What E-reader?

[shmiv311]

Hey all,

I'm looking for an e-reader 6-8 inches, that's flexible with the file types that it handles. I have books in both epub and mobi and also read pdf's for books and research papers. I've been using my phone until now but I can't take it any more.

Will be grateful for any help

[salamanderjuice]

My somewhat biased recommendation is the Oynx Nova 3 (I have a Nova 2). It's a 7.8" 300 PPI reader that runs Android, the built in reader does PDF, mobi, ePub, even AZW3 surprisingly. Plus since it's Android you can just use the Kindle, Kobo, Google Play Books apps with not too much trouble. Plus it has a Wacom digitiser so you can write notes on it or mark up PDFs. Extremely flexible, has a decent Qualcomm processor and 3GB RAM so PDFs are actually snappy compared to a Kindle or Kobo. Only real con is the price. It's not cheap but it's also not much more than Amazon or Kobo's 7-8" readers tbh.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by shmiv311

I'm looking for an e-reader 6-8 inches, that's flexible with the file types that it handles. I have books in both epub and mobi and also read pdf's for books and research papers.

The cheapest device that covers the 6-inch range is the Likebook P6.
With 7.8 inches, it is the likebook Mars.
Both devices run Android 8.1.
For pdf, I would advise the Mars.

[shmiv311]

And if i won't be heavily using pdfs would you still recommend the above devices or something else?

[JSWolf]

If you are going to be reading PDF, go for the Kobo Forma with an 8" screen. You can install KOReader for use with your PDF. The Forma also handles ePub.

[Pajamaman]

Kobo will read pdfs fine with Koreader, and will also handle most other formats okay.

If you very focused on pdf, you would probably be happiers with an Onyx or a Likebook. Again they handle all other formats, even more so than a Kobo as you can install other apps.

The Kobo screen is probably a bit clearer than the others, and is probably a bit cheaper. However, it is probably a bit slower. The other two have more power under the hood. Also, the battery life of the Kobo will be longer.

I have an Onyx as I want the increased power and flexibility.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by shmiv311

And if i won't be heavily using pdfs would you still recommend the above devices or something else?

I would. Having Android just really expands what the devices can do. Like I can sync it with Onedrive where I keep all my books and papers which is not possible with Kobo for example. It I can use both the Kindle and Kobo apps. I can read that one digital CRC textbook I have in their shitty app.


If you want a cheap, just to read ePub ereader with the occasional PDF get a Kobo Clara. It will do mobi too, but not DRM'd or later Amazon formats.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you are going to be reading PDF, go for the Kobo Forma with an 8" screen. You can install KOReader for use with your PDF. The Forma also handles ePub.

I tried using a 7.8" Kobo Aura One for PDFs, research papers in particular. With how often you need to put papers on and off during the course of research side loading over USB gets extremely tiresome fast and 8GB is too small for lots of eBooks and PDFs.

Forma does offer a 32GB model, but you save like $30 over an Oynx while getting way less. Built in PDF support is also limited and if you really want KOReader it works on Android devices as well.