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Top 10 best new e-Readers of 2022

2022.12.28 18:10

There were more e-readers released in 2022, than any other year. This is a boon for customers 

who want to buy something new and will be relevant for the next few years, before its time for 

an upgrade. What is new tech is around the corner? Gallery 3 and Kaleido 3 color e-paper, there will 

at least be 8 new devices that come out in the first six months of 2023. This e-paper is unproven 

right now and requires lots of RND to make it fast and robust. 

 

What new e-readers should you buy? There were plenty from respectable companies such as 

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Onyx Boox and plenty of others. Good e-Reader normally 

waits until the end of the year to write these, since so many devices have come out in December 

alone, we wanted to wait until we reviewed every single one.

 

Amazon Kindle 11th Generation

 

The 11th Generation Amazon Kindle Basic e-Reader is their latest generation model that just started 

shipping out to customers. This can be considered their entry level model or their basic one. It has 

undergone a heavy revision from previous models and there are a number of good selling points. 

It finally has a new 300 PPI display, all previous models have had 167 DPI, which made made look 

fuzzy, now text is razer sharp. There is a new USB-C port for charging and transferring data and 

16GB of storage to house all of your audiobooks, e-books, comics and manga. There is also 

an all-new system wide dark mode, so the colors will be inverted, the background will be black and 

text while, adding some contrast when reading at night.

 

In the past, it was hard to recommend the entry level Kindle to customers. Now, it is a no brainer. 

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this 2022 variant, it now has everything you need to 

provide a great reading experience. I wish they improved the front-lit display, it is still using the 

same four white LED lights that the previous generation employed, providing somewhat uneven 

light distribution. This is only really relevant if you tend to read at night, but if you read during 

the day, it is less of an issue. It retails for $119 from Amazon.

 

Onyx Boox Leaf 2

 

The Onyx Boox Leaf 2 is the second best e-reader of the year because it is platform agnostic 

and doesn’t lock you into a specific ecosystem like the Amazon Kindle. This device might be 

better than the Kindle, primarily due to the physical page turn buttons, which makes it easier to 

turn the pages of an ebook than exclusively relying on the touchscreen interface. If you are 

a lefthanded reader, the Leaf 2 has a g-sensor, which will automatically rotate the screen, 

repositioning the buttons. When reading digital content, you will enjoy the 300 PPI display. 

Fonts will look razer sharp, with no fuzzy anti-aliasing issues you would get with readers that 

have lower PPI. Google Play is another great selling point, it comes preinstalled, so you can 

install your favorite audiobooks, books, manga and other digital content.

 

The Leaf 2 is the only e-Reader in the world that has two different models of the same product. 

The black version, which we are reviewing today, comes with a flush screen and bezel and is 

protected by a layer of glass. This ensures that the e-paper display will be immune to drops 

or if you accidently spill some tea or coffee on it, just make sure to wash it right away, 

since it is not waterproof. The white model has a sunken screen and bezel design, 

with a small dip. This provides users with exposed e-paper. I like this one better since there 

will be glare or reflections on the screen from overhead lighting or the sunlight when reading 

outdoors. The black and white models actually have the same price, they retail for $199 from 

the Good e-Reader Store

 

Pocketbook Era

 

Pocketbook is been making e-readers for 15 years and their new Era e-reader just might be 

the best one they have ever released. Most Pocketbooks tend to be slow and sluggish at times, 

but the Era is quick and snappy. This is due to the new e-paper display panel they they are 

using, E INK Carta 1200. This increases page turn speed by 25% and overall performance by 

35%.  This is by far their best eBook reader they’ve ever made. One could argue the InkPad X 

is also up there, but given the size and the price, I’ll exclude that from my thoughts 

This is everything in e-reader should be. Sleek, sized properly, and have a high resolution 

screen with physical page turn buttons. Not only that, they bless you with onboard audio 

and an audiobook player, music player, and a dual toggle bookstore so you can buy and 

download audiobooks to your heart’s content

 

The glow light is phenomenal, the side bezel buttons are rewarding to press, and design-wise 

it’s absolutely very fitting to the name, this definitely is an all new era for Pocketbook and 

a perfect way to celebrate their 15-year anniversary. It retails for $199 from the Good e-Reader 

Store.

 

Kindle Paperwhite 11th Generation 16GB Variant

 

Amazon has just released a new 16GB variant of the 11th Generation Kindle Paperwhite. 

This model now has the standard 8GB model, which has been the only one that has been 

available since the Paperwhite 5 first came out in late 2021. The 16GB version was made 

available in late 2022 now and it costs only $10 more than the base model, which makes 

it the only one you should be considering, if you are in the market for a new e-reader.

 

The Amazon Kindle is the most popular e-reader brand in the world, everyone has heard of it, 

even if they have never seen one in person before. The 11th Generation Kindle Paperwhite 

5 has a few major selling points. It is using a brand new E INK Carta 1200 display, which has 

increased page turn speed by over 20% and the overall performance of navigating around, 

is 50% faster than the previous generation. The large 6.8 display provides ample screen real 

estate for more text and manga looks really good. Amazon has also introduced a new page 

turn animation system, which seamlessly blends the text. It retails for $119.99 from Amazon.

