While some still buy dedicated electronic devices to read books, many readers have switched to smartphones and tablets. Apple's iBooks and Google Play Books already perform the functions of many e-readers while fitting into your pocket.
Owning a smartphone means you can take your favorite book with you.
Below are readers for Android that have proven themselves to be the best for users.
Cool Reader is a free book reading application and reference book that supports XML and CSS for reading books for Android.
Cool Reader supports Fb2, TXT, RTF, Doc, CR, HTML, EPUB, CHM, PDB formats. CHM format, PDB file. The app also includes features such as page scrolling, you can read a book by flipping pages, take notes, bookmarks and a built-in browser.
For comfortable reading, the reader offers adjustment of background brightness, texture, page turning and adjustable pressure. It too supports zip file books and automatically reformats text, files and text styles using external CSS. This application is more aimed at people who know how to use it. New users can familiarize themselves with the usage, but the interface is definitely not the simplest of all the options presented.
Users have access to a large number of themes and text options, as well as a more complex interface. There are no built-in stores for purchasing books, so you must buy your books elsewhere and integrate them into the app. Luckily, once you get used to using it, Cool Reader is easy to use.
AlReader is a free application mainly designed for reading fiction books, and is compatible with Android version 1.6.0 or higher.
AlReader is the best of reading apps with great built-in features. Some features: support for multiple languages, automatic scrolling and slide mode, and built-in dictionaries are incredibly useful while reading a book.
The reader gives you a wonderful opportunity to read fiction, especially with modern graphics. AlReader supports files in fb2 and txt, epub and HTML, doctor, docx, odt and rtf formats, Mobi, China (palmdoc format) for reading books. You can easily choose the reading mode in one or two page format, according to your habits and preferences.
AlReader app offers four profiles with independent fonts, color, brightness, gamma correction to provide you with a personalized reading experience. This application has multiple display styles with different titles, quotes, abstracts.
You'll also love the 3D page rendering feature especially for fiction books. You can easily navigate between pages with the ability to scroll forward 10 pages. The user interface is easy to read and supports major file and photo formats. The reader is constantly improving.
Overall, AlReader for Android is an excellent application for reading books from all over the Internet on your smartphone. All features of the application are aimed at the convenience of readers.
FBReader is an intuitive and easy-to-use book reader. The application supports popular e-book formats such as ePub, fb2, mobi, HTML. FBReader provides access to popular online libraries that contain a large selection of e-books.
It also includes a browser and downloader, with an integrated dictionary and supports 29 languages.
Main features:
- automatic library creation;
- automatic language and character encoding detection;
- nested image support;
- support for footnotes/hyperlinks;
- text search;
- Supported browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari.
Kobo
Kobo is a free e-reader for Android devices that allows you to read e-books, both paid and free. You can even read formats like PDF using this app. With the reader, you can customize reading settings, such as choosing the text size and style, night mode for reading at night, adjusting screen brightness to make reading more comfortable.
Kobo is a convenient and easy-to-use e-reader app for Android.
Android - The Kobo app is perfect for your tablet or smartphone and is very easy to use. Whether you want to quickly browse thousands of free books, or want to buy the latest bestsellers using an ereader, Kobo is the best program to help you do it.
Kindle application - a reader with more than 1,000,000 books that are always at your fingertips. This application is for everyone, be it a reader of books, magazines, or newspapers. Choose from a collection of books and read with high-resolution color images.
Reader features:
- Read free books - the opportunity to choose from thousands of free e-books.
- Bookstore - An easy-to-use store for e-books, including new releases and bestsellers.
- Use the Built-in Dictionary, Google and Wikipedia - The Kindle has a built-in dictionary that allows you to search for words directly while reading books, as well as get more detailed information after clicking on a link.
- Syncing your e-readers with Mr. Kindle allows you to book across devices and syncs where you left off, allowing you to simply continue reading your favorite book. The application synchronizes the last page read, bookmarks.
- Read before you buy - Read the first chapter of the book for free before you decide to buy.
- Customize your reading - select the desired font size, screen brightness, background color, and orientation for comfortable reading.
- Read printed versions of textbooks on Android tablets using an ereader.
The printed versions in the app have similar formatting and design and provide extensive features, including the ability to highlight transitions, add notes, and search by keyword.
