E-Reading is Fundamental: October 2012 Edition

I'm about to take a plunge into the e-book pool, and here's my research into e-Ink-based e-readers.  I have decided to go with an e-Ink device for now, because they are easier to read than LCD-based tablets such as the iPad, Kindle Fire, and Nook HD, as well as being cheaper.  They are, of course, more limited.  Tablets are general purpose computers, and are quite flexible, though without adding accessories they are not nearly as useful as even a low-end laptop.  OTOH, e-readers are appliances, and do one thing well, though all of the readers I looked at have some amount of secondary functionality.

Right now the Kobo Glo seems to be the best all-around device.  It is top-lit (as opposed to back-lit, as with an LCD-based device), it is tied for the highest resolution in the 6-inch class of readers (the standard size), and it is part of the most open "ecosystem."  It has a decent web browser and decent PDF support.  (Like most people, I loath PDFs, but they are unavoidable at this point.)  However, the Kobo isn't available in the US yet, though it should be shortly.  The Kindle Paperwhite probably has a better screen, but it is completely tied to Amazon's store, and there is a shipping delay of almost a month right now due to demand.  The Nook Simple Touch Glow is available today (and in stores for pre-purchase evaluation), but it has a lower resolution screen which, according to reports on the internet, seems to be quite susceptible to damage from things being dropped on it.  It also has the worst PDF support and no web browser.

The first chart after the break contains mainstream models from each of the three best vendors - Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.  The 6" readers are all about the same size and weight, though the side bezels on the Nook models are slightly wider, which would be good for anyone who plans to hold it with one hand.  The second chart contains some other models Amazon and Kobo, plus two models from Icarus that seem nice, though they are not really available in the US.  The latter may be of interest to someone wants their extra features. I have not included Sony, which used to be a major player, because it seems to be on its way out of the market, having reduced the number of models it offers to one.

Update 2012/10/12: Some early customer reports on the Paperwhite indicate that the screen isn't so great after all.  I think they may be over-reacting to Amazon's (false) promises of perfection, as the unevenness is at the extreme bottom.  But people who are looking for the absolute best screen should probably wait until more reports on the KPW come in, and until customers actually receive the Kobo Glo.

Note: no consideration has been taken, given, or otherwise discussed wrt. this review.  However, e-reader makers should feel free to shower me with products at their earliest convenience.

Brand	Kindle	Kindle	Nook	Nook	Kobo	Kobo
Model	Paperwhite	(Five)	Simple Touch Glow	Simple Touch	Glo	Touch
Maker	Amazon	Amazon	Barnes and Noble	Barnes and Noble	Kobo	Kobo
Ecosystem	closed	closed	semi-open	semi-open	open	open
Region	USA	USA	USA	USA	Canada	Canada
Screen technology	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl
Nominal size	6”	6”	6”	6”	6”	6”
Default orientation	portrait	portrait	portrait	portrait	portrait	portrait
Resolution	768 × 1024	600 × 800	600 × 800	600 × 800	758 × 1024	600 × 800
Shades	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale
PPI	212	167	167	167	215	167
Internal lighting	led	no	led	no	led	no
Touchscreen	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Keyboard	on-screen	on-screen	on-screen	on-screen	on-screen	on-screen
Internal storage	2 GB	2 GB	2 GB	2 GB	2 GB	1 GB
Additional storage	no	no	32 GB micro SD	32 GB micro SD	32 GB micro SD	32 GB micro SD
Cloud storage	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
USB	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro
WiFi	b/g/n	b/g/n	b/g/n	b/g/n	b/g/n	b/g/n
3G cellular	no	no	no	no	no	no
Browser	experimental	experimental	no	no	yes	yes
Speakers	no	no	no	no	no	no
Headphone Jack	no	no	no	no	no	no
Height	6.7	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.2	6.5
Width	4.6	4.5	5	5	4.5	4.5
Depth	0.36	0.34	0.47	0.47	0.39	0.4
Weight	7.5	6	6.95	7.48	6.5	6.5
Side bezel width	0.5	0.45	0.7	0.7	0.45	0.45
Side bezel buttons	none	2 each edge	2 each side	2 each side	none	none
KF8	native	native	no	no	no	no
AZW	native	native	no	no	no	no
ePUB	no	no	native	native	native	native
PDF	native	native	native	native	native	native
MOBI	native	native	no	no	no	native
PRC	native	native	no	no	no	no
CBR	no	no	no	no	native	native
CBZ	no	no	no	no	native	native
HTML	conversion	conversion	no	no	native	native
DOC/DOCX	conversion	conversion	no	no	no	no
XLS/XLSX	no	no	no	no	no	no
PPT/PPTX	no	no	no	no	no	no
TXT	native	native	no	no	native	native
RTF	no	no	no	no	native	native
CHM	no	no	no	no	no	no
FB2	no	no	no	no	no	no
PDB	no	no	no	no	no	no
DJVU/DJV	no	no	no	no	no	no
JPEG	conversion	conversion	native	native	native	native
GIF	conversion	conversion	native	native	native	native
PNG	conversion	conversion	native	native	native	native
BMP	conversion	conversion	native	native	no	native
TIFF	no	no	no	no	native	native
AA/AAX	no	no	no	no	no	no
MP3	no	no	no	no	no	no
WMA	no	no	no	no	no	no
WAV	no	no	no	no	no	no
FLAC	no	no	no	no	no	no
AAC	no	no	no	no	no	no
OGG	no	no	no	no	no	no
Battery life (hours)	28 (light on, WiFi off)	14 (no wireless)			15 (light on, WiFi off)	30 (WiFi off)
Power adapter	$9.99	$9.99	included	included	29.99	29.99
USB cable	included	included	included	included	included	included
Price w/ads	$119	$69	n/a	n/a	n/a *	n/a *
Price w/o ads	$139	$89	$119	$99	$119	$99
Pros	best screen	cheapest	only available lighted reader		second best screen
Cons	not available yet, closed ecosystem	closed ecosystem	worst file support, no browser, fragile screen	worst file support, no browser	not available yet	smallest internal memory

