8 best ebook readers

Take thousands of books with you wherever you go

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Honestly? There's nothing as good as a book. You know, a real book.

But e-readers have come a long way and the benefits are many. You can carry a library with you on holiday at almost no weight, so if you're not enjoying one book, you can turn to another. In fact, when you finish book two of His Dark Materials, and you don't have book three, you can instantly purchase it without even rising from your sun lounger since some e-readers (all made by Amazon) are connected wherever there's a phone signal. At worst, you might have to wait until you get to a wi-fi area.

Batteries on ebook readers last weeks, not hours, because e-paper screens only draw power as they turn pages. Many have frontlit screens so you can read in bed without disturbing your sleepy significant other.

Electronic paper used to flash intrusively every time you turned the page. But now, this has been almost completely eliminated while you're actually reading a book, or reduced to every half-dozen page turns at worst.

Now, it's true, real books still have some advantages. You can tell how far you are through the story with your eyes closed, from the way it weighs in your hands. The tactile nature of paper beats any plastic or metal feeling. You can keep your place easily as you turn to a note in the back without the fear that electronic books sometimes engender, that you'll never find your way back to where you were - though ebooks are now much better at helping you navigate.

Also, when you finish that Philip Pullman, you can lend it to someone else while you crack on with book three.

And ebooks still haven't sorted that annoying thing that when you do turn to another chapter and turn back again, the text has moved to somewhere else on the page. Oh, for the stability of paper.

But the convenience of being able to change the font size is brilliant, as is the instant access to a built-in dictionary e-readers boast. You can even translate phrases on some ebook readers. Saving favorite quotes by swiping your finger across the text, knowing all your notes will be saved conveniently together is also good.

Look for screen resolution, screen size and compatibility. Amazon is the market leader here with its Kindle series and it has smartphone and tablet and computer apps, too, so if you smashed your Kindle mid-book, you could still continue reading on your iPad.

Although each brand has its own ebook library, all number books in their millions. Amazon, for instance, says that its Kindle bookstore has more than 5.5 million titles. It also has schemes such as Kindle Unlimited, a service which lets you read more than a million titles and listen to thousands of audio books for a subscription price of $9.99 a month. Barnes & Noble's library is also in the millions, but not as much as the Kindle total. A third company, Rakuten Kobo, comes close with 5 million titles.

E-readers are designed to be read in bright sunlight, through sunglasses, whereas tablets and other backlit screens struggle to be readable in bright light, as a glance along the beach at people squinting mightily at their phones reveals.

Some readers use open ebook formats but Amazon uses its own system.

Storage is more than enough on all the ebook readers here, though if you want to listen to audio books (Amazon owns Audible audio books), extra storage is useful. As a rough guide, 2GB is about the same as 1,500 books. Illustrated books take up more space and audio books more still. But in the unlikely event of running out of space, you can always delete books knowing you can download them again in the future.

1. Amazon Kindle Oasis: From $249.99, Amazon

• Screen size: 7in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 300
• Dimensions: 6.3" x 5.6" x 0.13-0.33" (159 mm x 141 mm x 3.4-8.3 mm)
• Weight: 6.8oz (194g)
• Storage: 8GB/32GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Both are available

It's called Oasis because when you're using a Kindle, you don't run the risk of being distracted by emails or social network updates as you might on a tablet. The Oasis is easily the best ebook reader Amazon has made and it's also the first waterproof Kindle - so you can read in the bath, worry-free. It's very light, even though it has a slightly bigger screen than other Kindles. The battery is on one side, so the back has a thicker and a thinner half, which makes it easier to hold one-handed. Amazon has created some of its own fonts, designed to be super-clear on epaper or backlit displays, and navigating around a book is now the best on any e-reader, though still trailing the real thing.

This Kindle and the basic model are the only ones currently to be able to play back Audible audio books. You can add extras such as a larger-capacity 32GB model for an extra $30. The base price is for wi-fi only but you can opt for what Amazon calls "free cellular connectivity" for $50 - so exactly how is that free, Amazon? What it really means is lifetime no-extra-charges connectivity to 3G so you can download books wherever there is a mobile phone signal. There's also what Amazon calls Special Offers. These just mean that you'll be shown an advertisement on the lockscreen when you turn the Kindle on. You can remove these at any time for a one-off payment ($20).

