Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo aura, Sony PRS T3 and Tolino Shine in the practice test
© PC-WELT/Hersteller
The Kindle Amazon was at the eBook readers always the measure of all things, but now upgraded to the competition. PC World has tested the four most important current readers for digital books.
in time for the Christmas sales, the main manufacturer of Ebook Readers new devices brought out: Amazon has its Kindle Paperwhite 2 revised as well as the alliance from German Telekom and several book chains their Tolino Shine 2 Sony brings with his PRS T3 also a revised model, the nearly 150-euro Reader aura of the Canadian manufacturer Kobo has even developed brand new.
At the very first glance, distinguish the Devices little: All four have a six-inch black and white screen with a resolution of about 1024 x 760 pixels. The e-ink technology used in this case, in contrast to the smartphone or tablet screen the great advantage that the matte displays are out there without any problems legible even in bright sunlight – especially on holiday an invaluable advantage. In addition, they consume minimal power, namely, only when turning. Even during a three week vacation so they must not be to the power outlet to recharge
. That’s the theory. For up to the Sony Reader have the test candidates now an integrated switchable lighting. If you use them, tugging on the battery, of course, the running time decreases depending on the device, therefore, from several weeks to 14 to 44 hours. Whether you need a reader with lighting, everyone must decide for themselves. For objective one needs only to read in the dark, so for example, in bed, while the partner is already asleep. In addition, the backlight makes for a whiter paper subjective impression.
small compared to many Tablet PC 6-inch screen not only allows for a compact equipment design. Also the weight with a maximum of about 200 grams ensures that you can keep without trouble in the hands of the unit long. Even the new iPad from Apple Air is 477 grams nearly half times as heavy.
Pricewise, the new models currently between 89 euros for the Tolino Shine 2, 99 Euro for the Sony Reader, 129 euros for the Amazon device and nearly 150 euros for the Kobo aura. The price differences are thus quite considerable.
In addition to the price for the readers to buy with a reader but also an entire ecosystem, especially on Amazon. Because the U.S. online retailer operates in contrast to the open ePub format that all other use, with the AZW format Kindle’s own (and the new AZW3). However, since virtually all commercial books are provided with a copy, there is no legal possibility eBooks in Kindle format to transfer to the other readers – and vice versa as little
.
So who buys a Kindle, binds tightly and forever to Amazon. In theory, the ePub system of the other readers is more open, because you do not have at the sale on all readers in the test preinstalled book shop its digital books. In practice, however, is the shopping at just any online bookseller – except Amazon again – because of the digital rights management rather cumbersome. The skills required for managing program Adobe Digital Editions, which can be used to unlock purchased, DRM-protected eBooks on the detour of the PCs for their own Reader’s quite be described as awkward.
Prices for German Ebooks are, regardless of the format, incidentally, the same everywhere. Because they are affected by their own book prices. Thus, although the Ebooks cost not as much as their printed counterparts, they are usually cheaper 10-20 percent – off the pitch aspect of an important argument for frequent reader that speaks for ebooks. On the other hand English books are not subject to price control, here you can set your own price at any dealer. The purchase itself works the way now ubiquitous quick and easy.
now
What about the choice and offering, because not every (printed) book is necessarily also available as ebook. According to our sample Amazon is both the current best-sellers, the mirror-list as well as in elderly and English books with more than 90 percent availability at the top. Thalia on the Tolino Shine is in German bestsellers likewise well placed, but weak in English books – just the opposite, it is at Kobo. Much better because it looks while offering the Sony Reader Store, additionally, owner of the PRS T3 can alternatively also shop on their reader at Ebook.de.
the lending of eBooks, there are differences: the digital lending system eLibrary, which involved many German town and city libraries, supports Amazon not format. Kindle owners can borrow a book just about the Kindle Lending Library and Prime membership for 29 euros per year on a monthly basis.
Which of the readers is now so the best? In detail, the four readers differ considerably, not only in the just-mentioned infrastructure, but also in the functions, operation, performance and battery life. At the end of the article you will find a detailed table with all details about the four test candidates.