Moon+ Reader gives you the best control over display settings and the most options for customizing gesture controls, along with a couple of unusual and useful features.
The app's home screen allows you to view bookshelves of files you have open, browse your file system, or open a list of five online directories where you can add your own books
The application also allows users to read e-books on their device with support for an online library and various file formats, including epub, txt, zip, fb2, html, umd, chm, or opds.
Moon+ Reader also offers users full visual options and a variety of these types of paging, including touch screen and volume keys.
Moon+ Reader supports 24 operations (gestures, screen tap) and 14 events (bookmark, search, font size, themes, etc.), all settings according to the user's preferences or needs. Users also have full control when scrolling the reader page with 5 different auto-scroll modes.
You can also choose between 10 different themes, including day and night mode. In addition, users will be able to adjust the brightness of the application. Other features include various flipping animations, bookshelf design, dictionary, sharing options and much more.
Overall, Moon+ Reader is a simple yet powerful eBook reader for Android devices that can be downloaded for free.
Aldiko Book Reader is one of the best Android applications for reading e-books. The application supports pdf, epub and Adobe DRM encrypted formats. You can customize the font size, font type, background color, margins, alignment, line spacing and brightness as you like. It also supports night mode and many other options that you can adjust based on your preferences.
Aldiko Book Reader has a very user-friendly interface and works with both Android smartphones and tablets. The application includes a dictionary for your convenience. Aldiko Book Reader is a very user-friendly Android app and is one of the most used reading apps.
Supported formats: EPUB, PDF.
Due to the extremely small number of supported formats and a minimal set of settings, this application is unlikely to be suitable for the role of a full-fledged “reader”.
There are no font or indent settings other than “more or less”; CSS styles are not supported. Third-party fonts are not installed, although you can download a package with additional ones from the Internet. True, many of them have not become familiar with the Russian language, so the benefit of changing the font is minimal.
In general, the Aldiko Book Reader application has a rather nice interface and high operating speed, but there are too few appearance and control settings.
In fact, the main advantage of this program is that it is a PDF reader for Android. Quite simple and fast.
iReader
Supported formats: EPUB, MOBI, TXT.
The app with a promising name turned out to be useless for users unfamiliar with Chinese characters. The menu is almost entirely translated into English. Judging by the need for Internet access, the application opens access to Chinese bookstores.
However, iReader practically cannot cope with Russian text, so we consider installing the application as a regular “reader” completely inappropriate.
iReader offline
Supported formats: TXT, CHM, MOBI, PDB, UMD, HTML, images.
The iReader offline application from the same developer behaves completely differently. There is no Russian interface language, but there are no Chinese characters either, everything is translated into English.
The number of supported formats is small, but this application is the only one that can effortlessly cope with a complex help file of the CHM format created in the Help & Manual 6 program.
The developer took an original approach to the design of the settings. At first glance, there are not enough of them here, and everything is dumped and mixed on one page. However, they are quite sufficient for carefully customizing the appearance of text and controls.
Another thing is that for CHM most of the settings are useless, but for reading fiction there are applications that support a larger number of currently popular formats.
This review examines several applications for reading e-books on an Android smartphone. As the main criterion for selection, we did not use support for certain formats, but the popularity of applications in the Google Play store and the search query for the word “reader”. It is from there that you can download e-readers for Android, which for the most part are also distributed free of charge. As a result, the list of tested applications turned out to be quite diverse. Some programs are capable of working with a large number of formats, while others are “tailored” only to EPUB and PDF. Including all readers can work not only in Android 4, 4.1 and older, but even Android 2.3, or even 2.2!
However, the EPUB (Electronic Publication) format, created by the international organization IDPF, is the most common; its support is the main task of any application. In contrast, the FB2 format was developed by Russian specialists, so its popularity, as a rule, does not go beyond the borders of the RuNet. However, for Russian-speaking users, support for the “native” format can be the main factor when choosing an application.
In terms of versatility, both formats are approximately the same: they allow you to include in the file information about the structure of the book, the author and annotations, as well as graphic images, style descriptions, fonts and other information.
Supported formats: EPUB, FB2, TXT. Partially – EPUB 3, HTML, MOBI (without DRM protection), RTF, DOC. In the future - PDF, DJVU.
