We will not argue about which book is better - paper or electronic. Both the one and the other have many advantages and disadvantages. However, the e-book has two important options, which, alas, will never be on paper:
- The first is the ability to customize the size and type of the font for you.
- The second is the ability to store “under one cover” at once a thousand books.
If you are interested the best e-books of 2018, then before the start of autumn-winter sales, it's time to look for suitable options. We studied popular offers on Yandex.Market, as well as the recommendations of specialists with PCmag and Hookedtobooks, and compiled the top e-books. We hope that one of them will become your faithful friend at home and on trips.
10. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
The average price is 8 590 rubles.
- 6 ″ e-book
- E-Ink Pearl, Backlit
- touch input
- resolution 1024 × 768
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- memory cards are not supported
Paperwhite is one of the most popular Kindle readers. There is an important reason for this - improved features compared to the older obsolete Basic version.
The most noticeable improvement in the Kindle Paperwhite is its excellent resolution. Higher pixel density turns into much sharper and easier to read text. Fast and responsive touchscreen works without freezes and slowdowns.
Four built-in LEDs allow you to read in the dark, without interfering with the rustle of flipped pages. An important distinguishing feature of the built-in LEDs is that they shine evenly on the page, and not directly into your eyes, as happens when reading from a smartphone and tablet. But you can’t completely turn off the backlight, even if you set it to zero, the dim light is still visible.
The battery guarantees up to 6 weeks of operation if you use the device for 30 minutes a day and with the wireless network turned off.
Cons Kindle Paperwhite are: the lack of waterproof, headphone jack and support for fb2 format.
9. Kobo Aura H2O
The average price is 17,990 rubles.
- 6.8 ″ e-book
- E-Ink Carta, Backlit
- capacitive touch input
- resolution 1430 × 1080
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- microSD, microSDHC memory cards
If you are going to one of the cleanest sandy beaches in the world or just want to read a book while lying in the bathroom, bring Kobo Aura H2O with you. This is the best e-book of 2018 in terms of water resistance.
The device boasts one of the largest E Ink touch screens on the e-book market. It also has a uniform white backlight, which makes the screen as similar as possible to a white book sheet. And thanks to many small settings (from fonts to line spacing) you can make the text not only interesting, but also pleasing to the eye.
Cons: the lack of a Russian menu "out of the box", folders are not supported.
8. Kobo Clara HD
The average price is 13,990 rubles.
- 6 ″ e-book
- E-ink carta with backlight
- 16 grayscale 16
- 8 GB internal memory
- USB interface
- have wifi
One of the thinnest and lightest modern e-books. Its main advantages are its excellent screen in an elegant case and long battery life. On one charge, the reader can last about a month.
The Clara HD LED backlight can be changed from blue to soothing yellow. It can also automatically change depending on the time of day. The user interface looks like Ubuntu for e-books. He is very simple. You can place your books in collections related to titles.
When reading, you can choose one of 10 different fonts with a wide range of sizes. Click on the words in the text and you can highlight or annotate them, or share quotes on Facebook.
Unfortunately, this device is not waterproof.
7. Kobo Aura ONE
The average price is 22,990 rubles.
- e-book 7.8 ″
- E-Ink Carta, Backlit
- touch input
- resolution 1872 × 1404
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- microSD, microSDHC memory cards
“Are you crazy? Pull me an e-book, which costs more than a good Chinese phone! ”, You may be outraged. And we will answer: “Do not rush. Take a look at the advantages of Aura ONE and realize that a high price sometimes still means high quality. ”
For many people, the large screen of an e-book is the factor that makes me say: “I take it!”. The Aura ONE screen is closer to the size of a physical book, but has all the conveniences of a reader. For those who read a lot of PDFs and tutorials, it is without a doubt much more relevant than the 6-inch screen of Amazon Kindle Paperwhite or Kobo Clara HD. In addition, a larger screen is also more convenient for people who like large font sizes.
The Kobo Aura One comes with nine white LEDs and eight RGB LEDs around the frame. This is one of the rarest e-books on the market with RGB LEDs. They allow you to provide different color temperature of the screen depending on the time of day and lighting.
The Kobo Aura One is equipped with HZO Protection ™ technology. He can remain safe in water at a depth of 2 meters for an hour.
And now about the shortcomings: the manufacturer did not put either a cover or even a charger. There is no Russian language in the reader, although it supports the Cyrillic alphabet, but the built-in dictionaries are only in English.
6. PocketBook 640
The average price is 7,990 rubles.
- 6 ″ e-book
- E-ink pearl
- touch input
- resolution 800 × 600
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- memory cards
This e-reader with a bright, anti-glare touch screen has features that are truly compelling for many ebook fans. These include:
- pocketbook sync - a service for downloading content to a reader “over the air”;
- the ability to share quotes from books in social networks
- integration with ReadRate service;
- cloud storage available through Dropbox;
- water resistance according to the IP57 standard (safe immersion to a depth of 1 meter).
Of the minuses, users note tight and low-located control buttons.