Brand	Kindle	Kindle	Kindle	Kobo	Icarus	Icarus
Model	Paperwhite 3G	Keyboard 3G	DX Graphite	Mini	Pocket	Excel
Maker	Amazon	Amazon	Amazon	Kobo	Icarus	Icarus
Ecosystem	closed	closed	closed	open	none	none
Region	USA	USA	USA	Canada	Europe	Europe
Screen technology	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl	eInk Viziplex	eInk Pearl	eInk Pearl
Nominal size	6”	6”	9.7”	5”	6”	9.7”
Default orientation	portrait	portrait	portrait	portrait	portrait	landscape
Resolution	768 × 1024	600 × 800	824 × 1200	600 × 800	600 × 800	1200 × 825
Shades	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale	16 greyscale
PPI	212	167	150	200	167	167
Internal lighting	led	no	no	no	no	no
Touchscreen	yes	no	no	yes	no	stylus
Keyboard	on-screen	yes	yes	on-screen	no	on-screen
Internal storage	2 GB	4 GB	4 GB	2 GB	4 GB	4 GB
Additional storage	no	no	no	no	32 GB micro SD	32 GB SD
Cloud storage	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no
USB	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro	2.0, Micro
WiFi	b/g/n	b/g/n	no	b/g/n	no	b/g/n
3G cellular	yes	yes	yes	no	no	no
Browser	experimental	experimental	experimental	yes	no	yes
Speakers	no	stereo	stereo	no	no	mono
Headphone Jack	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Height	6.7	7.5	10.4	5.2	6.9	11
Width	4.6	4.8	7.2	4	5	7.1
Depth	0.36	0.34	0.38	0.4	0.32	0.43
Weight	7.8	8.7	18.9	4.73	7.55	18.7
Side bezel width	0.5	0.6	n/a	0.5	0.7	n/a
Side bezel buttons	none	2 each side	3 right side	none	2 each side	none
KF8	native	no	no	no	no	no
AZW	native	native	native	no	no	no
ePUB	no	no	no	native	native	native
PDF	native	native	native	native	native	native
MOBI	native	native	native	no	native	native
PRC	native	native	native	no	no	native
CBR	no	no	no	native	no	no
CBZ	no	no	no	native	no	no
HTML	conversion	conversion	conversion	native	native	native
DOC/DOCX	conversion	conversion	conversion	no	no	native
XLS/XLSX	no	no	no	no	no	native
PPT/PPTX	no	no	no	no	no	native
TXT	native	native	native	native	native	native
RTF	no	no	no	native	native	native
CHM	no	no	no	no	native	native
FB2	no	no	no	no	native	native
PDB	no	no	no	no	native	native
DJVU/DJV	no	no	no	no	native	native
JPEG	conversion	conversion	conversion	native	native	native
GIF	conversion	conversion	conversion	native	native	native
PNG	conversion	conversion	conversion	native	native	native
BMP	conversion	conversion	conversion	no	native	native
TIFF	no	no	no	native	native	native
AA/AAX	no	yes	yes	no	no	no
MP3	no	yes	yes	no	native	native
WMA	no	no	no	no	native	no
WAV	no	no	no	no	native	native
FLAC	no	no	no	no	native	no
AAC	no	no	no	no	native	no
OGG	no	no	no	no	native	no
Battery life (hours)	28 (light on, WiFi off, 3G off)	28 (WiFi off, 3G off)	15 (3G off)			10 (WiFi off)
Power adapter	$9.99	included	included	29.99	no	no
USB cable	included	included	included	included	included	included
Price w/ads	$179	$139	n/a	n/a *	n/a	n/a
Price w/o ads	$199	$159	$299	$79
Pros	best screen	best audio book support	best physical keyboard	smallest, lightest	Best media player, best file support (6”)	best PDF support, best file support, best annotation
Cons	not available yet, closed ecosystem	closed ecosystem	no WiFi, heaviest, closed ecosystem	no memory expansion	no WiFi, no ecosystem	no ecosystem

* Some retailers may sell Kobo models with advertisements (aka. "offers") in the future.