This is one of the most popular applications, equipped with a good set of settings. In addition to changing the basic parameters, FBReader allows you to set your own background and font, look up the meaning of a word in the dictionary, use network libraries and connect your own OPDS directories.
Finding the right eBook reader app can be difficult.
There are a whole bunch of different types of e-books, a whole bunch of formats, and several types of books themselves (novels, comics, etc.) that can be a challenge to read on a smartphone screen.
Don't worry, we're going to help you by showing you the best e-readers for Android, so all you have to do is pick a book and start reading.
Aldiko Book Reader
[Price: free/RUR 319]
Aldiko Book Reader has been available on the Play Market for a long time, and it is an excellent balanced option for those who need a reliable working reading application. It supports EPUB, PDF and Adobe DRM encodings, and can also read e-books from public libraries.
The application has a harmonious and intuitive interface, there are also small “tricks” like searching through the text of a book, etc. There is both a free trial version and a paid version with full functionality.
AlReader
[Price: free/RUR 65.42/RUR 179.21/RUR 623.36]
AlReader is one of the latest “readers” with decent functionality. This is one of the few applications in its class that supports Android versions up to 1.6, which can be very useful if you suddenly decide to turn one of your old Android devices into an e-reader.
The application also supports the most common electronic formats, including EPUB (DRM-free), RTF, MOBI, PRC and others. The application also has a whole range of settings, including controls for scrolling, formatting, page turning animation, reading modes and different color schemes. The app is surprisingly successful and deserves to be given a chance.
Bookari eBook Reader
[Price: free/RUR 349]
Bookari eBook Reader was formerly called Mantano Reader and is one of the most recommended applications. You can sync your bookshelf across multiple devices and buy books from a wide range of stores to expand your collection.
The application supports most common text formats, including EPUB2 and PDF. Each file type has a set of features that make it easier to read. This is a good app with full functionality, especially if you are going to download books from various sources.
Cool Reader
Cool Reader is one of many “readers” that have appeared on the market for a long time. This particular application supports countless different formats, such as EPUB, FB2, Doc, Txt, RTF, HTML, MOBI, and PML, as well as OPDS and LitRes.
In addition to a large set of supported formats, the application boasts an elegant, slightly “antique” interface in the style of “yellowed paper” that can charm the user. In addition, the animation effects used in the application add additional realism to the reading process.
EBookDroid
[Price: free/175 rub.]EBookDroid is an application that is mainly aimed at working with PDF and DJVU files. It is positioned as an application for working with documents, however, it is also well suited for reading most e-books in suitable formats.
The app's features include text highlighting, support for third-party dictionaries, and text notes. And although this set of functions is not particularly suitable for reading, for example, graphic novels, those who are looking for an application purely for reading text will find these functions useful.
The app also has several text formatting options to enhance your reading experience whenever possible. You can download the free version or buy the pro version for 175 rubles.
FBReader
[Price: Free]
The FBReader application is among the most popular programs for reading e-books because it is absolutely free. It supports a ton of formats, including EPUB, FB2, RTF, Doc, HTML and plain text.
It is also one of the few that supports AZW3 (Amazon Kindle e-readers). It also supports PDF, however, you will need to install a plugin for this. The app also has a built-in browser for searching and downloading e-books, which is convenient.
In addition, there is a whole range of options for customization, library synchronization, etc. The option is very worthy, especially considering that you don’t have to pay for it.
FullReader+
[Price: free/RUR 199.00]
Fullreader+ is another new player in the mobile reader market. This application supports more than a dozen formats, and its interface, although it looks a little outdated, does its job.
The application also provides many options for reading - changing the font size, animation settings, day and night modes. You can even set a reminder for yourself so that the app will notify you when it's time to stop reading. There is a paid version, which can be purchased directly inside the application after installing it.
Google Play Books
[Price: Free]
When the Google Play Books app first came out, it was far from the best among its peers, but over time it has changed for the better. This application is tied to the Google Play store and it is assumed that you will download the bulk of the books from there.
However, you can also download PDF and EPUB files to your library, which can be synced across multiple devices - which is a very nice addition. The application's interface is modern, with Material Design elements.
