Will 5-6 inch smartphones force . . .

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

This. I have an e-ink reader because I prefer to read on e-ink. The size of my phone has no effect on this preference.

Ditto. But I do love my iPhone 7+ and use if at time for reading library books not available for Kindle.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by meeera

I've had a 5.5 inch phone for a couple of years now, but I don't find it comfortable to read novels on at all. It will do for five minutes in a pinch, but if I'm just waiting for that time I"m more likely to poke around on ravelry or something. Any chance at all of waiting longer, and I take my eink reader with me.

I've had the iPhone plus (starting with the 6 plus) for a number of years. I find that it's good enough to read on when I'm in the line and don't have anything else with me, but prefer to read on either the iPad mini (at lunch) or iPad Pro (at home). As far as using an eInk reader, I find that I like the flexibility of the iPad mini most of the time. There have been a couple of times where I wished I had the the Kobo Aura one (i.e. bright sunlight) but that doesn't happen often enough for me to carry both. Just for grins, I might try carrying it with me next week to see how much extra weight it is.

[haertig]

I like dedicated devices. Give me an eInk reader for books. Give me a tablet for running apps on the go. Give me a desktop computer for doing real work. Give me a phone for making phone calls and sending texts. Give me a laptop for ... well, I can't think of much use for a laptop these days (maybe if you travel for work).

I have no use for these supposed Jack-Of-All-Trades smartphones that are as big as a school bus. You can't conveniently carry them. I think people look like idiots with that large screen plastered to your ear trying to make a phone call. I've been known to take my Fire HD8 tablet and put it up to my ear and pretend I'm making a phone call. That doesn't even get laughs anymore ... people think it's really a smartphone that huge, some have asked even where they could get one! I'm thinking that in the near future I may need to disconnect and carry my 29" computer monitor to my ear to even get a second glance.

[Tarana]

I would buy a larger screened paperwhite if it was available because I use large type. My guess is that Amazon or Kobo will be the most likely to put one out that is inexpensive (yes, there are larger now, but the price is pretty high compared to paperwhite or Voyage).

[leebase]

I guess I get to count myself fortunate. I have zero problems reading fiction on an iPhone, Kindle Fire tablet or iPad. Even back with my 3.5" iPhone screen.

Maybe that balances out the fact I can't play those gorgeous first person shooter type games. I get car sick...like I'll throw up if I play more than 15min. And it's not just shooters, but any of those games like driving and such.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by leebase

I guess I get to count myself fortunate. I have zero problems reading fiction on an iPhone, Kindle Fire tablet or iPad. Even back with my 3.5" iPhone screen.

Maybe that balances out the fact I can't play those gorgeous first person shooter type games. I get car sick...like I'll throw up if I play more than 15min. And it's not just shooters, but any of those games like driving and such.

I used to read books on my Itouch. Now all I can use it for is music because the text is just too small. Sigh. I do read on the Fire Tablet, but it's a bit hard on my eyes, so mostly just magazines.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I used to read books on my Itouch. Now all I can use it for is music because the text is just too small. Sigh. I do read on the Fire Tablet, but it's a bit hard on my eyes, so mostly just magazines.

This is the driving idea behind my original post. As a significant portion of the reading public ages (go! us baby boomers!), I wonder if the manufacturers will see us as an underserved market. Casual readers might want to upgrade from their phones and tablets and consider a 6 inch eReader to not be much better than a 5 or 6 inch smartphone, and existing eReader users just might want bigger screens.

[M0zza]

I have never thought about reading on my tablets. I know they are for media consumption, but they will stick to the internets, video and audio. My 505 goes everywhere with me, and when it dies I will mourn and then move onto another eReader.

[dublincheri]

While I can and do read on my phones at times I also have both a Kindle Oasis 2 and an iPad mini. I strongly prefer the 4:3 screens of my iPad or Kindle to the 16:9 of my phones. Even my old iPhone 4 was often used for reading whereas I don’t choose the iPhone X as a reader unless it’s the only device with me.

