Smallest e-Ink screen for you to use as primary e-Reader? 4.7" (YotaPhone 3) enough?

[avid01]

Long before Trekstor made 4.3" screen ebook readers, but now the trend seems to be 4.7" e-Ink double screen phones (the Yotaphone 3, and competition as well)

Would a 4.7" (16:9) angle screen enough for you to be your primary reader?

[barryem]

I'm happy with the Voyage as my primary reader but I really like that Yota Phone and the idea of that e-ink screen. I do more than a little reading on my phone and I'd love to have one with e-ink on back.

I got a Fire phone Friday because it had been on sale and, while I'm not really fond of the phone it's better for reading than the Moto G I had. The Moto G is better for everything else and easier to use but the Fire phone is enough better for reading that I've decided to keep it. But I'd trade it for a Yota or one of it's look-alikes if I could afford to.

Barry

[avid01]

Further clarification:

My question is about the size of the screen, nothing more, nothing less.

6" 4:3 for a Kindle vs. 5.5" 16:9 for an iPhone 6 Plus (basically the same height as the Kindle, just narrower) vs. 4.7" 16:9 for many other devices, see title and OP. Thanks!

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by avid01

Would a 4.7" (16:9) angle screen enough for you to be your primary reader?

For myself, absolutely no. Compare a 5" phone screen to a 5" reader screen (16:9 to 4:3). The area difference is considerable.

[cvkemp]

Nothing less that 6 inch screens for me. And really only 6 inch screens. Anything bigger is to hard to care around and anything small is to hard to read.

[patrickt]

My minimum for e-ink would be 6". I suppose that's in part because it's what I have. I've used a DX and I couldn't take that with me as conveniently as my Paperwhite or Voyage. I read on the Nexus 5 with its 4.95" screen and it's small but doable in emergencies. I probably read five minutes on the phone for every two hours of reading on my Kindle. The phone comes out when I'm caught in line or waiting for someone at a store.

[kacir]

I have read on a 5" 4:3 e-ink screen for a few years. I consider it to be the perfect balance between the amount of text and pocketability.
Please notice that the reader allowed me to set very narrow margins, so I could have similar amount of text as a Kindle with medium wide margins.

Recently I have acquired a mobile phone Huawei Ascend G620s with 5" 16:9 screen for use as a secondary / emergency / on-the-go ebook reader.
THAT 5" screen is much smaller and is not enough for use as a primary reader. The pocketability factor is much improved, however, so I can live with it (as the on-the-go ebook reader used for short periods of time).

4:3 screen with 5" diagonal has area 12 square inches and the line is wide 3 inches in portrait mode

16:9 screen with 5" diagonal has area 10.68 square inches and the line is wide 2.45 inches in portrait mode, so it is way too narrow in portrait mode.
(the size is 4.35:2.45)

[GlenBarrington]

Well I started out reading ebooks on a Palm m100 using mobipocket ebook software.

I looked up the m100 specs and the display was 2.8 inches diagonal. My eyes were MUCH younger then

[NickyWithNook]

That's quite a bit smaller than a mass-market paperback book page. I think 6" is my minimum. That's the size of my Kindle Fire, and I can't imagine enjoying reading on anything smaller. Either you have to turn the page too often or the type is too small, or both.

[frahse]

I remember some people here claiming to read books on iPhones when they had 3.5" displays.

[Terisa de morgan]

I've read at an iPhone (never comfortable), at a Palm E2 (nice) and now at an Elephone (5", I like it). I think I¡'ll check it.

[cromag]

I'd be very interested in that as a pocketable vacation ereader, but it's too small to be my primary ereader.

[webroot]

You can manage it as long as you do not open PDF files. Even 6 is less for that matter.

[Barty]

I'd like to see somebody squeeze another 0.5" or so additional screen into the current typical 6" form factor.

Actually, turn the entire front into a display. No more bezel. Through software, let you define the screen boundary or automatically detect it based on where you place your finger(s). So for example, if you hold it on the right side, then the display area extends from the far left to, say, .75" from the right. If you can hold it by cradling it like your phone, then it's all screen, baby. That's something I'll be willing to pay a premium price for.

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by frahse

I remember some people here claiming to read books on iPhones when they had 3.5" displays.

I still do. My 3GS works just fine as an ebook reader, and my original iphone was also excellent. I currently use my 5S with Marvin as well as my new Kobo. I also use the 5S with Stanza, which gives me a 3.5" screen because Amazon killed it off before it was ever updated for the 4". The 3GS screen is now a little primitive and I do notice the lower resolution more than I ever did when it was my main phone. But Stanza on the 5S? Just fine.