E-reader for Manga : best ebook reader for manga
Today, we're going to tackle a big issue that I've always put aside: reading manga on e-readers. We'll try to see together what can be the best e-reader to read mangas.
The size of the screen of the e-reader: important for manga?
I will not surprise you if I say that the bigger the screen, the better it will be to read mangas.
But, you also have to take into account the number of pixels.
For example, the Kobo Clara 2E and Pocketbook Touch Lux 5 6-inch e-readers have the same screen size but one has many more pixels than the other (Kobo Clara 2E). Of course, it is also the most expensive...
But you can also find on the market e-readers with a screen bigger than 6 inches:
- Kindle Oasis
- Kobo Libra 2
- Kindle Paperwhite (the latest version available with a 6.8 inch screen)
- Kobo Sage
- Pocketbook InkPad (InkPad X, InkPad 3 Pro, InkPad Lite, InkPad Color)
- Kobo Elipsa
- Kindle Scribe
Here is a table with the e-readers with a screen of 10 inches and more:
| Pocketbook InkPad X | Kobo Elipsa | Kindle Scribe | |
| Image |  |  |  |
| Screen size | 10.3 Inch | 10.3" | 10.2" |
| Resolution | 1404 x 1872 pixels | 1872 x 1404 pixels | 1860 x 2480 pixels |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waterproof | No | No | No |
| Storage | 32 GB | 16 - 64 Go | |
| Pen / Stylus | No | Yes | Yes |
| SD card | No | No | |
| Ebook formats | EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI), JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF + audio : MP3, M4B, and OGG formats | EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, MOBI unprotected, PRC ; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, EPUB (converted) |
| Blue light filter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Other | Bluetooth for audio | Can't read audio books from Kobo (a bit of a shame). | Compatible with Microsoft Office Doc and Docx format (Word software) |
| Review | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | Expensive eReader with large screen. A device better suited for work as a note taking device ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Link | Kobo.com | Amazon.com |
But, in terms of pure display for manga, e-readers with a large screen (larger than 6 inches) are bound to fare better than 6-inch ones.
However, the 6 inch e-readers with E Ink HD screen do well in 95% of situations with images and texts.
Here are the 6-inch / 7-inch and HD (high definition) e-readers that do not do too badly:
- Kobo Clara 2E
- Kindle
- Kindle Paperwhite
- Kobo Sage
- Kindle Oasis
The other models are not necessarily bad readers, but they are less suitable for reading comics and mangas and more designed for reading novels: Kobo Nia and Pocketbook Touch Lux 5. They display less pixels on the screen.
We prefer to avoid them and choose a model with a larger screen.
Ease of use: Kindle Paperwhite 6.8" and Kindle Scribe advantage
In my opinion, the easiest e-reader to use for manga is the Kindle Paperwhite.
It offers a system for reading manga that allows you to enlarge a square and move to the next square with a simple touch on the screen.
It also manages very well the Japanese reading direction which is interesting for purists who want to find a reading experience comparable to paper (so we press the left side of the screen to turn the pages).
The Kindle bookstore is also well supplied with international titles. But, anyway, for French manga, you will find the same titles and collection on the major French bookstores.
The latest version of the Paperwhite e-reader is also the fastest and most accessible, which is another argument in its favor!
And if you want a much bigger screen, you can turn to the Kindle Scribe (which is also much more expensive).
You can read this article about reading mangas on Kindle e-readers.
Another interesting choice: the Kobo Libra 2 e-reader
The Kobo Libra 2 is also a very interesting choice for reading manga on an e-ink screen.
Indeed, it offers a large screen of 7 inches (a few millimeters more than the last Kindle Paperwhite) and a price that remains under $200.
The screen is therefore large enough that it is not necessary to resort to zooming regularly.
