Oh no! The phone's winning...

[leebase]

I think we are already seeing the effects of phone/tablets taking away much of the market for ereaders. Fewer providers, long times between updates, much slower pace innovation.

To wit...there are very few independant ebook readers compared to 5 years ago.

Color “eInk” never made it to market.

All those cool premium large eInk devices - none of them made it.

Prices stopped coming down such that you can actually get a phone or a tablet as cheap or cheaper than an ereader.

Extinct? No. There is a market demand to keep eInk in existence.

[Barty]

In low light condition,I think a good OLED screen is superior to any e-ink screen. In the evening, I can read using much smaller font on my Samsung galaxy S than the kindle voyage. Of course weight and battery life are a different matter.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by leebase

I think we are already seeing the effects of phone/tablets taking away much of the market for ereaders. Fewer providers, long times between updates, much slower pace innovation.

The market always shakes down when you're talking about new technology, especially as profit margins sink. Sony is really the only big company to give up on eInk readers, and (at the same time) they got out of several other consumer electronic lines (like laptops and desktops). And you could say the same thing about smartphones. No more Windows Phone, no more Blackberries, no more Symbian -- basically it's down to Android and iOS. Still a lot of people using eInk readers.

[Ammonite]

SO and I were both reading in bed tonight: she with her Paperwhite 4 and I with my 6" phone (left my Forma at the office). We both had white text on black background with brightness turned low to reduce eyestrain in the dark.

Once she glanced over at my screen, she laughed at how horrible the contrast on E-ink was vs OLED. Not only that, but my brightness was much lower on my phone than her Kindle (she was at level 3). Even with the Kindle's default black text on white background, the lower contrast and high brightness were no match for the phone which has a blue light filter mode. Lastly, typing notes and highlighting is leagues better than the Kindle because G Board is so fast with glide typing and/or voice transcribing.

For my needs, the Kobo Forma is perfect because that 8" display allows a lot more text than my phone and the battery life is longer than 7 hours. However, against the PW4, I'm going with the Google Pixel 3 XL.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by Barty

In low light condition,I think a good OLED screen is superior to any e-ink screen. In the evening, I can read using much smaller font on my Samsung galaxy S than the kindle voyage. Of course weight and battery life are a different matter.

I agree on the OLED being better. Battery life on my phone is more than good enough.

This trend to narrow and taller phone screens is annoying for reading however. Maybe I'll get used to it, but right now, the 18:9 aspect ratio looks very odd for a book.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

So as of yet, it looks like the phone is starting to overtake the e-reader, even for me.

If I encounter no great disadvantages in the near future, it might be R.I.P. e-reader...

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I prefer front-lit e-ink screens because I often read in public transport or outside. They're more easily readable in bright light and have less glare compared to LCD-screens. Therefore I find them more comfortable to read on.

So, it hasn't been R.I.P. e-reader yet?

[ps67]

I tried to read on my phone but it is too little and I don't like the screen. I prefer my Kobo Aura One and if I know that I have to wait for somewhere I take it with me. Sometime I take the Paperwhite, it depends on the occasions.

Well, if I don't have any reader with me I can read on the phone but it is not a satisfying experience, so I generally read some news but not a book. For me my phone is useful for many things but not as reader.

[barryem]

When this thread began I was mostly reading on my Kindle at home and on my phone when I had a few minutes when I was elsewhere. Little by little I began to realize that I enjoy the phone more so I tried reading exclusively on my phone for a couple months and I liked it. It was hard on my phone's battery though, so I bought another phone, a cheap one, for reading at home. I've been doing that ever since.

I still haven't decided whether I'll go back to the Kindle. I'm not ruling it out. It is easier on my eyes but I'm doing okay reading on the phone and actually I'm reading more now. I like the small screen and the way it fits comfortably in my hand. I don't have to "hold" it. I just hold my hand up with my phone in it.

The phone also lets me scroll text which I got used to doing on Palm devices, where ebooks first began to become popular. Most apps on Palm devices scrolled. Only a few paged. I got used to scrolling and when I got my Kindle I missed it. Now I'm scrolling again.

It is harder to read in the sun but in direct sunlight so is the Kindle, although the phone is a bit worse. I don't really do much reading in the sun. Reading outside in the shade is no problem on either of them.