 

Kobo Clara 2e

 

The Kobo Clara 2e is one of the most environmentally friendly e-reader in the world. The overall 

body is made of 85% recycled plastic, in addition to being 10% ocean. plastic. In keeping with 

this theme, it is waterproof, so you will be able to use it while lounging by the pool or reading 

in the bathtub. It is rated iPX8, so it should be good for up to 60 minutes completely submerged 

in fresh water. If you spill things on it, like coffee or tea, simply run it under the tap to give it 

a good cleaning.

 

Obviously, the main draw is reading digital content, such as books, graphic novels and manga. 

It has a sunken screen and bezel design, which makes the text look razer sharp. This is because 

you are consuming media on exposed e-paper and there is nothing between your eyes and the 

E INK screen. Many e-readers on the market have a flush screen and bezel design, with a layer 

of glass. Glass tends to reflect overhead light or sunlight. You can use the Clara 2e day, or night 

and get a solid reading experience.

 

Do you like audiobooks? It is the fastest growing segment in digital publishing for the past five 

years. In the first eight months of 2022, digital audiobook sales were up 3.8% and generated 

$400.6 million in revenue in the US. The Clara 2e now has Bluetooth, unlocking a new audio

book section in the Kobo Store. Users can access the Bluetooth pairing system in the settings 

menu and use wireless headphones or earbuds to listen. Audiobooks are still pretty expensive; 

however, it is a nice feature to be able to use your ebook reader to listen to them. This device 

retails for $129.99 from Kobo.

 

Barnes and Noble Nook 4e

 

Barnes and Noble has just released their first entry level e-reader in a very long time. The Nook 

Glowlight 4e is a great device that only costs $119 and is sold in over 600 bookstores in the 

United States. This gives people the people the opportunity to try before you buy and get 

customer service right in the store. If anything goes wrong it is as easy as driving to the local 

bookstore and swap it out for a new one or just get a refund. This whole situation cannot be 

understated because they are the only company that makes their own products and sells it online 

and in their stores.

 

The Nook Glowlight 4e features a 6 inch E INK Carta HD display with 212 PPI. It will employ 

a series of white LED lights along the bezel and will project light evenly across the screen. 

It will have 8GB of internal storage and WIFI to access the internet. This will allow users to 

browse the Nook Store and buy digital books, manga and other content. It will also have 

Bluetooth, but likely it will not have an audio player to listen to audiobooks. There is 

a USB-C port, this is used for charging it on your PC or MAC or using the accompanied cable 

for charging. There is a built-in anti-glare screen protector. The Nook 4e retails for $139 from 

the Good e-Reader Store.

 

Hisense Hi Reader

 

The Hisense Hi Reader is the first dedicated e-reader that Hisense has ever released. 

The company typically focuses all of their e-paper energies towards Android smartphones 

with either black and white screens or color EINK. This makes the Hi Reader a very interesting 

product, it looks like a fully featured phone, upon first glance. However, in reality, it is a pocket 

friendly book reader with no phone functionality. It is great for not only for reading, but also 

audiobooks, podcasts and music. It has a candy bar design, which really makes it standout in 

a crowded market of e-readers that all look alike. You can buy the Hisense Hi Reader 

internationally, from the Good e-Reader Store. It retails for $399 and comes with a free case.

 

Onyx Boox Poke 4 Lite

 

The Onyx Boox Poke 4 Lite is an e-reader that goes back to basics. It is a dedicated book 

reader with no note taking functionality and is totally geared towards the consumption of digital 

media. It might just be the biggest value for the money due to a number of key selling points. 

It is running Android 11 and has Google Play preinstalled, so you can download millions of free 

and paid apps. It also has optimizations for a number of apps, such as Kindle, which eliminated 

animated page turns. It has various speed modes to increase the performance of the entire 

software experience. It retails for $149 and you can get it from the Good e-Reader Store.

 

Xiaomi InkPalm Plus

 

The Xiaomi InkPalm Plus is the companies 3rd generation e-reader. This is the first one that 

has English on it, right out of the box. All of the previous models only had Chinese and had 

to be rooted with a complicated process just to make it usable in the Western world. What are 

the big differences between the 2022 model and the one released last year? It has a larger 

display, with better resolution. The RAM and internal storage has been doubled, which makes 

the Plus, extremally viable.

 

The InkPalm Plus is very user friendly. There is little to no learning curve when using this as a 

dedicated e-reader. There are no complicated elements that bog the average user down and 

confuse them. It basically looks like an Android smartphone and even functions like one, 

but it is not a phone. It is just basic reader that costs $200 from the Good e-Reader Store.

 

Hyread Gaze One SC Color

 

The HyRead Gaze One SC is a dedicated e-book reader with an E INK Kaleido Plus color 

e-paper display. You will finally be able to see book cover art and ditto with manga, 

webtoons and comics. You can display over 4096 different colors, which is very solid. 

The UI is in English, so millions of users will find value in the Gaze One SC.  This model is 

really new and is available as a pre-order for $249.99 and will ship out on December 20th, 

2022. You can buy it today from the Good e-Reader Store.

 

The Gaze One SC features a 6-inch E INK Carta HD and Kaleido Plus color filter array. 

The resolution of the black and white display is 1448×1072 with 300 PPI and the color 

display is 482×357 with 100 PPI. The front of the e-reader has this nice white color 

scheme and the back platting is lime green with perforation, so it is easy to grip, 

without leaving lots of fingerprints. You can read at night via the front-lit display, 

it has a series of white LED lights positioned alongside the bezel, which projects 

light evenly across the screen and not into your eyes.

 

December 24, 2022 By Michael Kozlowski