The best choice (but also the most expensive): the large 8 or 10 inch reader
Finally, if you want to have the best possible display surface, you should turn to a reading light with a screen larger than 7 inches:
- Pocketbook InkPad (InkPad X, InkPad 3 Pro, InkPad Lite, InkPad Color)
- Kobo Elipsa
- Kindle Scribe
- Kobo Sage
- Kindle Oasis
These e-readers are obviously much more expensive: the investment must be worth it... Which is not easy!
If you want to buy a high-end e-reader, you might as well take the best of the large format available:
| Pocketbook Era | Pocketbook InkPad X | Pocketbook InkPad 3 Pro | Pocketbook InkPad Lite | Pocketbook InkPad Color | |
| Image |  | |  |  |  |
| Screen size | 7 Inch | 10.3 Inch | 7.8 Inch | 9.7 Inch | 7.8 inch |
| Resolution | 1264 x 1680 pixels | 1404 x 1872 pixels | 1404 x 1872 pixels | 825 x 1200 pixels | 1404 x 1872 pixels (greyscale) 468 x 624 pixels (color) |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waterproof | Yes (IPX8) | No | Yes (IPX8) | No | |
| Storage | 16 - 64 GB | 32 GB | 16 GB | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Pen / Stylus | No | No | No | No | No |
| SD card | No | No | No | memory cards up to 32 GB | memory cards up to 32 GB |
| Ebook formats | EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI), JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF | EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI), JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF + audio : MP3, M4B, and OGG formats | EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI), JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF + audio : mp3 and m4b | EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI), JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF | EPUB, PDF, FB2, FB2.ZIP, TXT, DJVU, HTM, HTML, DOC, DOCX, RTF, CHM, TCR, PRC (MOBI), JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF + audio : M4A, M4B, OGG, OGG.ZIP, MP3, MP3.ZIP |
| Blue light filter | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Other | Built-in speaker & Bluetooth, Text-to-speech | Bluetooth for audio | Color screen : E Ink Kaleido™ Plus color screen capable of displaying 4096 colors. | ||
| Review | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Very good but a little bit expensive) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | One of the best color e-reader, but colors are not so good ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Link |
| Kobo Elipsa | Kobo Sage | Kindle Scribe | Kindle Oasis | |
| Image | |  | |  |
| Screen size | 10.3" | 8" | 10.2" | 7" |
| Resolution | 1872 x 1404 pixels | 1440 x 1920 pixels | 1860 x 2480 pixels | 1680 x 1264 pixels |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waterproof | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Storage | 32 Go | 16 - 64 Go | 8 - 32 Go | |
| Pen / Stylus | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| SD card | No | No | ||
| Ebook formats | EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR | EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, MOBI unprotected, PRC ; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, EPUB (converted) | Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, MOBI unprotected, PRC ; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP converti, EPUB (converted) |
| Blue light filter | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Other | Can't read audio books from Kobo (a bit of a shame). | Can read audio book from the Kobo library (bluetooth connection). | Compatible with Microsoft Office Doc and Docx format (Word software) | |
| Review | ⭐⭐⭐ | Too expensive, the Kobo Libra 2 may be a better alternative ⭐⭐⭐ | Expensive eReader with large screen. A device better suited for work as a note taking device ⭐⭐⭐ | Overall good eReader but too expensive now that there is better alternative in the Kindle lineup⭐⭐⭐ |
| Link | Kobo.com | Kobo.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
The case of PDF, CBR and CBZ files
It seems difficult to make an overview of manga reading on e-readers without mentioning the case of PDF, CBZ and CBR file formats.
If the PDF format is well known today, the other two - CBR and CBZ - are less widespread. However, they are generally used as exchange formats for digital comics. Files that are sometimes unfortunately pirated (and that's really not nice).
If you have CBR or CBZ files you will have to convert them. For this operation, I refer you to the complete article on the conversion of CBR and CBZ format to PDF.
You have the choice to convert these files to EPub or PDF.
I find that the PDF conversion is still the best reading experience.
You'll also notice that if you convert a manga file to PDF and read it on a Kindle e-reader, you won't have the option to view the comic box by box.
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