Nick

Here’s the comparison of electronic ebook readers (or ereaders) for the year 2025: Kindle, Kobo, Pocketbook, Nook, Onyx, Meebook, etc.

After years of reviewing e-readers, I’m beginning to know a thing or two about them.

So, every month, I compile the latest information, reviews and rumors and deduce which are the best e-readers to buy.

This guide will be very useful when it comes to (buying) a e-reader. By reading this page you should be able to buy the e-reader that suits you best.

Should you buy a e-reader in July 2025?

Yes !

All the new Kobo e-reader have been released and you now have a lot of choice.

A number of new e-readers (6″ screen and over) have been released in recent months or years and are very good:

• Kobo Clara Colour
  
• Kobo Clara BW
  
• Kobo Elipsa 2E
  
• Pocketbook Verse
  
• Pocketbook Verse Pro
  
• Pocketbook Verse Pro Color
  
• Pocketbook InkPad 4
  
• Kobo Libra Colour
  

If you want a good, inexpensive 6″ e-reader, there’s plenty to choose from at Amazon Kindle, Pocketbook and Kobo, with great models like the Kindle, the Kobo Nia or the Pocketbook Verse and the Pocketbook Verse Pro and Kobo Clara Colour for high-end models.

If you want a large-format Kobo, the Kobo Libra Colour is available. It’s a 7-inch, waterproof, touch-sensitive e-reader with lighting and a all new electronic ink color screen. All at an excellent value for money.

But if you’re thinking of settling for an 8-inch e-reader, the Pocketbook InkPad 4 is an excellent choice. The same goes for the Kobo Forma (or Kindle Scribe), an excellent high-end e-reader.

So don’t forget to check for “Bargains” (on e-commerce websites) for the latest discounts and bargains.

Deals and discounts on ereaders

Find here all discounts on ereaders at the moment:

What’s the best e-readers?

Here are the e-readers you should consider if you’re looking to make a purchase.

This selection presents the best e-readers of the moment (in my opinion), not necessarily the cheapest or most popular:

Kindle

Kindle: this e-reader is an entry-level model available from Amazon. It is the best budget ebook reader you can buy. 

It’s very easy to use, thanks to the system set up by Amazon, and is very reasonably priced, making it a very good e-reader for beginners, with all the classic options, including a useful light for reading at night.

Kindle Paperwhite

The new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite with a large e ink screen (6.8 inches) is simply excellent with its large screen and very affordable price. You can store thousands of books in this ebook reader.

It’s a waterproof e-reader with a beautiful, illuminated 6.8-inch touchscreen and a great battery life.

Pocketbook Verse

The Pocketbook Verse offers excellent value for money, with its illuminated touch screen and blue light filter.

It supports EPUB files out of the box and a large quantity of ebook formats.

Kobo Libra Colour

Slightly more expensive, the Kobo Libra Colour also has a larger 7-inch color e ink screen.

The Kobo Libra Color ebook e-reader works perfectly with the Overdrive service, which lets you borrow library books. It can also play Kobo audiobooks from the Kobo store.

It’s one of the best e-readers around and best value for the money.

Pocketbook Verse Pro Color

The new Pocketbook Verse Pro Color offers great features and a color e ink screen in a compact 6-inch format. Although it’s a little more expensive than the competition, it has everything it takes to be the best 6″ available today.

You can listen to audiobooks, there is text-to-speech and it is waterproof.

Pocketbook Inkpad 4

With its large 8-inch e ink screen and numerous functions, this e-reader is one of the best in its category, despite its rather high price. It can play audiobooks.

It has the latest e ink display and offers a very good reading experience. 

What are the latest ereaders?

Here’s a selection of the leading e-readers on the market.

This is not an exhaustive selection, but rather a selection of today’s main and most popular e-reader models (those that sell best and are easy to find).

For this guide, I’ve selected the best-known brands widely available in USA: Kindle (Amazon), Kobo, Nook and Pocketbook.

E-reader models that are too obsolete but still available for sale on certain sites are deliberately excluded.

Models not officially available from US retailers are also excluded from this selection (such as ReMarkable, Meebook, Likebook, Onyx, Bookeen, Vivlio or Xiaomi e-readers), as are models that are not of good quality (some Chinese e-readers that we know nothing about and that are very expensive, for example).

The different e-readers are grouped by brand.

Rating /Review: this is a general assessment of the e-reader based on my personal opinion, but also on the ratings of users who have bought the e-reader (e-commerce site) and other sites specializing in digital reading and e-readers.

Kindle e-readers

Kindle e-readers are manufactured and distributed by Amazon.

The Kindle Scribe is best suited for PDF with a great reading experience because of its larger screen.

Kobo e-readers

Kobo e-readers are manufactured and distributed by Rakuten.

Kobo e-readers work perfectly with the Overdrive service, which lets you borrow library books.

The Kobo Elipsa 2E is best suited for PDF with a great reading experience because of its larger screen.

Here are some older Kobo e-eraders you may still find in stores :

Pocketbook e-readers

Pocketbook e-readers are manufactured and distributed by Poketbook an european company.

6″ screen Pocketbook e-readers:

7″+ screen Pocketbook e-readers:

Nook e-readers

Nook is a Barnes&Noble e-reader brand.

How do I choose my e-reader?

Choosing your e-reader is quite simple:

Choosing the screen

The standard e-reader screen size is 6 inches, but today you’ll find models of 7 inches (or 6.8), 7.8 inches and even 10 inches and more for some professional models.

Today, all e-readers use the same electronic ink technology. The only difference is size.

