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.

  • Hanrahan@slrpnk.netEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    Im running a Kobo Libra Colour before that an old model Kindle that crapped itself.

    Lots to like

    Things I don’t like

    • No charging LED so you know when it’s fully charged
    • My books are sidleloaded from Calibre and 70% of the time when i go to start reading a book that I’m part way through, it opens on a different page , often 20-40 pages away, so much confusion. Not sure if it also does this to books sourced from the Kobo bookstore, or its a Calibre thing
    • Used to piss me off the power button being on the back, flip the cover over to read, it covers the power button. Put the Libra down, come back to it, the kobo cover covered the power switch, DOH! . They have since allowed a work around in the firmware where you can press the page turn button to restart reading, so it’s no longer really an issue.
  • Riley@lemmy.ml
    2·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • Arkhive (they/she)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    2·
    2 months ago

    I have a boox for bigger screen reading and a Hisense touch for on the go. I like them both. Wish I could more easily tweak the boox, and wish I could more easily ditch all the vendor crapware off the Hisense, but they do their jobs well enough. Hisense gets bonus points for being a hi-fi device that can drive my IEMs.

  • ludrol@bookwormstory.socialEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    I have used PocketBook touch lux 5 but the screen cracked twice. (User error but still, screen is a weak link)

    KoReader made it so snapy I couldn’t believe it at first.

    Now I have got kindle as I received it as a gift, so I jailbroke it and also installed KoReader on it.

    • xtapa@discuss.tchncs.deOP
      1·
      2 months ago

      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.

  • myrmidex@slrpnk.net
    0·
    2 months ago

    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.

    • Niquarl@lemmy.ml
      0·
      2 months ago

      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…

      • myrmidex@slrpnk.net
        1·
        2 months ago

        Terrible, such sturdiness. I’m starting to fear this will be my last e-reader ever… :)