The biggest drawback of the phone is battery life but that's manageable.

Barry

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by ps67

I tried to read on my phone but it is too little and I don't like the screen. I prefer my Kobo Aura One and if I know that I have to wait for somewhere I take it with me. Sometime I take the Paperwhite, it depends on the occasions.

Well, if I don't have any reader with me I can read on the phone but it is not a satisfying experience, so I generally read some news but not a book. For me my phone is useful for many things but not as reader.

Same for me. I have a 5'' smartphone and I've read a book on it sometimes in a pinch, but I enjoy reading on my eink readers far more. 5'' is too small and cramped for me. For the news, Wikipedia articles etc. it'll do. Admittedly my eyes have never been good.

Funny how some people prefer small screens and some huge, and some are in between...

[leebase]

For reading novels, I like my iPad mini best. I don’t always have it with me so my iPhone is used quite a bit.

I read a free kindle book on my iPhone 3 GS just to try it way back when. I really didn’t expect it to be a good experience. One book and I was hooked.

For me it’s the font size, not the screen size. Even on my tiny iPhone 3 screen, the fonts were bigger than most books I would read. Now with the iPhone 11 Pro....it is a glorious screen to read on.

Even cheap Android tablets like the Kindle Fire Tab 8 and Walmart Onn 8...I enjoy reading on.

I used to read on my 9.7” iPads but now that size seems huge.

I thought I’d have an eInk reader by now. I just haven’t come across the right sale at the right impulse buy time. Since my iPad Mini has 256gig storage....I’m not even reading on my Android tablets any more (used to take them on trips because of the expanded storage allowed my to load movies and tv shows). I simply have no problems whatsoever reading on a device. I enjoy it quite a bit. And the new iPhone is easy to see in sunlight

[Sirtel]

The thing with most phones, even with those over 6'', is that the screen is too narrow for comfortable reading. For me, anyway. I'm sure there are people who actually prefer a narrow screen for reading, but I'm not one of them. My eink readers with 7-8'' screens are perfect for me.

As to tablets, they're usually much heavier than ereaders and that's a dealbreaker for me. Well, the iPad Mini is pretty lightweight, but still heavier than any of my dedicated ereaders, it's also too expensive to buy just for reading, and I don't want a screen under 8'' for any other activities. Too small.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Barbara1955

i hope Kingrow don't lose other time into making K1 available to stores.
My K1 is totally good

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The thing with most phones, even with those over 6'', is that the screen is too narrow for comfortable reading. For me, anyway. I'm sure there are people who actually prefer a narrow screen for reading, but I'm not one of them. My eink readers with 7-8'' screens are perfect for me.

I'm guessing this depends at least partly on your preferred font size? I usually use a fairly small font so a small screen size is OK for me. I don't read on my 5" phone except for brief occasions, like while waiting in line at the post office, but that is due to my preference for e-ink rather than the size of the phone. My 6" e-ink readers work well for me.

I expect if you prefer a larger font you would also want a larger reader in order to be able to have a reasonable amount of words on the screen.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I'm guessing this depends at least partly on your preferred font size? I usually use a fairly small font so a small screen size is OK for me. I don't read on my 5" phone except for brief occasions, like while waiting in line at the post office, but that is due to my preference for e-ink rather than the size of the phone. My 6" e-ink readers work well for me.

I expect if you prefer a larger font you would also want a larger reader in order to be able to have a reasonable amount of words on the screen.

Yes, certainly. I don't use small fonts. Not huge either, somewhere in the middle.

I actually did fine with 6'' readers for years. It was after getting my first 7'' reader that 6'' started to feel small. But phones have always felt too small to me.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

So, it hasn't been R.I.P. e-reader yet?

Nope. For some time, the phone was indeed winning.

One of the reasons was that last year, my GF didn't live in with me. It was much easier to read a book on the phone and swap back and forth between that book and Whatsapp in the evening, compared to having to swap the e-reader and the phone.

Now, my GF lives with me, so obviously we don't have hours-long Whatsapp conversations anymore.

Also, the phone turned out to be too small, and screen reflections too bothersome.

For long reads, I prefer an e-ink screen and a larger e-reader, but it's true I'm reading less as compared to using the phone because sometimes, I just can't be bothered to bring the e-reader if I'm going to go out without my bag.