If you search Google or Google News for e-readers, there is an avalanche of posts, recommending the best e-readers of 2024. The vast majority of these recommendations are all of the latest generation Kindle e-readers, that all came out a couple of years ago, or a myriad of other devices, such as Kobo or Boox. It is only January, and every major brand is going to release new e-readers or e-notebooks in the coming months. I really grinds my gears to have recommendations this early in the year. Most of these publications have no idea what they are talking about either.
Good e-Reader does yearly posts on our best recommendations, but we normally do it at the end of the year, once everything has been released and will no be more surprises. This assists people in shopping for a e-reader for themselves or a gift for someone else. We also recommend a myriad of devices, since the best e-readers of any given year, span the globe. Obviously, we always have at least one Kindle on the list, in addition to a Kobo, but our entire list not does comprise of these two, but we focus on the best of the best.
Last year, for example we had Pocketbook, Bigme, Hyread, Hisense, Xiaomi, iReader on the list, and nobody else who had recommendations even included one of these brands on their top lists. There were a myriad of reasons why we selected one model, from each of those brands, primarily they had features, new screen tech and colour e-paper, or appealed to a wide demographic of users.
Amazon is going to be releasing new Kindles this year, Kobo has two new devices planned, and Barnes and Noble is working on a new product. Not to mention a complete refresh of the Onyx Boox, Pocketbook and Bigme product lines. If you are hunting for a new device right now, all of the top lists you will find online, make no mention of new units coming out in 2024, they are merely recommending e-readers that came out in 2019 or 2020, which are very dated, compared to new releases.
Do you want to know the most popular e-readers on any given day? You can see what people are really buying from the Good e-Reader Bestseller list, which tracks what people are buying on our website. Right now, the Onyx Boox Palma, Nook Glowlight 4 and Bigme Pocketnote 2 Color are the most popular, but this is all subject to change. We also track accessories, such as cases and styluses. This is one of the big advantages of running a store, in addition to a news website, we can actually see what people are really buying, which is more trustworthy than a product recommnedation list, that is basically “here are all of the current Kindles.”
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.