Google Play Books is a great choice if you're looking for an entire platform for reading e-books, rather than just an e-reader app.
Kobo Books
[Price: Free]
Kobo Books is another platform-based app that gives you access to over 4 million books that you can buy and read. It's a very basic app and it doesn't seem to let you read books you've already downloaded to your smartphone.
However, if you get into this system, the application will be able to synchronize your bookmarks and libraries, and also recommend new books based on those you have already read. It also has several additional features, for example, Night Mode.
Once you add a few books to your collection, you'll love the app.
Kindle
[Price: Free]
Like Kobo, Kindle is a separate platform with the ability to purchase and then read e-books. Kindle was once known as one of the largest players in the e-book market and boasted a colossal range of products.
The Kindle app can sync your bookmarks and libraries, you can use a built-in dictionary, you can also read excerpts from a book before purchasing, and Amazon Prime subscribers can “borrow” books from Amazon's library.
To get started, you can take advantage of the pretty decent free books section. Unfortunately, the application will not read books already on your device.
Moon+ Reader
[Price: free/RUR 299]
Moon+ Reader is another application for reading e-books, which we also came across very often in recommendations. The application has a whole range of functions, such as support for themes and various formats (such as EPUB, PDF, mobi, FB2, TXT, HTML, RAR, ZIP, OPDS, CHM, CBR and CBZ), as well as various options for scrolling text to make reading easier.
This application has a lot to offer the user, and you can also choose a paid or free version depending on your financial situation.
Nook
[Price: Free]
The Nook has been a direct competitor to the Amazon Kindle for several years. And although retail giant Amazon won this fight, Nook is still a respected source of electronic literature.
Like other apps, Nook lets you sync bookmarks and libraries across multiple devices, and it also offers more than 4 million books, with the ability to read summaries before purchasing.
The app works well, but in some ways it can be considered a bit rustic. The Nook's library also has over a thousand newspapers and magazines, adding a fair amount of material to read.
Unfortunately, like the Kobo and Kindle, the Nook also won't be able to open books already downloaded to your smartphone.
PocketBook Reader
[Price: Free]
PocketBook Reader is a “reader” with a wide range of functions. The application has a simplified interface, which makes the reading process relatively easy. It supports a large number of formats, including Adobe DRM and OPDS files.
There is a text-to-speech function that can read books out loud for you, it is possible to leave notes in text files, and there are also several viewing modes, so you can choose the most comfortable option for yourself.
This app isn't as loaded with features as others, but if you're looking for something simple, this is a great choice. The program is also completely free and has no in-app purchases, which makes it even more attractive.
Prestigio eBook Reader
[Price: Free/In-App Purchases]
Prestigio is a relatively new addition to the eBook reading app scene, but it has a ton of useful features.
The application supports a large number of formats, including such common ones as PDF, DJVU, EPUB, and others. Updates over the past year have introduced a Material Design theme, which has had a positive impact on the ease of use and overall appearance of the app.
This app also has a built-in store, various themes, and an account to sync books across devices. Overall, this is a good option.
Universal Book Reader
[Price: Free/In-App Purchases]
Universal Book Reader is a simple, functional and reliable “reader”. It supports mostly EPUB and PDF files (both DRM and non-DRM), and has a built-in browser so you can buy books from third-party stores.
Feedbooks store support is integrated into the program, which can be convenient for those who use this service. The program has a modern look with shades of everyone’s favorite Material Design; you can download and try Universal Book Reader for free.
For many people, reading books has been and remains the first item on the list of leisure activities. New technologies have provided us with another potential device for our favorite pastime - mobile gadgets. The screens of smartphones and tablets have become larger, clearer and more understandable for the average user, so more and more book lovers prefer to spend time reading on some mobile device.
But just one smartphone or tablet is not enough to fully immerse yourself in the world of books. This requires special software (reader) that correctly “digests” and visualizes all text information for the user.
Let's try to figure out which reader is better for Android, how they differ from each other, and what to choose in a given situation. We will talk about special reading programs, formats, fonts and other subtleties of such utilities.
FBReader
This program is perhaps the best reader for Android in Russian, because you don’t have to expect any hidden and unpleasant surprises from it, like annoying advertising or paid functionality. This argument gives the utility a very big advantage over other programs in this segment. People are simply tired of closing advertising windows every five to ten minutes and paying for the opportunity to read a purchased book.