5. PocketBook 614 Plus
The average price is 5,344 rubles.
- e-book with b / w screen 6 ″
- E-ink carta
- resolution 800 × 600
- 16 shades of gray
- microSD, microSDHC memory cards
This is a very convenient e-book both in terms of housing and in terms of firmware. It will be very difficult to miss the elastic buttons, the device is comfortable in the hand, and the bright screen belongs to the latest generation of E-Ink. It is convenient to read from it, and your eyes do not get tired.
Shell PocketBook 614 Plus allows you to create your own folders, and not store all books in one, supports fb2 format and Russian encoding.
Cons: no backlight and Wi-Fi module
4. ONYX BOOX C67ML Darwin
The average price is 8,490 rubles.
- 6 ″ e-book
- E-Ink Carta, Backlit
- capacitive touch input
- resolution 1024 × 758
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- microSD, microSDHC memory cards
With a battery capacity of 1700 mAh, this e-book has a very low weight - only 169 grams. In addition, the manufacturer put a beautiful leatherette case in the kit. Still not enough for you to choose this model? Then here are some more advantages:
- a huge number of supported formats for texts, including FB2 and FB2.zip;
- 8 GB of internal memory and the ability to use more memory cards;
- high-contrast screen with a resolution of 1024x759 pixels.
Pages turn over instantly, and you can even play games with low graphics rendering speed.
Cons: not a very convenient library that shows all the books "on the heap." And to see them in folders you will have to use Explorer.
3. PocketBook 515 Mini 3.5
The average price is 4,990 rubles.
- e-book with b / w screen 5 ″
- E-ink vizplex
- resolution 800 × 600
- 16 shades of gray
- memory cards are not supported
A small, fast and lightweight e-book is perfect for those who need to read abstracts, technical pdfs with illustrations or other materials that do not require a color screen. Despite the small screen size, the text on it is read very well.
A feature of this reader is a convenient notes system. You can save the selected lines as pictures.
Of the minuses, we note the easily-branded rear panel and tight buttons. And the picture sometimes does not fit into the full screen.
2. Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch
The average price is 7,990 rubles.
- 6 ″ e-book
- E-ink pearl
- touch input
- resolution 800 × 600
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- microSD, microSDHC memory cards
One of the favorites of Russian users. They like the convenience and screen of this model. Thanks to the recess on the back wall, the device is very convenient to hold in your hands. And the mechanical buttons located on the sides fit exactly under the fingers. The anti-glare touch screen is quite contrasty and easy to read even on the street in bright sunlight.
This reader weighs more than many of its competitors - 212 grams. This is all due to the capacious 1560 mAh battery, which allows you to forget about charging the device for two to three weeks.
After receiving root access, craftsmen can install a Russified keyboard, Dropbox and Dropsync, and many other useful utilities on the reader.
The minus of the “reader” is one - a small number of formats supported “out of the box”.
1. Amazon Kindle Oasis 2017 32 Gb
The average price is 26 590 rubles.
- e-book 7 ″
- E-Ink Carta, Backlit
- touch input
- resolution 1440 × 1080
- 16 shades of gray
- Wifi
- memory cards are not supported
If you are shocked by the cost of the Kindle Oasis, then you are not alone in this. We are all used to the fact that readers from the Kindle series are much cheaper. However, the capabilities of this device allowed it to be placed at the head of the 2018 e-book ranking. In the review of the best models, there are other readers with water resistance and a good backlight. However, only the Kindle Oasis has a thickening on the left side of the back cover, which helps move the center of gravity to the center of the palm. Thanks to this, your hand will not get tired for a long time. Such a “handle” serves a visual purpose, and also imitates a book spine. This is the closest approximation to a real book that an electronic device can get.
- In the 2017 version, the ability to listen to audio books through bluetooth headphones is implemented.
- The creators also took care of the physical buttons that are located to the right of the screen and lie exactly under the thumb.
- Thanks to its smart design and square shape, Oasis is by far the lightest and thinnest Kindle device on the market. It weighs 194 grams. For comparison: Kindle Paperwhite weighs 213 grams.
- Another distinguishing feature of Oasis: an automatically rotating screen. This is the only Kindle model that supports screen rotation, so left-handed users can use it.
Cons: the high price (although the version with 8 GB on board is cheaper - about 23 thousand rubles) and an open microUSB connector, which does not fit well with water protection according to the IPX8 standard.
To summarize: which e-book is better to buy
If your budget allows you, we recommend Amazon Kindle Oasis 2017 32 Gb or Kobo Aura ONE. These are readers with a large screen, nimble, convenient and with a wide range of options.
If water resistance is required along with an affordable price, then pay attention to the Kobo Aura H2O or PocketBook 640.
If the budget is limited to 5-7 thousand rubles, and you want a quality reader, select PocketBook 515 Mini 3.5 or PocketBook 614 Plus.
The remaining participants in our selection are approximately equal in characteristics and quality. Choose the "reader" that you like best in appearance.