[cootcraig]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't see the correlation. But then I use a Blackberry Q10 with a 3.1" display and plan to keep it until they won't let me use it any more. Then I'll probably go to a flip phone. Don't want to carry a tablet in my pocket.

I agree. I bought an older used Blackberry to get a physical keyboard and use a couple of the apps. I assumed I could use a Sprint Blackberry on one of the Sprint MVNP's. Sadly Sprint restricts Blackberry use to Sprint directly and they have no contract without a data plan. The end result is I'm too cheap for now and went back to an old flip phone on a Sprint MVNP.

Before too long I expect to get a Kobo ereader. For now I'm learning to use ebooks with an 8" Android tablet; I will not use it for very long.

[sealbeater]

Personally I still don't see why someone would read on their phone. I have a book reader that gets excellent battery life...why would I run down my phone's battery?

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by sealbeater

Personally I still don't see why someone would read on their phone. I have a book reader that gets excellent battery life...why would I run down my phone's battery?

Older models lacked built-in lighting. That was a major deal breaker for me so prior to getting a tablet, I'd more often read on a 3.5" retina iPhone than on the Sony PRS-350.

They're also easier to use for browsing libraries and downloading certain content to (e.g. library books, Hoopla Digital borrows, fanfics, etc).

I have a phone, tablet and Paperwhite in my purse. Nowadays, I barely use the phone for reading. It's usually between the Paperwhite or tablet. More often than not, the tablet wins because it's easier to download practically any format from any source to the tablet than it is to the Paperwhite. Also, my tablet has built-in LTE while my Paperwhite isn't 3G. I do wonder can you browse any source with 3G Kindles, though?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by cootcraig

I agree. I bought an older used Blackberry to get a physical keyboard and use a couple of the apps. I assumed I could use a Sprint Blackberry on one of the Sprint MVNP's. Sadly Sprint restricts Blackberry use to Sprint directly and they have no contract without a data plan. The end result is I'm too cheap for now and went back to an old flip phone on a Sprint MVNP.

I'm using my Blackberry Q10 on Twigby — 500 minute, 500 MB plan (I'm not a big data user). They didn't accept it when I signed up, but when I did a phone change it allowed me to switch to the Blackberry. This was about one and a half years ago, so I don't know if it still works that way. I do know that Ting allows Blackberries, but I think they're almost as expensive as Sprint.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by sealbeater

Personally I still don't see why someone would read on their phone. I have a book reader that gets excellent battery life...why would I run down my phone's battery?

Reading-on-the-phone adds no additional complications to what you already are doing just by having a phone. Phones need to be charged. Time between charges varies according to usage. If you use it more you need to charge it more. There are many mitigations available if you are concerned your phone will be without power in some emergency. Turning the question around, why would you not read on your phone if you are already carrying it everywhere with you? Why carry a second device, just in case you have a few minutes to read?

Per the topic of this thread, it seems people want larger screens because they need to have larger text to be able to read comfortably, and the standard 6” screen isn’t enough space for the size they would like to use. I get that.

I am fortunate in that glasses allow me to read very small text comfortably. If that ever ceased to be the case, and I had the financial means and medical fitness to undergo corrective procedure such as laser sculpting or lens replacement, I would definitely investigate that, because life is too short to suffer with correctable vision limitations.

If confronted with non-correctable vision issues, I would still opt for a tablet because they have a broader range of mitigations than ereaders (high contrast mode, color adjustments, fonts, text to speech etc.). I cannot see ever being interested in a large black and white reflective screen which does not have such flexibility.

In the meantime a 6-7” eReader is as large as I want it to be.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Older models lacked built-in lighting. That was a major deal breaker for me so prior to getting a tablet, I'd more often read on a 3.5" retina iPhone than on the Sony PRS-350. ...

I just finished reading a book last night on my PRS-350, using a Kobo Clamp Light that fit comfortably over the flaps of the case. If I plan on reading I'll always take an eInk reader with me. If I'm stuck somewhere I'll read on my phone, but usually not for more than ½ an hour at a shot.