The Oasis is beautifully built, made from aluminum, and comes in graphite or champagne gold finishes. You turn the pages either by the touchscreen or by using dedicated page forward or back buttons.

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2. Kobo Aura One: $229.99, Kobo Books

• Screen size: 7.8in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 300
• Dimensions: 7.7" x 5.45" x 0.27" (195.1 x 138.5 x 6.9 mm)
• Weight: 8.11oz (230g)
• Storage: 8GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Wi-fi only

Japanese company Rakuten has a range of ebook readers. The Aura One has the largest display on test, 7.8in - as Rakuten says, it's book-sized. It is compatible with a range of 14 file formats which means, among other things, that you can read books borrowed from some public libraries - Rakuten says it's available in most public libraries in the USA. A feature called ComfortLight Pro can automatically change the color of the frontlight so that it's warmer (in other words there's less blue light) as darkness arrives. Like the Oasis, this reader is waterproof - it can survive for an hour in water six feet deep. The power button is usefully placed towards the top edge of the back, so it's hard to accidentally turn it off as you read. A special-edition Aura One is also available with four times the storage, 32GB, enough for 28,000 books or 700 graphic novels and manga volumes. It costs $50 more than the regular Aura One which holds up to 6,000 books.

3. Amazon Kindle: From $79.99, Amazon

• Screen size: 6in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 167
• Dimensions: 6.3" x 4.5" x 0.36" (160 x 115 x 9.1 mm)
• Weight: 5.7oz (161 g)
• Storage: 4GB
• Lit screen? No
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Wi-fi only

This is the entry-level Kindle but it's still a very accomplished machine. It has a touchscreen but there are no physical page turn buttons. And the big difference between this and other Kindles is the screen resolution which is only a little over half that of the other models. Also, this one has no cellular connectivity option or extra storage space. Still, it's compatible with Audible audio book playback. And you can still make some choices: would you like it in a black or white case? Do you want to display Special Offers when you turn on or get rid of these with a $20 fee? Although this is the cheapest Kindle, it is thinner and lighter than the previous version and its 4GB storage is enough for thousands of books. The lower display resolution is noticeable, especially compared to on other Kindles and some other ebook readers - but this is still an excellent first e-reader.

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4. Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 3: $99.99, Barnes & Noble

• Screen size: 6in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 300
• Dimensions: 6.93" x 5" x 0.38" (176 x 127 x 9.7mm)
• Weight: 7oz (198g)
• Storage: 8GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Wi-fi only

The Nook has a wide bezel round the display. You might think this means it is awkward to hold but in fact it makes it easier to rest in your hand and the soft-touch rubbery back is pleasingly non-slip. This latest version has a light (technically it is a front light that casts its light from the edge onto the display, so like other e-readers it is easier on the eye than a backlit tablet or phone) and, like the Kobo Aura One a Night Mode shifts to a warmer-colored light to make it more restful reading at night. There are useful physical buttons to turn the page, positioned on both sides to ensure that left-and right-handed people are comfortable, though the display is also touch-sensitive. Battery life is claimed at up to 50 days. In practice, even the keenest bookworm will find recharges are infrequent. Like Kindle, there's a Nook reading app for Apple and Android devices. Of the 8GB storage, 6.5GB is available for content, the rest is used for the operating system, but this is still way more space than most people will ever need. Highlighting text is done by holding your finger on the first word and dragging it to the last. However, this is a much less slick process than on Amazon's readers, and often takes a few goes to achieve.

