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iPad Pro 11” vs 13” iPad Pro for reading books
- Thread starter Zest28
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ebooks absolutely, the smaller the better. PDF books are generally better on the 13"
Personally I have a lot of academic books in non resizable PDF, for those the 13" is king.
I suppose also manga, comics etc. are generally better on the 13.
I haven't tried the M4 11" but, I do have the 13" and reading books is excellent. If I am not using the MKB, I use my Zugu case, which makes it very easy (sturdy and able to adjust reading angle) and comfortable to read in bed or on the go.
Everyone will tell you the iPad they own is best.
One thing for sure the 11" is better in portrait for e-books.
One thing for sure the 11" is better in portrait for e-books.
nah, 13" in landscape - for me. There is no universal better or best, just "better for me" or "best for me".
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While it's true that the 11" is closer to A4 (which is in between 4:3 and 3:2), 4:3 is not square. Some PDF books are in 4:3, other in 3:2, others in between etc.. Books are far from beeing all A4. Some are even squarer than 4:3
"theend"? You're in charge? (what's a "theend?")
As much of an iPad enthusiast as I am, I wouldn't recommend them for reading ebooks on. I have some Kobo e-ink devices that I find much nicer than my iPad. iPad is hard on the eyes for reading small text, it's hard to read outside in the sun, it's awkward and too large for reading in bed, whereas the Kobo Libra 2 I have is great at all those things
If one has a little trouble reading small text, one can easily increase the size of the text with 1 -2 taps, just like you can on official e-readers.
As to outdoor reading, you make a good point and that is one of the reasons I decided to spend more and get the nano-texture screen.
As to reading in bed, I think a lot of that depends on whether one uses a case and if so, does the case provide for easy viewing angles.
The other aspect often centers around what product, or product ecosystem one started using first. And for some here, the Kindle and others like it are the primary device.
For me, the iPad has the most versatility and it allows me to read for hours without fatigue. And even though I could buy 100 kindles for what I pay for my Apple devices, I wouldn't change my setup, unless book reading etc. suddenly became my primary usage.
Huge fan of my Kobo. Lighter, battery life lasts forever, dirt cheap, easy to read in any light.
But to me the killer feature is that it has no other features. My attention span is pretty tattered these days, and I don't do well trying to read something long on a big, beautiful iPad screen that is always tempting me to "look something up really quick" and never get back to my book. My Kobo is dumb as a rock and good for absolutely nothing else besides reading.
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I should clarify - the issue with text is the fact that the iPad screen makes text readable by having black text on bright white background. That hurts my eyes after a while and while small text makes it worse, the problem remains no matter what size text I use. eInk devices have actual black dots that make up text, and either sunlight or a front-light provide contrast which is much much easier on my eyes, plus you get the added bonus of more sunlight = more readable, which is the opposite of the ipad.
I have a ton of books I've bought through Apple Books so I definitely had a good go at it, but after a few years of it I'd had enough and bought a Kobo.
My Kobo has Pocket integration so as I'm browsing the net I throw interesting articles in my Pocket and then they make great lazy Sunday morning reading on my Kobo if I don't feel like diving into a book. The books I like to read are quite dense (like Neuromancer, some are virtually impenetrable) so I need to concentrate on reading which I don't feel like in the weekends
TL;DR: depends on what you’re reading and how you want to orient the screen and the original print size. For text, the 11” is great. If you’re looking at larger format graphical books, consider landscape on the 13”.
I read comics and coffee table-type books (DK, etc.) in two-page mode and wouldn’t settle for less than a 13” for that. Each page in that mode is a touch smaller than a standard comic trade paperback (TPB) page but still very readable. Comics are typically 2:3, so 2 pages fill the 4:3 screen almost exactly.
11” has a shorter, wider ratio in landscape than the 13”, which shrinks pages more than the sheer size difference implies as it ends up pillarboxed instead of filling the screen. The 11” would be fine for reading comics in single-page portrait mode, though, albeit with some wasted space top/bottom.