Moreover, this software is cross-platform, which means the best reader for Android will work on all your devices, with just one caveat - not for iOS. You can easily synchronize all the books and documents that you work and read in some cloud service, for example, the same Google Drive or the branded FBReader. Not all of the best Android readers in Russian can boast of having this feature.
Another critical point for some is support for smartphones of the YotaPhone class, that is, full-fledged work with E-Ink screens. Almost all owners of such gadgets and book lovers leave a lot of laudatory reviews about this utility, so this is another argument in favor of installing FBReader. In addition, the software received wide recognition from the Internet community and took first place in the “Best Reader for Android 2016” category.
Features of the utility
The application easily “digests” all known text formats: mobi, rtf, epub, doc, etc. If you use the utility for some exotic needs, such as working with PDF files or DjVu, then you will have to install a set of additional plugins (also free). In addition, the software works great with third-party dictionaries and can intelligently sort files and documents.
The application supports Internet downloads, so you can purchase/download books directly from the services “LitRes”, “Prochletenie”, ePubBud, Free Books Hub and others. A very important point is that all available libraries are adapted to your region, that is, if you, for example, are looking for “Faust,” then you will be offered a Russian-language version of the book, and not the original.
The best book reader for Android can not only bookmark the pages you need, but also color-code text information. In addition, there is rich functionality for customizing fonts, themes and other surroundings. If you are used to perceiving books and other information “by sound,” then you can always install a special plugin for reading aloud.
If you want to work directly with translators from Google and Yandex, as well as read comics, the premium version of the application is at your service, which, although it is paid, significantly expands the basic functionality of the program.
In general, FBReader is truly the best reader for Android tablets and smartphones, characterized by simplicity, versatility, convenience and the absence of advertising.
Moon+ Reader
The “lunar” reader is one of the leaders in its segment. The software's capabilities are slightly inferior to FBIRider, but nevertheless, this good e-reader for Android is in enviable demand among book lovers. The utility copes well with almost all text formats: fb2, doc, epub, mobi, etc. In addition, the application can work with zip and rar archives, which is a significant plus for this kind of program.
A good fly in the ointment in our case is the lack of at least some functionality for working with the popular PDF format in the free version. If you want to expand the capabilities of the reader, you will have to purchase premium content (Moon+Premium), where this function is fully implemented.
Distinctive features of the application
A good reader for Android, Moon+, has its undeniable advantages, and one of them is the ability to widely customize the application to your taste and color. For example, to scroll pages, you can use the camera activation key, the volume rocker, or simply tap on the previously designated location on the screen. In addition to basic design themes, you can find tons of skins for the Lunar Reader on the Internet, where you can easily customize the entire visual component to suit yourself: fonts, gamma, animation, transparency and a lot of other parameters.
In addition, the utility conveniently and intelligently sorts all your files on a special “bookshelf”, where you can select any type of filtering: author, date, title, etc. You can also set up various types of alerts on the page: current chapter, number of pages before and after, percentage, up to the battery level indicator.
It is also worth noting that a good reader for Android, Moon+, works well with external dictionaries from ABBY, Fora and ColorDict, and can also play audiobooks in epub3 format.
If you want to expand the capabilities of the Lunar Reader, you can purchase a paid version of the product, which has no advertising at all, synchronization with the clouds from Google Drive and DropBox, as well as control of the reader using an external headset.
AlReader
This utility can be said to be a pioneer in its field. A good reader for Android, AlReader is one of the oldest on this platform. The application interface is as simple as possible and devoid of any bells and whistles, which was extremely positively appreciated by experienced users who are already sick of all sorts of “fun” shells and extra “chips” that only interfere with enjoying their favorite book.
The utility copes with all known text formats, with the exception of “heavy” PDF and DjVu. In addition, the application is able to work with zip and rar archivers, which is also good news.
Despite all its apparent simplicity, the reader has many settings. The user can adjust page turning options, font sizes, gamma for highlighting text information and indents to suit their needs. The reader has access to settings for short and long taps, assigning actions to gadget buttons, as well as some gestures with the screen. In total, you can count nine zones for clicks, which can be configured as you like, and in any order.
