Bookworms the world over can all agree on one thing: when it comes to reading on a digital display, nothing beats e-paper technology. The E Ink company, in particular, has made a name for itself with its advanced e-paper panels that emulate real-world paper, reduce eye strain, remain visible in direct sunlight, and hardly consume any energy whatsoever.
These merits inherent to E Ink are the reason why every mainstream e-reader on the market makes use of the technology — simply put, e-paper offers a superior reading experience when compared to traditional LCD or OLED screen alternatives.
For as wonderful as e-paper is, however, its application outside e-readers is limited due to having a slow refresh rate and a subdued color pallet. We’ve seen some E Ink-clad handheld gadgets like the Boox Palma 2 Pro hit the market, to be sure, but they remain a niche category at best. For the time being, using a standard smartphone in lieu of a dedicated e-reader is arguably the most accessible solution when in a pinch.
With this in mind, here are the three steps I personally take to optimize my Google Pixel 10 for use as a reading gadget whenever I’m away from my Kindle Papersoft. As far as stopgap solutions go, Pixel handsets make surprisingly solid e-reading substitutes, despite having small screens that are decidedly not built with long-form reading in mind.
Turn on Night Light and Adaptive tone
It’s not E Ink, but it’s the next best thing
When reading an e-book, it’s only natural to stare at your screen for prolonged periods of time. Many readers also enjoy diving into a good book near bedtime to unwind, and so it’s important to avoid the development of eye strain and to mitigate the consumption of sleep-disrupting blue light.
While some smartphone brands like Honor and OnePlus have shipped gadgets with advanced eye-strain reduction technologies, Google’s Pixel phones are limited to the basics. Thankfully, these basics are powerful enough to make a world of difference when it comes to comfortable reading. Adaptive tone automatically adjusts the display’s color temperature to better match the ambient environment, while Night Light is a basic blue light filter that tints the display with a warm hue.
Both Night Light and Adaptive tone can be enabled by navigating to Settings > Display & touch > Color. Night Light has a dedicated sub-page where automatic scheduling and intensity can be adjusted.
Enable Bedtime Mode
For fewer distractions and for a grayscale display
Bedtime Mode is a powerful tool within Google’s arsenal of Modes. Aside from acting as basic a Do not Disturb mode for reducing interruptions while reading, it can also be configured to automatically enable a grayscale filter, dark mode, wallpaper dimming, and more. Put together, Bedtime Mode’s functions can transform an otherwise noisy smartphone experience into something laser-focused for reading books, magazines, and comics.
Bedtime Mode can be enabled by navigating to Settings > Modes > Bedtime. There are a variety of customization options that can be tinkered with from within here — for a full breakdown, check out my dedicated article right here on Pocket-lint.
Download KOReader
My favorite free and open-source e-reader application
The Android operating system is home to a massive number of mobile applications designed with reading in mind. Naturally, all the big players — including Kindle and Kobo — offer access to their proprietary libraries via dedicated apps, but you can also import your own local book files and read them via free and open-source (FOSS) software programs.
My personal favorite FOSS e-book reader for Android is KOReader. This app is jam-packed with customization features, with support for a massive number of e-book file formats, native text highlighting capabilities, progress synchronization, and integration with other content providers like the popular Calibre e-book management suite.