However, the 1st party accessories (MKB and Smart Folio) only hold the iPad in landscape, so to read in portrait you’ll either need to prop it on something, hold it in your hand, or buy a third party setup with a portrait kickstand.
I do use a 10” Kindle Scribe in 2-page landscape mode to read regular novels and manga—each landscape half screen on the Scribe is almost exactly the same size as a portrait Oasis/PW screen, so that size works really well.
The 11” iPad screen would be just a bit bigger than the Scribe’s, so I imagine it’d also work great in landscape mode for 2-page text or manga reading. In portrait mode it’d also be fine of course. On my Scribe, a readable font in portrait is about the same amount of text as one page of a hardback book.
I read comics and coffee table-type books (DK, etc.) in two-page mode and wouldn’t settle for less than a 13” for that. Each page in that mode is a touch smaller than a standard comic trade paperback (TPB) page but still very readable. Comics are typically 2:3, so 2 pages fill the 4:3 screen almost exactly.
11” has a shorter, wider ratio in landscape than the 13”, which shrinks pages more than the sheer size difference implies as it ends up pillarboxed instead of filling the screen. The 11” would be fine for reading comics in single-page portrait mode, though, albeit with some wasted space top/bottom.
However, the 1st party accessories (MKB and Smart Folio) only hold the iPad in landscape, so to read in portrait you’ll either need to prop it on something, hold it in your hand, or buy a third party setup with a portrait kickstand.
I do use a 10” Kindle Scribe in 2-page landscape mode to read regular novels and manga—each landscape half screen on the Scribe is almost exactly the same size as a portrait Oasis/PW screen, so that size works really well.
The 11” iPad screen would be just a bit bigger than the Scribe’s, so I imagine it’d also work great in landscape mode for 2-page text or manga reading. In portrait mode it’d also be fine of course. On my Scribe, a readable font in portrait is about the same amount of text as one page of a hardback book.
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I have both 11” and 13”. I only read occasionally on them but I think the 11” is better unless you’re reading graphic novels / comics or something. The 13 feels like a computer tablet which I enjoy for working. The 11 feels like a portable actual tablet that i find much nicer to use on the couch or in bed.
Kindle on the 11 inch is the best book reading experience I have found since.....well......books. It's not too big (for me) and the screen quality is just unbelievable.
Personally, I find 11” clunky for reading. Yes, it’s kind of like holding a hardcover, but I much prefer the iPad mini for books.
Since that’s not in your list, I’d have to say I’d prefer the 11”, though. I tried 13” and it just didn’t feel nice to me.
Edit: 11” is pretty nice for graphic novels/comics, though.
Since that’s not in your list, I’d have to say I’d prefer the 11”, though. I tried 13” and it just didn’t feel nice to me.
Edit: 11” is pretty nice for graphic novels/comics, though.
Your mileage will vary, absolutely, but for myself if I hadn’t been rushed into buying my iPad (travel restricted timeline) I would have purchased the nano-texture glass. In my time with it at the Apple Store I noticed a massive difference for reading and for a paper-like feel for the Pencil.
i personally hate reading on bright glossy screens
i like e-paper but obviously the tech there is quite limited
that being said i can’t imagine it being convenient or comfortable to read on a large heavy device but that will also be preference
i like e-paper but obviously the tech there is quite limited
that being said i can’t imagine it being convenient or comfortable to read on a large heavy device but that will also be preference
Yes! Pocket integration is amazing. I send articles to it constantly to (try to) get myself off my phone without having to literally print things out to read them. The sync goes two ways, so things I read and archive on the Kobo get archived in my Pocket account, which keeps things tidy. I think Kindle has a similar feature?
Also a big fan of the Overdrive integration that lets me take out e-books from the library. Works brilliantly, though sadly my library only offers 1- to 2-week borrowing periods.
They're making color Kobos now, but unfortunately the contrast is not great so you pretty much have to use them with the backlight on all the time.
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