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If you’re looking for a great e-book reader but don’t want to buy into the Amazon Kindle ecosystem, you have some good options. Sure, there are some popular brands you can choose from, but if you really want to buy the best non-Kindle e-reader, there are three brands that really fit the bill and offer tons of compatibility.
Kobo
Source: Rakuten Kobo
Perhaps one of the best and most celebrated Kindle alternatives is Kobo. Part of the Rakuten ecosystem, Kobo e-readers feature many of the same design schemes as the Amazon Kindle, making them an ideal alternative for users who like the look and feel of the Kindle but want something that isn’t tied to Amazon.
More specifically, the Kobo Libra 2 supports the same accounts as the Kindle and offers support for many different document types, including EPUB, EPUB2, EPUB3, PDF, FlePub, MOBI, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, CBZ, and CBR.
The Kobo Libra 2 has a seven-inch display with CARTA 1200 e-ink, 32 GB of memory and access to Rakuten’s massive Kobo e-book store. It’s not as extensive as Amazon’s Kindle Store, but it includes most of the well-known books you’d expect to find in an e-book store. And since the Kobo Libra 2 offers huge compatibility with many types of formats, you can read almost anything on the device by sideloading it.
The Kobo Libra 2 costs $189.99, which is equivalent to the Kindle Paperwhite. Oh, and did I mention it also comes with page turn buttons?
Boox
Source: Boox
Another popular name that often gets overlooked when talking about e-readers with Kindle fans is Boox. While slightly more steep than the average Kindle, Boox offers plenty of compatibility across formats, and most of the company’s offerings are for larger displays. For example, the Boox Note Air3 C has a 10.3-inch display that can display both color and black and white images.
Boox Note Air3 C offers huge compatibility, including support for formats such as PDF (max. 2 GB), DJVU, CBR, CBZ, EPUB, AZW3, MOBI, TXT, DOCX, DOC, FB2, CHM, RTF, HTML, ZIP. PRC, PPTX, PNG, JPG and BMP. It’s also an Android tablet, which means you can apply many types of reading apps to access tons of books, comics, and more.
It’s also great for taking notes because the larger display gives you plenty of space to work off-screen. If you’re looking for an e-book reader that can also function as a tablet in many ways, the Boox Note Air3 C is a great option. It usually retails for $499.99, making it one of the more steep options on the market.
Wallet
Source: PocketBook
The last brand I want to highlight here, and the second one I find particularly promising, is PocketBook. The PocketBook Verse ($129) is one of the company’s closest options to the Kindle, and it comes with a six-inch, glare-free E-Ink Carta display. What’s even more attractive about the PocketBook is that it offers an expandable SD card slot, allowing you to expand the 8GB internal storage via an SD card up to 128GB.
PocketBook Verse also supports 25 formats including ACSM, CHM, DJVU, DOC, DOCX, EPUB, EPUB(DRM), FB2, FB2.ZIP, HTM, HTML, MOBI, PDF, PDF (DRM), PRC, RTF, TXT , AZW, CBR, AZW3 and CBZ.
Why choose an e-book reader other than Kindle?
The decision to ditch Amazon can be tough, especially since Amazon offers the largest e-book store on the market. Sure, you could also choose another brand like Nook, but if you’re trying to avoid Kindle, chances are you’re also trying to avoid Nook. In this case, using one of the three brands listed above can give you plenty of access to great books while still being free from the clutches of Amazon’s Kindle.
The downside to many non-Kindle e-book readers, however, is that you’ll either apply much smaller online stores or sideload books onto your device instead. But it’s not that tough at all. If you’re looking to ditch the Kindle ecosystem, but don’t want to completely give up the ease of access that the Kindle Store offers, I highly recommend checking out Kobo. It’s a solid brand with a great e-book store, and all of its e-readers are priced similarly to Kindle, so you won’t pay much more to get that break.
