calibre to convert your books to kepub to get all the features on a book). No ads on the lock screen. I love my kobo Sage. I’m waiting for them to release a 10" one with high PPI so I can buy it. In all honesty, even the android ones are better than kindle. Basically, almost all non-kindles are good, except for a few random Chinese brands that have their own weird OS.
I read some tests about Kobo. Nice to know people are satisfied. Definitely will look at it again.
I have an older kobo, the h20 Libra, some years old. I have my eye on a new version but I don’t replace things that aren’t broke. Let me tell you, that Libra will last me years to come still, amazing quality. I haven’t even mentioned the easy USB connect to add books, or the great Kobo store.
My next one will definitely be a Kobo as well.
I have a kobo from 2016 that still works alright. I kind of want to buy a newer model but it’s not broken yet so…
Terrible, such sturdiness. I’m starting to fear this will be my last e-reader ever… :)
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
I think Kobo is the best choice, I use it since 10 years with Calibre.
I have a Kobo Libra 2 and can sync it wirelessly to my Calibre library. Love it!
How do you sync it wirelessly? The most common solution I found online for wireless book transfer was to use the web browser on the kobo and download books from the calibre content server
I use Calibre Web for this.
So you download the books from calibre-web using the browser on your own kobo?
I would set it up like this. Everything you have in Calibre Web, or only on a shared shelf, will show up in your Kobo reader book section and is ready to download.
No plugins or extra software, it just works.
https://brandonjkessler.com/technology/2021/04/26/setup-kobo-sync-in-calibre-web.html
Huh, that’s neat
No, I just “sync” my kobo to my home network with the Calibre Web instance running and it syncs the library automatically.
In order to do that you have to edit the Kobo device configs and replace the Kobo store address with the local address of your Calibre web server.
-
enable calibres Server Funktionality
-
connect to Server with plugin
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 just use an old Kindle, but I’m considering buying an SPC Dickens Light 2 Pro. They’re sold out, right now.
To play devil’s advocate, is there any way you might be able to fix the Kindle? I’ve saved two for family members by swapping batteries and it’s not that hard if you have a spudger and decent set of screwdrivers.
It has been slow and doing weird stuff for years now. It’s first or second edition so it is quite old. I don’t know if a battery change will fix getting stuck in boot screen.
I got a Boox about a year ago and am very happy with it. In addition to the built in reader, I have the Kindle, B&N, Kobo and Google Play books apps on it. I only buy epubs without DRM these days, and I’ve de-DRMed all my purchases from all these platforms and backed them up, but if there’s something I want to re-read, I find it’s easier to use the apps.
I could put other apps on it, since it’s essentially an Android device, but I keep it strictly for reading.
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).
I literally just got a Kobo Libra Colour a few days ago. Works great so far. I wouldn’t recommend it for your back pocket though, too large for that. I think they offer smaller e-readers, but I’m not sure which ones might fit well in a pocket.