The first Kindle model with illuminated display in the test still showed weaknesses and uneven lighting, which are now fixed at Paperwhite 2. Even otherwise shines the new Reader, which is available for 60 Euros extra charge (189 EUR) with integrated SIM card is also available as 3G model, in each discipline: Simple and smooth operation, fast page change (about half a second), an outstanding display in all book categories, the largest ebook selection, which is also simple and quick book purchase, new additional features such as the vocabulary trainer of child mode with time allocations and the like as well as PageFlip (quick jump to other sections) and synchronization with the reader apps (Android, iOS, Mac and PC), which contents, bookmarks, reading progress and much more synchronized across all devices.
Only the battery life of over 14 hours on a full illuminance disappointed in comparison. In addition, the capacitive touch display ensures that the Kindle Paperwhite can not be operated with ordinary gloves. Who wants to read and scroll through the winter on the bus or train station, so getting cold fingers. Finally, binds to the White Paper on all Amazon – what you can find good or bad
.
Many of the Kindle descriptions also apply to the in Germany lesser-known Kobo aura of the same Canadian manufacturer: Dashing device with fast page turns very good, also capacitive screen and ease of use including a trouble firmware updates during the trial period. In addition, the Kobo Aura has the only reader in the test a completely flat and continuous glazed top and with a weight of 172 grams the lightest reader of all
. On the other hand falls for German readers Ebooks the comparatively small book offer both bestsellers as well as other works of negative impact – in contrast to the wide range in English literature. While you can buy books via the PC with other online booksellers and then transferred to the aura via USB, but that is relatively hard because of the copy protection of most Ebooks.
The battery life is a little more than 19 hours and thus lies between the other two devices with illuminated display, the Kindle Paperwhite and the Tolino Shine . The price is just under 150 euros, the highest of all, even in the face of significantly uneven display lighting too high in comparison.
is the new model of Sony Reader the only test candidate without integrated display lighting. Instead, the manufacturer offers for an extra charge of 30 euros (129 euros) a model with built-in lamp. Whether you even need a built-in lighting the ebook reader, also a matter of faith is closing light there is also not in printed books. Moreover goes one of the great advantages of the ebook reader, the long battery life of several weeks, with increasing luminosity lost.
Otherwise, however, the PRS T3 must not hide behind its competition: The change of sides also only takes a half a second, the E-Ink display excellent in itself and responds thanks to infrared technology also touched with gloves – or to scroll the same over the two forward and back buttons. For the Sony Reader is the only one who can control not only over the touch screen, but also a total of five function keys. Overall, the operation is easy to learn easily and quickly, only the change from portrait to landscape and back is anything but intuitive.
On the positive side, that is on the device itself beside the Sony Reader Store and the book shop Ebook.de for purchase of books available . Finally, the PRS T3 is in contrast to the Kindle and Kobo Paperwhite Aura able to PDF documents to wrap new, to better read on the six-inch display can (PDF reflow). Two features at the end: With your finger or a pen, you can write on the screen or create drawings. In addition, the reader, available in three colors is the only built-in protective cover. Conclusion. All in all a solid, good reader.
The first version of the jointly developed by German Telekom and the booksellers Thalia, Hugendubel / worldview and Bertelsmann could not convince right in the test: To notchy, too few features and little performance were the criticisms in the spring of 2013. Positive first Tolino model, however, coincided with a good shop integration and an extremely long battery life on.
Overall, the anticipated conclusion, the new Tolino 2 has caught up significantly. This applies both to classical reader functions such as notes, markings or sorting the Ebooks in libraries as well as for performance. The previous permanent “Please wait” messages are a thing of the past, although the new device still partially responded significantly slower than the competition. The change of sides takes about one second about twice as long as in Kindle and Co, in practice hardly disturbs the but -. Apart from partly on existing stand-offs liable page layout of PDF files
For practice, is of little relevance that the reader supports only three book formats and does not display images. Because virtually all ebooks are already available in these formats and photo illustration on gray screen is also on the other devices no serious alternative to the smartphone. With almost 44 hours of battery life, the second version is the absolute leader.
Although the hardware the same, the Tolino models differ depending on which book dealer to buy him. The reason: The pre Ebook Store is implemented into the device, so later you can not switch between Thalia, Bertelsmann and Hugendubel / worldview. PC World had the Thalia version in the test, the shop has managed implementation, the purchase of books is quick and easy. The selection ranges from German Ebooks almost the offer Amazon approach, but not in English works.
