Library to go: TOP-5 e-books

PocketBook 614 Basic 3 is an entry-level reader that has everything you need for comfortable reading, but nothing more. PocketBook Basic 3 is based on the latest generation eInk Carta screen, which provides maximum image clarity and contrast with minimal eye strain. The screen is not touch-sensitive, but in an entry-level reader this is not really necessary. Pages are turned over in the old fashioned way, using the central button.

Minimalism in equipment did not touch the most important thing - the omnivorousness of the reader and its memory capacity. Built-in 8 GB can be expanded up to 32 GB using memory cards, and this volume is enough to fill a third of the US Library of Congress into the reader. As for omnivorousness, the reader supports all popular text formats (FB2, EPUB, DOC, PDF) and in no way limits the reader in choosing books. If you are not a fan of Flibusa and prefer to buy books, then the built-in library with 500 classics will be a nice bonus.

The PocketBook Basic 3 does not have the most capacious 1300 mAh battery, but thanks to the minimalistic filling, the reader shows excellent autonomy. If you do not participate in book marathons, but read several hours a day with weekend breaks, then a full battery charge is enough for 2-3 months of work.

The only thing you can safely find fault with is the lack of a built-in backlight. Yes, this is a plus for autonomy, but if you like to read in the dark, you will have to buy a special clip-on flashlight in the company of the reader or read in the old fashioned way with lit candles. If both options seem inconvenient (and they are), then it would be better to look after a backlit reader - fortunately, you won’t have to overpay for the backlight.

And although ONYX BOOK named their reader in honor of the Roman emperor-multi-station (or lettuce?), It cannot be compared with a Swiss knife. WiFi? No. Bluetooth? Also no. Caesar shines just like an e-book. Largely due to the excellent screen quality, MOON Light backlight and thoughtful ergonomics.

Caesar has the best possible screen options - eInk Carta with an perfect resolution for 6 inches (1024x758 pixels). Thanks to the high contrast ratio (14:1), text is equally readable both indoors and in bright sunlight. In total darkness, the MOON Light backlight with a wide range of brightness helps out. The display displays 16 shades of gray and does a good job of playing simple and light PDF files like technical documentation, catalogs and books that for some reason have been laid out in PDF.

Since the screen is not touch-sensitive, 2 side buttons are responsible for switching pages. As the reader's experience shows, this option is the most convenient, as it allows you to turn the pages without letting go of the book. If necessary, the buttons can be reconfigured for the left hand. An additional plus for convenience is the soft-touch case, which sits securely in the hands.

Caesar has a 3000 mAh battery, which allows you to forget about charging for a long time: when reading 2-3 hours a day, 100% charge is enough for about 2 months of work. The reader itself is running Android version 4.2, the interface of which has been changed almost beyond recognition. Of the stock Android applications, there is only a calculator, a dictionary, and the OReader reader itself.

Perhaps the only drawback of this book is its indistinctly sorted file system: everything is lumped together by file names. If you keep order in the library, then this is not a problem. But if the shelves are full of downloaded books with original titles like “d_nolan_-_kuriniye_utehi”, then you will have to dig into the file manager and look for everything manually. The more books, the more time it takes.

The Paperwhite 2016 is Amazon's third generation of e-reader that was created to fill the gap between the low-cost Kindle and the flagship Voyage. The Paperwhite 2016 is equipped with a 6-inch eInk Carta screen with a resolution of 1448x1072 pixels (pixel density is 300 ppi). These are excellent indicators, which are mainly found in top readers like Amazon Voyage. The screen itself is bright and requires the backlight to be turned on only when it is completely dark.

The touch screen is very responsive to touch and refreshes pages quickly. The experience of using the screen is more like tablets of the past generation than clumsy readers. Thanks to the responsive sensor, the engineers were able to remove any controls from the case, leaving only a small power button at the bottom.

The main convenience / inconvenience that the owner of Paprewhite will have to put up with is a hard link to the Amazon store. Buy only here, read only with the help of the Amazon reader and do not share the book you like with anyone. Simply because Paprewhite does not support the popular FB2 and EPUB book formats at the system level. Therefore, it is better for Flibusta regulars to look for another reader. Or get ready for the mating dance with a flashing of the system. But this will turn the Paprewhite into a regular reader with a very good screen.