So this is an important parameter. If you want a screen bigger than 6 inches, you’ll have less choice. That’s why I advise you to look at the Kobo Libra 2 (7 inches) or the Kindle Paperwhite (6.8 inches) for a good-looking e-reader without breaking the bank.

You can learn more about ereader size here.

Choose your e-reader options

All e-readers feature a touch screen, which simplifies use and ergonomics.

Even the cheapest Kindle on Amazon offers lighting.

However, there are a few differences: some readers offer lighting with color temperature adjustment to filter out blue light (see Kobo and Vivlio, or Amazon’s Kindle Oasis and Kindle Paperwhite).

Others offer a text-to-speech function (Pocketbook Color, InkPad 4 and Touch HD Plus for example).

If you’re planning to take your e-reader everywhere, I’d also advise you to choose a waterproof model that will protect it from water, snow, sand and dust.

Some models also have an expansion port to add a micro-SD card to increase the e-reader’s storage capacity (if you only intend to read books like novels, however, this shouldn’t be a criterion).

Of course, all these options add a little to the price of the e-reader.

Choosing your e-reader brand: Kindle or Kobo?

Choosing the brand of e-reader comes down to choosing which file formats the e-reader will support:

All e-reader brands support more or less the same ebook file formats, except that the Kindle cannot read the EPUB format, and other brands cannot read the AZW format.

Since the EPUB format and Kindle e-readers are popular, we can still make the two cohabit in this way:

1) Buy the e-reader from Amazon, but make sure you buy a large proportion of your ebooks from online stores that offer DRM-free editions in EPUB format (the digital book standard).

2) You’ll then have EPUB ebooks that you can transfer to your e-reader using Calibre software (which converts file formats for you).

3) So, if in the future you need to change your e-reader and you don’t get one from Amazon, your ebooks will be compatible with your Kindle using software like Calibre.

Why buy a e-reader? What is an e-reader?

E-readers are devices that allow you to read books on a screen with electronic ink that doesn’t tire your eyes.

As a result, reading comfort and ergonomics are similar to those of a paper book. Unlike conventional screens, you can read in direct sunlight without any problem.

E-readers have a large storage capacity, enabling them to carry hundreds of books. They are now all touch-screen, and most (if not 100% of models) have built-in lighting for reading in the dark with blue light filter.

You can see why you should buy a e-reader in this article.

Should you get an ereader or a tablet?

If you want to read your ebooks just about anywhere, you don’t have many solutions at hand. You’ll have to opt for a e-reader or a tablet.

The e-reader offers greater reading comfort and less eyestrain than the tablet. But the tablet offers more functions (videos) and can display content in color.

The e-reader is therefore the best choice if you intend to read a lot of books.

The choice depends very much on whether you’re going to use the e-reader or the tablet.

But one thing is certain: when it comes to reading comfort, only paper can beat the e-reader.

You can learn more on this article : Should you get an ereader or a tablet?.

Here’s an investigation that led me to scour the depths of Internet forums to determine whether or not it’s possible to make a lot of money being a self-published author. But, above all, you’re about to discover a veritable hellish world where anything goes to sell books.

(more…)

We sometimes come across files with extensions ending in ".cbr" or ".cbz" . But what are these files, sometimes used to store comics and mangas?

What is a CBR file?

The CBR (Comic Book RAR) file is a format often used to store and read digital comics and manga.

It’s an archive format that contains all the pages of a book in a single file.

To facilitate its exchange on the Internet, pages and images are compressed using the RAR) file format to reduce their size in MB (also known as the "weight" of a file).

What is a CBZ file?

The CBZ (Comic Book Zip) file is also a digital exchange format for comics and mangas.

As with CBR, all the pages and information in the document are grouped together in a single file.

Pages and images are compressed using the Zip) system to reduce their size in MB (also known as the "weight" of a file).

How do the CBR and CBZ files work?

How CBR files work :

• CBR files use the RAR compression format to compress images and assemble them into an archive.
• Comic strip images are generally stored in the archive as sequentially numbered image files, such as page001.jpg, page002.jpg, etc.
• To access the contents of the CBR archive, you need RAR-compatible decompression software, such as WinRAR, 7-Zip, or specific comic book readers.

How CBZ files work :

• CBZ files use the ZIP compression format to compress images and assemble them into an archive.
• Like CBR files, comic strip images are stored in the archive as sequentially numbered image files.
• To access the contents of a CBZ file, you can use common decompression software, such as WinRAR, 7-Zip, or specific comic book readers.

Advantages of CBR and CBZ files

These formats offer a number of advantages over PDF or Epub files:

• Compression: CBR and CBZ files use compression algorithms to reduce file size, enabling multiple comic pages to be stored in a single compact file.
• Organization: CBR and CBZ files allow comic pages to be organized sequentially, simplifying reading and navigation through the various pages.
• Portability: CBR and CBZ files are widely supported by many comic-reading software programs on different platforms, such as computers, tablets and smartphones.

Disadvantages of CBR and CBZ files

This file type also has its drawbacks, which are worth noting:

• Static content: CBR and CBZ files contain still images of comic book pages, which means they don’t allow for interaction or animation like some other forms of digital media.
• Image quality: Image quality depends on the resolution of the original images used to create the CBR or CBZ file. If the original images are of low resolution, this may affect display quality.
• Limited editing: CBR and CBZ files are generally used for reading and storing comics, but are not ideal for editing or modifying content.

CBR and CBZ files are therefore useful for exchanging and reading digital comics.

**They enable comics fans to store and easily access a wide range of comics, graphic novels and mangas.

Today, it’s mainly an exchange format, since book publishers prefer to use EPUB or PDF files, which are easier to protect from copying.**