Another special feature to the conclusion that results from the cooperation with Deutsche Telekom: The Tolino Shine can be via Wi-Fi at 20,000 Hotspots buy more books without having to pay for the access separately. Finally, the Tolino Shine offers 25 GB of online storage in the telecom cloud, in addition to up to 32 GB of expandable micro SD card in the reader itself – space for 60,000 books
!
Despite many new features is a Conclusion of the test: back tot he roots. Because on interim gimmicks such as playing MP3 files or the reading of texts forgo the manufacturer of all test equipment now back. The reading itself is clearly in the foreground. Even the still mostly existing display of images or the browser functions serve for no more than the absolute emergency – which can each still simple smartphone much better
!
the comparison of the four readers decide – once again – Amazon itself. This is not only the hardware but also the entire system, so the book offer, the integration of all services, the many additional features and apps for other devices. Only when the battery life LED operating imt Amazon should nachmessern.
But you can also opt against the U.S. giant and gets in contrast to earlier still a good reader: namely, all three competitors. Here, the decision is in the details: For the Kobo speaks the chic, small and lightweight device, the Sony PRS T3 is a good all-rounder, however, lacks the display illumination. And the Tolino Shine 2 has finally compared to the first version caught up considerably, which shines with the connection to the many thousands of telecom hotspots and by far the longest battery life.
a budget can reflect briefly on the offered by Amazon is still “normal” Kindle without touch and light display. The model from the year 2011 convinced the test also, although it is less comfort than the Kindle Paperwhite 2 The Amazon system but it also works excellently and the display is nice as well – all for the price of 49 euros, in stationary retail sometimes even for just 39 €. A normal tablet PC, however, is with regard to battery life and reading pleasure outdoors no alternative to genuine ebook reader.
| manufacturer and Reader | Amazon Kindle Paperwhite | Kobo Aura |
| MSRP / Street | 129 € / 129 € | 149 € / 145 € |
| Appreciation | ||
| Technical Data | ||
| screen size / resolution | 6 inches / 758 x 1024 | 6 inches / 758 x 1014 |
| Weight (grams) | 206 g (WLAN) | 172 g |
| Dimensions (width x height x thickness) | 169 mm x 117 mm x 9.1 mm | 150 x 114 x 8.1 mm |
| Display Technology | E-Ink, capacitive | E-Ink, capacitive |
| audio output (3.5mm) / Speaker | no / no | no / no |
| internal device memory / of which free | 2 GB / 1.3 GB | 4 GB / 3.1 GB |
| firmware update via | Fi | Fi |
| extension with card slot | no | Micro SD, up to 32 GB |
| Facilities | ||
| touch screen / keyboard / keyboard | yes / no / no | yes / yes / no |
| selectable font size | 8 levels | 24 steps |
| selectable font | 6 types | 11 types |
| Supported formats | TXT, MOBI, PRC, AZW, AZW3, PDF, DOC, DOCX, HTML and images | ePUB, PDF, TXT, MOBI, HTML, XHTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR, and images |
| copy formats (DRM) | AZW (Kindle) | Adobe DRM (ePub, PDF) |
| PDF-break (reflow) | no | no |
| contrast adjustable | no | no |
| Backlit display | 24 brightness levels | infinitely |
| loading the books on: Mobile, WiFi, USB | surcharge / Yes / Yes | no / yes / yes |
| rental service | Amazon Prime | eLibrary |
| switch for WLAN | via menu | via menu |
| USB Charging / Charger | yes / optional | yes / optional |
| Accessory / Included | USB cable, quick start guide, instructions as Ebook | USB cable, quick start guide, instructions as Ebook |
| function test | ||
| readability in sun / diffuse / Tungsten / dark | very good / very good / very good / very good | very good / very good / very good / very good |
| AR coating | very well | good |
| turning the format (portrait / landscape) | manually | not possible |
| page change (speed) | about half a second | about half a second |
| battery life (manufacturer) | two months | two months |
| battery life (full brightness and Wi-Fi) | 14:10 h | 19:20 h |
| Track Search / Search | yes / yes | yes / yes |
| Goto page or item / chapter / 1 Page / Last page | yes / yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes / yes |