Features of the program
Moreover, the utility works great with E-lnk displays (hello YotaPhone) with the ability to customize the backlight. There is functionality for adapting text to speech, a set of dictionaries, and the ability to add shortcuts to your favorite books on your desktop.
Separately, it is worth noting the presence of a converter function, that is, the user can convert, for example, the doc format into rtf and vice versa. In addition, it is possible to edit the data: make some amendments to the text, add your own footnotes or comments to what you read, etc. For ordinary literature this may not be useful, but when reading scientific works it is a “trick” irreplaceable.
Cool Reader
The utility has won the love of users due to its simplicity and good range of functionality. The appearance of the reader and the design of individual elements are simple to the point of disgrace. The entire range of settings can be called up by pressing just one button. There we also configure the font, spacing, anti-aliasing, background texture, specularity and other surroundings - in general, everything is at your discretion. The utility supports popular dictionaries and TTS engines, which means that those who like to listen to books along the way can use this program.
One of the main features of Cool Reader is its full support for the FB2 format and an external set of CSS protocols. Therefore, in principle, there should not be any problems with tables, footnotes and styles. Moreover, the utility works directly with liters, which means you can buy books, as they say, without leaving the checkout.
eReader Prestigio
This reader is extremely popular not only among owners of gadgets of the same name, but also among other fans of the Android platform. The utility is a nice and very convenient reader with rich functionality.
One of the main features of the reader is full access to a rich online bookstore. On the main screen you will see three sections: “Shelf”, “Library” and “Store”. The user can easily design his bookshelves as he pleases: assign a title, mark the series, author, tags, etc.
Additional features
The store has a simple and intuitive interface. There are some free files, but you'll have to pay for most books. The average price of one publication fluctuates around $1, which is quite acceptable for the average Russian. The library, as mentioned above, is quite rich and is distinguished not only by its thematic diversity, but also by its linguistic diversity. There are books in Russian, Belarusian, English, Ukrainian, French and many other languages.
The utility copes well with any text formats, including “heavy” PDF, which is a very rare occurrence for free readers. In the menu you can configure margins, indents, font, scrolling, colors, highlighting, etc. The appearance of the reader is pleasing to the eye and does not evoke contrasting feelings - everything is pleasant and the style is to the point.
Summarizing
All of the above programs have similar functionality and differ only in appearance and stylistic presentation of the material. Yes, some applications have certain advantages and some others, but to understand what exactly you need and what software will be convenient for you, you will have to try each reader.
But if you are not a particularly picky person about all kinds of colors, add-ons and other visual delights, then you can choose any product from this list that comes to your hand. All of them have repeatedly proven their worth and right to be in your Android device.
An application with the ability to read books in fb2, epub, txt, doc, rtf, html, chm, tcr, pdb, prc, mobi and pml formats and support for styles, tables of contents, tables, footnotes, as well as settings for fonts, hyphens, indents and line spacing interval. The developers of Cool Reader tried to recreate in this application the sensations that people experience from reading ordinary books, so they provided a choice of paper texture, adjustment of the screen backlight level and animation when turning pages. The application can also automatically turn pages and read text using the built-in TTS voice engine. Books for this application can be downloaded through the built-in support for the flibusta and lib.ololo.cc directories.
This application is compatible with more than a dozen popular book file formats. In terms of its capabilities and settings, Moon+ Reader is not inferior to other similar applications, but its paid version provides even more options: downloading books from cloud storage, night mode, scrolling using a wireless headset or tilting the device, additional fonts, reading text out loud with a voice engine, startup password, bookshelf widget for the home screen and much more.
ZXReader works with txt, fb2, docx and ePub formats, as well as archives in which such files are packed. The application supports setting fonts, tables of contents, word wrap, auto-detection of encoding, full-screen mode, and locking the screen in the desired orientation. Another feature of the application is support for multiple profiles with individual settings for each.
Application with support for all popular book file formats, including ePub and PDF. The catalog of this application contains several thousand books, many of which are free (unfortunately, only in English). Among the features of the Aldiko reader are support for global search in the texts of all books, a built-in dictionary and the ability to work with catalogs of selected books in OPDS format.
