I swapped paperbacks for an eBook reader for a month, here’s how it went

From a certified book snob.

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to very specific matters in my life. I’ve stuck with the same brand of soy milk for half a decade, I refuse to use a touch-button coffee machine and I still own a DVD player. But one of my undying, deep-set values is that I love a physical book.

All the clichés ring true to me – a physical book is comforting and nostalgic; holding a well-loved paperback brings me back to my childhood Matilda days when I’d spend whole afternoons at my local library. The smell of old books is akin to therapy and yellowing pages bring me joy. It comes as no surprise I had never thought to use an eBook reader – until now.

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I was knee-deep in planning for a month away in Europe, stressing about the weight of my luggage and desperately trying not to overpack when Rakuten Kobo reached out asking whether I’d like to be gifted one of its eReaders. After trying to stuff several books with a combined page count of 900 into my suitcase, I thought I’d finally take my eBook virginity.

Among my friends, Rakuten Kobo is one of the leading eBook reader brands on the market (especially for those who don’t want to support Jeff Bezos’ Kindle). I was gifted the Kobo Elipsa 2E which retails at an eye-watering $629.95. Notoriously, eBook readers can be found for around $100 to $200, so was this high price point worth it?

When it first arrived at my door, I revelled in an Apple-like unboxing. If there’s such a thing as a luxury eBook reader, this might be it. With a 10.3-inch touchscreen, it’s generous in size though still compact enough for travel. The big selling point of this piece of tech is the accompanying stylus which allows you to write, highlight and draw.

@maggie_zhou my first ebook reader!! #kobo #koboereader #rakutenkobo #booktok #techunboxing *gifted @Rakuten Kobo 📚 ♬ Obituary

So picture me, all bagged up, ready to leave for the airport with my eBook reader in my carry-on. (Hot tip: Kobo’s SleepCover protector is pretty much a must so your screen is shielded from scratches and your stylus has a snug place to sit). Even with a couple of books downloaded on the tech block, I couldn’t leave without a physical book. Old habits die hard, I guess.

So I snuck a fun Emily Henry romance paperback into my bag. As much convenience as an eBook reader gives you, it falls short when it comes to providing romanticised, main-character energy. Sue me! I wanted to be the girl in the airport leafing through a sturdy book.

After finishing Henry’s book (spoiler alert: they lived happily ever after), I eventually pulled out the eBook reader – not to read, but to write. A nifty function of this Kobo model is that it comes with a digital journal. In this way, it’s half an eBook reader and half a tablet. I chose my page background (a double-lined page) and started journaling.

In my head, I’m a journaling girl. In reality, I’m not. If I remember to bring a notebook with me, it’s a pen I will have forgotten and vice versa. Carrying around the Kobo meant that during my trip abroad, I was able to easily whip out the eBook reader and write with ease. Indulge me, but I could still romanticise writing outside a cafe in Amsterdam on my eBook reader.

If you have a cool $630 lying around, this Kobo model is a fine investment. Otherwise, a less fancy eReader could also do the job. After four weeks of exclusively using an eReader (bar my slip-up on day one), I can confidently say the reading experience of a physical book isn’t too different from an eBook. In some ways, eBooks are better – they’re easy to lug around, books are cheaper to purchase and night-time reading doesn’t require as much effort.

In other ways, physical books win out – you can personalise the pages in whatever way you want, books don’t run off power and don’t need to be charged, and you receive smug points for reading a paperback. While I’ll never part ways with hardbacks, I know I’ll be picking up my eReader too. A story is a story, no matter where you read it.

Want to know how to care for your new eBook reader? Try this.