| favorites / Book Search / Recent books | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| Comments / Highlights / Bookmark | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| Reading Apps for | PC, Mac, Android and iOS | PC, Mac, Android, Blackberry and iOS |
| Additional functions: pictures, mp3, video | yes / no / no | yes / no / no |
| Tools | Internet browser, Twitter, Facebook, cloud connectivity, parental control, vocabulary, lending library surcharge (Amazon Prime), Wikipedia and Dictionary | Internet browser, games, Facebook, Pocket, Wikipedia and Dictionary |
| Operation and Support | ||
| printed manual / the appliance / Internet | no / Yes / Yes | no / yes / yes |
| manual (content) | very well | very well |
| Reader operation altogether | easy | easy |
| menu | German | German |
| Books / Manage | very easy / very easy | very easy / very easy |
| books offer (German) | very large | medium (great about Ebook Stores on PC) |
| books offer (English) | very large | large |
| payment option in the integrated shop | credit card, credit card, direct debit | credit card |
| manufacturer and Reader | Sony PRS T3 | Tolino Shine |
| MSRP / Street | 139 € / 99 € | 99 € / 89 € |
| Appreciation | ||
| Technical Data | ||
| screen size / resolution | 6 inches / 758 x 1024 | 6 inches / 758 x 1024 |
| Weight (grams) | 196 g | 183 g |
| Dimensions (width x height x thickness) | 160 x 109 x 11.3 mm | 175 x 116 x 9.7 mm |
| Display Technology | E-Ink, infrared | E-Ink, infrared |
| audio output (3.5mm) / Speaker | no / no | no / no |
| internal device memory / of which free | 2 GB / 1.2 GB | 4 GB / 2.1 GB |
| firmware update via | Fi | Fi |
| extension with card slot | Micro SD, up to 32 GB | Micro SD, up to 32 GB |
| Facilities | ||
| touch screen / keyboard / keyboard | yes / yes / no | yes / yes / no |
| selectable font size | 8 levels | 7 steps |
| selectable font | 7 types | 5 types |
| Supported formats | ePUB, PDF, FB2, TXT, HTML and images | ePUB, PDF, TXT |
| copy formats (DRM) | Adobe DRM (ePub, PDF) | Adobe DRM (ePub, PDF) |
| PDF-break (reflow) | yes | yes |
| contrast adjustable | yes | no |
| Backlit display | deleted | infinitely |
| loading the books on: Mobile, WiFi, USB | no / yes / yes | no / yes / yes |
| rental service | eLibrary | eLibrary |
| switch for WLAN | via menu | via menu |
| USB Charging / Charger | yes / optional | yes / optional |
| Accessory / Included | USB cable, quick start guide, instructions as Ebook, protective cover | USB cable, quick start guide, instructions as Ebook |
| function test | ||
| readability in sun / diffuse / Tungsten / dark | very good / very good / very good / not possible | very good / very good / very good / very good |
| AR coating | very well | good |
| turning the format (portrait / landscape) | manually | not possible |
| page change (speed) | about half a second | about one seconds |
| battery life (manufacturer) | two months | seven weeks |
| battery life (full brightness and Wi-Fi) | no comparison value | 43:40 hours |
| Track Search / Search | yes / yes | yes / yes |
| Goto page or item / chapter / 1 Page / Last page | yes / yes / yes / no | yes / yes / no / no |
| favorites / Book Search / Recent books | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| Comments / Highlights / Bookmark | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| Reading Apps for | PC, Mac, Android and iOS (without synchronization) | iOS and Android |
| Additional functions: pictures, mp3, video | yes / no / no | no / no / no |
| Tools | Internet browser, Evernote notes, Facebook, Slide, dictionaries, drawing and handwriting recording | internet browser, Facebook, dictionaries, access more than 11,000 hotspots in the telecom, 25 GB of cloud storage |
| Operation and Support | ||
| printed manual / the appliance / Internet | no / yes / yes | no / yes / yes |
| manual (content) | very well | good, something almost |
| Reader operation altogether | still easy | easy |
| menu | German | German |
| Books / Manage | very easy / simple | very easy / simple |
| books offer (German) | large | large |
| books offer (English) | still great | moderately |
| payment option in the integrated shop | credit card, direct debit | credit card, direct debit, PayPal, invoice |
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