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5. Amazon Kindle Voyage: From $199.99, Amazon

• Screen size: 6in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 300
• Dimensions: 6.4" x 4.5" x 0.30" (162 x 115 x 7.6 mm)
• Weight: Wi-Fi - 6.3 oz (180 g) Wi-Fi + Cellular - 6.6 oz (188 g)
• Storage: 4GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Both are available

Until the Oasis arrived, this was the best ebook reader from Amazon. It has a lightweight, pleasing design and offered an adaptive light sensor so you didn't need to adjust the brightness, the screen did it automatically. This was a feature the first-generation Oasis lacked, though the updated model has it. Apart from the entry-level Kindle, which lacks a lit screen, this is the lightest Kindle. Otherwise, it's the same straightforward system, though this model can't play back Audible audio books. Like the Oasis, there are side buttons to change pages, here in the form of pressure-sensitive areas which helpfully give a small physical feedback so you know your press has been recognized. It comes in black only, though you can choose whether or not to buy it as a wi-fi only or wi-fi plus cellular model and, of course, you can choose whether or not you see special offers on the lock screen.

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6. Kobo Aura H2O: $179.99, Kobo Books

• Screen size: 6.8in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 265
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 5.1" x 0.35" (172 x 129 x 8.8 mm)
• Weight: 7.3oz (207g)
• Storage: 8GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Wi-fi only

A smaller display than the Kobo Aura One, but bigger than every Kindle except the Oasis. Like the Aura One it has the ComfortLight PRO system which automatically reduces blue light at nighttime, edging the light to a warmer color described as "orange candlelight" - said to be more comfortable and restful on the eyes. This can be set to the times that suit you. The textured back on the Aura H2O makes it very comfortable and non-slip in the hands. As the name suggests, the Aura H2O is waterproof and like the Aura One can lie in six feet of water for up to an hour. Handy if you read in the tub or by the pool. The screen resolution is lower than on other readers here, apart from the entry-level Kindle and the entry-level Kobo Aura, and the difference is visible, but the display is still highly readable.

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7. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: $119.99, Amazon

• Screen size: 6in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 300
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 4.6" x 0.36" (169 x 117 x 9.1 mm)
• Weight: Wi-Fi: 7.2 oz (205 g) Wi-Fi + Cellular Connectivity: 7.6 oz (217 g
• Storage: 4GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Both are available

The final member of the Kindle family is the Paperwhite which, when it launched was breathtaking because of the subtle, attractive front light that made it much more versatile than the basic Kindle. The light is much better on the Kindle Voyage and Oasis, but it's still worth considering the Paperwhite for price reasons - it's $80 cheaper than the Voyage, for instance and only $40 more than the basic Kindle. Of course, if you like audio books then you could save money and go for the cheaper model which has Audible compatibility. But the screen resolution is noticeably better here and this model comes with the option of lifetime cellular connectivity so you can download a new book almost anywhere. It comes in black or white finishes. It is the heaviest Kindle available but, even so, at 7.6oz for the model with cellular connectivity, it's still pretty lightweight. Overall, the Paperwhite is a great balance between price and features.

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8. Kobo Aura Edition 2: $119.99, Kobo Books

• Screen size: 6in
• Screen resolution (pixels per inch): 212
• Dimensions: 6.3" x 4.4" x 0.33" (159 x 113 x 8.5 mm)
• Weight: 6.35oz (180g)
• Storage: 4GB
• Lit screen? Yes
• Wi-fi or wi-fi and cellular? Wi-fi only

This is the most affordable Kobo ebook reader and matches the price of the Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 3 and Kindle Paperwhite. The screen resolution here is lower than those two, though, and the difference in screen quality is evident. Still, it's a competent reader with storage for 3,000 books. It doesn't have the color-changing light feature of the other Kobo readers here but the frontlight is adjustable to suit the ambient lighting. The display here is also smaller than the other Kobo machines, making it lighter and more manageable in the hand.

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Verdict

The ebook reader market is dominated by Amazon and its Kindles - which is why they make up half the readers on this list. Of course, there are regular tablets like the iPad with its iBooks reading app, and access to Kindle and Kobo apps, for instance, but for the eye-resting experience of e-paper, the available range of good machines is limited.

The Kindle Oasis is brilliant to use, lightweight, effective and gorgeous. But it comes at a price (and remember, with every ebook reader, you still have to buy the books on top!). For a robust, affordable reader, the entry-level machine from Amazon, just called Kindle, is terrific, but has a low-res display and no light.

The best mid-range models are the Kindle Paperwhite - a great piece of kit for the money - and the Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight 3 which is the only model for this price that can color the frontlight to make it more restful on the eyes at nighttime.