You need an e-reader: 5 reasons why your smartphone sucks for reading

I've been writing about e-readers a lot in the last few weeks, and I've been enjoying doing so.

Diving back into reading and e-readers has been an absolute blast, and I've loved every minute I've spent digging into them and reading good books.

But I know that many of you disagree with me. Not that e-readers are bad, by any means, but more that they're not needed.

You can download the Kindle, Kobo, or Play Books app on your phone, making your smartphone just as good as a dedicated e-reader for reading.

I contend very strongly that you're wrong. Here are five reasons why I think you should be in favor of a good e-reader.

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Posts By  Mark Jansen

The display sucks for reading

Unless you're using a smartphone with an E Ink display, then your phone of choice sucks for reading.

I'm sorry, but that's an empirical fact.

Smartphone displays, while amongst the brightest, sharpest, and most colorful screens around, pound-for-pound and inch-for-inch, are not built for reading.

A big part of this comes from the fact that they're just too good at what they're built to do.

The high brightness that makes them easy to see in a number of circumstances can increase the feeling of eye strain.

The high refresh rates high refresh rates that make fast scrolling and games slick and smooth can do the same for your eyes, and potentially even increase the chance of headaches when used for long periods of time.

Even the glass used makes phone screens hard to view in direct sunlight, despite the high brightness. Reading a book in the warm sunlight is one of life's great pleasures, and your phone doesn't help with that.

Then it must be great at night, yes? Sure, if you like strong lights beaming into your face.

The effects of blue light may be disputed, but I can speak from personal experience that sleeping is harder after spending a lot of time on my phone.

E Ink devices are just better in this regard. Such displays only refresh when they need to, which means you're reading a static screen, rather than a constantly flickering one.

The brightness can be turned off entirely in good light, making them far more comfortable for your eyes.

There's no glare in sunlight on most e-readers, thanks to a matte coating, and the gentle lighting means they're far better for reading at night.

The difference in displays is the number one reason why you should ditch your smartphone for reading. But it's not the only reason.

Phones are cumbersome (compared to e-readers)

Phones are still small compared to, say, refrigerators — but they're now large gadgets, and seem to be getting larger by the year.

A standard flagship smartphone weighs north of 150 grams these days, with the larger models tending to spike above 200 grams. Hardly weightlifting to use, but heavy enough that you'll notice you're holding them after a while.

Curiously, e-readers tend to weigh about the same as a smartphone. But you might not realize that after holding one, because the weight is much more evenly spread around the body.

In phones, the cameras make up a large part of the weight, which means a lot of phones are top-heavy, making them more tiring to hold.

E-readers don't have cameras, and they're usually wider than smartphones, so the weight can be more evenly spread around. Plus, they tend to be thinner too, making them easier to grip.

This seems like a fairly minor point, but try and tell me that when you're reading a book in bed, phone over your face, and you feel it start to slip out of your fingers. Tell me that when you're ordering an e-reader with a sore, dented head.

The battery life already sucks, why burden it more?

I love smartphones, but I'll readily admit that the worst part of them is usually the battery life.

Yes, they've become better over the years, and now you can reliably assume your smartphone will at least get through the day before needing to be recharged.

But they're still thirsty devices, and unless you're rocking a OnePlus 15 or another similarly magical device, there's little sense in putting more strain on it.

Reading isn't an intense activity, so you might not expect it to impact battery time. But it's screen on time that's the killer here. Simply having the screen on and refreshing makes it harder on your phone's battery, even if all it's doing is showing lines of text.

E-readers are literally built to do this, and thanks to their unique blend of display tech, can get weeks of battery life out of a single charge.

Give your phone a rest, and let an e-reader do the heavy lifting it was built to do.

Don't lie, you keep getting distracted, don't you?

Phones can read, but they can also do a lot of other things too, which makes them absolutely terrible devices to avoid distractions on.

Reading a book isn't an activity you generally want to dive in and out of, taking micro-breaks as you go. It's more of an all-or-nothing activity.

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You want to get immersed, lost in a completely different world or life. You don't want to be interrupted every few moments, or checking different social media accounts.

And that's where smartphones can be a real problem.

You may have a will of steel, or foolproof Do Not Disturb settings — but I do not, and I suspect a lot of people don't either. Which is why an e-reader is vital for me.

There are no annoying notifications about new comments, no pokes from messaging apps, and no temptation to waste time by watching scrolling video feeds.

Instead, it's all about the reading, with nothing to distract you. And that's how it should be.

And this ties into my final point, too.

Better for digital detox

It would probably benefit you to leave your phone aside for a bit, and an e-reader can help you do that.

We're all too used to having a phone nearby for quick and easy entertainment, and breaking that cold turkey isn't easy.

Instead, just plop a different device near you, and turn your negative habit into a positive one.

Treat yourself to an e-reader experience

Ultimately, smartphones are great, but they're not the best tool for every job — and one of those is reading. So treat yourself to one of the best e-readers, and enjoy your reading just that bit more than you would have before.