At the same time, the Amazon ecosystem has a lot of advantages. In 2015, the store launched a Russian-language section with books, and now an impressive library has gathered there. Naturally, with tempting Amazonian discounts, good thematic selections, Amazon Freetime children's service and an excellent recommendation system.

The second plus of linking to the internal store is the support for cloud storage (Paperwite 2016 has a built-in Wi-Fi module), in which you can store everything purchased without loading the built-in memory (here it is 4 GB). At the same time, you can read purchased books from different devices (there is an application for Android and iOS), saving all bookmarks, reading settings and the last open page.

The Darwin 3 has a 6-inch eInk Carta touch screen with a resolution of 1024x758 pixels and a high contrast ratio (15:1). Apart from specific color matrices, this is the most modern type of electronic ink, which is now widely used in mid- to high-end readers. The text is perfectly readable both in bright sunlight and indoors. And in which case, the MOON Light backlight helps out, which is much less tiring for the eyes than the backlight of IPS screens.

However, all these are quite familiar characteristics for a good reader. Much more interesting is the support for Snow Field technology, which removes artifacts when updating the display. As a rule, ordinary electronic ink leaves garbage on the screen after a dozen flips, which have to be removed by a full page refresh. Snow Field does this for the reader without distracting from the book itself. True, it only works in proprietary ONYX applications - OReader and NeoReader.

Darwin 3 is running an old Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which has been radically redesigned for the needs of readers. At the same time, Android is not stripped down, as in low-cost ONYX BOOK models, so you can install other reader applications, simple games like text quests, and even social network clients on the reader. True, in this case it is important to understand that the screen with electronic ink cannot fully replace a smartphone / tablet due to the fact that it takes time to update and draw the image.

To communicate with the outside world, a Wi-Fi module is built into the e-book. A capacious 3000 mAh battery is responsible for autonomy. The volume is good even by the standards of smartphones, but the operating time will largely depend on how actively you use Wi-Fi, Snow Field and the backlight. With a minimum load, the manufacturer promises 20,000 pages. This is about a month of reading in the mode of 2-3 hours a day.

A nice bonus for Darwin 3 buyers is a cute and useful faux leather case that secures the lid with magnets when the book is open and puts the book to sleep when the lid is closed. You can dig here only to the velvety inner lining, which actively collects dust.

Thanks to the large touch screen of 7.8 inches and standard dimensions for a reader, the press called the PocketBook 740 a "small-big" reader. However, its innovations are not limited to a large screen - the 740th is not just an update to successful PocketBook models, but almost a revolution in the e-book market.

For starters, the PocketBook 740 is a very rare beast with a powerful dual-core processor. Thanks to him, the 740 turns on in 4 seconds, flips pages one and a half times faster, instantly renders web pages and opens heavy PDF files four times faster. Not to say that ordinary readers were too slow, but in comparison with the PocketBook 740 they seem like family Fiats against the backdrop of a racing Ferrari.

The next innovation is color temperature adjustment, like the color screens of smartphones and tablets. If ordinary readers are limited by backlight brightness settings, PocketBook740 can make the backlight warmer or colder, so that it is most convenient for the eyes to read without additional light sources - chandeliers, lamps, and so on. The tuning scale is long and there are a lot of options - from gray and pale yellow to bright orange and almost red.

The icing on the cake is the integration of the PocketBook Cloud cloud service - a useful thing for book lovers who read always, everywhere and from different devices. PocketBook Cloud allows you to store the books themselves, data about bookmarks and reading settings in the cloud. Thanks to this, you can start a new book in the evening from the reader, and continue reading from the same place on your smartphone (there is an application for iOS and Android) while driving to work or waiting for a friend in a cafe. You can upload books to the cloud from any source, no one limits it to a built-in store, as in Amazon and Barnes & Noble readers. Free storage is limited to 2 GB.

In general, if you have been dreaming of updating the reader for a long time, but do not want to burden your vision with the color screen of the tablet, then PocketBook740 is definitely your client.